HC Deb 18 July 1983 vol 46 cc7-8
7. Mr. Roy Hughes

asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will provide additional resources to local authorities in Wales to ensure that their housing stock is kept in a good state of repair.

Mr. Wyn Roberts

During the past two years capital expenditure by local authorities on repair and improvement of their dwellings totalled about £70 million. However, during the same period Welsh authorities under-spent that total housing resources available to them by £35 million in 1981–82 and by about £45 million in 1982–83. There is therefore no lack of capital resources for local authority housing maintenance.

Mr. Hughes

Does the Minister appreciate that the financial pressures that the Government are putting on local authorities are forcing them to cut back on essential repair and maintenance work? Some houses are now in such a bad state of repair that they are not worth selling to the sitting tenants or anybody else. Why does he not do something to help our local authorities and not perpetually harass them?

Mr. Roberts

The hon. Gentleman is wrong, as he so frequently is. Welsh local authorities have consistently spent more on their own housing stock than on private sector renovation grants—£128 million as against £100 million since 1978–79. That trend was maintained even last year when the higher rate of grants increased expenditure to about £41 million, while about £46 million was spent on the local authorities' own stock. I wish that the hon. Gentleman would get his facts right.