§ Mr. Murphyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress is being made with the winding up of new town development corporations for which target dates in 1984 and 1985 were announced.
§ Sir George YoungWe have now sent to the local authorities concerned our conclusions on the financial basis for the further transfers of new town housing to them. We shall be opening discussions with them, including the formal consultations required by statute as a preliminary to decisions on whether to proceed with housing transfers. We have issued guidelines on the basis for the transfer of community-related assets, such as open spaces and community centres, to the local district councils. We have set out the basis on which we expect the new town development corporations to continue the programme for the disposal of industrial and commercial assets to the private sector, and we have indicated that we expect any 119W such assets which have not been sold by the date of winding-up will, in accordance with the New Towns Act, be transferred to the Commission for the New Towns. In these ways, we believe that we are making good progress towards achieving the targets which we announced. The final decisions, however, on the dissolution of the development corporations will be taken in the light of the consultations with the local authorities concerned in each town, in accordance with section 41 of the New Towns Act 1981.