asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce a system of housing capital allocations to local authorities which would enable them to plan their housing programmes more than a year in advance.

Authorities have already been given a greater ability to plan forward since 1 April 1981 by being able to carry their accumulated housing and non-housing capital receipts forward from one year to the next. In addition, they are free to carry forward any underspend from the previous year, or anticipate allocations from the following year, up to a limit of 10 per cent. of each year's allocation.