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19 Oct 2004 : Column 573W—continued
Parks
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the case for central Government funding for local parks. [191454]
Mr. Raynsford: Central Government provides funding for local parks through the Environment, Protective and Cultural Services (EPCS) Block of the local government finance settlement. Following the recent Spending Review, the EPCS budget is due to increase by £888 million, or 8 per cent. between 2004–05 and 2007–08.
In addition to this mainstream local government funding, local authorities are able to draw on other specific grants from central Government, and from the national lottery distributors.
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As with other local public services and facilities, it is appropriate for public parks to remain the responsibility of local authorities. They are best placed to determine local needs and priorities and to deal with day to day management and maintenance issues.
Rough Sleepers (York)
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much has been spent on assisting rough sleepers in York in each year since 1997; and how many rough sleepers this has (a) helped and (b) moved on to permanent accommodation. [191238]
Phil Hope:
The information requested is tabled in the form of three tables.
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| Rough sleeper fund | Homeless strategy— money used directly for rough sleepers | Homeless strategy—other ODPM money used for HL prevention and implementation of strategy | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | — | — | — |
| 1998–99 | (2)— | (2)— | (2)— |
| 1999–2000 | (2)— | (2)— | (2)— |
| 2000–01 | — | — | — |
| 2001–02 | — | — | — |
| 2002–03 | (3)233,625 | — | — |
| 2003–04 | — | (3)288,401 | 116,599 |
| 2004–05 | — | (4)250,000 | — |
(2) Funding from Rough Sleepers Unit paid directly to projects and not via LA.
(3) Actual.
(4) Awarded.
| Rough sleeper counts (actuals) | |
|---|---|
| May 1997 | 23 |
| November 1999 | 24 |
| July 2000 | 6 |
| December 2000 | 4 |
| May 2001 | 0 |
| November 2001 | 8 |
| February 2002 | 3 |
| July 2003 | 3 |
| January 2004 | 5 |
| March 2004 | 5 |
| July 2004 | 4 |
| October 2004 | 1 |
| Supported housing (drinkers hostels, shared housing and supported tenancies) | CYC permanent | Other (Private rented Sector, RSLs) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | — | Estimated that approximately 30 people pa moved into CYC tenancy | Estimated that approximately 10 people pa moved into PRS |
| 1998–99 | — | ||
| 1999–2000 | — | ||
| 2000–01 | — | ||
| 2001–02 | — | ||
| 2002–03 | 50 | 25 | Estimate 20 |
| 2003–04(5) | 58 | 42 | 40 |
| 2004–05(6) | 5 | 7 | 6 |
| 2004–05(7) | 50 | 40 | 25 |
(5) Estimates off two comprehensive statistics.
(6) To date.
(7) Annual predictions.
Social Housing
Mr. Laws: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many social housing (a) starts and (b) completions there were in (i) England and (ii) each local authority area in England in each year from 1984; and if he will make a statement. [191279]
Keith Hill:
Information for England is tabled based on reported building inspections by local authorities and the National House-Building Council. Information for individual local authorities for 1999–2000 to 2002–03 is available on the Office of the Deputy Prime
19 Oct 2004 : Column 576W
Minister's web site (www.odpm.gov.uk) in the housing statistics section (live table 253 and publications, local housing statistics).
The Sustainable Communities action plan set out the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's views on delivery of more affordable housing. Since 1997, funding for affordable housing has been doubled and the creation of 230,000 new affordable homes supported and over 9,000 key workers helped into home ownership in areas of high demand. The funding provided in the Spending Review will, along with efficiency improvements, produce 75,000 social rented homes and 40,000 homes for essential public sector workers and low cost home ownership over the three years to 2007–08.
| (a) Starts | (b) Completions | |
|---|---|---|
| 1984–85 | 31,442 | 42,125 |
| 1985–86 | 28,921 | 32,875 |
| 1986–87 | 27,901 | 29,575 |
| 1987–88 | 25,135 | 27,421 |
| 1988–89 | 24,884 | 26,917 |
| 1989–90 | 23,488 | 25,698 |
| 1990–91 | 19,668 | 27,533 |
| 1991–92 | 22,397 | 23,087 |
| 1992–93 | 31,983 | 26,548 |
| 1993–94 | 34,144 | 31,664 |
| 1994–95 | 31,743 | 32,228 |
| 1995–96 | 24,835 | 30,983 |
| 1996–97 | 23,295 | 25,081 |
| 1997–98 | 19,888 | 21,720 |
| 1998–99 | 17,764 | 19,114 |
| 1999–2000 | 16,186 | 17,188 |
| 2000–01 | 13,132 | 16,669 |
| 2001–02 | 11,228 | 13,234 |
| 2002–03 | 11,178 | 13,441 |
| 2003–04 | 12,663 | 13,823 |
(8) Local Authority and Registered Social Landlord(RSI) dwellings for rent
(9) RSL dwellings tend to be undercounted by building inspectors as the correct tenure is not always known.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the 10 local authorities in the South West of England which have the highest waiting lists for social housing; and if he will make a statement. [191282]
Keith Hill: Local authorities in England report the numbers of households on their housing waiting list (excluding tenants awaiting a transfer) as at 1 April in their annual Housing Investment programme return. Local authorities sometimes maintain the waiting list jointly with the Housing Association in their district. However, information is not held centrally where a Housing Association maintains a separate waiting list to the local authority.
The latest information, for 2004, is listed in the following table for the ten local authorities in the South West of England with the highest number of households on the waiting list.
Source:
ODPM's Housing Investment Programme
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Travellers
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Department has conducted a survey of the needs of travellers. [192766]
Keith Hill: Research commissioned by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was carried out by Birmingham university and published in July 2003 which identified the level of need for further Gypsy and Traveller site provision. Amendments to the Housing Bill have also been tabled for debate at Report stage in the Other Place which will require local authorities to incorporate the needs of Gypsies and Travellers into their Housing Needs Assessment process.
TREASURY
Airport Duty
Mr. Challen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much income the airport duty tax has raised in each year since it was introduced; and what its anticipated income will be in financial years (a) 2004–05, (b) 2005–06 and (c) 2006–07. [191141]
John Healey: Historic Air Passenger Duty revenue figures can be found in table 2.1 D of Financial Statistics published by the Office for National Statistics, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
Revenue estimates of all taxes and duties can be found in Table C8 of this year's Financial Statement and Budget Report.
Child Care
Ms Buck: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether his Department's 10-year child care funding strategy will take into account the higher costs of providing child care in certain parts of the country; [192094]
(2) whether his Department's 10-year child care funding strategy will ensure ongoing revenue funding for child care; [192095]
(3) if he will amend the child care component of the working tax credit to take account of higher housing and child care costs in London. [192116]
Dawn Primarolo:
The Government announced in the 2004 Spending Review its intention to publish a 10-year strategy for child care. The strategy, to be published alongside the pre-Budget report later this year, will consider a range of issues, including the child care element of working tax credit, variations in the cost of child care provision across the country and revenue funding.
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