Viscountess ASTORasked the Minister Labour, as representing the Ministry of Health, whether he is aware that the Plymouth Town Council have spent about £40,000 on making roads, drains, etc., on the Swilley Estate, as part of an assisted housing scheme, but are now unable to proceed through lack of money; and in view of the need for houses and of the number of unemployed in the locality, what aid the Government propose to give?
§ Major BOYD-CARPENTERMy right hon. Friend is aware of the position. A 1791W number of local authorities in similar circumstances have decided to proceed with the erection of additional houses without financial assistance, and he trusts, in view of the greatly reduced cost of building, that the Plymouth Town Council will realise the desirability of using their developed sites for the erection of houses outside the assisted scheme in so far as private enterprise may not meet the need.