§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What consideration they have given to extending the scope of permissible use of Housing Capital Receipts so that they could be used for the provision of traveller accommodation; and whether they will have particular regard to the problem which has arisen in the London Borough of Hackney, which wants to upgrade an existing temporary site but cannot fund the project. [HL1324]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Whitty)Under the local government capital finance system, 75 per cent. of the receipts from the sale of council housing must be set aside as provision for debt redemption. It is for authorities to decide how to spend the balance of such receipts, which may be used for any kind of capital expenditure, including accommodation for travellers. We have no plans to change these rules at present.
In the London Borough of Hackney, exchequer grant funded the provision of a permanent gypsy site of 20 double pitches, which opened in 1993. It was open to the borough to apply for further grant funding for gypsy site provision until November 1994, when grant ceased to be generally available.