§ Sir I. Alberyasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works what supply of building labour it is estimated will be available to deal with works to be executed under private arrangements, such as war damage repairs, rebuilding and conversion, after providing the necessary labour force for the Government's building programme.
§ Mr. HicksThe number of building and civil engineering operatives available at 1st September, 1944, for work other than Government new work and maintenance is estimated to have been about 215,000.426W It is hoped that this number will be hi-creased by the end of the year. A large proportion of these men were, of course, employed on war-damage repairs to houses carried out by local authorities.