§ Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKSasked the Minister of Health how many houses have been approved for building by the Birmingham Corporation under the Act of 1923; how many have been built; and what is the present deficiency of bricklayers in that city?
§ Mr. WHEATLEYThe number of houses so far authorised to be built by the Birmingham Corporation under the terms of the Housing, Etc., Act., 1923, is 5,000, and 1,410 of these had been completed on the 1st May. I understand that the town council have still about 19,000 applications for houses. As regards the last part of the question, I understand that in a recent report the corporation expressed the view that more than double the number of bricklayers employed were required on the houses then in course of construction, and that several hundred more could have been employed upon a greatly extended programme which the corporation desired to carry out.