Mr. John D. TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many architects are presently employed by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive; and how many new housing starts are planned by the executive for 1988, 1989 and 1990.
§ Mr. NeedhamThis is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. I am advised by the chief executive that the total number of architectural staff employed at 31 December 1987 was 160. This figure is made up of 133 architects (including architectural technicians) 16 architect-planners and 16 landscape architects.
The information on new starts requested is not available for calendar years. However, the Housing Executive plans to let contracts for 1,500 new dwellings in the financial year 1988–89 and on the basis of the provisional allocations for housing in the public expenditure White Paper (Cm. 288), to sustain this level of new starts in each of the two following financial years.