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Council Tax

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many and what percentage of council tax payers were (a) in receipt of (i) full and (ii) partial council tax benefits and (b) not in receipt of council tax benefit in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne (A) in 1996–97 and (B) in the most recent financial year for which figures are available. [137674]

Mr. Raynsford: In 1996–97, 43,000 council tax payers in Newcastle upon Tyne were in receipt of council tax benefit. This represents 38 per cent. of the chargeable dwellings as at 16 October 1996.

In 2002–03, 33,000 council tax payers in Newcastle upon Tyne were in receipt of council tax benefit. This represents 30 per cent. of the chargeable dwellings as at 16 October 2002.

Separate figures for the numbers of council tax benefit recipients receiving full or partial benefit are taken from a 1 per cent. annual sample and available only at a regional level. To provide information from the 1 per cent. sample by local authority would be subject to a high degree of sampling variation around the figures.

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many properties there were in each council tax band in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne in (a) 1996–97 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available. [137675]

Mr. Raynsford: The requested information is tabled as follows.

Newcastle upon Tyne

	Number of chargeable dwellings as at:
Band	16 October 1996	16 October 2002
A	69,513	67,409
B	15,427	15,612
C	15,722	15,700
D	6,496	7,007
E	3,234	3,433
F	1,512	1,641
G	1,278	1,278
H	89	102
Total	113,271	112,182

Source:

CTB1 returns

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Exceptions Policy (Housing)

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what responses he has received to his consultation on the future of the exceptions policy for housing. [137566]

Keith Hill: Current policy on providing for rural exception housing is set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 3: "Housing", Annex B. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister recently published the consultation document "Influencing The Size, Type And Affordability Of Housing", which proposes that the current policy is replaced by a policy that enables local planning authorities to identify sites solely for affordable housing, on land within or adjoining existing villages, which would not otherwise be released for housing. The consultation period officially closed on 31 October 2003, but responses after that date have been considered because of the postal dispute. It is too early to say how many responses have been received or their nature.

Government Office (West Midlands)

David Wright: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many staff are employed by the Government Office West Midlands; and how many were employed in 1997. [136884]

Yvette Cooper: Staff employed in permanent posts at Government Office for the West Midlands:

October 1997: 294


October 2003: 346

These are not full-time equivalents. In 1997 the Government Office for the West Midlands represented three Departments, now it represents ten.

GVA/Grimley Planning Report

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what arrangements he has made for publishing the GVA/Grimley Planning Report. [R] [137629]

Keith Hill: The Government intend to publish the Report in due course.

Homelessness

Simon Hughes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the most recent annual average cost is of housing a homeless (a) adult and (b) dependant in temporary accommodation in Greater London. [137838]

Yvette Cooper: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Simon Hughes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average number of (a) adults and (b) dependants housed in temporary accommodation in Greater London was in each year since 1997 for which figures are available. [137839]

Yvette Cooper: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Housing Renewal Pathfinders

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many domestic properties were sold

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for under £20,000 in each of the housing renewal Pathfinder areas in the latest year for which figures are available. [136996]

Keith Hill: The information is as follows:

Pathfinder area	Sales below £20,000 during 2002
Birmingham-Sandwell	53
East Lancashire	2,463
Hull	719
North Staffordshire	636
Manchester-Salford	1,656
Merseyside	770
Oldham-Rochdale	502
South Yorkshire	621
Tyneside	369

Notes:

1. The boundaries of the nine Pathfinder areas do not conform with any existing administrative area. So, for instance, the pathfinder area of South Yorkshire is not the same as the metropolitan county of the same name and the Pathfinder area of Hull is not the same as the area occupied by the unitary authority of Kingston-upon-Hull.

2. Sales are taken to mean the transfer of ownership for value of freehold and long leasehold residential properties, whether or not the purchase was supported by a mortgage.

Source:

Land Registry

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the housing renewal Pathfinder areas, broken down by (a) population, (b) households and (c) empty and abandoned properties. [136997]

Keith Hill: The latest data available is tabled as follows:

Pathfinder	Population	Households	Vacant household spaces
Birmingham-Sandwell	152,354	57,160	3,354
North Staffordshire	146,637	64,100	3,799
Merseyside	246,464	109,647	8,583
Manchester-Salford	240,370	102,085	13,773
Oldham-Rochdale	183,143	72,593	4,494
East Lancashire	206,770	81,754	8,009
South Yorkshire	297,887	125,132	6,288
Humberside	241,412	103,078	7,203
Newcastle-Gateshead	154,790	68,716	5,261
All pathfinders	1,869,827	784,265	60,764

Notes:

1. The data relates to the Pathfinder intervention areas that are smaller than the boundaries of the pathfinder local authorities. It uses the most consistent, robust and up-to-date data available for population and households, that being the Census 2001 data. 'Empty and abandoned properties' is not directly available within the Census 2001 dataset nor through other datasets for the intervention area. Therefore the closest equivalent Census 2001 data—'vacant household spaces'—has been provided. This figure approximates to what we would expect from 'empty and abandoned' property statistics if these were available.

2. Data for 2002 on empty properties for the districts involved in the Pathfinders is available at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister website thorough the Housing Investment Programme, Index of Data list under Housing Statistics.

3. The data was derived from the published Census 2001 data as of June 2003 and does not reflect any subsequent revisions. The intervention area boundaries are those agreed between the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Pathfinders as of June 2003.

4. Each Pathfinder 'intervention area' in the table above consists of all Census small areas (2001 Output Areas) whose centroids fall within the Pathfinder boundary. This means that in a few cases the boundary is an approximation that includes small areas outside the Pathfinder or excludes small areas actually within it. For 2001 Census Output Areas, the centroids are supplied on the boundary file by Office for National Statistics. This is the most detailed level of analysis available through Census.

Source:

2001 Census, Key Statistics for output areas.

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Inaccurate Census Counts

Mr. Gordon Marsden: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Department intends to compensate local authorities who may have been disadvantaged in local government spending allocations by inaccurate census counts. [137849]

Mr. Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has already announced that an amending report will be made for the 2003/04 settlement to include any revised mid-2001 population estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Mid-2002 population estimates from the ONS will be used for 2004/05 Revenue Support Grant calculations. These include an upward revision for the population of Manchester. If any subsequent revisions are made to population estimates then the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will consider whether to make an amending report.

Local Government Finance

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of spending by (a) Shropshire county council, (b) Oswestry borough council and (c) North Shropshire district council is to be financed by council tax payers in 2003–04. [137513]

Mr. Raynsford: Council tax expressed as a percentage of budgeted revenue expenditure for Shropshire county council, Oswestry borough council and North Shropshire district council in 2003–04 is tabled as follows:

	Budgeted revenue expenditure(21)	Council tax(22)
2003–04	£000	£000	Percentage
Shropshire	277,217	88,349	31.9
North Shropshire	9,791	3,472	35.5
Oswestry	5,983	2,448	40.9

⁽²¹⁾ Revenue expenditure is expenditure financed from revenue support grant, specific and special grants within AEF, non-domestic rates, council taxes and balances. It also includes spending met by police grant.

⁽²²⁾ Gross of council tax benefit.

Source:

2003–04 Budget Estimate Returns

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