§ 87. Mr. Remnantasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether he is now satisfied with the existing arrangements for rehousing Service men on discharge, where they have been in occupation of married quarters.
§ Mr. SandysIn a circular dated 8th March, I recommended to housing authorities that any application for a council house from a Regular ex-Service man, who had found employment in or near the district or had family connections with it (provided the application is made within one year of his leaving the forces), should be considered exclusively on the basis of his housing need and without regard to the length of his residence in the locality. I asked authorities to let me know their practice in this regard and invited any, who saw difficulty in treating ex-Service men in this way, to send me particulars of the problem in their area.
Out of 1,467 local authorities in England and Wales to whom the circular of the 8th March was sent, 1,329 have now replied. Of these, 966 have assured me that they were already applying the principles which I recommended. Two hundred and twenty-two have stated that, whilst they had not done so hitherto, they would in future bring their practice into conformity with my recommendations. Thirty-five authorities have given unsatisfactory replies. Ninety-seven have 178W given partially satisfactory replies and nine are reconsidering their practice.
All replies which are not fully satisfactory are being followed up, and further reminders are being sent to authorities who have not yet let me know their practice.