House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 3 Dec 2003 (pt 13)

3 Dec 2003 : Column 93W—continued

Top-up Fees

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the

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additional amount that would be raised for each higher education establishment by the introduction of top-up fees as set out in the Government's Higher Education White Paper. [141140]

Alan Johnson: The White Paper proposes that universities—whose access agreements have been approved—will be able to decide on their own fees, up to a maximum of £3,000. We cannot pre-judge or pre-empt those decisions.

Therefore, it is not possible to estimate the additional income for each higher education institution: that will, in part, depend on (i) the number of students at that institution and (ii) the fee levels charged at that institution.

Our latest estimates on additional income for all English higher education institutions are being prepared for the Regulatory Impact Assessment and will be available following its publication.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the impact of the proposed allocation of funding for bursaries on the additional amount that would be raised for each higher education establishment by the introduction of top-up fees as set out in the Government's Higher Education White Paper. [141141]

Alan Johnson: We are considering and discussing the contents of access agreements and the duties of the Office for Fair Access, and will make a statement in due course.

PRIME MINISTER

Honours

David Winnick: To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has received on the renaming of the honours OBE, CBE and MBE; and if he will make a statement. [141958]

The Prime Minister: I regularly receive representations on a wide range of issues including about honours. The names of the various Orders of Chivalry are kept under review, as are other honours matters.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Council Tax

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister by how much on average has council tax in the United Kingdom risen since 1997. [141725]

Mr. Raynsford: Between 1997–98 and 2003–04, the average council tax per dwelling in England has increased by £344 or 61 per cent., from £564 to £908. During the same period, the average B and D council tax in England increased by £414 or 60 per cent., from £688 to £1,102.

Council tax figures for Wales and Scotland are a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government and the Scottish Parliament respectively. Council tax does not exist in Northern Ireland.

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Education Finance

Mrs. May: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what discussions ministers or officials had with the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead prior to the decision to limit their formula grant increase to their schools formula spending share increase under the proposed 2004–05 settlement; [140605]

(a)

(b)

(3) if he will set out the basis on which the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead was chosen as one of the 13 local authorities whose formula grant increase will be equal to their schools formula spending share increase under the proposed 2004–05 settlement. [140607]

Mr. Raynsford: No Minister or official from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister met the authority to discuss our proposals for 2004–05. Representatives of shire unitary authorities and the Local Government Association were involved in discussions on this topic with officials from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister at Settlement Working Group meetings.

Windsor and Maidenhead stand to benefit by around £1 million from the change to the grant system to give every authority at least as large an increase in Formula Grant as its Schools Formula Spending Share (FSS) increase. Excluding the adjustment for capital, the provisional settlement gives the authority an increase in Formula Grant of 5.0 per cent. compared to the 3.5 per cent. floor increase it would otherwise have received. Any impact on social services, highways maintenance and council tax would therefore be beneficial.

The basis on which we have given every authority at least as large an increase in Formula Grant as its Schools FSS increase is to calculate the increase in Formula Grant for each authority under the previous floors and ceilings system and compare it to their increase in Schools FSS. We propose that authorities should receive the greater of the two amounts.

Housing

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the capital allocation to the London borough of Islington is in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04 for the construction of houses for rent by (i) the local authority and (ii) Housing Associations through the Housing Corporation; and if he will make a statement. [141647]

Keith Hill: The London borough of Islington received an all-purposes housing Basic Credit Approval of £14.970 million in 2002–03 and £13.607 million in 2003–04. Housing Corporation capital allocations to Islington for housing associations to build new housing for rent were £20.4 million in 2002–03 and £25.387 million in 2003–04.

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assistance his Department plans to provide to the London borough of Islington to meet the Decent Homes Standard by 2010; and if he will make a statement. [141648]

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Keith Hill: The assistance the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is providing to the London borough of Islington to meet the Decent Homes standard is as follows:

a provisional allocation of £24.9 million for the next two years from the Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) programme subject to a satisfactory Audit Commission inspection of the ALMO once it is operational;

credits of £75 million over the 30-year life of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract signed earlier this year;

an all-purpose housing Basic Credit Approval of £13.607 million in 2003–04;

a Major Repairs Allowance of £25.545 million in 2003–04.

In addition, Islington will continue to receive Major Repairs Allowance allocations and all-purpose allocations from The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The authority may also receive further funding to support its ALMO programme and for a second PFI scheme in future years.

Islington Council

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received concerning the conduct of the Arm's Length Management organisation ballot by the London borough of Islington; and if he will make a statement. [141649]

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has received a representation from the Federation of Islington Tenants Associations about the conduct of Islington's Arm's Length Management organisation (ALMO) ballot. A reply will be sent in due course.

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what monitoring is being undertaken by his Department into the sale of houses and commercial properties by the London borough of Islington. [141650]

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister collects and publishes quarterly statistics on sales of council houses and other council dwelling stock in all local authorities, but does not monitor local authority sales of commercial properties.

Local Government Finance

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, (1) how many (a) mandatory and (b) discretionary disabilities facilities grants local authorities have made in each of the last 10 years; [141014]

(3) how many times local authorities have supplemented a mandatory disabilities facilities grant since 18 July 2002. [141016]

Keith Hill: The numbers of (a) mandatory and (b) discretionary Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) paid by local housing authorities in England to private owners and tenants over the past ten years are tabled below. The figures for 2003–04 and 2004–05 are provisional forecasts given to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister by English local housing authorities. Discretionary DFG was abolished from July 2003 by the Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance) (England and Wales) Order 2002 and therefore the figures in the

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"discretionary' column for these two years include largely grants and loans which will be provided under the Order for housing adaptations.

Mandatory Discretionary

1993–94 16,702 341

1994–95 19,784 384

1995–96 20,036 236

1996–97 19,599 388

1997–98 21,120 871

1998–99 21,584 1,061

1999–2000 21,999 706

2000–01 24,299 432

2001–02 24,894 618

2002–03 29,403 699

2003–04 33,485 1,442

2004–05 33,424 1,372

	Mandatory	Discretionary
1993–94	16,702	341
1994–95	19,784	384
1995–96	20,036	236
1996–97	19,599	388
1997–98	21,120	871
1998–99	21,584	1,061
1999–2000	21,999	706
2000–01	24,299	432
2001–02	24,894	618
2002–03	29,403	699
2003–04	33,485	1,442
2004–05	33,424	1,372

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