HC Deb 04 August 1975 vol 897 cc60-2W
Mr. Geraint Howells

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the objections he has received to each of the 22 applications to demolish listed buildings submitted to him by the London borough councils and the GLC since September 1974.

Mr. Crosland

No. The information required for such a list would be disproportionately costly to provide.

Mr. Cormack

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much money from public funds was allocated to the preservation of historic buildings each year from 1945 to 1974, inclusive.

Mr. Crosland

The following amounts have been allocated for grants and loans for the repair of historic buildings under the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953 and for the preservation and enhancement of conservation areas under the Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Act 1972. The figures for Scotland and Wales have been included at the request of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales:

ENGLAND
£
1945–53 nil
1953 10,650
1954 245,304
1955 365,756
1956 235,949
1957 332,863
1958 548,597
1959–60 400,000
1960–61 400,000
1961–62 400,000
1962–63 400,000
1963–64 400,000
1964–65 450,000
1965–66 450,000
1966–67 450,000
1967–68 450,000
1968–69 550,000
1969–70 575,000
1970–71 700,000
1971–72 1,000,000
1972–73 1,500,000
1973–74 2,250,000
1974–75 2,500,000

SCOTLAND
£
1945–53 nil
1953 4,100
1954 47,990
1955 40,325
1956 91,150
1957 76,561
1958 50,345
1959 49,995
1960 61,695
1961 72,050
1962 50,200
1963 59,630
1964 75,045
1965 109,050
1966 133,180
1967–70 260,000
1970–73 450,000
1973–74 325,000
1974–75 325,000

WALES
£
1945–53 nil
1953–67 475,000
1967–70 116,500
1970–73 263,000
1973–74 157,500
1974–75 157,500

It is impossible without disproportionate time and expense to determine the amounts attributable to the preservation of historic buildings within the amounts expended on buildings in Government ownership, care or guardianship. The incomplete returns from local authorities show the following amounts spent on grants and loans for the repair of historic buildings under the Local Authorities (Historic Buildings) Act 1962:

ENGLAND
£
1962–63 13,528
1963–64 31,511
1964–65 80,995
1965–66 96,324
1966–67 91,036
1967–68 113,522
1968–69 183,937
1969–70 127,697
1970–71 185,996
1971–72 281,642
1972–73 304,379
1973–74 299,422

Wales
£
1969–70 1,605
1970–71 5,950
1971–72 9,123
1972–73 14,536
1973–74 16,522

The Local Authorities (Historic Buildings) Act 1962 was applied to Scotland in 1967. Since then and up to May 1973 local authorities have made grants totalling £60,000.