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Affordable Housing

Ms Buck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what plans he has to ensure that (a) the development of affordable housing on major regeneration sites in London is economically sustainable and (b) households will choose to move to such developments; [67500]

(2) what plans he has to ensure that local authorities in London are consulted in relation to proposals for the development of affordable housing on major regeneration sites. [67499]

Mr. McNulty: The Government see the provision of new affordable housing to meet the needs of homeless households and key workers in London as a key priority for the capital. For this reason we have increased the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme for 2002–03 to enable more affordable homes for rent and low-cost home ownership to be built. We are also keen to ensure that new affordable housing is developed cost-effectively so as to maximise the contribution that funding can make. At the same time we

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remain aware of the need to take into account local housing needs and priorities to meet the demand at local level and create sustainable communities in places where people will want to live.

Investment in affordable housing on major regeneration sites in London is an issue being addressed as part of the on-going work on the preparation of the 2002 edition of the London Housing Statement which is due for publication in a few weeks time. The Government office for London is continuing to work closely with the Housing Corporation and representatives of the London boroughs to ensure that all parties are adequately consulted before final investment decisions are made.

Planning

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to implement the proposals on planning tariffs set out in the Planning Green Paper; and if he will make a statement. [67443]

Mr. McNulty: The Government's consultation paper "Reforming Planning Obligations: delivering a fundamental change", published in December 2001, proposed the introduction of a tariff-based approach to planning obligations. We received over 500 responses, the majority of which welcomed our proposals. Ministers are considering policy options and there will be a policy statement in due course.

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent representations he has received from groups interested in housing development and conservation; what the conclusions from those meetings were; and if he will make a statement. [68540]

Mr. McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has received representations from a number of local and national groups interested in housing development and conservation. These groups include the RSPB, CPRE, FoE, WWF and Green Alliance. The representations have principally concerned our proposals to reform the planning system but have underlined the importance of planning to meet housing needs in the most sustainable way practicable. This is entirely consistent with our planning policies for housing.

Special Advisers

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he last met the Government's special adviser on urban policy; and if he will make a statement. [67449]

Mr. McNulty: The Government have no special adviser specifically for urban policy. However, I assume the hon. Member is referring to Lord Rogers of Riverside, who chaired the Urban Task Force which reported in June 1999. The Deputy Prime Minister is due to meet Lord Rogers this week to discuss urban policy issues and how the Government can help deliver a lasting urban renaissance.

Young Disabled People (Housing)

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to increase the supply of independent housing available to young disabled people. [67109]

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Mr. McNulty: Local housing authorities have a responsibility to produce a housing strategy which sets out plans to address the range of housing needs in their area. This includes all groups with special needs where the strategy must link into the provision of associated support services. Decisions on how these should be addressed are taken locally on the basis of the assessment of the nature and scale of the different housing needs.

The Housing Corporation through the Approved Development Programme (ADP) and Supported Housing Management Grant (SHMG) provide specially adapted housing and support for the disabled. The Housing Corporation through its National Investment Strategy sets out the priorities against which registered social landlords should bid for resources for both ADP and SHMG. Included in these priorities are supported housing for people with physical disabilities. The ADP is set to rise to £1.2 billion in 2003–04, almost double the planned expenditure for 2000–01.

Local housing authorities have a statutory duty to offer Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) to eligible applicants who require adaptations to help them live independently in their own homes. The grant is available to home owners and tenants in both the private and social rented sector. It is subject to a means test. The Government meet 60 per cent. of the total local authority expenditure incurred on DFGs through the payment of specified capital grant. The budget for this grant for English authorities in 2002–03 is £88 million compared with £56 million in 1997–98, an increase of nearly 60 per cent.

Evictions

Ms Buck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) council tenants and (b) RSL tenants were evicted for (i) rent arrears, (ii) anti-social behaviour and (iii) other reasons in each year from 1992–93 to 2001–02. [67683]

Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

However, ongoing discussions between the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Court Service are looking at ways of getting a more detailed breakdown of the data on possession order cases by social landlords.

Ms Buck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many families with children have been evicted in each of the last 10 years. [67857]

Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Planning Green Paper

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a list of the respondents to the planning Green Paper. [67651]

Mr. McNulty: A copy was placed in the Library on 27 May.

Local Government Boundaries

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will introduce legislation to reform local government terminology to make clear the difference between

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administrative boundaries and the historic boundaries of the traditional counties of the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [67727]

Mr. Raynsford: The Government have no plans to introduce legislation for changes in terminology. The legislative agenda is already substantial and there are many other and pressing priorities in the Government's programme.

Social Exclusion

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much public expenditure went to each of the excluded neighbourhoods defined by the Social Exclusion Unit in the last 12 months; and what the average sum was. [67611]

Mr. McNulty: It is not currently possible to break down all public expenditure to a small area level such as the excluded neighbourhoods defined by the SEU. We recognise the importance of gathering this information on a national basis. We are designing mechanisms to do this and aim to take this forward through the Neighbourhood Statistics Initiative.

For the Neighbourhood Renewal programmes that are targeted on the 88 most deprived areas, the provisional outturn figure for expenditure in 2001–02 is £305.7 million. All of the £200 million provision of the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund has been issued as per Special Grant Report 78 made under Section 88a of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. On this basis the average sum spent by these programmes in each of the 88 deprived areas in 2001–02 was £3.47 million.

European Congress of Twinned Towns

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the 8th European Congress of Twinned Towns; what the nature of the United Kingdom representation was; what funding share fell to the United Kingdom; and if it is his policy to divest these meetings of a party political slant. [68337]

Mr. Leslie: UK representation at the 8th European Congress of Twinned Towns, held in Antwerp on 22–24 May 2002, included a cross party delegation from the Local Government Association's Local Government International Bureau, which has responsibility for arranging town twinning, and representatives of several local authorities. The Congress was co-funded by the European Commission, the City of Antwerp and by private sponsorship. In the UK, town twinning is a politically neutral activity and is supported on a cross party basis.

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