§ Mr. Manuelasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what progress is being made in preparing for the metrication of house building in Scotland.
§ Mr. RossDetails of the programme for metrication were brought to the atten-382W tion of local housing authorities in Scottish Development Department Circular No. 27/1968 of 20th May. The programme provides for architects, quantity surveyors and others involved in house design to change to the use of metric terms in drawings and documents for new contracts over the period from 1st January, 1969, to 31st December, 1971.
Having regard to the change to the metric system, and to the recent introduction of a new system of cost planning and indicative costs for local authority housing, I have revised the space standards for local authority housing. The new standards will be expressed in metric terms and will apply where metric terms are being used in the design.
These new standards will give architects greater freedom than hitherto in matching plans to varying family needs, acting always within a single design framework. This wil lenable economical use to be made of components conforming to the new co-ordinated metric dimensions now being evolved; and it should foster greater use of rationalised and industrialised building techniques, without loss of essential variety and flexibility.
To point the way ahead the National Buiuding Agency and the Scottish Special Housing Association are co-operating in the design and construction of a pilot project using metric terms and the new standards which they hope to complete about the end of 1969.