§ Mr. WallaceTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has sought explanations from islands and district councils regarding local authority accommodation which remains unlet or otherwise unoccupied; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Lang[holding answer 8 March 1993]: The Scottish Office Environment Department has recently commissioned research to identify the location and extent of empty houses in the public sector in Scotland and the reasons for them being empty. This work will also review the strategies used by public sector landlords for dealing with empty houses and so allow us to identify good practice. The research results will be available in the spring.
§ Mr. WallaceTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has regarding the amount that each Scottish local authority lost in revenue for the financial years(a) 1990–91 and (b) 1991–92 in having empty unlet houses.
§ Mr. Lang[holding answer 8 March 1993]: The amounts debited to local authority housing revenue accounts as income receivable from houses during periods in 1990–91 and 1991–92 when they were not let are shown in the table.
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Authority 1990–91 £ 1991–92 £ Berwickshire 6,928 8,775 Ettrick and Lauderdale 67,878 45,000 Roxburgh 109,744 109,311 Tweeddale 18,428 11,188 Clackmannan 137,603 116,936 Falkirk 400,012 523,059 Stirling 239,560 295,880 Annandale and Eskdale 72,388 55,246 Nithsdale 79,807 66,007 Stewarty 11,928 12,857 Wigtown 26,277 23,068 Dunfermline 265,605 282,173 Kirkcaldy 626,445 625,256 North East Fife 73,034 65,662 Aberdeen 656,669 724,253 Banff and Buchan 83,051 68,233 Gordon 80,376 51,105 Kincardine and Deeside 2,929 7,152 Moray 105,100 103,340 Badenoch and Strathspey 3,274 5,502 Caithness 84,131 70,000 Inverness 118,117 143,326 Lochaber 30,018 35,458 Nairn 6,000 4,500 Ross and Cromarty 58,612 60,065 Skye and Lochalsh 11,204 16,462 Sutherland 16,215 13,856 East Lothian 158,459 173,199 Edinburgh 4,647,206 4,089,350 Midlothian 71,466 71,023 West Lothian 186,621 96,305 Argyll and Bute 127,272 118,585 Bearsden and Milngavie 11,639 14,818 Clydebank 615,020 509,538 Clydesdale 107,908 87,110 Cumbernauld and Kilsyth 73,575 58,279 Cumnock and Doon Valley 239,097 203,362 Cunninghame 239,670 254,029 Dumbarton 395,765 485,880
Authority 1990–91 £ 1991–92 £ East Kilbride 10,813 8,788 Eastwood 12,738 22,237 Glasgow 10,811,862 10,582,568 Hamilton 383,683 465,315 Inverclyde 528,958 493,472 Kilmarnock and Loudoun 290,964 328,675 Kyle and Carrick 170,320 123,326 Monklands 566,528 572,648 Motherwell 626,556 527,022 Renfrew 2,021,235 1,402,313 Strathkelvin 134,337 187,088 Angus 96,301 95,916 Dundee 3,204,124 2,233,623 Perth and Kinross 202,387 230,794 Orkney Islands 33,328 26,026 Shetland Islands 97,112 92,132 Western Isles 57,370 102,797 Source: HSG1A and HSG1 returns made by local housing authorities to the Scottish Office Environment Department.