§ Mr. McQuarrieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is satisfied that local authorities in Scotland are processing council house sales expeditiously and efficiently; and how many sales are in process within the Banff and Buchan constituency.
§ Mr. AncramThe average time taken to process sales in Scotland continues to show an improvement, with sales completed during 1984 taking on average 9.7 months from application to completion. Within the Banff and Buchan constituency, 410 applications to purchase are currently being processed with missives having been concluded in 50 of these.
§ Mr. McQuarrieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has any plans to carry out a promotion programme on council house sales in Scotland.
§ Mr. AncramTo help promote sales of council houses this spring, we have arranged further screenings of the television advertisement which was the centrepiece of last summer's major campaign to remind tenants of their right to buy and to inform them of the improvements in discounts and eligibility introduced by the Tenants' Rights, Etc. (Scotland) Amendment Act 1984. We intend to mount a further publicity campaign in the autumn.