§ LORD BROUGHSHANEMy Lords, I beg to ask the question standing in my name.
§ [The question was as follows:
§ To ask His Majesty's Government, whether in connection with the national housing programme the Government are satisfied that the productivity of labour is equal to what it was before the war, when housing was mainly undertaken by private enterprise.]
§ LORD HENDERSONMy Lords, in the absence of adequate pre-war records it is not possible to make a reliable comparison between pre-war and present day productivity. Labour output was adversely affected by war conditions, but the industry has undertaken to restore productivity to the 1938 level as soon as possible. I would remind the noble Lord that the great majority of housing work is now, as it was before the war, carried out by private firms, whether under contract to local authorities or otherwise.
§ LORD BROUGHSHANEArising out of the question, I wonder if the noble Lord could tell me what estimate he has of the number of men it now takes to build a house in a month. He will remember it was estimated pre-war that on an annual average of all trades twelve men built a house in a month, or one man in a year. I wonder if he has any information as to how that compares with present day conditions.
§ LORD HENDERSONMy Lords, I am not able to give any information about that. I think it is covered generally by the reference I have made to the inability to get comparable data. I will, however, certainly raise the matter with my right honourable friend the Minister of Works and Buildings, and see whether it is possible to get any information on the particular point which the noble Lord has raised in his supplementary question.