§ Mr. McFallTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was paid in housing benefit to tenants in the private sector in Scotland in 1988–89 to cover domestic rate bills.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardI have been asked to reply.
I regret that actual expenditure information is not collected in the detail requested. It is estimated on the basis of the average weekly value of rate rebate in payment to private tenants on 31 May 1988 that the overall cost was about £13.75 million. This includes both cases where the tenant paid rates directly to the local authority and those where rates were included in the rent.