§ Mr. Ashtonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether, in order to remove temptation, he will take steps 646W to require that discretionary grants issued by local authorities on behalf of his Department are paid direct to builders and not to occupiers.
§ Mr. ChannonNo. Although under present arrangements a local authority may make payment direct to the builder if the grant applicant so requests, it would not be right to interfere with the normal relationship between contractor and customer by requiring the payment of grant direct to the former in all cases.