§ Mr. Stallardasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether, in view of the proposals contained in the White Paper "Better Homes—The Next Priorities", he will give early consideration to the shortage of building workers in the inner London area, available for employment in the implementation of these proposals.
§ Mr. ChannonYes. This is a difficult problem both in London and elsewhere. Steps have been and are being taken to improve the supply of craftsmen to the industry, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment and I are keeping a careful watch on the position.
§ Mr. Stallardasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the existing known number of slum houses borough by borough in each of the 32 Greater London boroughs.
§ Mr. ChannonA regional distribution of the number of unfit dwellings in England and Wales estimated by the 1971 House Condition Survey is given in Table 3 of the Annex to the White Paper "Better Homes—The Next Priorities" (Cmnd. 5339) which was laid before Parliament by my right hon. and learned Friend on 12th June. The estimated number of unfit dwellings in the 391W South-East Region, which includes Greater London, is 231,000. An accurate breakdown of these results to smaller units is not available. The hon. Member may wish to approach local authorities direct for their estimates of the number of unfit dwellings in their area.