HC Deb 24 October 1973 vol 861 cc1231-3
5. Mr. Ewing

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many local authority houses were completed by Scottish local authorities in the first three quarters of 1973 and what were the completion figures for the first three quarters of 1972, 1971, 1970, 1969 and 1968.

The Under-Secretary of State for Development, Scottish Office (Mr. George Younger)

The rounded figures for the first three quarters in each year, beginning with 1973 and ending with 1968, are 10,500, 12,500, 16,000, 21,000, 19,000 and 18,000.

Mr. Ewing

The Minister should hang his head in shame in acknowledgment of his responsibility for these disgraceful figures. Will he do the decent thing and now resign before he drives the people of Scotland into living in tents?

Mr. Younger

I think that the hon. Gentleman's views bear no relation to the facts. Every local authority in Scotland with a need for houses receives every encouragement, both financially and otherwise, from me to provide them. The number of houses under construction is increasing and the amount of improvement going on may be indicated by the fact that during the first nine months of this year no fewer than 64,000 houses were approved for improvement. That means better homes for all those people.

Mr. James Hamilton

Will the hon. Gentleman concede that the record of the previous Government is far better than the record of the present Government? Will he recognise that included in the houses that have been built and in the starts he has announced are houses costing £60,000 and £70,000? Will he also recognise that, because of the Housing (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act, local authorities are not getting the same incentive to build the houses which are urgently required for the people in these areas?

Mr. Younger

On the contrary, under the Housing (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1972 local authorities receive a far better incentive to build new houses. They all realise that, and this is why they are gearing their programmes to meet it. With regard to the records of respective Governments, I should like to point out that it is necessary for an intelligent Government to make their housing policy to fit the needs of the people who will live in the houses.

Mr. Hamilton

At £60,000 a house?

Mr. Younger

That is why it is necessary now to build the sort of houses that people are prepared to live in and to build them where people want them. In so far as I make any criticism of the previous Government's housing policy, it is that there were some areas in which they failed to do that, and the results are now apparent.

Mr. Wolrige-Gordon

To complete the picture, will my hon. Friend consider giving the figures for private house building?

Mr. Younger

The figures for private house building this year are most encouraging. More than 9,000 houses were built for private owners in the first nine months of 1973, which was no fewer than 1,000 more than in the same period in any previous year.

Mr. Ross

Do I understand the situation aright that the figures for this year are exactly half what they were for 1970? I thought that the figure was 10.500, against 21,000 for that year. May we not put what the Government have achieved in a nutshell—put up rents and not houses?

Mr. Younger

The figure quoted by the right hon. Gentleman is correct—that is, the comparison between the two years—but what he must realise, as a person who has had responsibility for housing, is that it is no use simply producing any houses anywhere, because the result is, and always has been, that people refuse to live in them if they are not the sort of houses they want.

Mr. Ewing

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of that reply, I give notice that I shall raise the matter on the Adjournment.