§ Mr. Lomasasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will allow local authorities to award discretionary grants to householders for the purpose of rewiring the home on the grounds of safety.
§ Mr. ArmstrongLocal authorities may accept rewiring for grant purposes when it is associated with works of improvement, or on its own for repairs grant in certain circumstances. The Green Paper on housing policy has proposed that repair grants should be more widely available.
§ Mr. Lomasasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he can give an estimated number of houses which are in urgent need of rewiring on the grounds of safety and the reduction of fire risks.
§ Mr. ArmstrongIt is not possible to estimate the total number but according to the English House Condition Survey 1976, about 1.5 million dwellings needing repairs in excess of £500 have electrical installations in need of renewal.
§ Mr. Lomasasked the Secretary of State for the Environment in view of the fact
GROSS CAPITAL EXPENDITURE ON PUBLIC SECTOR HOUSING (per capita of population figures in brackets) 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 … … £000 £ £000 £ £000 £ Birmingham … … 53,844 (51) 79,386 (75) 76,056 (72) Leeds … … 26,366 (35) 23,025 (31) 23,114 (31) Sheffield … … 26,057 (47) 30,412 (55) 28,249 (51) Liverpool … … 43,686 (81) 42,948 (79) 32,548 (60) Manchester … … 49,514 (100) 54,851 (111) 48,750 (98) Bradford … … 17,864 (39) 12,296 (27) 11,679 (25) Capital expenditure by individual authorities is known to vary considerably from year to year, due to the incidence of large capital projects. These figures are based on returns made by authorities prior to the finalisation of their accounts for the year, and may therefore differ from corresponding figures appearing in the authorities' own published accounts.