§ Mr. George KynochTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of the debt repayment by Scottish Homes which was announced as part of the autumn statement.
§ Mr. LangThe repayment of loans totalling £250,143,307 will be made on 25 November, when Scottish Homes will make a payment to the national loans fund totalling £250,139,023.
Scottish Homes will receive a capital grant from the Scottish Office Environment Department to allow it to make this payment. Parliamentary approval of this new expenditure will be sought in a supplementary estimate for the housing and environmental services Scotland vote—class XV, vote 5. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £250,139,023 will be met by a repayable advance from the contingencies fund.
The repayment is expected to release some £70 million over the next three years for new investment, focusing chiefly on housing improvement and developments.