Vol. 496 No. 5
131 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if, in view of the cost of the work in relation to improvement works in lieu schemes, his attention has been drawn to the need for adequate funding to meet the demand in each county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23297/98]
The funds available to me for the local authority housing programme, including improvement works in lieu of local authority housing, were fully allocated among local authorities earlier this year. As part of that funding I allocated an additional £1 million to local authorities in 1998 so as to boost activity under the scheme. This brought the total available to fund works under this scheme in the current year to £3.66 million.
Local authorities have been informed that it is open to them, within the limits of their overall housing allocation, to seek approval from the Department to divert funds from one element of their programme to another, such as the improvement works in lieu scheme.
