88  THE  HOUSING  QUESTION

Re-housing  Schemes  shall  be  fully  subsidised  by  the  h
Treasury.  A
The  Minister  of  Health  has  thus  by  his  administrative  s
action  defied  the  Act,  and  to  all  intents  and  purposes  o
entirely  stopped  the  possibility  of  the  use  of  small  u
empty  houses  by  Local  Authorities  for  their  working  1
classes.  The  breach  of  faith  is  gross.  q
(2)  The  reduction  of  amenities  and  of  the  size  of  rooms.  ^
The  following  reply  was  given  in  the  House  of
Commons  on  nth  May,  1921  :—  I
Mr.  Gillis  asked  the  Minister  of  Health  whether  the  Ministry  r
are  now  obtaining  tenders  for  houses  on  housing  schemes  at  ^300  L

less  per  house  than  in  September  last  by  cutting  out  all  Type
“  B  "  parlour  houses  and  substituting  Class  “A”  non-parlour  (
houses  ;  omitting  all  dressers,  cupboards,  etc.,  reducing  the  size
of  rooms  ;  and  cutting  out  upstairs  bath-rooms  and  lavatory
basins  and  placing  bath  in  scullery,  to  be  fed  from  washing  copper,  C
thus  doing  away  with  all  hot-water  service.  g
Sir  A.  Mono  :  “  The  reductions  which  have  been  made  in  r
tenders  have  in  general  been  due  to  lower  costs  of  production
and  not  to  the  substitution  of  one  type  of  house  for  another,
and  have  not  averaged  so  much  as  £300  per  house.  Modifications  t
in  design  have  been  advised  where  necessary  to  secure  economy,  ]
but  these  have  not  been  of  such  a  character  as  is  suggested.”  j
The  last  twelve  words  of  the  reply  were  definitely  and
categorically  false.  All  the  kinds  of  modification  1
suggested  in  Mr.  Gillis’  question  had  been  taking  £
place  constantly  at  the  express  instance  of  the  Minister  ^
of  Health  in  his  dealings  with  all  Local  Authorities.
The  utmost  pressure  was  continuously  brought  to  bear
by  the  Regional  Officials  of  the  Ministry  upon  the