§ Mrs. Beckettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what was the number of substandard board and lodgings reported by his Department's local inspectors during the year up to April; and in how many cases the local authority is recorded as having taken action, given (a) nationally, (b) by his Department's regions and (c) by his Department's local office areas;
262W(2) what instructions he has issued to his Department's local offices to report apparently substandard board and lodging accommodation to local authorities so that they can take appropriate action for the period after April 1986; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NewtonThe instructions issued to local offices in March 1985 (circular S 12/85) concerning the reporting to local authorities of apparently substandard houses in multiple occupation remain current although offices are no longer required to maintain statistics.
Returns have not yet been received from all local offices but the latest available information indicates that nationally the number of apparently substandard houses in multiple occupation reported to local authorities during the year ended April 1986 was 327 and that action to improve standards was taken in 165 cases.
The regional and local offices area breakdown of these figures is shown in the table (offices supplying `nil' returns are excluded):
263W
Office Number of Referrals Number of cases London North Region Hackney 6 — Hemel Hempstead 1 1 Kings Lynn 2 1 Leytonstone 1 — Luton 1 1 Oxford 1 — Southend 5 2 Wood Green 1 — Regional Total 18 5 London South Region Bloomsbury 2 1 Bognor Regis 1 1 Eastbourne 2 2 Folkestone 1 1 Hastings 2 — Kennington 1 — Rochester 1 1 Sittingbourne 1 1 Southwark 1 1 Surbiton 2 1 Twickenham 1 — Woking 1 — Worthing 24 22 Regional Total 40 31 Wales and South West Region Barnstaple 12 1 Barry 3 — Blackwood 1 — Bridgend 1 — Bristol (Central) 8 4 Bristol (South) 6 6 Cardiff (Central) 2 2 Cardiff (East) 10 5 Plymouth 3 — Pontypridd 1 — Port Talbot 1 1 Rhyl 3 3 St. Austell 64 18 Swansea 5 — Swindon 2 2 Regional Total 122 42 Midland Region Birmingham (Bradford Street) 2 —
Office Number of Referrals Number of cases Birmingham (Handsworth) 2 — Birmingham (Washwood) 2 — Boston 11 — Derby (Becket Street) 3 1 Dudley North 1 1 Leamington 5 5 Nottingham (Castle Gate) 3 2 Nottingham (Station Street) 4 2 Skegness 2 — Stafford 8 8 Stoke-on-Trent 15 — Regional Total 58 19 North Eastern Region Bridlington 1 — Doncaster (East) 2 1 Eston 1 1 Hemsworth 1 1 Middlesbrough 3 1 Newcastle (St. James) 2 1 Redcar 7 4 Rotherham (South) 2 2 Sheffield (North West) 1 — South Shields 1 1 Sunderland (South) 2 2 York 2 1 Regional Total 25 15 North Western Region Ashton-under-Lyme 1 — Blackburn 1 — Bootle 1 1 Failsworth 1 1 Manchester (Longsight) 5 2 Manchester (Openshaw) 1 1 Preston South 2 2 Rochdale 3 3 Southport 3 1 Regional Total 18 11 Scotland Cowdenbeath 1 1 Edinburgh (North) 33 31 Fort William 1 — Glasgow (City) 5 5 Glasgow (Parkhead) 4 4 Leven 2 1 Regional Total 46 42