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Housing

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the capital receipts from the sale of local authority housing stock in Tamworth were in each of the last 10 years; and what proportion of this income was (a) received by the borough council and (b) passed to his Department. [42075]

Yvette Cooper: Capital receipts from the sale of local authority housing stock, as reported by Tamworth are tabled immediately as follows. The receipts are net of discounts and are from Right to Buy and other sales to sitting tenants and owner occupiers.
 
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Local authority housing capital receipts; Tamworth

Financial year	Capital receipt (£)
1995–96	1,255,000
1996–97	1,398,000
1997–98	2,894,000
1998–99	1,972,000
1999–2000	3,160,000
2000–01	2,640,000
2001–02	4,176,000
2002–03	7,586,000
2003–04	10,333,000
2004–05	7,055,000

Source:
P1AB returns from local authority to ODPM

Until 1 April 2004, with-debt local authorities were required to set-aside a proportion of their total housing receipts for repayment of debt. The amount of total housing receipts for both dwelling and non-dwelling disposals is given in the following table, along with the amount set-aside from those housing receipts. In April 2004 the set-aside regime was replaced by pooling in order to address the fact that the distribution of receipts was widely unequal across the country. Neither set-aside or pooling separately identify the amount set-aside or pooled from specific types of receipt.

Financial year	Housing capital receipts (£000)	Set-aside/pooled (£000)	Percentage set-aside/pooled
1995–96	1,367	1,008	74
1996–97	1,489	1,103	69
1997–98	4,264	2,197	52
1998–99	1,999	1,486	74
1999–2000	3,151	2,352	75
2000–01	2,629	1,951	74
2001–02	4,357	3,184	73
2002–03	7,600	11,951	26
2003–04	10,343	(48)—	n/a
2004–05	7,106	5,230	74

⁽⁴⁸⁾ No data

The proportion of the housing capital receipt that a local authority retains is not simply the gross receipt less the set-aside or pooling liability. Local authorities may reduce the value of the capital receipt by, for instance, the cost of the administration fees involved in the disposal of the asset or other costs, for instance improvements to the asset in the preceding years, before calculating their set-aside or pooling obligation. Hence in the table above the amount retained will not be gross receipts less set-aside or pooled amount but rather gross receipts less deductions (for which we have no data) less set-aside or pooling obligations.

Since 1997 the Government have consistently invested more in housing than they have received in pooled receipts. In 2004–05 the amount paid to Government from all housing receipts (not just Right to Buy) was £1.7 billion. The amount invested in housing was £4.1 billion ie almost two and a half times the amount received in receipts. The ratio is expected to increase substantially in the future.

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the capital receipts from the sale of local authority housing stock in Islington for each of the last
 
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10 years; and what proportion of the income was (a) received by the borough council and (b) posted to his Department. [39924]

Yvette Cooper: Capital receipts from the sale of local authority stock, as reported by Islington are tabled as follows. The receipts are net of discounts and are from Right to Buy and other sales to sitting tenants and owner occupiers.
Capital receipts: Islington

Financial year	Capital receipt (£)
1996–97	8,006,000
1997–98	10,723,000
1998–99	12,522,000
1999–2000	n/a
2000–01	n/a
2001–02	45,619,000
2002–03	48,362,000
2003–04	52,350,000
2004–05	n/a

n/a=not available
Source:
P1AB returns from local authority to ODPM

Until 1 April 2004, with-debt local authorities were required to set-aside a proportion of their total housing receipts for repayment of debt. The amount of total housing receipts for both dwelling and non-dwelling disposals is given in the following table, along with the amount set-aside from those housing receipts. In April 2004 the set-aside regime was replaced by pooling in order to address the wide inequality in receipts between areas. Neither set-aside or pooling separately identify the amount set-aside or pooled from specific types of receipt.

Financial year	Housing capital receipts (£000)	Set-aside/pooled (£000)	Percentage set-aside/pooled
1996–97	10,375	7,062	68
1997–98	14,339	10,084	70
1998–99	21,717	12,606	58
1999–2000	34,519	22,427	65
2000–01	47,900	29,598	62
2001–02	63,775	36,930	58
2002–03	68,730	29,598	43
2003–04	80,202	(49)—	n/a
2004–05	90,560	48,316	54

⁽⁴⁹⁾ No data

The proportion of the housing capital receipt that a local authority retains is not simply the gross receipt less the set-aside or pooling liability. Local authorities may reduce the value of the capital receipt by, for instance, the cost of the administration fees involved in the disposal of the asset or other costs, for instance improvements to the asset in the preceding years, before calculating their set-aside or pooling obligation. Hence in the table above the amount retained will not be gross receipts less set-aside or pooled amount but rather gross receipts less deductions (for which we have no data) less set-aside or pooling obligations.

Since 1997 the Government have consistently invested more in housing than they have received in housing receipts. In 2004–05 the amount paid to Government from all housing receipts (not just Right to Buy) was £1.7 billion. The amount invested in housing
 
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was £4.1 billion ie almost two and a half times the amount received. The ratio of amount invested to amount received is expected to increase substantially in the future.

Parliamentary Questions

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he will reply to Question (a) 32540, (b) 32541 and (c) 32542 from the hon. Member for Norwich, North tabled on 23 November 2005. [49230]

Yvette Cooper: I have answered the hon. Member's questions today. I apologise for the delay in replying.

Planning Inspectorate

Mr. Chope: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make it the policy of the Government that there should be a public and open register of the qualifications, experience and training of members of the Planning Inspectorate. [62852]

Yvette Cooper [holding answer 18 April 2006]: Although not currently made available in a register or list, the Inspectorate provides details of individual Planning Inspectors' qualifications and previous experience when requested. Following an analysis of requests received under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Inspectorate is considering how best to make more information about Inspector recruitment, relevant qualifications and training and the decision-making process more widely available.

There are no plans to publish details of the qualifications, experience or training of the Inspectorate's administrative staff.

Regional Government

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what powers county councils have to hold a local referendum on a local issue across the county area; and which tier of government would pay for the cost of the referendum. [62293]

Mr. Woolas: Any local authority may hold a consultative referendum on matters relating to services provided in pursuance of the authority's functions, expenditure on such services, or any other matter which relates to the authority's power to promote the well-being of its area.

The tier of local government which holds a referendum would meet the cost of that referendum.

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