§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will reimburse local authorities who face substantial claims from construction companies where contracts for the improvement of existing council houses have had to be cancelled due to a change of Government policy.
§ Mr. FreesonAs far as I am aware, no contractual commitments entered into by local authorities before 1st April 1975, the date on which Section 105 of the Housing Act 1975 came into operation, have had to be cancelled. In allocating expenditure limits to local authorities for improvement work in 1975–76 my Department was at pains to ensure that these were high enough to accommodate all previously committed expenditure.