Oral Answers to Questions — Environment – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 27 March 1991.
Paul Murphy
Shadow Spokesperson (Wales)
12:00,
27 March 1991
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any new proposals to assist BISF home owners.
Paul Murphy
Shadow Spokesperson (Wales)
I thank the Minister for that useful reply.
Does the Minister agree that there is widespread concern on both sides of the House about BISF and other defective housing, and the problems that it causes both for home owners and for those who rent? Does he agree that local authorities' maintenance budgets cannot cope with those problems, and will he assure the House that he will undertake a fresh examination of the designation of special defective houses?
Tim Yeo
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Environment)
I am afraid that I shall not do that. It is clear to us from the information now available that no case exists for designating BISF houses under the housing defects legislation. Any owner of a BISF house—or, indeed, any other house that is in poor condition—can apply for a mandatory renovation grant to bring his property up to standard, which may cover 100 per cent. of the cost. I do not think that any further reaction from the Government is called for.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
