§ Mr. Chopeasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the proportion of the proposed housing investment programme allocation for Southampton city council in 1985–86 which is attributable to the exercise of ministerial discretion;
(2) what is the proportion of the proposed housing investment programme allocation for Southampton city council in 1985–86 which is attributable to each of the indicators in the generalised needs index;
(3) what is the proportion of the proposed housing investment programme allocation for Southampton city council in 1985–86 which is attributable to the defective dwellings indicator in the generalised needs index.
§ Sir George YoungApproximately 62 per cent. of Southampton's housing investment programme allocation for 1985–86 is attributable to the application of the generalised needs index and 38 per cent. is attributable to ministerial discretion. Full details of the GNI scores for Southampton and all other authorities are in the Library.
§ Mr. Higginsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will reconcile the figures in his Department's letter to local authorities, dated 20 December 1984, regarding housing investment programme allocations 1985–86 with his statement on 19 December, Official Report, column 306, that the overspend on council's capital programme could amount to £1 billion or more.
§ Mr. Patrick Jenkin[pursuant to his reply, 14 January 1985, c. 5]: There is no direct connection between the figures. The figure of £1 billion which I used on 19 December 1984 referred to the possible level of overspend, on all the services covered by the main local authority cash limit taken together, which could have occurred in 1985–86 if action had not been taken to reduce the risk of a breach of the cash limit. That action includes reducing the rate at which capital receipts can be used. The figures in the Department's letter of 20 December explain the make-up of the gross provision of £2,324 million for housing investment alone by local authorities in 1985–86.