---

27 Feb 2003 : Column 713W—continued

External Consultants

Mr. David Laws: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much (a) his Department and (b) each agency and non-departmental public body spent on external consultancy in each year from 1995–96 to 2002–03 (planned); and if he will make a statement. [92225]

Mr. Leslie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Buckingham, for information on external consultancy spend by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister since it came into being on 29 May 2002.

The Executive Agencies:

	£
	The Rent Service (since it started in October 1999)
1999–00	1,001,920
2000–01	2,068,656
2001–02	1,787,271
2002–03	2,038,000 (estimated)
The Planning Inspectorate
1995–96	721,000
1996–97	698,000
1997–98	197,000
1998–99	292,000
1999–00	1,945,000
2000–01	1,750,000
2001–02	3,454,000
2002–03	3,884,000 (estimated)
The Fire Service College
1995–96	35,917
1996–97	215,190
1997–98	151,687
1998–99	100,246
1999–00	99,900
2000–01	77,696
2001–02	121,786
2002–03	135,000 (estimated)
The QE II Conference Centre
1995–96	33,848
1996–97	8,737
1997–98	Nil
1998–99	Nil
1999–00	Nil
2000–01	2,250
2001–02	Nil
2002–03	2000 (estimated)
The Non Departmental Public Bodies
The Housing Action Trusts
1995–96	3,406,000
1996–97	2,242,000
1997–98	3,736,000
1998–99	2,490,000
1999–00	2,020,000
2000–01	2,550,000
2001–02	2,400,000
2002–03	3,300,000 (estimated)
The Audit Commission
1995–96	150,000
1996–97	240,000
1997–98	280,000
1998–99	630,000
1999–00	1,300,000
2000–01	1,120,000
2001–02	640,000
2002–03	700,000 (estimated)
The Standards Board for England is only able to provide information for the last two years
2001–02	151,000
2002–03	70,000 (estimated)
English Partnerships since it started in 1999 the figures are as follows
1999–00	3,000,000
2000–01	1,870,000
2001–02	950,000
2002–03	1,130,000 (estimated)

27 Feb 2003 : Column 714W

Fraud and Theft

Mr. Laws: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much money has been lost by his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies through (a) fraud and (b) theft in each year since 1996–97. [92424]

Mr. Leslie: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was created in May 2002.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Buckingham on 27 February 2003, Official Report, Hansard.

27 Feb 2003 : Column 715W

Heritage Assets

Mr. Laws: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what sales of heritage assets and antique assets have been made by his Department since May 1997; if he will list other assets; and if he will estimate the total sales proceeds. [92414]

Mr. Leslie: No heritage or antique assets have been sold by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister since it was created on 29 May 2002. There have been, consequently, no sale proceeds.

There are no heritage or antique assets held on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's asset register.

27 Feb 2003 : Column 716W

Housing

Mr. Wray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many new homes have been built since 1997; where they are located; and what proportion (a) are council houses and (b) have been transferred to housing associations. [98461]

Mr. McNulty: Table 1 shows how many new homes have been built in each region since 1997–98 and what proportion were council houses. Table 2 shows the number of Large Scale Voluntary Transfers of local authority stock and an estimate of the total number of dwellings transferred. It is not possible to provide data on what proportion of new homes have been transferred.

Table 1

	Financial year
	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02
All dwellings built
North East	7,581	6,665	7,428	6,764	6,390
North West	19,201	18,969	18,922	18,317	15,892
Yorkshire and the Humber	15,464	13,085	13,418	13,446	13,239
East Midlands	14,549	14,755	16,378	13,602	14,062
West Midlands	13,392	14,031	15,297	14,213	13,459
East	21,301	18,986	18,745	16,002	15,617
London	13,623	12,864	12,480	14,280	14,170
South East	25,441	23,346	23,175	22,086	21,895
South West	19,003	15,929	15,912	14,979	15,575
England	149,555	138,630	141,755	133,689	130,299
Local authorities (percentage)
North East	0.12	0.11	0.05	—	—
North West	—	—	—	—	0.01
Yorkshire and the Humber	0.10	0.01	0.02	—	0.03
East Midlands	0.71	0.54	0.04	0.06	—
West Midlands	0.13	—	0.21	0.55	—
East	0.17	0.03	—	—	0.23
London	0.38	0.27	—	1.11	0.37
South East	0.12	0.12	0.13	0.55	—
South West	0.31	0.23	0.16	0.15	0.08
England	0.22	0.14	0.07	0.29	0.08

Table 2

	Financial year
	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02
Number of large scale voluntary transfers
North East	—	—	1	1	—
North West	2	2	5	4	—
Yorkshire and the Humber	—	—	—	1	—
East Midlands	—	1	2	1	2
West Midlands	—	1	2	3	1
East	—	—	1	—	3
London	1	1	—	2	—
South East	2	2	2	3	1
South West	1	5	3	3	—
England	6	12	16	18	7
Estimated total dwellings transferred
North East	—	—	3,500	36,400	—
North West	5,600	4,700	25,000	19,100	—
Yorkshire and the Humber	—	—	—	12,800	—
East Midlands	—	5,000	8,800	3,400	9,100
West Midlands	—	13,000	15,700	28,900	5,500
East	—	—	6,700	—	15,400
London	8,200	1,200	—	7,100	—
South East	5,000	5,600	9,700	13,500	4,800
South West	5,500	26,200	9,900	10,500	—
England	24,300	55,800	79,300	131,700	34,800

27 Feb 2003 : Column 717W

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the link between housing land shortages and the house price increase of the late 1990s; and if he will make a statement. [98864]

Mr. McNulty: In developing Sustainable Communities: building for the future, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister officials have taken note of a range of evidence concerning potential imbalances between housing supply and demand.

Housing (Kirklees)

Ann Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what capital resources for housing investment have been allocated at 2002–03 prices to Kirklees Council in each year since 1990–91. [98221]

Mr. McNulty: The information requested is the following table:

£ million

Year	Actual allocations(29)	In 2002–03 prices(30)
1990–91	10.4	14.3
1991–92	10.6	13.6
1992–93	11.7	14.6
1993–94	11.8	14.3
1994–95	9.0	10.8
1995–96	9.4	11.0
1996–97	9.6	10.9
1997–98	8.3	9.1
1998–99	9.6	10.3
1999–00	10.7	11.1
2000–01	16.1	16.5
2001–02	21.3	21.3
2002–03	20.7	20.2
2003–04(31)	19.7	18.8

⁽²⁹⁾ Covers housing annual capital guidelines (which include an element to be financed from authorities' capital receipts); the major repairs allowance; support for disabled facilities grants; the Capital Receipts Initiative; and ring-fenced support for a number of housing schemes, e.g. Cash Incentive Schemes. Estate Action scheme funding is excluded.

⁽³⁰⁾ Allocations have been converted to 2002–03 prices using the GDP Deflator.

⁽³¹⁾ The reduction in 2003–04 mainly reflects a change in the local government capital finance system, which means the allocations no longer include an element assumed to be financed from authorities capital receipts.

---