§ Ms Harmanasked the Attorney-General if, in the light of his letter to the hon. Member for Peckham on 29 390W November, he has anything to add to his answer of 14 November, Official Report, column 605, relating to free legal aid for persons in dispute about the purchase of their council homes; and if he will make a statement.
§ The Solicitor-GeneralAs my right hon. and learned Friend explained in his letter of 29 November to the hon. Member for Peckham, the supplementary questions she put on 14 November related to legal aid. His reply was therefore based on the provisions of the Legal Aid Act 1974. The provision of assistance by the Secretary of State, as envisaged in clause 10 of the Housing and Building Control Bill, which we now understand was what she had in mind, is a separate matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment. The circumstances in which assistance might be provided, if the Bill is enacted, are set out in the clause. The Government's intentions have been explained to the Standing Committee which considered the Bill.