154.This section amends section 242 of the 1987 Act with the effect that the maximum limit of the approved expense of an improvement grant shall not exceed £20,000. This section provides that the amount of grant awarded shall be the approved expense minus the applicant’s contribution.
155.Provision is also made for the Scottish Ministers to determine cases in which grants shall be paid as a percentage of the approved expense. These “minimum percentage grants” will be determined by order. In such cases a local authority will pay the minimum percentage grant or the amount referred to in paragraph 153 above, whichever is the greater.
156.This section also makes provision about successive awards of grant where an application for grant is made less than 10 years after an earlier award. Such earlier award or awards are subtracted from the amount of grant awarded. Certain categories of work are exempt from this calculation. Those works include grants made in respect of works to provide standard amenities (under section 244 of the 1987 Act), minimum percentage grants and works to adapt a house for a disabled person (as under section 236 of the 1987 Act).