Recovery etc. of Grants

Part of Clause 47 – in the House of Commons at 12:15 am on 14 June 1988.

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Photo of Mr Roland Boyes Mr Roland Boyes , Houghton and Washington 12:15, 14 June 1988

I should like to help my hon. Friend to stay in order. I have listened to what he has said. I asked in my intervention whether the rate or rates of interest, whether fixed or variable, could be determined by the Secretary of State without defining in the Bill the level at which rates of interest can be set. My understanding from the article that my hon. Friend has read to the House is that the Secretary of State is quite free to set the rate at whatever level he wishes. Perhaps my hon. Friend will confirm that. The Under-Secretary of State does not intervene to say that that is incorrect.

That means that housing associations and other such bodies cannot possibly plan and determine rent levels. That is because the Secretary of State might set a variable rate of interest that could vary in the short and long term by large amounts. Despite what Christopher Huhne says, that gap can be narrower or wider——