HC Deb 03 November 1976 vol 918 cc1384-5
3. Mr. Beith

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is satisfied with the degree of co-ordination between his Department and local authorities on housing matters.

Mr. Shore

We continue to have close contact with local housing authorities. But, as I have indicated before, I am seeking a new relationship with housing authorities which, within firm capital budgets, would allow them greater freedom to tailor their housing investment programmes to local needs.

Mr. Beith

Do the present closer contacts make the Secretary of State realise that many rural local authorities do not think that they will be able to meet the obligation to be placed upon them under the tied cottage legislation without some relaxation of the restrictions on the treatment of stress areas? Why is his Department being so obstructive with those local authorities, like Alnwick district, for example, which want to buy just a few privately-built unoccupied houses to meet urgent housing needs?

Mr. Shore

I cannot answer the hon. Gentleman's question about Alnwick District Council off the cuff. However, on the broader question of the tied cottage legislation, this matter was thoroughly debated in the House, and if there is an opportunity it can be debated further. Our general view—it was not simply a Department of the Environment view but arose out of consultation with local authorities—was that the new obligation could be met by local authorities out of their existing programmes.

Mr. Ronald Atkins

Is my right hon. Friend satisfied that there is sufficient co-ordination between the different parts of his Department when dealing with the same authority—for instance, when one part of his Department tells a local authority that it can demolish a housing area and when another part of it refuses to give permission to rebuild?

Mr. Shore

If my hon. Friend will give me details of his illustration, as he sees it, of contrary policies emanating from the same Department, I shall be pleased to look into them and see whether I can reconcile them.