§ Sir Smedley Crookeasked the Minister of Health if his attention has been drawn to the Birmingham City Council's scheme for reconditioning houses damaged by enemy action, to meet the acute shortage of this class of house and of the misgiving which is felt by the council's estates department owing to the decision of the War Damage Commission to classify those built before 1914, as cost of works, which will exclude hundreds of houses of the six-roomed type in the city; and will he take steps to have this decision reconsidered, as there appears to be no reason for this exclusion.
§ Mr. WillinkAs regards the classifications made by the War Damage Commission, my hon. Friend presumably intended to refer to cases classified as "total 51W losses" ranking for a value payment. I am advised by the Commission that, under the provisions of a Treasury Direction issued after consultation with my Department among others as to the requirements of the public interest in respect of the provision of housing accommodation, the Commission have classified as eligible for cost of works payments many houses built before 1914 even though the war damage was so severe that in ordinary course a value payment might have been appropriate. Moreover, the Commission some weeks ago informed the Chairman of the Birmingham Estates Committee that they would reconsider their classification of "total loss" in respect of any house which the authority showed to the Commission's satisfaction was eligible for a cost of works payment under the terms of the Treasury Direction.