§ Mr. Dodsworthasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has taken steps designed to ensure that cutbacks in loans to local authorities for repairs and modernisation of council houses do not result in the contravention of safety regulations.
§ Mr. FreesonIt is for each local authority to ensure, when committing the capital funds they have been allocated for the renovation of council-owned dwellings, that due priority is given to work needed to safeguard the health or safety of residents. I would be very willing to examine any particular cases where work to remedy an established contravention of safety regulations cannot be carried out within an authority's allocation, but it is, of course, possible for a great deal of repair work to be funded out of revenue resources, outside the scope of Section 105 of the Housing Act 1974.