§ 7. Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total number of houses built by all local authorities in Wales in 1974; and if he will express the total per 1,000 population.
§ Mr. Alec Jones3,046, which is 9 per cent. better than in 1973. This represents 1.1 local authority dwellings per 1,000 of the population of Wales. There will be a further substantial increase in the current year's figures.
§ Mr. ThomasI am grateful for those figures, but will the Minister confirm that 1.1 per 1,000 population is about the lowest, if not the lowest, in the whole of the United Kingdom? What definite proposals does the Minister have to improve the situation during the present year?
§ Mr. Alec JonesI accept that the figure of 1.1 is abysmally low. It indicates that in the year 1973–74, when the Conservative Party was responsible, they were the lowest figures in Wales for more than 25 years. The Government's present policies are already bringing about substantial improvements in local authority completions. The hon. Gentleman will be pleased to know that they have increased from 2,254 in the first nine months of 1974 to 5,288 in the corre 466 sponding period of 1975—an increase of 135 per cent. If that rate of completions continues, by the end of this year we shall have completed about 7,000 local authority dwellings.
§ Mr. AndersonThere have been reports recently of changes in Government thinking about their policies on crude increases in housing totals in favour of a better use of existing stock by a series of devices. Is this true and, if so, what are the implications for Wales?
§ Mr. Alec JonesThe figures show two things: first, there is a need for a massive increase in the numbers of new houses available for people now on our waiting list; secondly, at the same time we should seek to maximise the use of existing premises by improvement grants. It was for that reason that, with great reluctance, we had temporarily to suspend those financial advantages.