HC Deb 23 May 1950 vol 475 cc231-2W
89. Mr. N. Macpherson

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when it was discovered that Cruden houses were defective in resistance to fire; how many Cruden houses had been constructed and occupied by that time; whether all of that number require treatment; and what is the cost per house rectifying the defect and consequent redecoration.

Mr. T. Fraser

Instructions were issued on 7th March, 1949, to stop the use of fibreboard which had been adopted in these houses during a period of scarcity of other materials. By that time approximately 2,500 houses had been completed, and all but 30 of them will have to be dealt with at an estimated cost of about £240 a house.

90. Mr. N. Macpherson

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland on what grounds the Department of Health have declined to accept responsibility for compensation for damage or disturbance to tenants of Cruden houses incurred while the alterations are being carried out to bring them up to a reasonable standard of fire resistance.

Mr. T. Fraser

Experiments in carrying out the remedial work in occupied houses have shown that, with proper supervision and the co-operation of the tenants, no damage or undue disturbance need arise. The cost of necessary re-decoration carried out by the local authorities, however, will be met.