§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a list of those district housing authorities in Wales which have applied to him for approval to spend in excess of 15 per cent. of their means block housing allocation for Section 105 purposes; how many of these he has approved; and what was the basis of approval or rejection in each instance.
§ Mr. Barry JonesThe authorities are:
Eight applications have been approved; two—Delyn and Llanelli Borough Councils—are still under consideration.
- Arfon BC
- Cardiff CC
- Carmarthen DC
- Cynon Valley DC
- Delyn BC
- Glyndwr DC
- Llanelli BC
- Neath BC
- Swansea CC
- Vale of Glamorgan BC
The approvals indicate that we are satisfied that the programmes concerned reflect local needs.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list for every district council in Wales its housing finance allocation for 1977–78 analysed by (a) main block allocation, (b) theoretical formula allocation and (c) lending/improvement block allocation;
(2) which district councils in Wales had their main block housing allocation formula increased for 1977–78 because their existing commitments were greater than their formula allocation; and what is the increase in allocation to each of these councils to meet such commitments 575W plus the 10 per cent. Free money provided in these circumstances.
Main Block Allocation Theoretical Formula Allocation Improvement/Lending Allocation £ £ £ Aberconwy BC … 1,016,000 1,341,000 160,000 Afan BC … 1,563,000 1,917,000 229,000 Alyn and Deeside DC … 1,469,000 1,677,000 170,000 Arfon DC … 1,320,000 1,514,000 336,000 Blaenau Gwent DC … 3,436,000 3,356,000 557,000 Brecknock BC … 1,600,000 1,096,000 241,000 Cardiff CC … 7,272,000 6,816,000 1,206,000 Carmarthen DC … 1,224,000 1,430,000 360,000 Ceredigion DC … 1,332,000 1,511,000 319,000 Colwyn BC … 1,166,000 1,282,000 110,000 Cynon Valley BC … 2,158,000 2,540,000 735,000 Delyn DC … 1,565,000 1,889,000 216,000 Dinefwr BC … 832,000 984,000 323,000 Dwyfor Dc … 624,000 663,000 201,000 Glyndwr DC … 1,119,000 1,335,000 168,000 Islwyn DC … 2,100,000 2,361,000 412,000 Llanelli BC … 1,486,000 1,806,000 444,000 Lliw Valley BC … 1,081,000 1,290,000 430,000 Merionnydd DC … 684,000 882,000 207,000 Merthyr Tydfil BC … 2,025,000 2,470,000 589,000 Monmouth DC … 1,789,000 1,694,000 202,000 Montgomery DC … 1,230,000 1,397,000 298,000 Neath BC … 1,367,000 1,609,000 457,000 Newport BC … 10,798,000 3,482,000 565,000 Ogwr BC … 3,753,000 4,054,000 649,000 Preseli DC … 1,687,000 1,871,000 264,000 Radnor DC … 531,000 592,000 132,000 Rhondda BC … 2,384,000 2,855,000 1,219,000 Rhuddlan DC … 976,000 1,133,000 57,000 Rhymney Valley DC … 3,913,000 4,146,000 623,000 South Pembrokeshire DC … 1,662,000 1,115,000 206,000 Swansea CC … 3,856,000 4,362,000 1,074,000 Taff Ely … 2,634,000 3,310,000 534,000 Torfaen BC … 2,361,000 2,688,000 326,000 Vale of Glam BC … 2,316,000 2,489,000 326,000 Wrexham Maelor BC … 3,668,000 3,181,000 355,000 Ynys Mon BC … 1,672,000 1,858,000 299,000 TOTAL … 81,669,000 14,999,000 The table shows the seven authorities which received a larger allocation than the theoretical formula would have produced. In each case, the actual allocation includes 10 per cent. of the theoretical allocation as free money.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to ensure that the definition of housing waiting lists throughout the local housing authorities in Wales is on a common basis, in order to use the waiting list information as a factor in housing finance allocation in future years.
§ Mr. Barry JonesNone. Since councils have complete discretion in the compilation of their waiting lists, there is no apparent basis for standardisation.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales what provision was made in the housing finance main block allocation formula in Wales for 1977–78 for those councils which are required to provide council houses for persons moved
576W
§ Mr. Barry JonesThe following is the information.
from private houses not classified as unfit, which are scheduled for demolition as part of road improvement or redevelopment schemes.
§ Mr. Barry JonesNone. The object of using a formula to allocate housing finance was to achieve a broadly equitable distribution simply and quickly, so that allocations could be notified to authorities as early as possible. To consider all possible local factors would have robbed the exercise of both its simplicity and its speed.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Wales what advice he has given local housing authorities in Wales concerning assumptions they can make for 1978–79 in relation to possible reduction 577W in their main block housing allocation for that year compared with their formula allocation for 1977–78.
§ Mr. Barry JonesNone, but they have been told that they may assume that their main block allocation for 1978–79 will not be less than 60 per cent. of their formula allocation for 1977–78.