34. Supplementary memorandum submitted
by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
FOLLOW UP
INFORMATION TO
THE HOME
AFFAIRS SELECT
COMMITTEE
I am writing in follow up to the points I made
in answer to Damian Green's questions (560-566), which concern
the availability of information on the use of housing related
measures available to social landlords to tackle anti-social behaviour
(ASB). In particular, I am writing to provide further information
on data relating to housing injunctions, which I committed to
providing in answer to Question 562.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister do not
currently request that local authorities supply information on
numbers of housing injunctions, possession orders (on ASB and
other grounds) or demotion orders.
A number of injunctive measures are available
to local authorities seeking to deal with ASB under the Housing
Act 1996 and the Local Government Act 1972. It is the Department's
view that asking local authorities to supply information on the
type and number of actions requested would place an undue burden
upon them and could not easily be justified. This information
will of course be held locally. The Housing Corporation do not
require this information from RSLs and nor do they have any plans
to do so at this stage.
However, we recognise the importance of measuring
take up and the effectiveness of these measures (especially given
the recent introduction of new improved housing injunctions by
way of the ASB Act 2003). We will therefore examine the possibility
of carrying out sample snapshot surveys as well research on the
effectiveness of these and other measures in the longer term.
Our priority is to improve the quality of information
we hold on use of possession proceedings and subsequent eviction
on both ASB and rent arrears grounds. Research commissioned by
ODPM on the use of possession actions and evictions by social
landlords is due to be published in summer 2005. The study has
found that there is limited data upon which to perform an analysis
of whether social landlord's use of possession actions for ASB
has risen in recent years. It is worth noting that the study finds
that landlord's more active stance in countering ASB in the last
decade is probably reflected mainly in their increasing deployment
of remedies other than eviction. We would hope that the new measures
we have recently provided social landlords with, notably those
under part 2 of the ASB Act 2003, will serve to support this trend
towards tackling problems in situ.
To address these issues we are currently working
on a form of return for data on possessions and evictions which
will ask all local authorities to supply data on both the number
of possession actions and evictions they carry out for 2005-06
onwards, including those on ASB grounds and under demoted tenancies.
The return will also ask landlords to supply information on the
number of demotion orders granted in total (ie regardless of whether
they result in eviction or not). The Housing Corporation will
be requiring the same information from registered social landlords.
We also propose to select a sample of local authorities, whom
we will ask to complete snapshot surveys, which will explore use
of possession/eviction in more detail, including details of other
measures they may have deployed in advance of launching possession
proceedings.
As I outlined in my response to the committee,
the Home Office collect data on use of Anti-social Behaviour Orders
(ASBOs), which includes a breakdown allowing us to see how many
orders have been granted as a result of local authority and registered
social landlord led applications to the courts. The Housing Corporation
will be asking HAs to supply data on the number of ASBO applications
on a voluntary basis for 2005-06. Collection of this information
will be mandatory from 2006-07.
Yvette Cooper MP
17 March 2005
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