§ 50. Mr. Mappasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will now seek to recruit appropriate technical teams to be seconded as required to 57W those areas facing heavy slum clearance problems where the local resources are overstrained.
§ Sir K. JosephNo. This is primarily a task for local government and the authorities are tackling it with great success. I am encouraging them to make the best use of their skilled manpower by working together and the authorities are also receiving help and advice from my regional offices in Manchester and Newcastle.
§ 51. Mr. Mappasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will now announce his proposals for additional subsidy or financial assistance covering slum clearance and rehousing in the 38 towns whose clearance programmes require acceleration.
§ Sir K. JosephI have not yet completed the review of housing subsidies which I am undertaking in consultation with the local authorities. In the meantime I have no evidence that local authorities cannot continue building under present arrangements and still let their houses at rents within the means of their tenants, so long as they adopt rent policies that channel subsidies to those most in need.