§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the local discretionary element of the Birmingham city council housing investment programme in so far as the Housing Defects Act is concerned.
§ Mr. GowIn deciding the local discretionary element of Birmingham's HIP allocation for 1985–86, many factors were taken into account including the Housing Defects Act 1984. It is not possible to attribute specific amounts to particular factors. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced to the House on 13 March at column 348 that he would consider sympathetically applications for additional allocations from authorities which would have particular difficulty in meeting their obligations under the Act. I hope to make an announcement about that shortly.