HC Deb 05 May 1977 vol 931 cc225-6W
Mr. Charles Irving

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in view of the money accumulated in the compensation funds by authorities responsible for licensing public houses, amounting to just over£3,667,000, if he will consider proposals for some of this money to be used towards more speedy establishment of detoxification centres.

Mr. Merlyn Rees

My predecessor decided last year to open consultations with interested organisations on the basis of the Erroll Committee's recommendations for the disposal of these funds, under which recent contributions would so far as practicable, be refunded and the balance would form a trust fund from which grants would be made for prescribed purposes. I think it right to let those consultations proceed, so that the feasibility of the Erroll Committee's scheme and any variant of it can be judged, before deciding what proposals to recommend to Parliament.