§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what grants were made to the city of Leicester council for (a) home improvement purposes and (b) council house maintenance and improvements in 1974 and each subsequent year up to the latest year for which figures are available; if he will estimate the figure for 1985–86; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir George YoungExchequer contributions towards expenditure on home improvement grants paid in Leicester city council from 1973–74 onwards were:
(Figures in £000's) Year 1973 103.2 1974–75 133.1 1975–76 185.0 1976–77 255.8 1977–78 309.7 1978–79 404.5 1979–80 541.5 1980–81 8.11.6 1981–82 1,296.0 1982–83 2,070.5 1983–84* 2,871.0 1984–85* 3,692.8 * Subject to adjustment when audited final claims are received. The amount which will be paid for 1985–86 will depend in part the council's continuing entitlement to contribution on loan charges already incurred but also on the level of expenditure on grants in 1985–86, which is for the council to decide within the resources available to it.
Council house improvement and maintenance are not specifically grant-aided through the housing subsidy system. These costs are taken into account in the calculation of an authority's entitlement to housing subsidy. But the size of the Exchequer subsidy depends each on a calculation which takes account not only of the total reckonable expenditure incurred by the authority in the provision of council housing, but also the extent to which the authority could reasonably be expected to meet all or part of these costs from local resources.