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Decent Homes Standard (London)

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his latest estimate is of the number of council dwellings in London that reach the Decent Homes Standard, broken down by London borough. [180332]

Keith Hill: The following table illustrates the numbers of local authority owned dwellings in London classed as decent, as reported on the 2003 Housing Investment Programme (HIP) Business Plan Statistical Appendices.
 
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Authority	Number LA dwellings that are decent at 2003	Total LA dwellings
Barking and Dagenham	9,200	21,800
Barnet	6,700	11,600
Brent	5,000	10,200
Camden	9,400	25,700
City of London	900	2,000
Croydon	8,900	14,800
Ealing	10,100	14,600
Enfield	8,800	12,800
Greenwich	4,800	26,700
Hackney	8,000	26,000
Hammersmith and Fulham	9,800	13,900
Haringey	7,600	18,100
Harrow	2,600	5,300
Havering	7,700	11,500
Hillingdon	7,900	11,400
Hounslow	5,300	14,600
Islington	11,000	30,100
Kensington and Chelsea	2,900	7,100
Kingston upon Thames	2,600	5,000
Lambeth	19,100	33,800
Lewisham	11,100	28,600
Merton	4,700	7,000
Newham	11,200	21,800
Redbridge	3,700	5,000
Southwark	23,800	46,100
Sutton	4,800	8,300
Tower Hamlets	6,200	24,500
Waltham Forest	1,200	11,200
Wandsworth	15,900	18,100
Westminster	4,100	13,000

Deprived Wards

Mr. Willis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the 20 per cent. most deprived wards in the country. [180788]

Yvette Cooper: It is only possible to list the 20 per cent. most deprived wards with reference to the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2000 (IMD 2000), which is now very out-of-date. Data on the IMD 2000 can be accessed on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website at: www.odpm.gov.uk/indices

The Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004 (IMD 2004), revised on 17 June 2004, does not provide information on deprivation at ward level. The IMD 2004 has been produced at Super Output Area Lower Layer (SOA) level to transcend problems experienced with wards. Wards are not consistent in size, covering anything from 800 to 35,000 people. They are also subject to frequent ward boundary changes. SOAs, on the other hand, cover between 1,000 and 3,000 people and are designed to last for approximately 20 years. Following a wide public consultation in 2003, it was decided that producing the IMD at SOA level would provide consistency both in terms of size of population and over time.

A table providing a list of authorities with SOAs that fall within the 20 per cent. most deprived in the country has been made available in the Library of the House.

Election Turnout

Mr. Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the turnout was as a percentage of eligible voters
 
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at the local elections on (a) 10 June and (b) the previous comparable local election date, broken down by region. [179694]

Mr. Raynsford: Based on data supplied so far by Local Returning Officers, the turnout as a percentage of eligible voters at the local elections in England on 10 June by regions is as follows: East 37.54 per cent., East Midlands 44.52 per cent., North East 44.30 per cent., North West 43.10 per cent., South East 37.76 per cent., South West 38.15 per cent., West Midlands 36.56 per cent. and Yorks and Humber 42.23 per cent.

The average for the previous comparable local elections were as follows: East 31.84 per cent., East Midlands 33.65 per cent., North East 44.61 per cent., North West 31.70 per cent., South East 30.90 per cent., South West 32.68 per cent., West Midlands 29.88 per cent. and Yorks and Humber 33.45 per cent..

Homeless Households

Matthew Green: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many homeless households in priority need were in temporary accommodation on (a) 1 May 1997 and (b) 1 May 2004, broken down by Government Office Region. [179944]

Yvette Cooper: Local authorities report information on their activities under homelessness legislation quarterly, and this includes the number of homeless households in various forms of temporary accommodation as on the last day of the quarter. The position in each Government Office region as at 31 March 1997 and 31 March 2004 is tabled as follows.
Homeless households⁽⁴³⁾ in all forms of temporary accommodation, by Government Office Region

	31 March 1997	31 March 2004
North East	480	770
North West	2,100	2,830
Yorkshire and Humber	1,000	2,400
East Midlands	1,380	2,820
West Midlands	1,070	2,140
Eastern	2,600	8,220
London	24,060	59,170
South East	6,390	12,790
South West	2,210	6,150
England(44)	41,250	97,290

⁽⁴³⁾ Households in accommodation arranged by local authorities pending inquiries or after being accepted under homelessness legislation.
⁽⁴⁴⁾ Totals may not equal the sum of components because of rounding.
Source:
ODPM P1E homelessness returns (quarterly)

The definition of households in priority need was changed in the Homelessness (Priority Need for Accommodation) (England) Order 2002 to widen the categories of households eligible for support.

Matthew Green: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) if he will list the local authorities that failed to submit a P1E return with the number of homeless households in priority need placed in temporary accommodation for the most recent quarterly statistics; and if he will make a statement; [179945]
 
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(2) what measures he has taken to ensure that all local authorities submit a P1E return detailing the number of homeless households in priority need they have placed in temporary accommodation. [179947]

Yvette Cooper: The Supplementary Table which was published along with the Statistical Release for the first quarter of 2004 on 16 June shows the following sixteen authorities had not provided a P1E return by the time final analyses were prepared:

Region
North West:	Fylde, Warrington
East Midlands:	Chesterfield, Hinckley and Bosworth, Lincoln
West Midlands:	Stratford on Avon, Tamworth
East of England:	Castle Point, Mid Suffolk(45), Southend on Sea
London:	Ealing, Islington(45), Kingston upon Thames(45)
South East:	Medway(45), Rother(45)
South West:	Isle of Scilly(45)

⁽⁴⁵⁾ indicates that a return was subsequently received, and after validation the reported information will be added to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's database.

The proportion of local authorities submitting PIE returns by closedown has improved from around 90 per cent. two years ago to around 95 per cent. in the past two quarters. The measures taken by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to encourage authorities to submit P1E returns have been three-fold:

1. Authorities receive three-emailed reminders before, on and after the due submission date (which is three weeks after the end of each quarter), and by regular telephone calls in the weeks prior to final closedown. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Interform system, which enables authorities to submit returns electronically, has made the process more efficient and currently around 93 per cent. of authorities have chosen this method.

2. The Housing Data and Statistics Division of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have been conducting regional seminars on the completion of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's housing and planning statistical returns, including the P1E, which have been well attended.

3. The timely submission of a P1E return is now also one of the conditions for receipt of homelessness grant.

Matthew Green: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average length of time a homeless household in temporary accommodation in each Government Office Region had to wait before being made an offer of a permanent (a) one-bed, (b) two-bed, (c) three-bed and (d) four-bed or more home in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2004. [179946]

Yvette Cooper: Information reported by local authorities on their activities under homelessness legislation includes a breakdown of time, by broad time-bands, spent by households in temporary accommodation prior to the authorities' duty coming to an end. This specific information was collected for the first time with effect from the March quarter of 1997, and consequently data quality for this period may be less robust than for later periods. Estimates for latest comparable dates in 1997 and 2004 are tabled as follows.
 
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Average length of stay (in days) by homeless households⁽⁴⁶⁾ in all forms of temporary accommodation, by Government Office Region

	31 March 1997	31 March 2004
North East	91	170
North West	91	164
Yorkshire and Humber	91	239
East Midlands	93	181
West Midlands	97	116
Eastern	102	254
London	91	381
South East	110	298
South West	174	323
England	98	267

⁽⁴⁶⁾ Households that, during the quarter, left accommodation provided by local authorities under homelessness legislation.
Source:
ODPM P1E homelessness returns (quarterly)

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