HC Deb 28 April 1975 vol 891 cc30-1W
Mr. Greville Janner

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will arrange for compensation to be paid to persons who have suffered loss due to the use of high alumina cement in the construction of their homes.

Mr. Freeson

It would not be right for me to hold out hope of compensation from Government funds.

Mr. Greville Janner

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the latest available estimate of the number of homes and other buildings in which high alumina cement was used for construction purposes before such use was banned.

Mr. Freeson

Available information is that by the end of January some 22,000 buildings containing high alumina cement concrete had been identified. Of these 1,500 are educational buildings, 7,700 are other non-domestic buildings, and 12,800, containing 60,000 dwellings, are used for housing. Of these last, 7,400 buildings—41,000 dwellings—are owned by local authorities.