§ Mr. Andrew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much has been spent on press and public relations material and advertising in respect of the Housing Act 1988 in total; what are future spending plans; and how much has been spent on publicising(a) housing action trusts and (b) council estate ballots on opting out of council control.
§ Mr. Trippier[holding answer 8 March 1989]: Expenditure on informing people of their rights and opportunities under the provisions of the Housing Act 1988 amounts to about £84,000 to date of which £7,600 relates to housing action trusts including translation of material into ethnic minority languages. There has been no expenditure on publicising council estate ballots on council proposals to transfer their stock. Further expenditure of around £620,000 will be required to inform people about tenants' choice, and to report back to tenants in the proposed HAT areas the results of the consultants studies of their estates. For 1989–90 a total of £1 million has been earmarked for information directly related to recent changes in legislation and policy: the final breakdown has yet to be decided but the programme is likely to include material on housing associations, on tenants choice, on housing action trusts and on the proposed changes to the improvement grant system.