§ Order of the day for the Third Reading read.
§ LORD SNELLMy Lords, I promised the noble Marquess, Lord Salisbury, that in moving the Third Reading of this Bill I would give him certain information. I have now obtained information from the Departments concerned regarding the numbers of applications for loans and grants for the reconditioning of rural cottages. As the noble Marquess surmised, by far the majority of people prefer a grant to a loan. In England and Wales only 78 out of 23,693 applicants 258 have asked for loans, and in Scotland the proportion is even smaller. The fact that the conditions specified in Section 3 of the Act of 1926 do not apply in the case of a loan, as distinct from a grant, is not, apparently, a sufficient counter-attraction. I beg to move that the Bill be now read a third time.
§ Moved, That the Bill be now read 3a.—(Lord Snell.)
§ On Question, Bill read 3a, and passed