§ Mr. Quibellasked the Minister of Health the number of agricultural cottages for which tenders have now been accepted; the number of these based on 1091W the plans prepared respectively by his Department and by the Ministry of Works; the highest and lowest accepted tenders, exclusive of land, roads and sewers, for the different types; the number of houses on which work has been begun, or will be begun, before the end of the month; and what action he proposes to take in regard to the houses for which acceptable tenders have not yet been received?
§ Mr. E. BrownTenders have been accepted for 2,668 cottages, of which 2,580 are to be built to the plans prepared by my Department and 88 to the plans prepared by the Ministry of Works. For the cottages based on Ministry of Health plans the highest accepted tenders, exclusive of land, roads, sewers, architects' fees, etc., are £971 for parlour houses and £868 for non-parlour houses. The lowest accepted tenders are £644 for parlour houses and £646 for non-parlour houses. The comparable figures for houses on the Ministry of Works plans, which are all non-parlour, are £807 highest and £635 lowest. Work has begun on 917 houses and is expected to begin on another 595 by the end of the month. As regards the last part of the Question it has been decided that the best course is for the councils concerned to make further efforts to obtain satisfactory tenders and that the best way in which the services of the large builders can be utilised will be to invite them to tender for the individual schemes.