§ Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee read.
§ 2.27 p.m.
§ THE MINISTER OF WORKS (LORD PORTAL)My Lords, in moving that this House do resolve itself into Committee on this Bill I think that it will be for the convenience of your Lordships if I take this opportunity of replying to certain points which were raised in the Second Reading debate by my noble friends Lord Latham and Lord Balfour of Burleigh. I undertook to examine them and to give a reply on this stage of the Bill. My noble friend Lord Latham asked whether it is the case that wherever the cost of land exceeds the normal which has been taken by the Minister of Health in his estimates, the local authority will be entitled to 80 per cent. of the increased annual charge. My answer is that that is definitely what is proposed. I am sorry to see that my noble friend Lord Balfour of Burleigh is not here. He asked whether I could enlighten him further on the intention to site thirteen bungalows to the acre. On that I would say that the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Town and Country Planning and my own Ministry are working out sites which will include a number of ways and means of arranging bungalows up to a maximum of thirteen to the acre on a typical site. If my noble friend has a particular site in view, we shall be glad to go into the matter with him and see how it can be laid out to the best advantage. My noble friend also raised the question of whether the smaller local authorities will have made available to them the best technical skill to advise them in their lay-outs. My answer is that it is the intention of the Minister of Health to help them in this way. I beg to move.
§ Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(Lord Portal.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to; House in Committee accordingly. Bill reported without amendment.
409§ Then. Standing Order No. XXXIX having been suspended, Bill read 3ª, and passed.