asked the Minister of Works whether he is aware of the increasing dilapidation of property, which is caused by the present ruling that total repairs authorised by any local authority must be strictly limited to the figure imposed by the present weekly ceiling; and when he anticipates it will be possible to raise this ceiling.

I regret that, with the present shortages of building labour and materials, it is necessary to limit the amount of maintenance and repair work which is licensed. The licensing ceilings are intended as a guide to the amount of building work which can be done with the available labour and materials including work under statutory notices and statutory directions. Restrictions can be relaxed as the pressure of demand for building work eases and labour and materials become more plentiful.

asked the Minister of Works the number of licences and their value that have been granted for building repairs by his Department and, separately, by the local authorities in the London region for each month, January to May inclusive, in each case showing, respectively, the amounts for housing and non-housing repairs and the overall ratio of housing and non-housing licences in terms of value.

I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT details of the value of the licences that have been issued for building repairs by my Department and by the local authorities in the London region. Information regarding the number of licences is not readily available.

Following are the details:

In money value licences for building repairs in the London Region have been granted by the Ministry of Works and by the local authorities as follows:

Note.—These figures relate only to building repairs for which building licences were granted. The approximate 60: 40 ratio between housing and other work relates to the building programme as a whole including new housing and other work to provide additional dwelling accommodation.