HC Deb 04 July 1986 vol 100 c668W
Mr. Pike

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list in the Official Report details of money held back from use by local authorities in England for housing purposes through the capital receipts limitation imposed at the present time; and if he will make a statement.

Sir George Young

Information about local authorities' accumulated capital receipts is available only in respect of the position on 31 March 1985. At that time, the total spending power theoretically available to authorities in England, from their accumulated housing receipts was £4.1 billion but £1.3 billion of this had been used for purposes such as debt repayment. All accumulated receipts are available over time to permit additional capital expenditure, but the Government have set limits on the rate at which they can be used for this purpose, so as to minimise adverse effects on the public sector borrowing requirement.