§ Mr. Wareingasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will indicate the total amounts available for loft insulation grants in England in each of the years 1979 to 1987; and what he expects it to be in 1987–88.
§ Mr. TraceyThere can never be a total amount available since local authorities can, with the approval of the Department, switch resources from their housing investment programme to the homes insulation scheme. However, the expenditure on loft insulation grants for the financial years from 1979 was as follows:
£ million 1979–80 14.3 1980–81 14.6 1981–82 21.5 1982–83 26.5 1983–84 22.3 1984–85 22.4 1985–86 24.6 1986–87 1 22.5 1 Estimated As my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing, Urban Affairs and Construction made clear in his announcement on 19 December at column 748, £15 million is being made available for the homes insulation scheme in 1987–88.
§ Mr. Wareingasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his policy on the homes insulation scheme, in the light of the proposals made to him by Neighbourhood Energy Action.
§ Mr. John PattenI shall answer this question shortly.