§ 17. Mr. David Steelasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish the recent reports of surveys carried out by local authorities under Section 1(3) of the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1969.
§ Mr. YoungerIt is for the local authorities who made the surveys to publish the results if they wish.
§ Mr. SteelCan the Under-Secretary confirm that these surveys have been completed by every housing authority in Scotland. Will he tell the local authorities that, having identified those houses which are below the tolerable standard, they would be well-advised to gear publicity specifically to those houses before proceeding to treatment area methods which should be the fall-back position?
§ Mr. YoungerI thank the hon. Member for the tone of what he asked. About 160 local authorities have supplied information about their assessment of the number of houses which are below the tolerable standard. The remaining authorities are, generally speaking, the smaller authorities who may not have such big problems as the major authorities. I agree that it is necessary for all 1425 authorities to make the fullest possible assessment of houses falling below that standard. We have taken a large number of measures to make it more attractive and easier for authorities with these houses to eradicate the problem.