§ Mr. Peter Walkerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total expenditure by local authorities in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on loan charges on capital expenditure incurred through the construction of council housing; and what was the expenditure on building new dwelling units during 1977–78.
§ Mr. Freeson:Figures for the loan charges element of capital expenditure incurred through the construction of council housing are not available separately. The expenditure on loan charges on all capital expenditure incurred through construction and improvement of council housing, land and property acquisitions was as follows:
Expenditure in 1977–78 (£m) England 1,588.6 Wales 88.1 Scotland 257.6 Northern Ireland 61.2 Total 1,995.5 Capital expenditure by local authorities on new dwelling units under construction in 1977–78 was as follows:
(£m) England 1,271.7 Wales 61.7 Scotland 105.1 Northern Ireland 73.5 Total 1,512.0 The figures for Northern Ireland relate to expenditure by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive; the figure for loan charges is not strictly comparable with the figures for England, Wales and Scotland, since it covers a wider range of expenditure.