§ Mr. McMahonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many council house tenants receive financial aid towards rents; and of these, how many receive 100 per cent. assistance in (a) Scotland and (b) Glasgow; what is the annual cost of this; and if he will give comparable figures for each year since 1979.
303W
§ Mr. Allan StewartThe information requested is given in the following tables:
Glasgow Scotland Local authority tenants receiving rent rebates on 30 September 1979 35,819 201,476 1980 35,916 210,826 1981 45,814 250,726 Local Authority Tenants Receiving 100 per cent. Rent Rebates on 30 September 1979 5,013 36,035 1980 3,690 30,215 1981 4,154 27,590 Total Cost of Rent Rebates £ million Financial Year 1979–80 6.3 32.4 1980–81 7.3 39.3 1981–82 12.0 58.6 Note: Information for 1982 is not yet available.
Other tenants have received assistance towards housing costs through supplementary benefit; any question as to that should be directed to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services.
§ Mr. McMahonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish a table showing average rents, including private sector rents in each of the main Scottish regions.
§ Mr. Allan StewartInformation on the overall average level of rent including both public and private sectors is not available by region within Scotland. The information set out in the table gives average rents by region of local authority and new town tenants as at 30 September 1982:
Region Average weekly rent £ Scotland 9.36 Borders 10.83 Central 8.75 Dumfries and Galloway 9.93 Fife 10.47 Grampian 8.15 Highland 9.71 Lothian 10.30 Strathclyde 8.93 Tayside 8.36 Orkney 9.33 Shetland 10.43 Western Isles 12.12