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Housing

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to increase the number of special needs houses in England; and if he will make a statement. [121817]

Keith Hill: 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) provides 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 the ADP. Included in these priorities are supported housing for people with disabilities. Funding for the ADP has risen to £1.5 billion in 2003–04, £500 million more than in 2002–03.

Local housing authorities have a statutory duty to offer Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) to all eligible applicants who require adaptations to help them live independently in their own homes. The grant is available

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to disabled homeowners and tenants in both the private and social rented sector, and 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 2003–04 is £99 million compared with £56 million in 1997–98, an increase of more than 75 per cent.

In addition, the Supporting People programme provides a strategic framework for commissioning and funding the support services that people need to help them to live independently in their accommodation. Local authorities (county councils in the case of two tier administrations) will be developing Supporting People strategies setting out how they will meet the needs of people in their areas for housing-related support over the next five years. These will consider the needs of all client groups, including people with physical and sensory disabilities, and learning disabilities.

Income Support

Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will estimate how much extra grant would be gained by Cambridgeshire if an additional 1,000 pensioners in the county were in receipt of income support. [124616]

Mr. Raynsford: In 2003–04 Cambridgeshire county council was one of the authorities who received the maximum increase possible under the 2003–04 floor and ceiling damping scheme i.e. they were a ceiling authority. For this reason if there had been an additional 1,000 pensioners in receipt of income support in the county, although Cambridgeshire's Formula Spending Share would have increased by £524,494, they would have continued to receive the same level of grant. In 2003–04, Cambridgeshire received an increase in formula grant of 8.5 per cent. on a like-for-like basis with 2002–03.

Local Government Reorganisation

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the (a) estimated and (b) outturn costs were of each reorganisation of the local government structure since 1980. [124067]

Mr. Raynsford: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. For the reviews in the 1990's supplementary credit approvals (SCAs)—totalling some £492 million—were given to authorities affected by reorganisation to enable them to borrow money to meet the one off indirect costs of reorganisation.

Mr. Syms: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the cost to be incurred in the re-organisation of local government in (a) the North East, (b) the North West and (c) Yorkshire and the Humber if the region approves the creation of a regional assembly. [125045]

Mr. Raynsford: The costs of such local government reorganisation will depend on what boundary and structural changes are involved and on future decisions by the local authorities concerned.

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Mobile Phone Masts

Jim Dowd: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what sanctions can be imposed on a network operator who erects a transmitter in breach of the Code of Best Practice on Mobile Phone Network Development to which they are a signatory. [124910]

Keith Hill: The Code of Best Practice on Mobile Phone Network Developments was produced jointly by representatives of central and local Government and the mobile phone industry and built on Government guidance and the operators' commitments. The Code of Best Practice is non-statutory and does not purport to give definitive interpretation of the legal planning requirements, which is ultimately a matter for the courts. Therefore, there are no sanctions that can be imposed on a network operator who erects a transmitter in breach of the Code.

The Mobile Operators Association have commissioned Deloitte and Touche to carry out an independent review of the implementation of the Operators Ten Commitments. The results of the review will be made publicly available in due course.

Poverty (London)

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proposals he has to reduce the levels of poverty in London; and if he will make a statement. [121781]

Yvette Cooper: Increasing opportunity and improving the delivery of public services to our most deprived communities is the cornerstone to our approach for tackling poverty wherever it occurs. The Local Strategic Partnerships in the 20 most deprived London boroughs will receive almost £350 million between April 2001 and March 2006 from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund to improve services to tackle poverty and deprivation in London.

London will also receive over £500 million over 10 years through the New Deal for Communities (NDC) programme. 10 of England's 39 NDC areas are in London—West Ham & Plaistow, Shoreditch, and Ocean in Tower Hamlets, New Cross Gate in Lewisham, EC1 in Islington, Aylesbury, Clapham Park, North Fulham, Seven Sisters and South Kilburn. European Structural Funds have made £570 million available over seven years in support of disadvantaged groups and areas in London.

These are just three examples of Government action to tackle poverty and social exclusion in the capital.

Social Housing

Mr. Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the availability of social housing. [123824]

Keith Hill: The number of social housing dwellings provided by local authorities and registered social landlords for rent in England in 2002 was 4.2 million out of a total dwelling stock of 21.3 million.

New social housing dwellings are provided through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme with grants to registered social landlords. Funding for the programme is increasing by

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£500 million this year to around £1.5 billion. The programme is expected to deliver at least 21,000 dwellings in 2003–04 for both rent and low cost home ownership.

Sustainable Development

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment is made (a) of the environmental impact and (b) against sustainable development criteria of bids made for (i) grants and (ii) contracts awarded by his Department; who makes such assessments; and whether these assessments are published. [116847]

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister gives grants to a variety of bodies for a variety of activities. Bids are made and assessed by officials against published criteria, which are drawn up to be compatible with the aims of sustainable development, and would include, where necessary, an environmental impact assessment. Assessments of grant bids by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are not published.

Similarly, contracts awarded by this Office are compatible with the aims of sustainable development and in accordance with the Government's Sustainable Development Framework. Contracts let refer to our Greening Operations statement and seek evidence from suppliers concerning their environmental credentials. Assessments are made by officials in this Office and are not published on a project by project basis. However, our Greening Operations statement is published on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Street Children

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development how many street children there are in South America; in which South American countries they are located; and how many street children there are in each country. [123726]

Mr. Rammell: I have been asked to reply.

The Government fully share the hon. Member's concern about the plight of street children in South America. The rights of children worldwide are a central part of our human rights policy. We monitor the situation of street children throughout South America carefully in dialogue with regional governments and NGOs; as does the EU. However the nature of the problem is such that it is very difficult to know precisely how many street children there are in individual South American countries.

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