§ Dr. MarekTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 1 February,Official Report, column 690, if he will publish the number of applications received by his Department for section 8 grants, the number of grants made and total expenditure in 1985–86 and 1986–87; and if he will make a statement on the operation of the section 8 grant system.
§ Mr. David MitchellThe information requested is as listed:
Year Number of applications Number of grants made Expenditure £ million 1985–86 9 15 6.9 1986–87 4 1 5.5 The number of applications received and awards made fluctuate from year to year.
There is no direct correlation, in any particular year, between the number of applications received, grants made and expenditure incurred.
I am satisfied with the operation (although less so with the number of applicants) of the section 8 grant scheme, although we continue to see whether there are ways of streamlining the administration of these grants.