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Urban Initiative
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on progress towards agreement between Her Majesty's Government and the European Commission on the terms on which funds for the Urban initiative can be made available to neighbourhoods in England. [37967]
Sir Paul Beresford: We are close to finalising the administrative arrangements with the European Commission for the Urban Community initiative. The programmes for those neighbourhoods to receive funding in England, Scotland and Wales will commence as soon as they have been formally adopted by the Commission.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list by region the total amount of (a) useable capital receipts and (b) receipts set aside as provision for credit liability, held by each local authority in England at 31 March. [38015]
Mr. Curry: A list by region of the amounts of accumulated usable capital receipts and provision for credit liabilities held by each English local authority at 31 March 1995 has been placed in the Library of the
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House. The provision for credit liabilities includes amounts set aside from revenue as well as capital receipts. Separate figures are not available.
Ms Armstrong: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the delay in consolidating regulations for local authority capital expenditure and finance. [38278]
Sir Paul Beresford: We expect to issue draft consolidated regulations for consultation by October.
Ms Armstrong: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what were the needs assessments for local government expressed through the local government grant systems for (a) Westminster city council and (b) Liverpool city council in each year since 1979; [38279]
- (2) if he will list for each authority for each year from 1979-80 to 1996-97 the amount that each was deemed to need to spend in (i) cash and (ii) real terms for the purposes of distributing rate support grant; to what extent the figures are comparable, taking account of (a) changes in functions of local authorities, (b) abolition of the Greater London council, the Inner London education authority and metropolitan counties, (c) the local government review, (d) changed arrangements for the assessment of needs, (e) changed arrangements for the payment of the needs element of rate support grant and (f) changed precepting arrangements; and if he will list for each authority on a comparable basis the assessed needs in each year on the basis of the percentage of total local government spending that each authority's needs represents and of the amount of assessed needs per head of population. [38280]
Sir Paul Beresford: Information on standard spending assessments from 1990-91 onwards in cash and in real terms has been placed in the Library. The information includes, for 1992-93 and later years, figures recalculated so as to be comparable to those for the year immediately following. These adjusted figures take account of changes in function and geographical responsibility, but not changes in data, methodology or the national totals for each element of the SSAs.
The figures in real terms are based on the gross domestic product deflator.
Information has also been provided as a percentage of the total for England and as an amount per head for the figures in cash terms.
Data on grant-related expenditure assessments, in cash and in real terms, covering the period 1981-82 to 1989-90, will be placed in the Library shortly.
I will write to the hon. Member shortly concerning data for the years before 1981-82.
Mr. Peter Bottomley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will discuss with Westminster city council street litter around the Palace of Westminster in the absence of bins. [38085]
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Mr. Clappison:
I understand that Westminster city council recognises the particular pressure placed upon the area around the Palace of Westminster because of the large number of visitors and the absence of bins. It has already discussed with its contractor the need for additional resources at this time of year.
The city council requires its contractor to clean the area to a higher standard and over a longer period than is required in the statutory code of practice issued under part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Furthermore, where complaints of litter in this area are received, it aims to deal with the problem within one hour.
Mr. Thurnham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of whether the senior rent officer at Wigan is following the correct statutory procedure in determining private sector rent levels for housing benefits. [38021]
Mr. Curry:
None. Rent officers are independent statutory officers, appointed by the proper officer of the local authority in accordance with a statutory scheme agreed with the Secretary of State for the Environment. The Secretary of State has specified in the Rent Officers (Additional Functions) Order 1995, as amended, the criteria that rent officers must follow in determining rents for housing benefit purposes. Rent officers are not accountable to the Secretary of State for their decisions. They are accountable through the chief rent officer to the proper officer on matter of performance and conduct.
Mr. Brian David Jenkins:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people are currently registered as homeless with local housing authorities. [38476]
Mr. Clappison:
Summary information on households for which local authorities in England accept responsibility to secure accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the Housing Act 1985 is published in a quarterly information bulletin--"Households found accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the 1985 Housing Act 1985: England". Copies of the bulletin, the latest of which provides statistics for the first quarter of 1996, are in the Library.
Mr. Bayley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many (a) households, (b) pensioners and (c) families with children (i) were presented and (ii) were accepted as homeless in (1) York, (2) North Yorkshire, (3) Yorkshire and Humberside and (4) England in each year since 1979. [38998]
Mr. Clappison:
The available data on households dealt with under the homelessness provisions of the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977 and the Housing Act 1985 are set out in the tables. Other than those given for York, the figures for acceptances of households with children or a vulnerable household member could be provided only at disproportionate cost for years before 1991.
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| Applications/ enquiries(57) | Households accepted for re-housing | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Of which households with: | |||
| Vulnerable member due to old age | Children | |||
| 1979 | n/a | 125 | n/a | n/a |
| 1980 | n/a | 352 | n/a | n/a |
| 1981 | 632 | 503 | 4 | 310 |
| 1982 | 464 | 320 | 6 | 178 |
| 1983 | 355 | 212 | 5 | 128 |
| 1984 | 357 | 204 | 4 | 100 |
| 1985 | 479 | 264 | 5 | 138 |
| 1986 | 597 | 313 | 3 | 180 |
| 1987 | (58)330 | (58)159 | (58)2 | (58)104 |
| 1988 | 414 | 227 | 3 | 132 |
| 1989 | 457 | 242 | 8 | 132 |
| 1990 | 623 | 349 | 4 | 211 |
| 1991 | (58)750 | 230 | (58)2 | (59)103 |
| 1992 | 1,824 | 168 | 10 | 112 |
| 1993 | 1,234 | 137 | 6 | 80 |
| 1994 | 1,264 | 103 | 2 | 53 |
| 1995 | 1,173 | 120 | 2 | 64 |
n/a = not available.
| Households accepted for re-housing | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Of which households with: | ||
| Vulnerable member due to old age | Children | ||
| 1979 | 640 | -- | -- |
| 1980 | 850 | -- | -- |
| 1981 | 1,020 | -- | -- |
| 1982 | 810 | -- | -- |
| 1983 | 740 | -- | -- |
| 1984 | 740 | -- | -- |
| 1985 | 730 | -- | -- |
| 1986 | 870 | -- | -- |
| 1987 | 760 | -- | -- |
| 1988 | 870 | -- | -- |
| 1989 | 1,180 | -- | -- |
| 1990 | 1,350 | -- | -- |
| 1991 | 1,180 | (60)70 | (60)580 |
| 1992 | 990 | 70 | 720 |
| 1993 | 870 | 40 | 580 |
| 1994 | 870 | 30 | 570 |
| 1995 | 820 | 30 | 550 |
| Households accepted for re-housing | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Of which households with: | ||
| Vulnerable member due to old age | Children | ||
| 1979 | 4,590 | -- | -- |
| 1980 | 5,360 | -- | -- |
| 1981 | 5,740 | -- | -- |
| 1982 | 5,930 | -- | -- |
| 1983 | 5,740 | -- | -- |
| 1984 | 5,820 | -- | -- |
| 1985 | 7,650 | -- | -- |
| 1986 | 8,590 | -- | -- |
| 1987 | 8,920 | -- | -- |
| 1988 | 9,920 | -- | -- |
| 1989 | 11,520 | -- | -- |
| 1990 | 13,800 | -- | -- |
| 1991 | 13,080 | (60)340 | (60)5,220 |
| 1992 | 14,820 | 500 | 8,900 |
| 1993 | 13,650 | 480 | 8,150 |
| 1994 | 11,330 | 370 | 5,400 |
| 1995 | 10,210 | 370 | 5,400 |
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| Households accepted for re-housing | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Of which households with: | ||
| Vulnerable member due to old age | Children(58) | ||
| 1979 | 55,530 | -- | -- |
| 1980 | 60,400 | -- | -- |
| 1981 | 66,990 | -- | -- |
| 1982 | 71,620 | -- | -- |
| 1983 | 75,470 | -- | -- |
| 1984 | 80,500 | -- | -- |
| 1985 | 91,010 | -- | -- |
| 1986 | 100,490 | -- | -- |
| 1987 | 109,170 | -- | -- |
| 1988 | 113,770 | -- | -- |
| 1989 | 122,180 | -- | -- |
| 1990 | 140,350 | 6,570 | 84,120 |
| 1991 | 144,780 | 5,860 | 88,950 |
| 1992 | 142,890 | 6,230 | 85,300 |
| 1993 | 132,380 | 5,920 | 76,390 |
| 1994 | 122,460 | 6,050 | 68,620 |
| 1995 | 120,810 | 5,950 | 67,100 |
(57) The data colleced from authorities have, since April 1991, included a request for the number of applications or enquiries first recorded during the quarter. The data provided are not reported on a consistent basis across authorities as they reflect differing local administrative practices and cannot, therefore, be used to produce national or regional totals of applications/inquiries. The available figures prior to April 1991 are not comparable with later data as they have a narrower coverage--they cover only the number of cases in which inquiries carried out by the authority were completed during the year.
(58) Data for 3 quarters only.
(59) Data for 2 quarters only.
(60) April to December only.
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