§ 25. Mrs. Knightasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will issue a circular to local authorities urging them to step up the provision of inside lavatories in all council houses or provide covered ways to outside ones.
§ Mr. EyreNo, Sir. I am confident that local authorities are already fully aware of the need for improvement to their houses lacking these and other basic amenities, and of the Exchequer assistance available for such work.
§ Mrs. KnightIs my hon. Friend aware that in the city of Birmingham many hundreds of elderly and infirm people are living in houses without these amenities, and that for these people to have to face the winter months in these conditions is excessively depressing? Is he aware that the city holds out no hope of an early rectification of this matter for elderly people?
§ Mr. EyreThere is no restriction on expenditure by local authorities on improvements of this kind, as far as the Government are concerned. Of course, the administration of a scheme of the kind that my hon. Friend describes is essentially a matter for the local authority.
§ Mr. HefferBut surely the hon. Gentleman accepts that, although in theory there is no stopping a local authority from having the money available, in practice, with all the various problems which it has in relation to building new council houses, and so on, it is an impossible situation. Is he aware that areas such as Birmingham, Liverpool and other great cities, which have a good record of building council houses, now have the problem of modernisation of council houses as well as the need to build more houses? Will he, therefore, make more money available to the great conurbations in order that they can do both these jobs? The Government are failing to provide enough money at present.
§ Mr. EyreI cannot accept the implied criticism made by the hon. Gentleman. 504 So far this year, Government contributions for improvements to 94,100 local authority dwellings have been approved, compared with 77,800 for the same period last year.