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Renewal Areas (Physical Activity)

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what research the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit has commissioned into the barriers that stop sport and renewal working together more closely. [173708]

Yvette Cooper: The Neighbourhood Renewal Unit (NRU) has recently received the report from a study on joint working between sport and neighbourhood renewal agencies. The research aims were to identify existing arrangements for joint working, to highlight barriers to further integration, and to provide suggestions for overcoming these in the future.

The report finds that at both the regional and local levels, joint working is generally underdeveloped. Where joint working does occur, projects are rarely focused on the achievement of well-defined outcomes or targeted towards influencing mainstream services. There is incomplete data on sporting participation in deprived areas and amongst specific groups. There are also few explicit targets for raising participation and a lack of incentives for joint working. Nevertheless, there are some noteworthy examples of joint strategic working between local authority health and education Departments and sport—in ways that will impact on deprived areas.

In response to these findings, the NRU has produced a short practitioner guide for local and regional decision-makers and frontline workers in both sports and regeneration organisations. It explains the importance of linking sport and renewal activities, provides practical advice on how to do this, and shows where to find further resources and help.
 
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Road Maintenance Expenditure

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether road maintenance expenditure as set out in figure 5a, page 49 of the Department for Transport Annual Report is met from the Revenue Support Grant administered by his office. [174175]

Mr. Raynsford: Footnote 1 to Figure 5a: Local transport spending by central Government, page 49 of the Department for Transport Annual Report 2004 states "Excludes local transport expenditure on highway maintenance, concessionary fares and other public transport support that is funded by the Revenue Support Grant".

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the amount spent by local authorities on road maintenance in the last financial year for which figures are available. [174176]

Mr. Raynsford: Local authorities in England reported net current expenditure on highways maintenance in 2002–03 as £1,949 million.

Source:

2002–03 Revenue Outturn (R02) form

Sellers Packs

Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on progress on the consultation on the operation of home sellers' packs. [173867]

Keith Hill: Wide-ranging consultation and extensive research by independent contractors have endorsed the benefits of home information packs in helping to make the home buying and selling process easier and more certain. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is   working closely with industry and consumer stakeholders on the detail of the proposals in order to ensure a smooth introduction of mandatory home information packs from January 2007. Many home buyers and sellers will not have to wait until 2007 to benefit from home information packs. An increasing number of estate agents, surveyors and conveyancers are operating pack schemes on a voluntary basis.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions he has had on the proposal by chartered surveyors to remove mandatory home condition reports from home sellers packs. [173868]

Keith Hill: None. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) supports the Government's proposals for mandatory home information packs, including a home condition report. These reports will provide at the start of the transaction process reliable information about the condition of the property. This information is important to the decisions buyers and sellers need to make and, along with other components of home information pack, will make home buying and selling more transparent and more certain.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what research he has undertaken on possible legal and insurance claims against surveyors in advance of the introduction of home condition reports. [173869]

 
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Keith Hill: Home Inspectors preparing the home condition report will be required to have appropriate indemnity insurance to protect the home seller, a potential or actual buyer, and mortgage lender. With assistance from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Association of British Insurers and other industry stakeholders, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is carrying out research into the insurance requirements. This includes an analysis by insurance specialists Willis Ltd. of historic claims made against surveyors for negligent surveys to determine the average number of successful and unsuccessful claims as well as   the average sum paid and the cost of claims administration. We expect to publish an interim report very shortly.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what charge he estimates will be levied for home condition reports. [173870]

Keith Hill: The home condition report will be a professional and objective report on the condition and energy efficiency of the property, which can be legally relied upon by sellers, buyers and mortgage lenders. It will be for the market to determine the price of home condition reports in practice and the point at which any charge is paid. Based on current prices, it is estimated that the report will cost about £300 on average (plus VAT). This estimate is based on a report on a three bedroom semi-detached house in a provincial town and can be compared with the typical costs of a building survey (£500 plus VAT) and mortgage lenders valuation report (£180).

Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the likely impact on property prices of the introduction of home sellers' packs. [173871]

Keith Hill: The initial view of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is that the introduction of home information packs (HIPs) is unlikely to have a significant effect on property prices. This is supported by evidence from other countries that have introduced similar measures and by a survey carried out by the UK's largest estate agency group which suggested there would be little impact on the number of properties sold if HIPs were introduced. We will continue to keep this assessment under review during our discussions with stakeholders and consumer representatives on the final contents of the HIP.

Social Housing

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his estimate is of the costs of repair and renovation of social housing over the next 10 years under (a) council ownership, (b) registered social landlord ownership and (c) arm's length management organisation ownership. [173561]

Keith Hill: Local authorities and registered social landlords are expected to put in place plans to meet the decent homes target by 2010.

At 2001 there was an estimated backlog of £20 billion of repair and improvement work required for local authority housing. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister expects local authorities to have tackled the majority of this backlog by 2010.
 
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Local authorities have been asked to complete Option Appraisals by July 2005 in which they will consider, with their tenants and given their particular circumstances, which options will provide best value for money in meeting the decent homes target. They will take into account a variety of relevant factors including the trend in real construction costs and the scope for improved efficiency in carrying out this work.

Lynne Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his estimate is of the total number of properties owned by (a) registered social landlords and (b) each of the 20 largest registered social landlords. [174283]

Keith Hill: Housing association (registered social landlord) stock in England as at 31 March 2003 was estimated at 1,728,000.

The 20 largest housing associations (measured by stock) were as tabled following and together accounted for about 21 per cent. of the total housing association stock.

Name of housing association	Total stock at 31 March 2003
North British Housing Ltd	36,567
Home Group Limited	28,558
Anchor Trust	27,313
Sanctuary Housing Association	25,927
London and Quadrant Housing Trust	23,915
The Guinness Trust	20,019
Riverside Housing	19,889
Knowsley Housing Trust	16,480
Peabody Trust	16,432
William Sutton Trust	15,726
Northern Counties Housing Association Limited	15,575
Hyde Housing Association Limited	14,518
Helena Housing Limited	14,214
Orbit Housing Association	14,171
Metropolitan Housing Trust Limited	13,801
Housing 21	12,558
Focus Housing Association Limited	12,365
Pennine Housing 2000 Limited	12,108
Circle Thirty Three Housing Trust Limited	11,949
Broomleigh Housing Association Limited	11,789

Source:
Housing Corporation, Regulatory and Statistical Return 2003.

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