§ Mr. Eldon Griffithsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment why he decided to reduce his housing grant to the Forest Heath District Council in a fashion that has meant the abandonment of a £120,000 scheme for improvements in the heating of older council houses while simultaneously raising his grant for insulating these houses by a further £40,000.
§ Mr. ArmstrongThe council has received a 1978–79 housing investment programme allocation, not a grant, of £1,851,000 to cover improvements and other works relating to council housing. Within the allocation the council itself decides what priority to give to various660W expenditure options. But this allocation is large enough to allow it to spend £120,000 on central heating some of its older council houses if it so wishes.
The £40,000 is a separate and additional allocation under our energy conservation programme to provide for basic insulation of council houses that have not yet received it.