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28 Jan 2003 : Column 789W—continued
Housing Waiting Lists
Martin Linton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people were on housing waiting lists in each London borough at the latest date for which figures are available. [92132]
Mr. McNulty: Local authorities in England report the numbers of households on their housing register (excluding tenants awaiting a transfer) as at 1 April in their annual Housing Investment Programme returns. The latest reported information, for 2002, is as follows:
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Note:
Local authorities have different practices for compiling and managing housing register/waiting lists, which means that direct comparisons between authorities can be misleading.
Source:
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Housing Investment Programme (HIP) annual returns.
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Local Government Finance
Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what the average percentage rise in the government grant to police authorities is for the forthcoming financial year; and what the percentage increase was for the Essex police force. [91397]
Mr. Denham [holding answer 20 January 2003]: I have been asked to reply.
The average percentage increase in general policing grants to police authorities in England and Wales for 2003–04 is 4.3 per cent.
Essex police authority will receive a 3 per cent. increase in general grants. The authority will also receive £0.5 million from the Rural Policing Fund and £5.79 million from the Crime Fighting Fund, taking the overall increase to 3.5 per cent. Essex will also receive £2.33 million for the Airwave communication system.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make allowance for inaccuracies in the 2001 census count when considering the grant allocation for 2004–05; and if he will make a statement. [92495]
Mr. Raynsford: It is the policy of the Deputy Prime Minister to use consistent data for all authorities in the calculation of formula grant. For population estimates, this means the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be using the Registrar General's mid-year population estimates, as derived from the 2001 census and published by the Office for National Statistics. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) are confident that the approach taken for the 2001 census provides the most accurate estimates of the population both nationally and for each of the 376 local authorities in
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England and Wales. ONS are not anticipating making changes to their figures, but if this should occur the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will consider what impact these may have on the Local Government Finance Settlement. The floors provided for under the Local Government Settlement ensure that no authority receives an increase in grant less than inflation in 2003–04 irrespective of reductions in the estimated resident population of that authority in the 2001 census.
Local Government Finance (Westminster)
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to use alternative data sources to the 2001 census to calculate Westminster City Council's (a) grant settlement for 2003–04 and (b) future grant settlements; and if he will make a statement. [92494]
Mr. Raynsford: It is the policy of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to use consistent data for all authorities in the calculation of formula grant; consequently the same data source will be used for Westminster as for all authorities. For population estimates, this means the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be using the Registrar General's mid-year population estimates (as published by the Office for National Statistics). For the 2003–04 Local Government Finance Settlement these will be the 2001 estimates that are based on the 2001 census. For future years the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister intends to use the latest available mid-year estimates.
Occupational Stress
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the (a) prevalence and (b) causes of occupational stress among local government officers. [93691]
Mr. Leslie: Decisions on specific health issues like occupational stress are a matter for individual local authority employers and detailed information about causes and prevalence is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, as part of the Review of Ill-Health Retirement in the Public Sector, there continues to be close collaboration with the Employers' Organisation for Local Government and the Association of Local Authority Medical Advisers in the preparation of a Management of Ill-Health Retirement handbook published in September 2002. This includes a chapter on the causes of stress, recognising the symptoms and the implications for local authority managers and those working in the occupational health sector.
Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which development documents a unitary authority will have to complete as a result of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill. [93602]
Mr. McNulty: Under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill, a unitary authority will have to prepare those local development documents that are specified in its local development scheme. These must include the authority's statement of community involvement and documents prescribed under clause 16(l)(a) of the Bill. It is intended that these prescribed documents should be
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a core strategy containing the core spatial planning policies for the authority's area and site specific policies, including a proposals map.
Property Prices
Mr. Chope: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a list of lower quartile prices of properties sold in each local authority area in each quarter of 2002. [94045]
Mr. McNulty: A table showing lower quartile property prices in each local authority area will be available in the Library from Wednesday 29 January. Figures will be provided for all four quarters of 2001 and for the first three quarters of 2002.
The figures are derived from the Land Registry dataset covering all residential property transactions—but excluding properties sold for less than £1,000 or more than £20 million.
Note that the figures for Q3 2002 are provisional only. Revised and final figures for Q3 2002 will be made available by end-February, which is when provisional figures for Q4 2002 will also be available.
Regional Planning
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance the Government will issue for regional housebuilding targets during the process of establishing Regional Strategic Procedure. [93603]
Mr. McNulty: This Government do not set regional housebuilding targets. Annual rates of housing provision are kept under regular review and are established through regional planning guidance and the spatial strategy it should set out. Guidance on this is set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 11 on 'Regional Planning' and Planning Policy Guidance Note 3 on 'Housing'. These arrangements will continue when regional spatial strategies replace regional planning guidance as provided for in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill.
Right to Buy (Christchurch)
Mr. Chope: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many additional social housing units he estimates will be available to let in each of the next five years in Christchurch if the right to buy maximum discounts scheme is introduced. [94044]
Mr. McNulty: The effect of lower maximum Right to Buy discounts on the supply of affordable housing in any area will depend upon a number of factors. It is likely to be limited initially, but to grow over time, reducing the upward pressure of Right to Buy sales and subsequent resales on local rents and housing prices.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) whether the Right to Buy scheme reduction in maximum discounts will apply to social housing within Christchurch borough owned by New Forest district council; [94047]
- (2) whether the Right to Buy scheme reduction in maximum discounts applies to local housing in Christchurch in respect of which housing authorities outside Christchurch have the nomination right. [94046]
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Mr. McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is minded to reduce the maximum Right to Buy discount available to tenants to £16,000 in Christchurch and 41 other areas which are under the greatest housing market pressure, as evidenced by a high local incidence of homelessness and high house prices. The reduction will apply to all social housing available under the Right to Buy scheme in those areas. We have written to the local housing authorities giving them the opportunity to provide reasons why the change should not be made in their area. We will consider carefully all representations received.
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