§ Mr. Coleasked the Minister of Works what measure of industrial building licensing control he proposes to retain in Luton in view of the intended eventual total abolition of that form of control elsewhere in the country; and whether he will give an assurance that the only object of retaining licensing control over industrial building construction in that area would be to avoid overloading the building industry in view of the amount of essential building work to be done and that licensing control would not be used as the means of restricting or prohibiting industrial building in order to limit the further development and growth of Luton.
§ Sir D. EcclesThe object of building licensing is to regulate the load of work according to the capacity of the building industry in the locality. In Luton, as elsewhere, licences for industrial building above the free limit of £25,000 are issued freely but, as pressure on the building industry in that area is heavy, new projects have normally to wait three months before they can start.