§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he will make available the £3 million unallocated funds to local authorities in Scotland in the course of the next few weeks under the terms of the Housing Defects Act 1984; and whether he has taken and will take into account the needs; of defective housing in the public sector in calculating the rate support grant formula for Edinburgh.
§ Mr. AncramLocal authorities have been informed that they will be issued with supplementary capital allocations to cover their estimated expenditure under the 353W provisions of the Housing Defects Act in 1985–86. Whatever proportion of the £3 million unallocated consent is required will be so issued. Any balance will be issued in the form of general enhancements of capital allocations. Local authority expenditure on defective housing is not relevant expenditure for rate support grant purposes.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland when contractors will be issued with a licence for the remedying of defective housing in Scotland, both in the public and private sectors.
§ Mr. AncramA number of applications for the licence of repair systems have been made to PRC Homes Ltd. and approved methods of repair are likely to emerge in the coming months.