§ Mr. Molloyasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government if he will take further action to improve the statistical information about housing.
§ Mr. GreenwoodYes. I have, in consultation with my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales, been considering ways in which we can improve information on housing and the speed at which it is made available to Parliament and the public.
Housing statistics are at present published in three forms. A simple monthly Housing Summary covering Great Britain. Every quarter two Housing Returns are published, one for England and Wales and one for Scotland. In addition Housing Statistics covering Great Britain is published quarterly. This last includes much of the information in the two Housing Returns and a great deal more in addition. The two Returns have however appendices which give information about local housing progress, though in an inconvenient form.
We propose to amplify the information in the monthly Housing Summary by adding figures for housing starts and the number of houses under construction. Since the information in the quarterly Housing Return for England and Wales duplicates that in Housing Statistics this Return will no longer be published. The Appendix to the Housing Return will be replaced by a new quarterly publication—Local Housing Statistics: England and Wales—which will provide more information in a more convenient form.
The quarterly Housing Return for Scotland will continue for the time being, as it contains information which is not available elsewhere, but my right hon. Friend has its revision under consideration.