§ Mr. M. Stewartasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table showing which local authorities disclose, in their latest available housing revenue accounts, a total of house rents and rate contributions which is less than twice the 1956 gross value of all the dwellings in the account; and, similarly, which local authorities disclose a total which is less than that gross value.
§ Mr. BrookeThe latest figures are those published by the Institute of Treasurers and Accountants under the title of "Housing Statistics". They are for the year 1959–60 and cover about 1,000 of the 1,469 housing authorities in England and Wales. As the figures are published and readily available, I do not think I need circulate them in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
The hon. Member will realise that these figures cannot provide a reliable guide as to the authorities which will qualify for the higher rate of subsidy under the terms of the Housing Bill just introduced, because that will depend on the position of each authority's housing account in a year's time and subsequently as approved houses to which the new rates will apply are completed. Many housing accounts will then be in a quite different position from what they were in a year ago and indeed from what they are in now, as the expenditure on housing increases. In the light of the probable trend of its own income and expenditure as known to it, however, each authority should be able to forecast the rate of subsidy for which it is likely to qualify when the provisions of the Bill come into operation.