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16 Dec 2004 : Column 1242W—continued
Neighbourhood Renewal
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what consultation should be carried out prior to the declaration of a renewal area; [203647]
(2) under what circumstances the declaration of a renewal area permits the use of compulsory purchase orders. [203648]
Phil Hope: I refer my hon. Friend to the answers given on 15 December 2004, Official Report, columns 1119–20W.
Regional Government
Mr. Byrne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which decisions by local spending bodies require (a) authorisation by and (b) consultation with Government offices for the regions. [204175]
Phil Hope: The Government offices for the regions (GOs) carry out activities on behalf of 10 Government Departments. A list of the occasions in which local spending bodies require authorisation by and consultation with GOs is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Renewal Areas
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what consultation is required before declaration of a renewal area. [203044]
Phil Hope: I refer my hon. Friend to the answers given to my hon. Friend the Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies) on 15 December 2004, Official Report, columns 1119–20W.
Social Housing
Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the expenditure was on Local Authority Social Housing Grant in each Government Office region in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04; and what the estimated expenditure is in (i) 2004–05 and (ii) 2005–06. [204924]
Keith Hill: Local Authority Social Housing Grant (LASHG) was abolished with effect from the 1 April 2003. LASHG spent in each Government Office region in 2002–03 is tabled as follows.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| London | 119.9 |
| South East | 186.2 |
| South West | 68.3 |
| East | 15.2 |
| East Midlands | 72.4 |
| West Midlands | 19.6 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 6.2 |
| North East | 0.9 |
| North West | 10.5 |
| Total | 499.2 |
Source:
Housing Corporation
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Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will be making transitional local authority social housing grant funding available in (a) 2006–07 and (b) 2007–08. [204925]
Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister set out in the Sustainable Communities Plan the funding stream for transitional arrangements for Local Authority Social Housing Grant (LASHG) to 2005–06. In a statement to this House on 5 March 2003, Official Report, column 82W. We announced an increase in the funding available to debt free local authorities and on 17 June 2003, we extended transitional arrangements for with debt local authorities to include further resources being made in 2004–05 and 2005–06. There are no further plans to extend the transitional arrangements past 2005–06.
Special Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether departmental special advisers have written to external (a) bodies and (b) individuals in their official capacity since May 1997. [204284]
Phil Hope: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Bolton, West (Ruth Kelly) on 14 December 2004, Official Report, column 1004W.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether departmental special advisers have made appearances before parliamentary select committees in their official capacity since May 1997. [204303]
Phil Hope: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was created on 29 May 2002. No departmental special advisers have appeared before parliamentary select committees.
Supporting People Budget
Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions he has had with local authority social services departments about planned reductions in the Supporting People budget. [204901]
Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has lead responsibility for the operation of the Supporting People programme.
Between December 2002 and March 2003, three months prior to the introduction of Supporting People, the cost of the programme rose significantly. This led to the commission of an Independent Review of the programme to help the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister understand the reasons for the growth and to help determine what was an appropriate sum to pay for the Supporting People programme. The Independent Review concluded in January that '£1.8 billion is too much to pay for the legacy provision'.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister followed the Independent Review with work on value for money to support the 2004 Spending Review. Following extensive discussions with colleagues in other Government Departments, including the Department of Health, we announced in August a £5 billion three-year settlement for the programme—£1.72 billion in 2005–06, followed by around £1.7 billion in each of the following two years.
16 Dec 2004 : Column 1244W
On 2 December 2004, Official Report, columns 47–50WS, the same day as the Local Government Finance Settlement, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced the individual authorities' allocations for 2005–06.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether it was his Department's policy to encourage local authority social services departments to set up independent Supporting People teams. [204902]
Keith Hill: Prior to the start of the Supporting People programme in April 2003, Supporting People teams were set up by local authorities, with a remit to drive forward the programme. The Supporting People teams are responsible for the day to day administration of the programme which includes the service review programme and ensuring all stakeholders are kept informed and consulted. The teams also facilitate the development of the Supporting People five-year strategy; identifying local strategic priorities and highlighting gaps in provision. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has allocated administration grants to administering authorities to contribute towards staff and IT costs of the Supporting People teams in delivering the programme.
Supporting People is a local programme delivered through local partnerships with local government, probation, housing, social services, service providers and users. Local authorities are responsible for deciding which department takes the lead for Supporting People and how work is divided between county and districts. The Supporting People teams should, therefore, forge links with the appropriate commissioning managers (including social services), and social services should be an active partner on the core strategic group and commissioning body.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people, expressed as a full-time equivalent, are employed by each local authority in Supporting People teams; and what budget was allocated to the teams for (a) 2003–04, (b) 2004–05 and (c) 2005–06. [204903]
Keith Hill: A total of 1,176 full-time staff are employed by the 150 administering authorities delivering Supporting People. A breakdown by authority is available in the Library of the House.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has lead responsibility for the operation of the Supporting People programme. Authorities administering the Supporting People programme are responsible for making adequate administration funding available to Supporting People teams. To assist authorities in introducing Supporting People, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has allocated administration grants to contribute towards staff and IT costs of delivering the programme. This grant is un-ring fenced and is separate to the programme funding.
The total administration grants awarded to authorities are:
Allocations to individual authorities are available at: www.spkweb.org.uk.
16 Dec 2004 : Column 1245W
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