§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what allocation is being made to local authorities in respect of defective housing including Orlit housing and Blackburn Orlit housing.
§ Mr. AncramNo specific provisional allocation has been made for 1985–86 in respect of defective houses in local authority ownership. However, in reaching decisions on individual authorities' provisional capital allocations on the HRA block, the fullest consideration has been given to their statements of need in this regard, as contained in the forward capital programmes which authorities have submitted. The increase of £43 million in next year's capital allocations on this block should allow scope for authorities to undertake realistically phased programmes of remedial work according to the priority they attach to this particular aspect of housing need.
The provisional allocations announced this week are not intended to cover authorities' financial liabilities under the Housing Defects Act 1984. The intention is to consult authorities during the course of 1985–86 with a view to issuing appropriate supplementary allocations.