§ Mr. Rossiasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average time lag between the making of an application and a determination of rent by (a) rent officers, and (b) rent tribunals, giving the period region by region.
§ Mr. KaufmanI am seeking this information, which is not available in my Department, and I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Rossiasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the current annual cost of (a) the rent officer service, and (b) rent tribunals, showing separately salaries or remunerations, salaries of supporting staff, rent and outgoings for office accommodation and other relevant costs.
§ Mr. KaufmanExpenditure on the rent officer service in the year 1973–74 was £3,776,137. Payments to the local authorities which operate the service are not broken down in the form requested and the breakdown could not be prepared except at disproportionate cost.
Annual expenditure on the rent tribunal service cannot be separated from the annual expenditure on other rent assessment panel services for which this 479W Department is responsible. The total cost of the panel services for 1973–74 was £1,311,722.