§ 10. Mr. ColemanTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he intends making extra money available to local authorities in Wales to build houses for rent in the public sector.
§ Mr. GristMy right hon. Friend has already announced a 15 per cent. increase in level of resources available for local authorities to spend on housing next year. It is for the authorities to determine how best to use these resources, taking account of local need and seeking to achieve value for money.
§ Mr. ColemanNeither the Secretary of State nor his successor has any experience of conducting constituency surgeries in Wales, but that is not true of the Under-Secretary of State. From his own experience, he must surely be aware of the dreadful situation faced by many of our people in Wales. Is he also aware that high interest rates and the virtual cessation of council house building in the lifetime of this Government have been the means of ensuring that many people who come to our surgeries requiring houses do not get that chance? Will he let the experience that he has gained from his surgeries guide him in making more money available than the measly amount that he has just announced?
§ Mr. GristThe hon. Gentleman must have missed the point that I made a moment ago when I said that at the weekend I had the great pleasure of attending and opening a major development in my constituency. Such developments will occur again and again in the future. The hon. Member may like to reflect that in the final two years of the Labour Government his local authority had 93 council house starts and 280 private starts. In the past two years, however, some 111 council houses and 403 private houses have been started in Neath.