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22 Apr 2004 : Column 647W—continued

Housing Bill

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the Government estimates the implementation of the
 
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provisions of the Housing Bill will cost; and what funds the Government have committed to the implementation of the provisions of the Housing Bill. [166287]

Keith Hill: The Housing Bill was introduced in the House in December 2003. At that time, the Government made available the Regulatory Impact Assessments for each of the Parts of the Bill. These set out our initial estimates of the costs of implementing the Housing Bill provisions. These included start-up costs for the introduction of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System and licensing provisions. They also included start up costs and some additional enforcement costs for the introduction of home information packs.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently in discussion with the Local Government Association about these estimated costs. Final decisions on the commitment of funds are subject to the outcome of the Government's spending review.

Local Development Frameworks

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made by local authorities in meeting their Public Service Agreement 6 Target to complete all their Local Development Frameworks by 2006; how many authorities he expects to meet the target and how many he expects will not; and what plans he has to use his powers to intervene directly to enable local authorities to meet this target. [166887]

Mr. Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister expects that all local planning authorities will meet the target by having up to date planning policies consisting of policies in saved development plans and new policies in Local Development Documents. At present, there are no plans to intervene directly with local authorities, but we will keep this under review in the light of the authorities' first Local Development Schemes.

Local Government Finance (Liverpool)

Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much grant has been paid to Liverpool City Council each year since 1997. [166946]

Mr. Raynsford: Total grant paid to Liverpool City Council since 1997 is tabled as follows:
Total Grant

	£ million
1997–98	384.4
1998–99	411.7
1999–2000	431.4
2000–01	469.4
2001–02	514.4
2002–03	558.7
2003–04(34)	583.7

⁽³³⁾ Includes Revenue Support Grant, Redistributed Non-Domestic Rates and Specificand Special Grants inside AEF.
⁽³⁴⁾ Budgeted figures
Source:
1997–98 to 2002–03 Revenue Summary Returns and 2003–04 Budget Estimate Return.




 
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Management and Maintenance Allowance

Mr. Betts: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average management and maintenance allowance per dwelling in England was for each year from 1990–91; and what the planned figure is for 2005–06. [166587]

Keith Hill: The following table shows the average management and maintenance allowances per dwelling in England from 1990–91 to 2004–05. Allowances for 2005–06 will not be announced until December 2004. However they are expected to increase by around 10.5 per cent.
Average management and maintenance allowances per dwelling in England

	£
1990–91	742.57
1991–92	772.85
1992–93	837.60
1993–94	874.86
1994–95	906.83
1995–96	945.09
1996–97	959.99
1997–98	960.52
1998–99	960.03
1999–00	977.84
2000–01	1,006.45
2001–02	1,035.65
2002–03	1,112.70
2003–04(35)	1,188.33

⁽³⁵⁾ Based on advanced claims for HRA subsidy. Other years from final audited claims.

Oxfordshire (Barker Report)

Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the implications of the Barker Report for Oxfordshire. [166762]

Keith Hill: It is too early to take any view about the implications of the Barker report for any particular area. Kate Barker's report sets out a challenging agenda for change which will help to carry forward the objectives of our Communities Plan. The Government agrees that, in order to deliver long term stability in housing markets where demand is highest, a substantial increase in housing supply is needed.

This needs to be delivered as part of a package which includes planning reform, a more responsive house building industry and more investment in affordable housing and infrastructure. At the same time, the economic case for increased development needs to be    balanced against its social and environmental implications.

The Barker report looked at the national picture. Any plans to implement its recommendations will also have to take account of the widely differing housing market conditions across the country and our consideration will include the regional and sub-regional dimension. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister expects to establish a long term market affordability goal, linked to housing supply, and consult on its implications at national and regional level within the next 18 months.

Planning Officers

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many qualified planning officers are
 
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employed by local government in England; and how many will be required to implement the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill. [166897]

Keith Hill: The information requested is not held    centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost—However, it is believed that just over 6,100 chartered Town Planners are in post. It is for individual local authorities to determine how many qualified planners they require to fulfil their functions, but the Government have provided Planning Delivery Grant worth £350 million during 2003–06 to help implement planning reforms and improve performance.

Regional Assemblies

Ann Winterton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he proposes that the proposed temporary borrowing powers for cash management purposes for possible regional assemblies will be guaranteed by central Government. [167341]

Mr. Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister proposes to give elected regional assemblies temporary borrowing powers for cash management purposes. It would be unnecessary for central Government to guarantee such borrowing.

Social Housing

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for the years 1997 and 2003 (a) how many houses were sold under (i) the right-to-buy scheme and (ii) the right-to-acquire scheme, (b) how many council houses were built and (c) how many registered social landlord houses were built. [166898]

Keith Hill: The figures are available for financial years 1996–97 and 2002–03 and are tabled as follows:

	1996–97	2002–03
Right-to-buy sales—LA tenants	33,206	63,394
Right-to-buy sales—RSL tenants	2,300	10,473
Right-to-acquire sales	0	228
RSL new build completions	24,630	13,330
Council new build completions	451	271

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his policy is regarding the percentage of social housing that should be built on land released for residential use by the Ministry of Defence and the additional infrastructure that will be required; and what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on this subject. [166915]

Keith Hill: Government policy on the proportion of affordable housing to be provided in new developments is set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 3: "Housing" (2000). This states that local planning authorities should identify suitable areas and sites on which affordable housing is to be provided and the amount of provision which will be sought. Additional infrastructure required by new developments varies from site to site and is a matter for agreement between the parties. Former Ministry of Defence sites are treated in the same way by the planning system as any other development site.
 
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There is regular contact between Ministry of Defence and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, including at ministerial level. English Partnerships has been given the role under the Sustainable Communities Plan (February 2003) to find and assemble land, especially brownfield and publicly owned land, for sustainable development.

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