§ 14. Mr. Ewingasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many new housing 1277 submissions were made by Scottish local authorities in January and February this year.
§ Mr. YoungerLocal authorities submitted schemes for 193 houses in January and 390 in February for formal approval to proceed, and preliminary cost plan proposals for a further 449 houses in January and 1,025 in February.
§ Mr. EwingThe Minister will appreciate that the submissions were the first figures that he gave, not the latter figures, which relate to cost plan proposals. Is he aware that against the background of these figures he will soon be another victim of redundancy as a result of the Government's policies? Is he satisfied with these figures of submissions in January and February as a contribution towards solving the housing problem in Scotland?
§ Mr. YoungerI did not say that. The hon. Gentleman will know that an exceptionally large number of submissions was made at the end of 1971 because of the attractiveness of the scheme introduced by the Government as part of the Housing Finance Act arrangements. There is now a rising trend of approvals and starts in housing compared with a falling trend in the last three years of the Labour Government's tenure of office. The number of houses of all kinds now under construction in Scotland totals over 40,000, which augurs well for the next few years.
§ Mr. MacArthurWill my hon. Friend give some guidance to the House by telling us how we can make hon. Gentlemen on the Opposition side look cheerful about good news?
§ Mr. YoungerThat is not one of the many matters which comes under my responsibilities, but I shall be glad to help my hon. Friend with any suggestions he may produce.
§ Mr. RossIf this is good news for the hon. Gentleman, he has a strange idea about the needs of Scotland. These are about the worst figures we have ever had. Are they an indication of how unattractive the long-term proposals are compared with the short-term offer that was given? Does the hon. Gentleman realise that the long-term proposals will prove very 1278 serious for the future house building programme in Scotland?
§ Mr. YoungerI do not agree with the right hon. Gentleman. When we have rising approvals and starts we can expect to receive rising completions in a year or two. He may be glad to know that in 1970 there were 17,061 approvals for local authority houses, in 1971 there were 19,376 and in 1972 there were 23,489.