§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the number of local authorities which will not be in a position to introduce a tenant participation compact by 1 April; what action is being taken to ensure that authorities enter into a compact at the earliest opportunity; and if he will make a statement. [114699]
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§ Mr. MullinResearch commissioned by my Department between April and September 1999 showed that, one year ahead of implementing best value and tenant participation compacts, 10 per cent. of authorities were proactive in preparing for implementation, 70 per cent. were planning for implementation but not at an advanced stage, and the remaining 20 per cent. were reluctant to implement. We expect preparations to have progressed since then and will be looking at whether local authorities have introduced compacts through this year's annual Housing Investment Programme (HIP) process.
Local authority performance on tenant participation will continue to feed into the HIP assessment process through which Government allocate housing capital resources. Under Best Value, local authority delivery of what is agreed in compacts will also be subject to scrutiny by the new Housing Inspectorate.