§ 10. Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is satisfied that the funds which have 282 been made available to local housing authorities are sufficient to enable them to meet the current need for new building and repairs.
§ Mr. AncramYes, Sir.
§ Mr. Home RobertsonThe Minister is evidently as complacent as ever. Does he realise that in East Lothian the housing waiting list is 15 per cent. higher than it was only a year ago, and that we have 800 houses to build? Is he not aware that in East Lothian district there are 870 council houses in urgent need of modernisation? Is he not further aware that there are 1,200 private houses in East Lothian below the tolerable standard? Surely he must understand that in one small district like that we already know that the proceeds of council house sales will not go even halfway towards meeting the cost of all that essential work, so how does he expect East Lothian district council and other such councils to fulfil their housing responsibilities?
§ Mr. AncramAs I am sure the hon. Gentleman is aware, there was a nil net allocation for East Lothian in this year's HRA. The reason is that the estimated receipts, which are worked out in conjunction with the council, amount to £6.6 million. The council's bid for this block was £6.27 million. Therefore, there was an excess of the receipts over the bid, and there was a nil allocation. If the hon. Gentleman is worried about this, perhaps he could take it up with his own housing authority.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythIs my hon. Friend aware that one of the reasons why council house sale receipts may not meet these needs is that Labour-controlled councils such as Stirling are going out of their way not to tell tenants about their new rights under the Tenants' Rights Etc. (Scotland) Amendment Act 1984, and will he take steps to make sure that people are aware of the increased benefits in terms of discounts, and the increased rights that the Act provides, so that these funds can be made available for housing repairs and new build?
§ Mr. AncramI am grateful to my hon. Friend for that comment. I agree with him that it is essential that we publicise the new rights that will be available to council house tenants from July onwards. It is also important to point out to housing authorities in Scotland that, if they fail to sell council houses and if they fail to pursue a vigorous sales policy, they are doing themselves out of receipts which, as my hon. Friend says, they could use to deal with the serious problems which undoubtedly exist in many authorities.
§ Mr. MaxtonHow can the Minister so arrogantly say yes to a question which asks whether there are sufficient resources being given to housing when the Select Committee report dealing with dampness in housing shows clearly the misery in which thousands of people in Scotland are living because of dampness? The Secretary of State has rejected that report out of hand in a contemptuous way.
§ Mr. AncramPerhaps I should remind the hon. Gentleman of what provision has been made. The overall provision for housing in Scotland this year is £388 million, compared to £355 million allocated in March 1983. Of that on the HRA block, the allocation is £227 million. The check list suggests that the cost of dealing with the problems of condensation and dampness would be about £190 million. It is clear from that that in a programmed 283 way the problem can be dealt with. It obviously does not help district councils such as Glasgow district if they voluntarily and wittingly forgo £5.5 million on rents, by their own decisions, which could have been spent on the eradication of dampness and condensation.
§ Mr. HirstDoes my hon. Friend agree that it is breathtaking hypocrisy for Opposition Members to complain about the funds for housing when the Labour party in Glasgow has declined to increase rents, thereby denying funds that would be available to repair houses, and, worse still, is prepared, at a cost of £2 million, to demolish a block of flats for which a private buyer has offered £700,000? Will he give the House an assurance that he and his ministerial colleagues will not allow the Labour mafia in Glasgow to cheat the ratepayers and people on the waiting lists?
§ Mr. AncramI agree with my hon. Friend, and should point out that the Labour mafia in Glasgow is cheating the council house tenants for whom it claims to speak just as much as the ratepayers. Labour Members criticise our housing policy, but it is worth remembering that when the Conservative party came to office in 1979 there were 120,000 sub-tolerable standard houses in Scotland, whereas there are now 81,000. That is a reduction of one third during our term of office.
§ Mr. EadieDoes the hon. Gentleman accept that in Midlothian, and Newtongrange in particular, there is great concern about the allocation of financial resources for housing? The Castle Rock housing association had to give £210,000 of ratepayers' money to the Lothian estates when the lease expired on the land and buildings. Is that not an abuse of the law, and should not something be done about it?
§ Mr. AncramI understand that that was done on an agreed and properly carried out valuation.
§ Mr. MaclennanGiven the evident lack of agreement between the Government and local authorities about current housing needs in Scotland, is not the time ripe for a wide-ranging independent inquiry into them, which would cover the condition of Scottish public and private housing, its availability in locations where needed, and its deteriorating condition, along the lines of the Cullingworth report in the 1960s?
§ Mr. AncramAs a Government, we are obviously concerned to receive as much information as possible. Certain ad hoc inquiries are taking place at the moment into particular housing problems. In addition, housing authority check lists are providing us with much more information than would be possible, for example, from a house condition survey.
§ Mr. Hugh BrownThe Minister's answer to the original question was yes, but does he not accept that no one else in Scotland apart from him — including, probably, the official who wrote that reply — believes that there are enough resources for Scottish housing? Will the hon. Gentleman come clean and admit that the Government do not want a building programme for public sector needs, other than for the disabled and elderly?
§ Mr. AncramI have often made it clear that the priorities in Scottish housing have changed. There is now a crude surplus of housing over households in Scotland, and so the need now is qualitative rather than quantitative. That is why we are concentrating on special needs areas.
§ Mr. DewarDoes the hon. Gentleman accept that what the hon. Member for Strathkelvin and Bearsden (Mr. Hirst) was wrongly pleased to refer to as the Labour mafia in Glasgow has just won a sweeping and comprehensive victory in the council elections? Has not the Conservative party's claim to speak for Scottish opinion been further eroded and undermined by its miserable performance in the European elections? Is it not the clear view of the people of Scotland that a more generous view should be taken of the housing capital allowances? Is it not contemptible of the Minister to suggest that in some way, as a matter of pride, this year's HRA should be £227 million when that is less in cash terms than in 1979 and disastrously less in real terms? It is nonsense to suggest that any district council can effectively tackle the appalling scourge of damp in our council housing stock merely by re-ordering its priorities. That would mean no modernisation, re-wiring or new build. The hon. Gentleman should recognise that and revise his policies.
§ Mr. AncramPerhaps the hon. Gentleman would like to tell us at some time — there is a housing debate tomorrow in the Scottish Grand Committee in which he could do so—his view of Glasgow district council's decision on the Hutchison E block. As a Member for Parliament for a Glasgow constituency, he might also like to tell us what he has told his district colleagues about their decision to forgo £5.5 million in order to freeze the rents for political purposes.