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18 Dec 2006 : Column 1640W—continued


The duty owed to a person accepted as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need is to secure suitable accommodation. If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority may secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available.

The second table shows the total number of households in temporary accommodation on the last day of each quarter since 2001, and, since 2002, those that include dependent children or a pregnant woman, for both England and Somerset. In January 2005 the Government announced in “Homes for All” its commitment to halve the number of all households in temporary accommodation by 2010.


18 Dec 2006 : Column 1641W

18 Dec 2006 : Column 1642W
Households in temporary accommodation( 1) arranged by local authorities
Somerset( 2) England
Total number of households in TA (end quarter snapshot) of which families with dependent children and/or pregnant woman Total number of households in TA (end quarter snapshot) of which families with dependent children and/or pregnant woman

2001

Q1

354

75,200

Q2

349

75,920

Q3

411

77,800

Q4

413

77,510

2002

Q1

(3)

(3)

80,200

54,660

Q2

404

(3)

81,660

58,870

Q3

(3)

(3)

85,010

61,740

Q4

375

(3)

85,140

60,310

2003

Q1

573

(3)

89,040

61,510

Q2

607

(3)

91,870

65,040

Q3

387

228

94,440

67,260

Q4

324

203

94,610

67,540

2004

Q1

320

198

97,680

70,580

Q2

319

207

99,530

71,640

Q3

356

220

101,300

72,510

Q4

365

223

101,030

72,800

2005

Q1

499

356

101,070

72,670

Q2

(3)

(3)

100,970

72,810

Q3

521

351

101,020

74,180

Q4

453

316

98,730

72,920

2006

Q1

422

303

96,370

71,560

Q2

377

271

93,910

69,790

Q3

378

262

93,090

69,500

(1) Households in accommodation arranged by local authorities pending enquiries or awaiting allocation of a settled home following acceptance of a main duty. (2) Somerset includes the following LAs: Mendip, Sedgemoor, South Somerset, Taunton Deane and West Somerset. (3) Data not reported during quarter. Source: DCLG P1E Homelessness returns (quarterly).

Information is also collected by the Department on the number of people who sleep rough—that is, those who are literally roofless on a single night. These are recorded on a calendar year basis, and figures for 2001 up to the latest available figures, for 2006, are presented by local authority on the Communities website, at:

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assumptions on (a) rents and (b) (i) management, (ii) maintenance and (iii) major repairs allowance and (c) interest rates on housing debts were used in her pilot study on opting out of the national housing revenue account. [107431]

Yvette Cooper: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given today (UIN 107184).

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what expenditure was on the national housing revenue account in each year since 1990, broken down by main budget heading. [107435]

Yvette Cooper: We do not collect details of actual expenditure on the “national” housing revenue account under the main budget headings.

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she expects the pilot scheme for local authorities to opt out of the national housing revenue account to be self- financing. [107436]

Yvette Cooper: The impact on the public finances of permitting individual local authorities to operate outside the housing revenue account subsidy system is one of the issues that the Government are considering as part of the current pilot scheme.

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what Government expenditure was on (a) council housing, (b) registered social landlords (c) arm’s length management organisations and (d) home ownership schemes in each year since 1996. [107445]

Yvette Cooper: The information requested in provided in the table. The figures for 2005-06 have not been audited. Government expenditure on council housing will also include money given to ALMOs under the Decent Homes programme. Figures for Housing Corporation funding via registered social landlords (RSLs) is for new homes and excludes works to RSL housing stock. The Housing Corporation figures for low-cost home ownership include funding for Affordable Housing Programme, Local Authority Social Housing Grant and Starter Home Initiative. The English Partnership figures include acquisition costs.


18 Dec 2006 : Column 1643W

18 Dec 2006 : Column 1644W
1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01

Supported Capital Expenditure

2,264,684,642

2,195,992,704

2,175,181,668

2,032,348,393

1,944,620,377

Other HRA Subsidy Allowances

3,468,580,373

3,417,333,253

3,259,255,389

3,175,271,907

3,096,738,840

ALMO allowances

0

0

0

0

0

Gross HRA Subsidy

5,733,265,015

5,613,325,957

5,434,437,057

5,207,620,300

5,041,359,217

ALMO capital allowances

0

0

0

0

0

Total capital and revenue expenditure on council housing

5,733,265,015

5,613,325,957

5,434,437,057

5,207,620,300

5,041,359,217

Gap Funded Transfer Payments

0

0

0

0

0

Housing Corporation funding to RSLs to build or acquire new social housing

706,600,000

781,700,000

751,600,000

822,700,000

936,900,000

Registered Social Landlords total

706,600,000

781,700,000

751,600,000

822,700,000

936,900,000

Housing Corporation funding to RSLs for low-cost home ownership schemes

216,000,000

172,500,000

125,100,000

93,700,000

117,400,000

English Partnerships funding for First Time Buyers and London Wide Initiatives

0

0

0

0

0

Total funding to low-cost home ownership schemes

216,000,000

172,500,000

125,100,000

93,700,000

117,400,000


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