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5 Mar 2004 : Column 1198W—continued

Smart Award

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans her Department has to commission a new independent evaluation of the Smart scheme. [157239]

Nigel Griffiths: None. The Smart scheme closed in August 2003.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 12 February 2004, Official Report, column 1629W, on Smart awards, what percentage of the total programme costs was devoted to deregulatory initiatives in each year between 2000 and 2003. [157270]

Nigel Griffiths: None. The smart programme provided grants to help with the cost of researching and developing new, technology innovative products and processes.

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WORK AND PENSIONS

Better Government for Older People

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many organisations have received a presentation from Better Government for Older People in each year since it was established; [157079]

(2) which (a) housing associations, (b) fire and police authorities and (c) voluntary organisations have subscribed to Better Government for Older People; [157080]

(3) which (a) primary care trusts, (b) care trusts and (c) hospital trusts have subscribed to Better Government for Older People; [157081]

(4) which (a) local authorities and (b) local strategic partnerships have subscribed to Better Government for Older People. [157082]

Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is not held centrally by the Department for Work and Pensions. Such information as is available is held by Better Government for Older People (BGOP) and has been placed in the Library.

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Pension Credit

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the average Pension Credit payment is in (a) Greater London and (b) each London borough; [159255]

(2) how many pensioners are (a) eligible for and (b) in receipt of Pension Credit in (i) Greater London and (ii) each London borough; [159256]

(3) how many pensioners were in receipt of the Minimum Income Guarantee in (a) Greater London and (b) each London borough at the last date on which it was paid. [159257]

Malcolm Wicks: Information on the number of pensioners in receipt of the Minimum Income Guarantee in (a) Greater London and (b) each London borough as at 3 October 2003 is shown in the table.

Information on the number of people who are eligible for Pension Credit is not available in respect of individual local authority areas. However, we estimate that approximately 450,000 pensioner households (approximately 500,000 individuals) in the London Government Office Region (rounded to the nearest 50,000) are eligible for Pension Credit. Information on numbers of Pension Credit recipients in the London boroughs and average levels of award is given in the table.

		Minimum Income Guaranteeat 3 October 2003			Pension Credit at 31 January 2004
	Households	Individuals	Households	Individuals	Average weekly awardper household (£)
London GOR	214,155	252,615	238,535	282,585	60.07
City of London.	130	145	135	150	62.26
Barking and Dagenham	5,700	6,640	6,570	7,755	50.05
Barnet	8,205	9,700	9,015	10,675	62.14
Bexley	4,425	5,120	5,600	6,615	44.51
Brent	9,150	11,040	9,740	11,780	72.19
Bromley	5,935	6,735	7,205	8,300	45.35
Camden	7,170	8,240	7,640	8,765	64.77
Croydon	7,775	9,100	9,190	10,860	54.07
Ealing	8,680	10,420	9,460	11,385	69.60
Enfield	8,465	10,360	9,565	11,780	58.23
Greenwich	6,790	7,950	7,705	9,085	53.57
Hackney	9,120	10,715	9,610	11,270	67.99
Hammersmith and Fulham	4,900	5,545	5,320	6,010	61.18
Haringey	7,965	9,460	8,490	10,125	66.16
Harrow	5,840	7,195	6,415	7,915	73.07
Havering	5,655	6,530	6,960	8,210	43.41
Hillingdon	5,320	6,270	6,130	7,290	55.39
Hounslow	5,855	7,010	6,540	7,825	62.44
Islington	7,435	8,655	7,865	9,150	64.61
Kensington & Chelsea	4,365	4,905	4,730	5,305	65.79
Kingston upon Thames	2,595	3,015	3,170	3,720	50.39
Lambeth	8,395	9,545	9,210	10,520	61.67
Lewisham	7,605	8,665	8,580	9,850	53.81
Merton	3,880	4,560	4,675	5,555	53.12
Newham	9,815	12,180	10,335	12,825	67.86
Redbridge	6,720	8,165	7,430	9,060	61.49
Richmond upon Thames	2,870	3,210	3,520	4,010	48.56
Southwark	8,335	9,565	9,320	10,760	58.14
Sutton	3,745	4,250	4,635	5,345	45.12
Tower Hamlets	10,135	12,960	10,485	13,355	68.71
Waltham Forest	7,395	8,880	8,205	9,915	57.42
Wandsworth	7,375	8,460	8,240	9,510	57.71
Westminster	6,425	7,415	6,850	7,905	68.47

Notes:

1. Numbers of recipients are rounded to the nearest five.

2. Average awards are rounded to the nearest penny.

3. Individual recipients include a small number of partners under age 60.

4. Figures exclude a small number of clerical cases. There were 820 Pension Credit clerical cases in London GOR at 31 January 2004.

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Winter Fuel Payments

Dr. Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many eligible pensioners had applied for and had not received Winter Fuel Payments by (a) 1 December 2003, (b) 1 January and (c) 1 February. [156772]

Malcolm Wicks: The number of eligible applicants at each of the specified dates is not available. Such information as is available is set out in the table.

Date to:	Applications made	Payments made
1 December 2003	223,644	196,716
1 January 2004	239,636	218,271
1 February 2004	252,864	238,544

The balance comprises applications from people who are not entitled to a payment, cases held pending the issue of a payment and applications which have yet to be processed.

Some further payments will be made at the end of March.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

R v. Allen

Mr. Cash: To ask the Solicitor-General if she will make a statement on the exercise of the Attorney-General's power to enter a nolle prosequi in the light of R v. Allen (1862 1B&S)850. [159188]

The Solicitor-General: The Attorney-General has power to enter a nolle prosequi which stays criminal proceedings in the Crown court. The case of Allen (1862) 1 B&S sets out that although he should generally hear the parties before entering the nolle he is the judge of whether the nolle should be entered or not and he has no obligation to hear the parties before so doing.

A nolle prosequi acts as a stay upon the proceedings. It puts an end to a prosecution but does not operate as a bar or discharge or acquittal on the merits. Dicta from Crompton J. in the case of Allen suggests that a nolle prosequi puts an end to a prosecution but this issue has never been fully litigated.

Applications to the Attorney-General asking him to direct a nolle prosequi most usually come from the defendant rather than the prosecutor as the prosecutor has a substantial range of powers to end a prosecution.

The most common use of the Attorney-General's power to direct a nolle prosequi is in cases when the defendant cannot attend court for plea or to attend trial because of physical or mental incapacity, which is expected to be permanent.

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DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Asylum

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many households, whose former home was provided by the National Asylum Support Service, were accepted as priority homeless in each local housing authority for each year since 2000. [155035]

Yvette Cooper: Cases of priority homelessness acceptance where a household lost its last settled home because of a requirement to leave the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) accommodation have been separately distinguished on local authorities' quarterly statistical returns to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister since April 2002. Latest available information, as reported in each quarter, is available in the Libraries of the House.

Housing

Ms Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether it is his policy that the owner of a house in multiple occupation will be required to hold a licence for (a) the whole property and (b) each room within the property; and if he will make a statement on the level of fees. [158548]

Keith Hill: The licence for a House in Multiple Occupation will be held either by the owner of the property or a managing agent, depending on which of those persons is the more suitable to hold the licence. The licence will be in respect of the whole property.

Licence fees will be payable on the application for a licence and will normally be chargeable once every five years. The fee payable will be determined by reference to the number of habitable dwellings in the House in Multiple Occupation, subject to a maximum charge per dwelling. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are in discussion with the Local Government Association on the level of that maximum charge, but that is likely to be in the region of £110.00 per dwelling for a five-year licence.

Simon Hughes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his projections are, for (a) the demand level for affordable housing in Greater London, (b) the level of public subsidy that will be required to meet these demand levels in Greater London and (c) the number of affordable houses which will be provided in Greater London through public subsidy in to each of the next 15 years. [158764]

Keith Hill: The London Housing Board's London Housing Strategy 2003 identifies 306,000 additional households, 20,400 per year, over the period to 2016. In addition there is backlog of unmet need of 112,000 households. The London Housing Strategy 2003 has a target of 23,000 new homes per annum by 2005–06, of which 10,000 housing completions should be affordable. The London Housing Board has begun the preparation of the next long-term housing strategy for the capital to cover the period up to 2016, which will take account of the detailed housing requirements study the Greater London Authority is currently carrying out. On 21 October last year my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister announced £2.1 billion for investment in housing in London for the next two years. I expect to

5 Mar 2004 : Column 1203W

make an announcement in the next few weeks on the Housing Corporation's Annual Development Programme of £1.5 billion for affordable housing in the capital for 2004–05 and 2005–06.

Simon Hughes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many properties have been provided in each London borough by the Housing Corporation in its London approved development programme in each of the last five years. [158446]

Keith Hill: Information about the number of properties that have been provided through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme in each authority in London in each of the last five years is being collated. I will write to the hon. Member and will make a copy available in the Library of the House.

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