Mr. Bowerasked the Minister of Health whether he is aware that essential repairs to cottages and houses cannot be carried out promptly owing to shortage of labour; and whether he will, in such cases, advise local authorities not to penalise a house-owner by condemning his property through disrepair when he is willing to have such repairs carried out at the earliest possible moment?
§ Mr. E. BrownI am, of course, aware that it is impracticable fully to preserve peace-time standards in the repair and maintenance of houses because of the demands on labour and materials for essential war purposes, but I have no reason to think that local authorities generally are not bearing this in mind in exercising the powers conferred on them by the Housing Acts. General advice to local authorities on the exercise of their housing powers in war time was1092W given in a circular issued in September, 1939, of which I am sending my hon. Friend a copy.