When the Secretary of State for Scotland presents the Estimates which are under discussion to-day he is not faced with an easy task on account of the multiplicity of the subjects which are dealt with and the many difficulties associated with the administration of the Board of Health, which is so intimately connected with so many aspects of our national health system. We are right to-day in complimenting the Secretary of State upon the things which have been done, but he has studiously avoided dealing with the things which ought to have been done and which it was quite possible to deal with under the existing laws. The report with which we are dealing enables us to discuss almost every aspect of administration under the Department of Health. The task of the Secretary of State is made quite easy because he has an efficient staff behind him in the Department of Health and, therefore, through this House I think we are entitled to compliment the staff on the report which we are discussing to-day, which makes it so easy to follow the administrative work of the Department, and also to make what I hope will be useful criticisms on the methods which have been adopted.

The Secretary of State dealt with this comprehensive report under eight headings. I propose to deal only with two, and to make some brief reference to one or two others. Special emphasis has been laid on the fact that the departmental work has been made exceedingly onerous and difficult during the past year by the large amount of emergency work which has been caused by the international situation and the work what it is absolutely necessary should be done because of the threat of an attack from an enemy. One of the points made was that Civil Defence work had been pressed forward by local authorities. I wish every local authority had given anxious thought and consideration to the problem, and had dealt with it with energy and enthusiasm, but I am afraid that cannot be said to have been the case. I know local authorities in Scotland who have not faced their responsibilities in the matter of providing protection for the citizens in their own areas in the case of an outbreak of war.

We were told that the health services in Scotland are paying a good dividend. That is true. We ought not to be so niggardly in providing money for those services, for money wisely spent either on preserving or restoring the health of the community undoubtedly gives to the State a good dividend by providing it with healthy people better able and more willing to carry out those duties which are part of the ordinary life of the citizen. It was also emphasised that hospitals are included in the general improvement which took place in Scottish health administration. Before concluding my remarks, I shall deal especially with the question of hospitals and the need for a really effective organisation in this connection, not merely for peace-time purposes, but because of the desperate international situation, although, of course, there would be many peace-time advantages resulting from a really effective organisation.

The problem of housing has been dealt with by most, if not all, of the hon. Members who have spoken. I think it would be true to say that, despite the fact that 19,160 houses were completed last year, the Secretary of State himself is not satisfied with that progress. The problem is so great, the housing conditions are so intolerable and indefensible, that even if we reached the figure of 25,000, which I think was the ideal set up for the purpose of trying to deal with the housing problem, we could not be satisfied, seeing that so many thousands of our people arc living in conditions that are a disgrace to civilisation, conditions for which no one can take credit and towards the removal of which, both in the rural and urban areas, every possible effort should be directed. We were told that 19,160 houses were completed last year. We have received some indication of the number of houses for which estimates have been accepted and which are either in course of construction or for which plans have been approved.

It would give us some indication of the progress that is likely to be made in 1939 if we could be given some estimate of the number of houses which it is expected will be completed in 1939. From the limited knowledge which I have of local administration, I know that, in a place which I could name, for at least three years in succession houses have reappeared in the estimatesas being houses under construction. If we took as actual figures the figures of houses under construction that appear each year in the Department's report, there is no doubt in my mind that we should have practically solved the housing problem by this time. In the case which I have in mind, a housing scheme was started almost three years ago, and the houses that were approved of have not yet been completed. There is a special point that I want to raise in dealing with the problem of housing. Several hon. Members have referred to the need for grants to be paid for the reconstruction of existing houses. I am rather afraid that many local authorities do not realise the power which they have under Acts already in existence. A special reference is made on page 21 of the report to a power which the local authorities have, but which I am sure not all of them, and perhaps even not the majority of them, realise they have. That paragraph reads: In 1938 the Department approved proposals under Section 35 of the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1935, for the reconstruction or improvement by local authorities of 76 dwellings belonging to themselves, with the aid of grants under the Housing (Rural Workers) Acts. Since the Act of 1935 was passed, the Department have approved proposals for the reconstruction of a total of 135 dwellings in this category, of which the reconstruction of 64 has been completed I think that the attention of local authorities should be specially drawn to the power which they have under that Act. It may be said that the Act does not allow them to reconstruct or improve privately-owned property, but there is no reason why they should not do as the local authority I have in mind did. They had the power—and to the best of my knowledge the Department have placed no obstruction in their way—-to acquire existing property that is well constructed, but has no modern conveniences. The town council which I have in mind bought 12 houses which were perhaps better property than is being built to-day under municipal schemes, but which had no modern conveniences. At very little cost, it will be possible to turn those 12 houses into three blocks of four and make really modern dwellings of them. Under the section of the Act to which I have referred, it is competent for the town council to reconstruct those houses under the Housing (Rural Workers) Act and to make application for a grant, and there is nothing that will keep the Department from giving the grant, provided that, when constructed, the houses are let to people in a similar economic position to agricultural labourers.

Here is a glorious opportunity for the reconstruction, not of derelict property, but of well-constructed property, and for putting in the houses all that is required to bring them up to modern standards. Such houses, in the case I have in mind, are available for the old people and, if necessary, for the young people who are desirous of getting decent, modem houses instead of the old houses which they have only a limited chance of getting at the present time. In this case, the town council was able to purchase these three blocks of property at a maximum of seven years' purchase price based on the rental which was being paid for the property at that time. It was a good business proposition, and I think the same sort of thing could be done in many other parts of Scotland. Again, I would emphasise the need for drawing the attention of local authorities to this power which they have.