§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will agree to meet members and officials of Roxburgh district council to discuss ways of financing the re-purchase of the Whitson-Fairhurst houses in Hawick which were sold to sitting tenants under the right-to-buy provisions without notification of the structural design defects;
(2) what action the Government propose to take to safeguard the interests of the purchases of the Whitson-Fairhurst homes in Burnfoot; and if he will make a statement.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe existing law relating to the sale of defective houses safeguards the interests of the purchasers and I have no power to intervene; any matters concerned with the performance or discharge of the seller's obligations are a matter for the sheriff court. I shall however write to the hon. Member about the sale of Whitson-Fairhurst houses by Roxburgh district council.
Supplementary housing capital allocations are made available to local authorities specifically to cover their obligations to owners of defective houses, such as
784W
§ Mr. MaxtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the level of capital expenditure on schools in(a) each regional authority in Scotland and (b) Scotland in total in each year since 1978–79 in constant prices.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe information given in the table has been compiled from local authority financial returns. The fall in expenditure in real terms during the period reflects a substantial and progressive decline in school pupil numbers which has reduced the requirement for new school building.
Whitson-Fairhursts, where the circumstances meet the statutory requirements of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987. Decisions on repurchasing houses in other cases are a matter for the district council and such repurchases must be funded from the council's general housing capital allocations. In the circumstances, I see no purpose in a meeting with the council during the general election period.