§ Lord E. PERCYasked the Minister of Health whether the figures, published in the Board of Trade and Ministry of Labour Gazettes, of the building plans approved by local authorities during the last 15 months indicate a reduction in the activities of local authorities in the quarter July to September, 1929, as compared with the corresponding quarter of 1928, and the three subsequent quarters; and, if so, what is the amount of this reduction?
§ Miss LAWRENCEThe tables in the Board of Trade and Ministry of Labour862W Gazettes to which the Noble Lord apparently refers, relate to variations in the estimated cost of buildings of fill kinds for which plans were passed by less than 150 local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland, during certain periods. They are not confined to buildings erected by the local authorities themselves. No inference of a reduction in the activities of local authorities in the provision of houses under the Housing Acts can therefore be drawn from those figures.