§ Sir A. Bossomasked the Minister of Works if he will investigate the present system of granting the many permits required for all building work, and ensure that all permits are handled at one time through the co-operation of all the different authorities concerned, so as to save
20W
TOTAL COST OF WATER AND SEWERAGE SCHEMES IN ENGLAND AND WALES APPROVED FOR GRANT UNDER THE RURAL WATER SUPPLIES AND SEWERAGE ACTS, 1944–1955, FROM THE 1ST JANUARY, 1952 TO THE 31ST DECEMBER, 1958 — Water Supply Sewerage England Wales Total England Wales Total £ £ £ £ £ £ Formal undertakings to pay grant totalling 12,588,798 3,837,299 16,426,097 13,586,910 1,657,530 15,244,440 Have been given towards schemes estimated to cost 42,024,812 6,922,416 48,947,228 40,689,290 3,247,306 43,936,596 IN ADDITION Provisional grants total ling 2,838,645 1,617,773 4,456,418 2,403,718 675,548 3,079,266 Have been allocated towards schemes estimated to cost 9,265,925 3,013,441 12,278,766 6,655,795 1,385,749 8,041,544 time and money in the completion of all new buildings.
§ Mr. H. BrookeI have been asked to reply.
The present system of granting permits for building work has been thoroughly examined on a number of occasions to see if it could be simplified in the way my hon. Friend has suggested. The difficulty is that different permits are required for different purposes; developers may want them at different times, and some are required for certain types of building only. I do not think that it would be practicable to amalgamate them in the manner suggested, or that in the majority of cases this would make for greater convenience.