§ 16. Mr. Gerald BowdenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will meet councillors of the London borough of Southwark to discuss the level of rent arrears in the borough.
§ Mrs. RoeThis would serve no useful purpose. The Government have already offered advice and assistance to the London borough of Southwark to help it to reduce rent arrears from their present scandalous level of £14 million — by far the worst in the country. The responsibility is that of Southwark.
§ Mr. BowdenI am interested in my hon. Friend's reply. The figure that I had heard mentioned was £30 million in relation to rent and possibly rate arrears. Can she say what this represents in cost per household? Has the time not come to put commissioners in to do the job which Southwark council is unable or unwilling to do itself?
§ Mrs. RoeI know that Southwark's performance on rate arrears is equally deplorable. The arrears stand at 1102 nearly £14 million, bringing the total of all arrears, as my hon. Friend has said, to £28.5 million. That is equal to £462 per tenant household. In effect, Southwark's hard-pressed ratepayers are subsidising the inefficiency of the borough's housing department to the tune of nearly £19 million. That is an appalling indictment. I have noted what my hon. Friend has said.