MINOR AND CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS (Hansard, 14 January 1975)

§ Mr. Kaufman
I beg to move Amendment No. 40, in page 25, line 32, at end insert: '(4) The houses to which sub-paragraph (2) relates do not include houses occupied, pursuant to a contract of service, by persons employed by the local authority on the maintenance, supervision and management of houses and other property within the account'. The provisions in Schedule 1 to the 1972 Act which stipulate what rates can be charged and what rates can be credited to the housing revenue account are being amended by paragraph 5 of Schedule 4 to the Bill in order to remove certain anomalies and to provide for hostels, which are to be brought into the housing revenue account from 1st April 1975. 398 The provisions of the Bill as at present drafted preclude an authority from charging to its housing revenue account rates on dwellings occupied as service tenancies by, for example, caretakers, wardens and essential maintenance staff. This amendment widens the provisions to include these categories.

§ Mr. Kaufman
I beg to move Amendment No. 42, in page 26, line 21, at end insert— '7B.—(1) The words in paragraph (a) of section 56(2) of that Act (grants for provision, improvement and repair of dwellings) from "or", in the second place where it occurs, to "purposes" shall be omitted. (2) For paragraph (b) of that subsection there shall be substituted the following paragraph:— (b) an intermediate grant' in respect—

(i) of works required for the improvement of a dwelling by the provision of standard amenities which it lacks (including works such as are referred to in section 65(3)(b) below); or

(ii) of works required for the provision for a dwelling for a disabled occupant of any standard amenity where an existing amenity of the same description is not readily accessible to him, by reason of his disability;".

7C.—(1) In subsection (2) of section 65 of that Act (intermediate grants) for the word "An" there shall be substituted the words "Subject to subsection (2A) below, an". (2) After that subsection there shall be inserted the following subsection:— (2A) An application for an intermediate grant in respect of a dwelling for a disabled occupant may contain, as an alternative, in relation to any of the standard amenities specified as mentioned in subsection (2)(a) above, to a statement under subsection (2)(c) above, a statement that the dwelling possesses such an amenity but that is not or will not be readily accessible to the disabled occupant, by reason of his disability.". (3) In subsection (3) of that section—

(a) for the words "A local" there shall be substituted the words "Subject to subsection (4) below, a local"; and

(b) in paragraph (a) the words from "except" to "apply" shall be omitted.

399 (4) After that subsection there shall be inserted the following subsection:— (4) Where an application for an intermediate grant in respect of a dwelling for a disabled occupant contains a statement under subsection (2A) above, this section shall have effect, in relation to any amenity mentioned in that statement, as if for subsection (3) above there were substituted the following subsection:— '(3) A local authority shall not approve an application for an intermediate grant unless they are satisfied that any existing amenity mentioned in the statement under subsection (2A) above is not or will not be readily accessible to the disabled occupant, by reason of his disability'"'

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this, we may discuss Government Amendments Nos. 43 and 46.

§ Mr. Kaufman
These amendments are intended to clarify certain provisions of the Housing Act 1974 dealing with improvement grants and intermediate grants in relation to disabled persons.
Last summer, during the concluding stages of the then Housing Bill, amendments were introduced in another place which were designed to extend the scope of improvement grants and intermediate grants in favour of disabled persons. Although the Government spokesman at the time expressed doubts whether it was appropriate to include in the system of house renovation grants specific provisions for meeting the special needs of disabled people, on the basis that these could be dealt with quite separately under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, the amendments eventually received the Government's support and were accepted. It has since become clear, however, that, although well-intentioned, the provisions as they now exist—they were brought into force on 2nd December along with the rest of the new grant provisions—are not sufficiently precise to enable local authorities to interpret them sensibly.
These amendments are intended solely to clarify the original position of the 1974 Act, and they do not alter the general intention of those provisions.