§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the cost of answering the question on local authority rent arrears by the hon. Member for 187W Lewisham, West (Mr. Maples) Official Report, column 221, 19 February; and why the hon. Member was not referred to published sources available in the Library.
§ Mr. John PattenThe cost of answering the question was about £50. The information is collected regularly for the Department's own monitoring purposes. It was not possible to refer to published sources in the Library because that information was not, at the time, up to date.