§ 24. Mr. Roy Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Wales how many starts were made on new council houses in Wales in 1971.
§ Mr. Gibson-Watt:Up to the end of September, 3,208.
§ Mr. Hughes:Does the hon. Gentleman appreciate that in the county borough of Newport at present more council houses are being sold than are being built, despite the fact that there are more than 2,000 families on the waiting list and at a time when thousands of Welsh building workers are standing in dole queues? For social and economic reasons will the hon. Gentleman initiate a major housing drive in Wales?
§ Mr. Gibson-Watt:I am glad to hear that the hon. Gentleman's local authority is selling council houses. I should point out that the downward trend started in 1967 and that the proportion of starts in the private sector for the first nine months of 1971 was a great deal better than for the corresponding period in 1970.