§ 61 and 62. Mr. Dribergasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government (1) if he is aware that residents of Coverdale Road, Barking, are suffering extreme hardship, and that in one of these houses five children, one of whom is tuberculous, are sleeping in the parents' room because of serious damp and the presence of rats and mice in other rooms, and that this is due, in part, to his 55W department's long delay in holding a public inquiry; and if he will cause this to be held at once;
(2) if he is aware that residents in slum houses in and near Coverdale Road, Barking, could have been rehoused by the local authority by or soon after the end of 1967 if there had not been so long a delay in holding the necessary public local inquiry; and why this inquiry cannot be held before January, 1968.
§ Mr. MacCollAs I told my hon. Friend when I wrote to him in October, I appreciate the position of the occupiers of some of these properties, and I have already taken steps to fix the earliest possible inquiry date. So far as urgent rehousing is concerned, the Council are not restricted in any way by the existence of the Compulsory Purchase Order.