§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what sum is required to bring the council housing stock in(a) Inverclyde, (b) Strathclyde and (c) Scotland as a whole up to satisfactory habitable standards; and if he will make a statement.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe information requested is not held centrally. It is up to individual local authorities to undertake local house condition surveys of their stock to assess the state of their council housing and to decide how best to deploy the substantial resources available to them to improve the standard of their housing. I have asked all local authorities to give priority to tackling below tolerable standard housing and dampness and condensation in preparing their housing plans and capital programmes.
Information on the general state of repair of public sector housing stock is quoted in the report of the 1991 Scottish house condition survey which is available in the Library.
212Waccount of individual financial circumstances. This applies irrespective of whether the client is in receipt of income-related benefits or not.