§ Mr. WALTER SMITHasked the Minister of Health (1) whether his attention has been drawn to the serious state of overcrowding in the area covered by the Hinckley Rural District Council, where two families are occupying small houses, necessitating small children sleeping on the floor downstairs; whether he purposes taking any steps to remove this state of things;
(2) whether his attention has been drawn to the statement of the Barwell, Leicestershire Parish Council that there are in that area five cases of three families living in one house, and 72 cases of two families living in one house; and what steps he proposes to take to remedy this state of things;
(3) whether, in view of the bad housing conditions in the area of the Hinckley Rural District Council, where houses judged to be unfit for human habitation cannot be closed owing to the great shortage of houses, he will take steps to secure the completion of the further 20 houses asked for by the authority in the Barwell area; and will he have an inquiry made with a view to other houses being erected to meet the needs of the people in the district?
§ Sir A. MONDI am aware of the housing position in the Hinckley rural district. In addition to the 180 houses which have been built, or are in course of erection, in the district under the Assisted Scheme, I have authorised the council to obtain tenders for the erection of a further six houses in the parish of Barwell.