§ 30. Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will give guidance to local authorities as to the scale of housing improvement expenditure likely to be approved for the year 1976–77, so as to assist local authorities to programme improvement schemes which cannot be financed out of a single year's allocation.
§ Mr. KaufmanThis matter is being considered by the study group on programmes of social ownership and renovation of council dwellings whose appointment was foreshadowed in the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Mr. Douglas-Mann) on 23rd May. We hope to be able to notify each local authority by November of this year of its allocation for council house improvement expenditure for 1976–77 and provisionally for 1977–78. Meanwhile the Department's regional officers are available to advise local authorities individually of what improvement expenditure may safely be committed for 1976–77.
§ 35. Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what relative priority he attached to the renovation of houses in his housing policy.
§ Mr. CroslandI attach a very high priority to the renovation of older housing, as can be seen from my Department's Circular 13/75.