§ Mr. Home RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what restrictions he intends to impose on rate fund contributions to the housing revenue accounts of each local housing authority and for the whole of Scotland; and if he will give an estimate of the impact of these restrictions on rents in both local and national terms.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 23 November 1987]: The provisional statutory rate fund contribution limits for 1988–89 announced recently by my right hon. and learned Friend are set out in the table below. Local authorities have until 4 December to make representations about these limits. Final decisions on rate fund contribution limits will be taken later in December and the necessary statutory instrument will be laid before Parliament early in 1988.
Responsibility for setting rent levels lies with the individual local authorities concerned and their rent decisions will depend, inter alia, upon their estimates of expenditure in 1988–89 on loan charges and management and maintenance expenditure. It is not possible to predict authorities' individual decisions at this stage. In national terms, my right hon. and learned Friend estimates that, if authorities increase their 1987–88 levels of expenditure on management and maintenance by 10 per cent. in 1988–89, average rents in Scotland will rise by approximately £1.65 140W per house, per week; alternatively, if they increase this expenditure by the level of inflation average rents will rise by approximately £1.20 per house, per week.
Provisional Statutory RFC's 1988–89 Area £ million Scotland 20.791 Berwickshire 0 Ettrick and Lauderdale 0 Roxburgh 0.068 Tweeddale 0 Clackmannan 0.105 Falkirk 0.364 Stirling 0.144 Annandale and Eskdale 0.059 Nithsdale 0.091 Stewartry 0.028 Wigtown 0 Dunfermline 0.237 Kirkcaldy 0.279 North East Fife 0 Aberdeen 0.454 Banff and Buchan 0.111 Gordon 0.066 Kincardine and Deeside 0.043 Moray 0 Badenoch and Strathspey 0.013 Caithness 0.046 Inverness 0.094 Lochaber 0.036 Nairn 0.013 Ross and Cromarty 0.074 Skye and Lochalsh 0.010 Sutherland 0.021 East Lothian 0.174 Edinburgh 0.601 Midlothian 0.134 West Lothian 0.248 Argyll and Bute 0.088 Bearsden and Milngavie 0.022 Clydebank 0.136 Clydesdale 0.114 Cumbernauld and Kilsyth 0.090 Cumnock and Doon Valley 0.116 Cunninghame 0.267 Dumbarton 0.175 East Kilbride 0.016 Eastwood 0.022 Glasgow 12.894 Hamilton 0.265 Inverclyde 0.221 Kilmarnock and Loudoun 0.199 Kyle and Carrick 0.197 Monklands 0.335 Motherwell 0.463 Renfrew 0.442 Strathkelvin 0.212 Angus 0 Dundee 0.465 Perth and Kinross 0 Orkney Isles 0.018 Shetland Isles 0.491 Western Isles 0.030