§ Mr. HendrickTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the neighbourhood renewal funds. [154522]
§ Ms ArmstrongI am pleased to announce that I have laid before the House the Special Grant Report that sets out the allocations and conditions for receipt of the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.
The NRF will provide £900 million to certain local authorities over the next three years to enable them to improve services in their most deprived areas, including contributing to the achievement of Government PSA targets to narrow the gap between deprived areas and the rest of the country. It is both acceptable, and strongly desirable where service quality is at risk or requires improvement, that NRF funding should be devoted to mainstream services, such as schools, provided that the funding benefits the most deprived areas. The grant can be used to support services provided not only by the local authority, but also by organisations that are members of the local strategic partnership (where one exists) and by others.