§ Mr. Welshasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give figures showing the number and amount of home improvement grants issued per district in Scotland in each year over the past three years; and if he is satisfied with the present rate of uptake of such grants.
§ Mr. Hugh D. BrownThe following table gives figures for the grants paid since the reorganisation of local government in 1975. Information in respect of 415W the areas covered by the present district and islands authorities is not readily available for earlier years. I would welcome an increase in the present uptake
416W
DISCRETIONARY, STANDARD AND REPAIRS GRANTS PAID 1975–76 1976–77 District Authority Number of Houses Amount paid Number of Houses Amount of paid £ £ HIGHLAND REGION Caithness … … 122 148,964 96 107,447 Sutherland … … 62 79,970 38 49,824 Ross and Cromarty … … 70 100,714 117 150,436 Skye and Lochalsh … … 3 2,224 34 32,363 Lochaber … … 5 4,804 10 7,771 Inverness … … 47 44,291 56 73,544 Badenoch and Strathspey … … 14 19,388 16 24,576 Nairn … … 18 15,885 12 12,223 GRAMPIAN REGION Moray … … 137 136,776 190 193,546 Banff and Buchan … … 26 24,655 233 273,512 Gordon … … 57 56,875 145 186,968 City of Aberdeen … … 572 530,386 476 472,326 Kincardine and Deeside … … 138 181,575 72 94,682 TAYSIDE REGION Angus … … 195 227,286 217 325,585 City of Dundee … … 413 432,098 130 145,257 Perth and Kinross … … 464 442,187 233 261,274 FIFE REGION Kirkcaldy … … 121 87,550 80 78,800 North East Fife … … 102 117,916 127 138,874 Dunfermline … … 113 104,104 75 85,137 LOTHIAN REGION West Lothian … … 85 57,277 97 106,958 City of Edinburgh … … 2,030 781,966 1,252 800,841 Midlothian … … — — — — East Lothian … … 62 43,959 59 56,390 CENTRAL REGION Clackmannan … … 32 25,015 36 35,607 Stirling … … 32 30,518 95 117,125 Falkirk … … 13 13,118 62 58,170 BORDERS REGION Tweeddale … … 28 38,180 20 24,507 Ettrick and Lauderdale … … 71 79,659 51 68,652 Roxburgh … … — — 16 19,010 Berwickshire … … 12 16,100 28 33,743 STRATHCLYDE REGION Argyll and Bute … … 72 63,124 163 170,098 Dunbarton … … 63 52,930 57 50,441 City of Glasgow … … 960 352,980 520 207,430 Clydebank … … 5 645 4 864 Bearsden and Milngavie … … — — 4 5,696 Strathkelvin … … 51 27,250 57 39,073 Cumbernauld and Kilsyth … … 7 2,026 4 3,398 Monklands … … 20 19,819 33 18,371 Motherwell … … 52 28,741 45 38,864 Hamilton … … 75 56,270 53 41,115 East Kilbride … … 29 15,505 37 26,343 Eastwood … … 16 10,466 13 10,247 Lanark … … 15 12,190 96 86,891 Renfrew … … 218 134,772 181 147,451 Inverclyde … … 57 46,665 56 45,166 Cunninghame … … 45 29,732 103 60,325 Kilmarnock and Loudoun … … 44 18,752 41 21,853 Kyle and Carrick … … 69 65,282 76 84,937 Cumnock and Doon Valley … 167 26,791 23 18,910 of improvement grants in parallel with the increasing activity of housing associations and local authorities themselves in the improvement of sub-tolerable housing.
417W
1975–76 1976–77 District Authority Number of Houses Amount paid Numberof Houses Amount paid £ £ DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY REGION Wigtown … … 74 76,961 53 65,951 Stewartry … … 69 78,572 43 53,001 Nithsdale … … 96 121,906 107 136,669 Annandale and Eskdale … … 78 87,236 56 67,355 ORKNEY ISLANDS AREA … … 160 157,938 148 140,837 SHETLAND ISLANDS AREA … … 48 51,610 44 55,430 WESTERN ISLES ISLANDS AREA … … 58 164,435 121 167,800 GRAND TOTAL … … 7,596 5,564,057 6,211 5,799,664
§ Mr. Welshasked the Secretary of State for Scotland when house improvement grant cost limits were last raised; and when he expects to review these figures in order to take into account present inflation rates.
§ Mr. Hugh D. BrownThe limit of approved expense for discretionary improvement grants was increased in January 1975. The limits for repairs grants and for grants for the provision of standard amenities are as prescribed in the Housing (Scotland) Act 1974. All the limits are at present under review.