§ Mr. MacGregorasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what are the estimated costs of carrying out the pilot housing survey currently being undertaken by his Department in the South Norfolk area;
(2) if he will give further details of the particular purpose of the pilot housing survey currently being undertaken in the South Norfolk area, bearing in mind that the stated objective is to enable the Department to see whether the questions are properly worded;
(3) why it was considered necessary to send a Government pencil to all respondents receiving the questionnaire on the pilot housing survey sent to the South Norfolk area.
§ Mr. ArmstrongThe need for, and methods of obtaining, broadly based key housing information is being considered particularly in the context of the housing policy review. The purpose of the small pilot survey in South Norfolk was to test questionnaire design and the relative efficiency of household interviewer and postal enquiries in rural conditions. The total cost of the pilot is £2,500. A pencil was sent with the postal inquiries because it is more efficient when handling questionnaires designed for optical mark sensor reading to use an appropriate type of pencil.