§ Mr. HumeTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information is available to indicate by district the fitness levels of those houses without electricity supply.
§ Mr. Needham[holding answer 16 February 1988]: The information is not available in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
However, the 1984 Northern Ireland house condition survey indicates that 6,905 of the 51,330 unfit houses in the Province did not have an electricity supply.
§ Mr. HumeTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what financial assistance is available to households seeking an electricity supply; and if he will indicate the total amounts of such assistance, by district, in the past five years.
§ Mr. Needham[holding answer 16 February 1988]: Assistance is available from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive through the house renovation grants scheme which it operates under the Housing (NI) Order 1983. The normal rate of grant is 75 per cent. of the approved expenditure, though a rate of 90 per cent. is available if the applicant is in financial hardship.
I understand from the chairman of the Housing Executive that the executive limits the approved expenditure to £1,020 (10 per cent. of the current maximum eligible expense for renovation grants).
Details of the assistance directly related to the provision of an electricity supply under the renovation grants scheme over the past five years are not recorded separately and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.