§ Mr. Humeasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give details of the various increases in the unit charges under the district heating system since January 1980; and whether tenants were given formal notice of all these increases in charges.
§ Mr. Chris PattenThis is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive but I understand from the chairman that heat supplied by the Housing Exective's district heating schemes was not charged for fully on the basis of units of heat until April 1980 and that increases in the charges per unit since that date have been as follows:
Increase New Unit Charge October 1980 £0.43 £4.79 April 1981 £0.98 £5.77 October 1981 £0.29 £6.06 April 1982 £0.52 £6.58 April 1983 £0.50 £7.08 April 1984 £0.42 £7.50 I understand that where an increase in the unit charge resulted in an increase in the weekly budget pre-payments due from tenants, four weeks' written notice of the increases was given in accordance with the Executive's tenancy agrement.
§ Mr. Humeasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) if he will make a statement on the delays by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in paying yearly rebates on district heating payments; and if he will give details of any proposals to alleviate this problem;
708W(2) if he will consider bringing forward a scheme to allow the return to Northern Ireland Housing Executive tenants of appropriate interest payments on district heating rebates.
§ Mr. Chris PattenThese are matters for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. The Executive has indicated that it is not its policy to pay interest on district heating rebates or to charge interest on district heating surcharges. Clearly, both the Government and the Executive would wish to see rebates due to tenants paid as early as possible and I understand that the Executive will be able to reduce the time taken to pay rebate in respect of the year ended 31 March 1984.
The hon. Gentleman may also be aware that in April 1982 the Executive introduced a scheme to enable tenants to have weekly budget payments for district heating related to past consumption in order to reduce the incidence of rebates.
§ Mr. Humeasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what figures are available to indicate the total amounts paid by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to tenants in respect of district heating rebates for each of the past four years and the delays in making such payments; and what interest was earned by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive on moneys held in respect of district heating charges.
§ Mr. Chris PattenThese are matters for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, but I understand from the chairman that the amounts of rebate and the periods over which they were paid were as follows:
Year ending £000s Period of payment 31 March 1981 553 August to December 1981 31 March 1982 1,380 August to December 1982 31 March 1983 1,108 August to December 1983 31 March 1984 * 1,075 Not yet paid * Estimated. Payments made in respect of district heating charges are not held in a separate fund; financial receipts are in general used to offset borrowing rather than earn interest.