§ Mr. Hurdasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he is satisfied with the response of local authorities to his circular of April, 1954, urging them to encourage fuller use of the grants for house improvement; and what proportion of local authorities are now making grants at the full 50 per cent. rate as Parliament intended.
§ Mr. SandysUp to the end of December, 1954, 927 local authorities in England and Wales had made improvement grants. The increase of 109 over the figures at the end of October, 1954, is encouraging: but I am continuing my efforts to persuade the remaining authorities to adopt these provisions. I regret that the information asked for in the second part of the question is not available.