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17 May 2004 : Column 727W—continued
Housing Renewal Programme
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what funds and on what basis are paid to Pathfinder housing renewal programmes; how this changes the finance available for (a) registered social landlords and (b) finance councils; and what the effects are of such changes in each region. [173559]
Keith Hill: A Market Renewal Fund has been created which will provide an additional £500 million across the nine pathfinder areas over the three year period 2003–04 to 2005–06.
Funding will be performance related throughout and agreed in negotiation with each pathfinder on the basis of their strategic schemes. The schemes are subject to Independent Scrutiny by the Audit Commission.
Funding will be used for the additional housing action needed to address the most acute areas of low demand. Projects will include demolitions, new building and refurbishment and will be chosen or commissioned by the pathfinder on the basis that they support the strategic objectives for their area. This may include projects delivered by RSLs, LAs and other delivery partners.
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The Market Renewal Fund is in addition to other finance available to registered social landlords and local authorities from existing funding streams.
The effect of this funding is to support the additional costs of tackling the most acute areas of low demand. These areas could not be tackled at the scale and pace necessary within the constraints of existing funding streams.
Local Authority Statutory Officers
Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) whether a local authority has the power to suspend one of the authority's statutory officers before the appointment of a designated independent person under The Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) Regulations 2001, if the authority has received an independent report from an external consultant of the serious effect of bullying and harassment by the statutory officer on the physical and mental well-being of other officers of the authority; [173348]
(2) whether a local authority has the power to suspend one of the authority's statutory officers before the appointment of a designated independent person under The Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) Regulations 2001, if the authority has received more than one allegation of bullying and harassment by the statutory officer; and if he will make a statement. [173349]
Mr. Raynsford: Arrangements for councils to handle allegations of misconduct by their head of paid service, monitoring officer or chief finance officer are set out in the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) Regulations 2001. The Regulations provide that the authority may suspend the officer for up to two months in order to allow investigation of the allegation. This period may begin before the appointment under the Regulations of an independent person to investigate the allegation and who, once appointed, may extend the period of suspension. Apart from this, no disciplinary action may be taken by an authority in respect of the officer concerned other than in accordance with a recommendation of a report made by the independent person. It is for the authority to decide whether it appears to them that an allegation requires investigation and to ensure that the decisions it makes are within the powers available to it.
Productivity
Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action he is taking to (a) increase the productivity and (b) cut the costs of his Department and its agencies and non-departmental public bodies. [171883]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, the hon. Member for Bolton, West (Ruth Kelly) on 10 May 2004, Official Report, columns 148–49W.
Regional Assemblies
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish the texts of his speeches, and those of his colleagues, made as part of the regional hearings on elected regional assemblies. [169260]
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Mr. Raynsford: Formal speeches used at the regional hearings can be found on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website: www.odpm.gov.uk.
However, at some hearings Ministers did not use a scripted speech; therefore speeches are not available in all cases.
Regional Government
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the location was of the regional hearings on elected regional assemblies held in Halifax and Sheffield; and how many (a) members of the public and (b) invitees attended. [172757]
Mr. Raynsford: The Sheffield hearing was held in the Pennine Theatre at Sheffield Hallam University. It is estimated that there were 135 members of the public who attended, including 67 invitees.
The Halifax hearing was held at the Viaduct theatre at Dean Clough. It is estimated that there were 210 members of the public who attended, including 84 invitees.
Social Housing
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his estimate is of the average monthly rent and charges falling on the average property in (a) housing associations and (b) council housing in Yorkshire and Humberside. [173560]
Keith Hill: The latest available rental figures for social housing within Yorkshire and The Humber are as follows:
| Housing Associations | Council Housing | |
|---|---|---|
| Reference period | end-March 2003 | 2003–04 |
| Average Net Rent (excluding service charges) | 210.90 | 184.47 |
| Average Gross Rent (including service charges) | 227.72 | n/a |
Note:
Reliable information on average service charges for council housing is not available at the present time.
Sources:
(a) Housing Corporation, Regulatory and Statistical Return, 2003.
(b) Local authorities, second advance subsidy claim forms.
WORK AND PENSIONS
Adviser Discretion Fund
Sir Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to (a) increase the Adviser Discretion Fund levels for lone parents and (b) allow for multiple Adviser Discretion Fund awards to those with multiple barriers to finding employment. [170041]
Jane Kennedy:
We have no plans to increase the Adviser Discretion Fund levels for lone parents as we believe that the current levels are sufficient. The
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maximum amount from the ADF that a lone parent can access in a 12 month period is £300. However, the average amount awarded by the fund is £91. These levels are kept under review.
In exceptional circumstances where lone parents need assistance totalling more than £300, the award of a higher amount from the ADF may be authorised.
There is no limit to the number of elements in an award, provided these total less than £300.
Personal Advisers can already make more than one award to a lone parent from the Adviser Discretion Fund. Each time a lone parent requests assistance from the ADF their Personal Adviser will check that they are eligible for help and that using the fund is removing a barrier to employment.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average payment from the Adviser's Discretionary Fund was in each of the last five years; how many people have been given payments from the fund in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [171589]
Jane Kennedy: The information is in the table.
| Number of awards | Average value of award | |
|---|---|---|
| July 2001 to March 2002 | 104,388 | 60 |
| April 2002 to March 2003 | 138,370 | 76 |
| April 2003 to March 2004(6) | 345,189 | 97 |
(5) The Adviser Discretion Fund was introduced in July 2001.
(6) Latest available figures.
Source:
Department for Work and Pensions Provision and Adviser Division.
Benefit Claimants (Over-50s)
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of incapacity benefit claimants between the age of 50 and state pension age are in each decile of overall income distribution; and if he will make a statement. [172536]
Maria Eagle: The information is in the tables. It is presented both before housing costs (BHC) and after housing costs (AHC) have been taken into account.
| Decile | BHC | AHC |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 130,000 | 120,000 |
| 2 | 130,000 | 150,000 |
| 3 | 130,000 | 110,000 |
| 4 | 110,000 | 130,000 |
| 5 | 120,000 | 100,000 |
| 6 | 100,000 | 90,000 |
| 7 | 70,000 | 70,000 |
| 8 | 40,000 | 50,000 |
| 9 and 10 | 50,000 | 60,000 |
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| Decile | BHC | AHC |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | 13 |
| 2 | 15 | 17 |
| 3 | 15 | 12 |
| 4 | 13 | 15 |
| 5 | 13 | 12 |
| 6 | 11 | 10 |
| 7 | 8 | 8 |
| 8 | 4 | 6 |
| 9 and 10 | 6 | 6 |
Notes:
1. Figures are for the financial year 2002–03, the latest date for which data are available.
2. Estimates are for Great Britain.
3. Estimates relate to the status of individuals at the time they were interviewed for the FRS.
4. The estimates are based on sample counts, which have been adjusted for non-response using multipurpose grossing factors that control for tenure, council tax band and a number of other variables. Estimates are subject to sampling error, and to remaining variability in non-response which is not corrected by the grossing regime.
5. The income measure used is weekly net (disposable) equivalised household income
(that is to say income that is adjusted to reflect the composition of the household).
6. The Households Below Average Income series presents analysis of income of two bases: Before Housing Costs (BHC) and After Housing Costs (AHC). This is principally to take into account variations in housing costs that themselves do not correspond to comparable variations in the quality of housing.
7. Proportions are presented to the nearest per cent, and numbers to the nearest 10,000. Rounding numbers in this way means that compared to other rounding conventions, the distribution is smoother at this level of rounding for the small subset of the population.
8. Deciles nine and 10 have been combined as individually, these deciles contained too few households to provide robust estimates.
Source:
Family Resources Survey (FRS).
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