HC Deb 31 January 1973 vol 849 cc1338-41
6. Mr. Edward Taylor

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the progress made in implementing the Housing Finance Act 1972.

Mr. Gordon Campbell

The Act is now being implemented almost everywhere in Scotland. I expect to receive local inquiry reports in the next few days in relation to six small burghs. In addition there is the large burgh of Clydebank. In that case the Court of Session yesterday made an order requiring the town council within seven days to instruct its officials to prepare a rebate scheme and proposals for rent increases in accordance with the Act.

Mr. Taylor

Can my right hon. Friend assure me that those tenants who are entitled to rent rebates or allowances and have not received them because of delay in operating the Act will have those rebates and allowances backdated by the authorities concerned?

Mr. Campbell

I cannot make a forecast for the future, but I can tell my hon. Friend that the lower-paid and the unemployed in Clydebank will benefit from the new scheme, which will make them better off and have to pay less rent than under the present scheme being operated by Clydebank town council.

Mr. McElhane

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that one part of the Act has caused a great deal of misery among old-age pensioners, namely, the provision which has the consequence that the social security office stops paying rent allowances? The Government did not bother to inform old-age pensioners, so that rent allowances have now stopped yet rent demands are coming from, for example, the SSHA, which was not geared for the change. Will the right hon. Gentleman recognise that much unnecessary hardship and misery was caused to old-age pensioners through lack of information from the Government?

Mr. Campbell

There was no lack of information provided by the Government, but there was a certain amount of misinformation put round by others. I shall look into the point, but I believe that in Glasgow it may have been connected with the late implementation of the Act in respect of Glasgow. Again, however, I must point out as regards Clydebank, which is the one large burgh which has not yet started implementing the Act, that those on small household incomes will do better under the new rent and rebate scheme than under the present scheme being operated by Clydebank.

Mr. MacArthur

Will my right hon. Friend assure the House that, if and when it becomes necessary, he will use to the full his statutory powers in order to demonstrate to local authorities and everyone else that no one in Britain can flout the law with impunity?

Mr. Campbell

I have already carried out the procedures under the 1947 Act, which apply when local authorities fail to implement Acts passed by the House, as fast as those procedures allow, and firmly. I intend to continue carrying out properly the legislation—in particular the 1947 Act—which governs the situation.

Dr. Dickson Mabon

What qualifications, if any, will be applied to the operation of the Act by the Prime Minister's statement at Lancaster House earlier this month and the proposals made to try to alleviate the difficulties arising from inflation?

Mr. Campbell

The proposal is to raise the needs allowance by £3.50. This is an adjustment of the rent rebates scheme. The making of such adjustments from time to time, as required, was envisaged; this one is to be made in the near future.

Mr. Buchan

How does the Secretary of State square in his conscience what he is now doing with two other facts—the promise to grant freedom to local authorities, and his encouragement in the past to the city of Edinburgh to flout the law in relation to fee-paying schools?

Mr. Campbell

I have repudiated that second point several times in the House, and I challenge the hon. Gentleman to find any occasion when I have done as he suggests. As regards the first point, the whole question of the Act was debated fully by the House of Commons before it was passed, and the granting of freedom to local authorities has never extended to allowing them to defy Acts of Parliament.

18. Mr. Robert Hughes

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the sums of money shown in the housing accounts attributable to capital repayments for the year 1971–72 for (a) large burghs, (b) small burghs, (c) counties, and (d) the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh, respectively.

The Under-Secretary of State for Development, Scottish Office (Mr. George Younger)

This information is not yet available for 1971–72, except for the four cities. I am publishing the figures for the cities in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Mr. Hughes

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that informative reply. Will he confirm that the amount paid out in capital repayments is only one-fifth of the amount paid out in interest payments? In view of this disgraceful imposition on the people who pay rent and rates to the local authorities, will the hon. Gentleman introduce a scheme of free loans for local authority house building?

Mr. Younger

I think that the figure of one-fifth is not far out, though I cannot be exact about it without checking.

To deal with the latter part of the hon. Gentleman's question, the subject of interest payments is one which affects anyone who makes capital expenditure of any kind, including capital expenditure on housing. The new arrangements in the Housing (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1972 for the first time produce a subsidy arrangement which is responsive to changes in interest rates. Where interest rates change, it is immediately responsive to them.

Following is the information:

Housing Revenue Accounts—Amounts of debt redemption and sinking fund provision
£
Aberdeen … … … 606,000
Dundee … … … 792,000
Edinburgh … … … 525,000
Glasgow … … … 2,791,000