§ 7. Viscountess Davidsonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in view of the fact that the lack of housing is the biggest bar to recruitment for the Metropolitan Police, whether he will now give details of the steps he is taking, in conjunction with the Minister of Health, to overcome this problem.
§ Mr. EdeSteps have been and are being taken, with the co-operation of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Health, to provide additional married quarters and police houses to the extent that the restricted supplies of labour and materials and the difficulty of obtaining sites will allow, and it is hoped to start work on about 400 houses during the first half of this year. In October, 1945, my right hon. Friend drew the special attention of housing authorities to the needs of the police, and the Commissioner of Police and his officers have constantly endeavoured to secure the assistance of housing authorities in the Metropolitan Police district in the housing of police officers.