Mr. WATSONasked the First Lord of the Admiralty (1) If, in view of the serious reductions in wages at Rosyth dockyard, he is prepared to consider making arrangements with the Scottish National Housing Company for a substantial reduction in the rents of the houses at the garden city;
(2) if he is aware of the practice of the Scottish National Housing Company in raising the rents of the householders at Rosyth garden city who have been discharged from the dockyard, and that on the reinstatement of these men in the dockyard the rents arc maintained at the higher level; is he aware that the same practice prevails at the bungalow city; and will he take steps to have this system stopped.
§ Mr. AMERYThe Admiralty have no control over the rents charged by the Company, but it was agreed that rents at an uneconomic rate could he raised when the occupants left Admiralty employment, though not before they obtained other work. I agree that there is an anomaly in such men paying the increased rate after re-entry in the dockyard while their colleagues who were not discharged 403W continue to enjoy the unincreased rate, and I am having the matter looked into at once to see if any accommodation is possible. I am advised that rents generally paid by Admiralty employés are substantially the same as those charged by the Burgh of Dunfermline for houses erected under the national housing scheme, so that I fear no general reduction could be justified.