§ Mr. Costainasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will list the reports produced by subcommittees or working parties of the Central Housing Advisory Committee in each of the last five years; and what action has been taken to implement each report by his Department.
§ Mr. Channon"The Needs of New Communities" was published in 1967 and "Council Housing: Purposes, Procedures and Priorities" in 1969. The working paper "Housing Associations" based on work done by a sub-committee was published in 1971.
A letter from the then Ministry of Housing and Local Government to local authorities concerned with town development and new towns, and the local authority associations drew their attention to the 1967 report.
The 1969 report was sent to all local authorities, under cover of a circular, 93W No. 91/69, which particularly commended to authorities' attention certain chapters in the report. These and other parts of the report were subsequently discussed with local authority interests.
The 1971 working paper is still under consideration within the Department, but following its publication certain steps have already been taken in the Housing Finance Bill to alter the framework within which housing associations operate.