§ 34. Mr. David Steelasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will publish a table showing the numbers of housing starts and completions in 1966, 1967 and 1968 in the public and private sectors and in total.
§ Mr. SteelDoes the hon. Gentleman share the general concern at the downfall of completions over the last six months? What steps will be taken to change this trend, in particular bearing in mind his answer to the previous Question in relation to the delay in housing at Tweed-bank? Is he aware that the Border local authorities are anxious to make an increasing contribution to the public housing programme?
§ Dr. MabonI appreciate that, but if the hon. Gentleman will examine the figures he will see that the trend is in the right direction. Starts rose from 34,049 in 1966 to 44,460 in the last calendar year, 1968; the completions in 1966 totalled 36,029, while in 1968 they reached the record figure of 41,989. I take the point about Tweedbank and our setback there, but that does not underrate the fact that our record is good.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithWhat has happened to approvals this year?