HC Deb 28 January 1987 vol 109 cc240-1W
Mr. Rowe

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to how many local authorities' housing departments take responsibility for the adaptation of premises for disabled persons.

Mr. Tracey

The Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 requires all housing authorities when considering the needs of their districts to have regard to the special needs of chronically sick and disabled persons.

It is for each authority to determine its own priorities for housing investment and to decide whether there is a need for purpose-built dwellings or for adaptation to existing dwellings to make them suitable for occupation by disabled people. We have urged authorities to concentrate their housing resources on those in greatest need including disabled people.

Three hundred and fifty four English housing authorities, of a total of 366, notified the Department that they had made adaptations, or supported them through home improvement grants, during 1985–86 to make dwellings more suitable for occupation by disabled people.

Mr. Rowe

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what payments he made to local authorities either through the rate support grant or directly to adapt premises for disabled persons in the last financial year.

Mr. Tracey

The Department supports local authority expenditure on housing and building adaptations for disabled people in a variety of ways.

Where rate support grant is concerned, local authorities may choose to spend part of their revenue expenditure for this purpose. But the block grant given towards that spending is not hypothecated on the basis that they will.

The Department also meets a proportion of the cost of local authority home improvement grants, and the whole cost of local authority home insulation grants. Both schemes provide for higher rates of grant to disabled people in certain circumstances. It is for local authorities to decide how to allocate their resources. It is not possible to identify the extent to which Exchequer grant to local authorities relates specifically to this purpose.