§ 4. Mr. Joseph Deanasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a study of the housing needs of the six largest metropolitan districts outside London.
§ Mr. StanleyI do not consider that further study is required, as the local authorities concerned provide the Department with considerable information in their HIP returns and strategy statements each year.
§ Mr. DeanDoes the Minister's reply not show that over the past two years there has been a substantial increase in the waiting lists of the six authorities? Is he aware that, in the city that I represent, the waiting list has increased by over 2,000, or 10 per cent.? Does not the Government's policy cause despair for those waiting to be housed, and when will the Minister alter the policy to give them hope?
§ Mr. StanleyThis is the first financial year in which local authorities have been able to increase their allocations by using capital receipts. [Interruption.] That may be amusing to hon. Members on the Opposition Benches, but for a local authority such as Leeds, which has about 3,000 local authority tenants wishing to buy their houses, it represents a substantial ability to increase its capital allocation.
§ Mr. Greville JannerIn metropolitan districts, such as Leicester, where the waiting list for council houses exceeds 10 per cent. of the entire population, do not the reductions in the moneys made available by the Government mean that resources are shrinking as needs are growing, so that those who most need help are becoming less and less able to get it?
§ Mr. StanleyLeicester, too, has substantial ability to add to its capital allocation through capital receipts, and many thousands of its local authority tenants wish to buy their houses, although the city council is making only slow progress in that direction.