Oral Answers to Questions — Housing – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 24 November 1947.
Mr William Shepherd
, Bucklow
12:00,
24 November 1947
asked the Minister of Works on the basis of houses completed, how the present output of house building compares with the prewar formula of one house per man per year.
Mr Charles Key
, Poplar Bow and Bromley
In view of the scarcity of prewar data and changes in the size and types of houses, it is difficult to draw a direct comparison between the two periods.
Mr William Shepherd
, Bucklow
Would not the right hon. Gentleman agree that the present rate of output is only 30 per cent. of prewar? Is it not time the Government did something about it?
Mr Charles Key
, Poplar Bow and Bromley
I would not agree with that at all. The average size of the house built by local authorities has increased from 650 square feet to 950 square feet, which is approximately a 50 per cent. increase. Instead of being 12 months per man per house it is now 14 months. Improvement and efficiency have been greatly increased.
Mr William Shepherd
, Bucklow
If the right hon. Gentleman has all this information why did he not give the comparisons for which I asked him in the Question?
Mr Charles Key
, Poplar Bow and Bromley
Because I was asked about a period, and it is difficult to get the necessary statistics for a period.
Mr Ernest Marples
, Wallasey
Will the right hon. Gentleman see that the report of the committee on the cost of house building and output is published?
Mr Charles Key
, Poplar Bow and Bromley
I do not know whether that falls to me or not, but I hope they are aware of the things I have said.
Mr Ernest Marples
, Wallasey
They were appointed by the Minister of Health.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
