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27 Feb 2004 : Column 632W—continued

Homelessness

Andy King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the statutory definition is of intentional homelessness. [156113]

Yvette Cooper: The circumstances when a person becomes homeless intentionally are set out in section 191 of the Housing Act 1996. The 1996 Act extends to England and Wales.

Section 191 is reproduced as follows:

1. A person becomes homeless intentionally if he deliberately does or fails to do anything in consequence of which he ceases to occupy accommodation which is available for his occupation and which it would have been reasonable for him to continue to occupy.

2. For the purposes of subsection 1. an act or omission in good faith on the part of a person who was unaware of any relevant fact shall not be treated as deliberate.

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3. A person shall be treated as becoming homeless intentionally if:

(a) he enters into an arrangement under which he is required to cease to occupy accommodation which it would have been reasonable for him to continue to occupy, and

(b) the purpose of the arrangement is to enable him to become entitled to assistance under this Part, and there is no other good reason why he is homeless.

4. A person who is given advice or assistance under section 197 (duty where other suitable alternative accommodation available), but fails to secure suitable accommodation in circumstances in which it was reasonably to be expected that he would do so, shall, if he makes a further application under this Part, be treated as having become homeless intentionally.

Merseyside Pathfinder

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much of the £86 million which has been awarded to the Merseyside Pathfinder will go to Sefton. [156097]

Yvette Cooper: On 2 February 2004 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced that the Merseyside Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder would receive up to £86 million for the period up to March 2006. We have allocated this funding to the Pathfinder. It is for the Pathfinder's board to decide on how it will meet its strategic aims and in which parts of the Pathfinder area it will spend these resources.

Local Government Finance

Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 23 February 2004, Official Report, columns 27–28W, on local government finance, what the total gross English local authority expenditure was for each year since 1992–93, including that sourced from council tax, central grant and any other source, as well as those services funded by other bodies since 1992–93. [156726]

Mr. Raynsford: English local authority gross expenditure 1992–93 to 2001–02 is listed in the following table.

	£ million
1992–93	69,351
1993–94	69,102
1994–95	71,700
1995–96	73,568
1996–97	75,596
1997–98	77,209
1998–99	81,431
1999–2000	84,824
2000–01	90,179
2001–02	97,794

Notes:

Gross expenditure here includes spending from the General Fund Revenue Account, the Housing Revenue Account, External Trading Services accounts and the Capital Account. Adjustments have been made to eliminate double counting where possible. The General Fund Revenue Account is financed from formula grant (which includes revenue support grant, redistributed non-domestic rates, police grant), and specific grants within Aggregate External Finance (AEF) as well as specific grants outside AEF, sales, fees and charges and other non-grant income. The answer of 23 February, was restricted to the General Fund Revenue Account and excluded specific grants outside AEF and sales, fees and charges and other non-grant income.

Source:

Local Government Financial Statistics England No.5 to No.14

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Non-domestic Rate Pool

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to consult on changing the operation of the national non-domestic rate pool. [156821]

Mr. Raynsford: The Balance of Funding Review is looking at the options for changing the Local Government Finance system, which include the future of non-domestic rates. The Review will report in the summer.

Parliamentary Constituencies

Ann Winterton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many parliamentary constituencies make up (a) the North West region, (b) the North East region and (c) Yorkshire and the Humber region. [155046]

Mr. Raynsford: There are 76 parliamentary constituencies in the North West, 30 in the North East and 56 in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Planning Applications

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for how long he has been considering the planning application (SUN/2963/11 or GOSE/103/3/VALE/29) for residential development on the Foxcombe Road site of the old Warnborough College on Boars Hill, near Oxford; and when he plans to make a decision. [156054]

Keith Hill: Planning application SUN/2963/11 was first referred to my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister for consideration on 13 December 2000. The application was called in for my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister's own determination on 19 February 2001 and, following a public inquiry, was refused on 13 November 2001, against the Inspector's recommendation. The decision was successfully challenged in the High Court but the application was again refused on 12 March 2003. That decision has again been successfully challenged and the application now falls to be re-determined a second time. My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister attaches great importance to preserving the openness of the Green Belt, and has asked for any further representations the parties may wish to make by the closing date of 27 February 2004. A decision will be made as soon as possible.

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what reasons he submitted to judgment in the High Court the planning application (SUN/2963/11 or GOSE/103/3/VALE/29) for residential development on the Foxcombe Road site of the old Warnborough College on Boars Hill, near Oxford in (a) April 2002 and (b) September 2003. [156055]

Keith Hill: The main reason my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister submitted to judgment in each case was:

(a) My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister attached too much weight to the extant planning permission for residential conversion of the existing buildings, whereas the applicants had stated that, if the current application were refused, they would not implement the permission and would sell the site to an institutional user; and

(b) My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister failed to take into account a material consideration, namely the relative effects of a more than 'low-key' institutional use of the site.

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Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the cost of the time (a) his officials and (b) officials of the Government office for the South East spent on dealing with the planning application (SUN/2963/11 or GOSE/103/3/VALE/29) for residential development on the Foxcombe Road site of the old Warnborough College on Boars Hill, near Oxford. [156056]

Keith Hill: This has been a complex and long-running case. My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister attaches great importance to the Green Belt policy. No estimate has been made of the cost of the time spent by his officials on dealing with the planning application.

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what targets he has set for the time taken to reconsider planning applications after a decision he has taken is legally challenged successfully. [156053]

Keith Hill: No targets have been set for the time taken to re-determine a planning application following a successful legal challenge, although the aim is to re-determine all cases as soon as possible. However, for the re-determination of called-in applications, we would aim to issue a decision within 13 weeks from the conclusion of the written representations procedure or receipt of the Inspector's report if it has been decided to re-open the inquiry.

Regional Assemblies

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the evidential basis was for his estimate that an elected regional assembly would have (a) running costs of £25 million a year and (b) set-up costs of £30 million. [155142]

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Mr. Raynsford: The evidence is drawn from the cost of setting up the Greater London Authority and its first year running costs, reflecting differences between the London arrangements and those proposed for elected regional assemblies. For example, it is not proposed to provide elected assemblies with new, purpose built headquarters.

Regional Funding

Ann Winterton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2004, Official Report, column 743W, on regional funding, whether the recipient organisations were ever under local authority control. [155041]

Mr. Raynsford: None of the recipient organisations have recently been under local authority control.

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