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11 Mar 2004 : Column 1708W—continued

Zimbabwe

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action can be taken against UK national companies involved in business with Zimbabwean companies classed as SDNs under United States Executive Order 13288; if he will make a statement on the extension of EU sanctions to include such measures; and when he expects EU sanctions to match those of the US. [159889]

Mr. Straw: On 21 February 2004 the EU's restrictive measures were renewed and extended to a larger number of Zimbabwean individuals who are responsible for policies that lead to the suppression of human rights, of the freedom of expression and of good governance. One of the measures is an assets freeze against a new list of 95 individuals. The US has similar measures against only 77 individuals. It would therefore be a backward step for the EU's measures to "match" those of the US in this regard.

On 3 March, the US announced that it was also freezing the assets of seven companies, controlled by three of Mugabe's closest confidantes—Information Minister Moyo, Speaker Mnangagwa and ex-Army Chief Zvinavashe. The UK and EU have already frozen the identifiable assets of those individuals. The EU measures target individuals, not companies. The UK and other member states have taken the view that targeting companies risks harming ordinary Zimbabweans who are already suffering under the present regime.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Adjudication Panel

Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many cases have been referred to the Adjudication Panel by the Standards Board for England in each month since its establishment; how many have been determined; how many have yet to be determined; how many of the cases relate wholly to a failure of a member of a parish council to complete the council's Register of Member Interests; if he will list the complaints made in the remaining cases; and what the decision of the Adjudication Panel was in the determined cases. [160044]

Mr. Raynsford: A total of 195 cases have been referred to the Adjudication Panel for England between October 2002 and February this year. Of those 173 have been determined. The remaining 22 cases have yet to be determined. The following table shows the breakdown by month:

	Number of cases
2002
October	1
November	19
December	25
Total	45
2003
January	15
February	38
March	13
April	9
May	26
June	10
July	4
August	2
September	11
October	7
November	0
December	7
Total	142
2004
January	0
February	8
Total	8

11 Mar 2004 : Column 1709W

128 cases related to breaches of the requirement to complete the Register of Interests by Parish Councillors. The following table shows the type of complaint made in the remaining cases and the outcome (in some cases more than one type of complaint is raised).

Nature of complaint	Number
Failure to promote equality—unlawful discrimination	3
Failure to treat others with respect	21
Compromise impartiality of authority employees	7
Disclosure of confidential information	6
Bringing office or authority into disrepute	37
Using position to confer or secure advantage or disadvantage	14
Failure to use resources in accordance with requirements	7
Failure to report another member	1
Failure to disclose a personal interest	19
Prejudicial interest—failure to withdraw	23
Total	138

In the 173 cases heard to date, the Adjudication Panel found that there had been no breach of the code in six cases, and declined to impose sanctions in a further six. In the other cases Members were disqualified, or suspended as tabled:

Period of disqualification or suspension	Number of members
Member disqualified up to 1 month	2
Member disqualified for 1 to 6 months	4
Member disqualified for 1 year	100
Member disqualified for 18 months	4
Member disqualified for 2 years	13
Member disqualified for 3 years	10
Member disqualified for 5 years	3
Member suspended up to 1 month	12
Member suspended 1 to 6 months	10
Member suspended for 1 year	3

Community Plan Areas

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to extend further community plan areas. [159960]

Keith Hill: The London-Stansted-Cambridge Growth Area was extended to include Peterborough on 2 February 2004. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has no current plans to extend further any of the Sustainable Communities Plan Growth areas.

On 2 February, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister announced that the Government would be working with the Regional Development Agencies, and other public and private sector partners, on a new long-term growth strategy for the north. This new vision for the north, 'The Northern Way', seeks to develop a real ambition in the north about the long term potential for growth by fully exploring the opportunities for

11 Mar 2004 : Column 1710W

growth along the economic and transport corridors that connect the three northern regions. The focus is therefore different from the existing housing growth areas or market renewal pathfinders.

Homelessness

Ms Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the funding each local authority in London (a) has received and (b) will receive from the Homelessness Directorate in (i) 2002–03, (ii) 2003–04 and (iii) 2004–05 to support their local homelessness strategies; and how that funding has been or is to be used in each case. [158549]

Yvette Cooper: The allocations to London boroughs over the three years 2002–03 to 2004–05 are tabled as follows.

Homelessness grants from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are intended to supplement main sources of expenditure on homelessness (for example, local authority general fund expenditure and housing investment) to fund innovative services that tackle and prevent homelessness more effectively. The approaches underpinning this funding were set out in our March 2002 report, "More than a roof".

Allocations were boosted in 2002–03 and 2003–04 in acknowledgement of the need to pump-prime a number of new schemes to help deliver the Government's target to end the use of bed and breakfast hotels for homeless families with children, except in short-term emergencies, while improvements to Housing Benefit subsidy for other forms of temporary accommodation were put in place.

All housing authorities are offered a set allocation based on historic levels of homelessness in the borough. An additional grant may also be awarded based on performance in tackling homelessness and an assessment by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Government Offices in the Regions of bids submitted by authorities for funds to help them:

eradicate the use of bed and breakfast hotels as accommodation for homeless families with children, except in short-term emergencies;

sustain reductions in the number of people sleeping rough to a level as near to zero as possible and at least two-thirds below the level in 1998; and

tackle and prevent homelessness more effectively.

Over the three-year period there has been a reduction in direct commissioning by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister of services to tackle rough sleeping. Resources have been transferred to local authorities to commission services themselves as part of the development and implementation of local homelessness strategies. This is most apparent in the increasing allocation to Westminster.

Authorities have considerable discretion over how they use the grant, provided that they deliver the required outcomes. While particular schemes are set out in individual financial agreements and monitoring returns for each authority, we do not maintain a detailed, central schedule of all the services funded in each year. Typical of the range of schemes that may be funded are: mediation; rent deposit/bond schemes; private sector and RSL lettings; advice services; services

11 Mar 2004 : Column 1711W

for particularly vulnerable groups; tenancy sustainment and outreach services. Services provided in each local authority area, including those receiving Office of the Deputy Prime Minister funding, are likely to feature in most authorities' homelessness strategies if they existed or were planned when the strategies were being written.

An independent evaluation of the homelessness strategies developed during 2003 in response to the requirements of the Homelessness Act 2002 has been commissioned by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and will provide more detailed information on the approaches taken by authorities. A further project will be commissioned shortly to evaluate homelessness prevention schemes, including those funded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's homelessness grants.

£

	Grant paid 2002–03	Offer amounts 2003–04(32)	Provisional offer 2004–05(33)
Barking and Dagenham	38,000	68,000	28,000
Barnet	420,000	435,000	165,000
Bexley	120,000	130,800	58,000
Brent	1,970,000	1,423,000	783,000
Bromley	242,000	183,500	100,000
Camden	1,004,000	1,884,192	1,800,000
City of London	18,000	656,000	500,000
Croydon	1,597,000	1,104,000	600,000
Ealing	1,535,000	1,224,608	600,000
Enfield	588,000	509,000	250,000
Greenwich	63,000	113,000	100,000
Hackney	224,000	646,000	640,000
Hammersmith and Fulham	1,816,000	1,300,500	1,500,000
Haringey	421,000	473,500	200,000
Harrow	191,000	181,000	178,000
Havering	0	27,000	27,000
Hillingdon	920,000	780,000	80,000
Hounslow	494,000	459,000	180,000
Islington	306,000	326,700	357,000
Kensington and Chelsea	1,252,000	1,565,511	905,000
Kingston upon Thames	151,000	121,000	90,000
Lambeth	1,083,000	1,149,456	2,000,000
Lewisham	79,000	290,000	250,000
Merton	116,000	75,000	80,000
Newham	1,803,000	1,257,000	250,000
Redbridge	458,000	292,000	105,000
Richmond	116,000	386,576	295,000
Southwark	518,000	996,508	1,100,000
Sutton	241,000	193,000	150,000
Tower Hamlets	1,174,000	876,050	800,000
Waltham Forest	825,000	383,000	200,000
Wandsworth	629,000	546,000	300,000
Westminster	2,902,000	4,434,374	7,366,000

⁽³²⁾ We will not know actual spend for 2003–04 until fourth quarter expenditure returns are completed and returned by London authorities.

⁽³³⁾ Some 2004–05 offers are still to be agreed with London authorities.

In addition to the above grants, cross boundary funding provided mainly to voluntary and community sector agencies to tackle and prevent homelessness totalled:

	£
2002–03	24,371,000
2003–04	18,735,000
2004–05	(34)9,063,000

⁽³⁴⁾ Not all allocations for 2004–05 have been confirmed.

11 Mar 2004 : Column 1712W

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