ARMED FORCES (HOUSING LOANS) BILL (Hansard, 10 December 1953)

§ THE MINISTER OF DEFENCE (EARL ALEXANDER OF TUNIS)
My Lords, I do not think I need take up much of your Lordships' time on this Bill, which was welcomed by all Parties in another place. The effect of the Bill is to extend the provisions of the Armed Forces (Housing Loans) Act, 1949, which was passed by the late Government with the full approval of all Parties. I should like to pay my tribute to the noble Viscount, Lord Alexander of Hillsborough, and his colleagues for their timely forethought in laying the foundations of this plan for 1233 Service housing. Before the 1949 Act was passed, all expenditure on married quarters for the Services had to be provided for in the annual Service Estimates, and the whole capital cost had to be found in the one year. During the war the building of permanent married quarters in this country had, of course, to be suspended. We were short of married quarters then, and in our long-term plans for redeployment we expect to have larger forces in this country than before the war. Furthermore, owing to the reduction in the age of entitlement to marriage allowance, a higher proportion of officers and men are now eligible for married quarters than before the war. The cumulative effect of these factors was that in 1949 the Services were faced with the necessity for building a minimum of 30,000 quarters to meet the minimum foreseeable needs. It was to facilitate the provision of these quarters that the 1949 Act was passed.
Now this Act places the Services in the same position as local authorities for the financing of the building of married quarters. In accordance with its provisions, the Services are permitted to borrow money at the appropriate rate of interest for the purpose of building married quarters and to repay the loan over a period of sixty years. These repayments have to be met out of normal Service Votes. To qualify for the loan, the houses must be of such a type and in such a position as to make them suitable for normal civilian occupation should they at any time no longer be required for Service occupation. Only houses in Great Britain can qualify for a loan. Married quarters in Northern Ireland and abroad still have to be paid for in the ordinary way from Service Votes.
The 1949 Act empowered the Treasury to issue out of the Consolidated Fund up to £40 million during the five years ending March, 1955, to be used to finance the building of approved houses for the Services in Great Britain. Such good progress has been made with the building of married quarters under the Act that the money has been nearly all spent, and this new Bill is required in order that work on the building of quarters may not be held up. At the time the Act was passed it was not known what proportion of the total requirement of 30,000 quarters would satisfy the condition 1234 that they must be suitable for civilian use. In fact, a much higher proportion than expected has qualified for the loan, and that is why this Bill is required, authorising further issues out of the Consolidated Fund by way of loan.
Noble Lords will wish to hear something about the use which has been made of the facilities granted by the 1949 Act. In all,15,000 married quarters have been built or are under construction. Of these, approximately 12,000 have been completed. In addition, some of the money issued under the Act has been used to complete schemes which had been started before the Act was passed. These numbers are almost exactly what were allowed for when the sum of £40 million was originally fixed. I am sure that it is a source of satisfaction to us all to know that the programme has been carried out with such success. There are, of course, married quarters which have to be built in isolated areas in this country and which do not qualify for a loan. These have to be built out of ordinary Service Votes, and in the same period as that covered by the Act nearly 3,000 such houses have been constructed.
I should like now to say a few words about this new Bill. It is a short one, and the one operative clause extends the life of the original Act by five years and increases by £35 million the amount of money which may be borrowed. It is hoped that this will permit the building of a further 15,000 to 16,000 married quarters under the loan arrangements. As at present foreseen, 27 per cent. of the money will be allocated to the Navy, 13 per cent. to the Army and 60 per cent. to the Royal Air Force. The need of the Royal Air Force is greatest because so many aerodromes were built shortly before or during the war and married quarters could not be provided at the time.
At the end of the war, apart from a few residences for senior officers, the Navy had no married quarters. The need for them at isolated establishments, and particularly at Naval air stations, soon became evident, and under the Act of 1949 £6 million was authorised for building at such places. The 27 per cent. allocation to the Admiralty will go only a short way towards solving the Navy's housing problem. This can be solved only gradually along the present lines, and 1235 therefore a further loan for the Navy is likely to be needed in due course. This Bill makes provision for the Navy's second programme of married quarters. They will be built mainly at the Home ports of Portsmouth, Devonport and Chatham. This will be the first time that married quarters have been built at the Home ports. The first programme under the Armed Forces (Housing Loans) Act, 1949, when completed, will have provided for 2,000 married quarters for the Navy, and under this Bill it is hoped to build a further 4,300.
The provisions of the 1949 Act were such as to ensure that full Parliamentary control is maintained over expenditure on housing built with loan money, and this control will apply equally to housing built under the new Act. We all know what an important part in family life is played by satisfactory housing accommodation. It is the policy of the Government to do all in their power to encourage the provision of houses for the people, and the man in the Services has at least as much right as a civilian to satisfactory housing. I should perhaps emphasise that the married quarters which have been built under the 1949 Act, and the additional ones which it is now proposed to build, are to meet the needs of both officers and other ranks. I am sure your Lordships will agree that it is only just that all members of the Forces should have equal opportunities of obtaining married quarters. I commend this Bill to your Lordships' House and I beg to move that it be read a second time.

§ THE EARL OF LUCAN
My Lords, from this side of the House we have nothing but welcome for this Bill, which is carrying on the work begun, as the noble and gallant Earl has said, under the Labour Government in 1949. The progress which has been reported to-day is satisfactory so far as we can see, but I should like to ask one or two questions. With reference to the 60 per cent. of the new loan which is allotted to the Royal Air Force, is it considered that the money provided under this Bill will be adequate to meet entirely the needs of the Royal Air Force? One would suppose that a large number of Air Force stations are 1236 in remote areas which would not qualify under the Act as being capable of fulfilling civilian housing needs, if not wanted for the Services. Perhaps we can be told something about that point. The other question I should like to ask is this. In what proportions are the different types of quarters being planned? It is always one of the problems of the Services, where there is a comparatively small married population in each station, that the quarters have to be built to suit varying sizes of families and, of course, varying ranks. I should like to know how this problem is being dealt with under the present Act. Subject to that, I have nothing further to say, other than to hope that the present measure will be as successful in helping to provide for the needs of the Services as the earlier Act has been.

§ LORD HADEN-GUEST
My Lords, I should like to add a little to what my noble friend has said. In my capacity as Chairman of the National Manpower Committee I visit all Commands in this country. I have also been to a large number of Commands overseas, and have seen the conditions under which both officers and men are housed. I am glad to know that a good deal is now being done abroad, because in some of the areas abroad which I visited a few years ago the housing conditions were not always good. Now I know that they are much improved. I am sure that anyone who has seen for himself, as I have, what the conditions are must heartily welcome this Bill, and be glad that such an important measure, which was brought into operation by the former Government in 1949, has now become entirely outside the sphere of Party politics, and is simply a piece of constructive legislation for the benefit of the Services. It is extremely valuable legislation. When I think of the conditions I have seen in places like Hong Kong, Malaya, Egypt, and in other places in the Near East, as well as those on the Continent, I am glad to know that efforts are being made, and made successfully, to deal with a situation which without this provision would be nothing like so good as it is with it. I think the Forces are to be congratulated on having such provision made for them, 1237 and I am glad to know that the Government are carrying on this work in such an excellent manner.

§ EARL ALEXANDER OF TUNIS
My Lords, I should like to thank noble Lords for their support of my housing programme which, after all, was started by the late Government in 1949. The noble Earl, Lord Lucan, asked about housing in the Royal Air Force. As I explained, during the war a lot of new aerodromes were built and no housing could be put up at the time. Therefore there is a great need in the Royal Air Force for married quarters around these aerodromes. The Services cannot get the money from the Consolidated Fund, through the Treasury, to build marred quarters, unless these houses fulfil certain conditions; namely, that they must be in areas where They can be taken up by the local population when they are finally evacuated by the Services. There is no hard and fast rule about that; the way it is done is by collaboration with local authorities. Wherever possible married quarters are sited on land belonging to the Services; that is to say, where married quarters can be built on aerodromes or on land around aerodromes which belongs to the Services, that will be done. That saves money. Where it is necessary to acquire additional land, the normal procedure is for the Service Department concerned to 1238 have informal talks with the local authorities regarding the selection of the most suitable site. When the site has been provisionally selected formal application is made to the Treasury and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. The Treasury, after consultation with the Ministry of Housing, inform the Service Department whether the project will qualify for a housing loan. This consultation with the local authorities works very well and I can see no difficulty in the future.
The noble Earl, Lord Lucan, probably wishes to know the proportion of married quarters being built for the R.A.F. vis-à-vis the Army and the Navy, whether they qualify for the loan or not, and what proportion do not qualify for the loan through being in far away places. I cannot give him the exact figures, but I can inform him of this: that of course if houses do not qualify for the loan, then they have to be paid for out of the Service Estimates. That would not hold up the building of houses which have to be built. It simply means that the Royal Air Force, if they cannot get money from the loan, will pay for the houses themselves. I hope that is a satisfactory answer.