§ Baroness Goudieasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are now in a position to announce the details of the Planning Delivery Grant for 2003–04 [HL1586].
§ Lord Evans of Temple GuitingYes. As the noble Baroness knows, the Deputy Prime Minister announced last July that we would be making an additional £350 million available to local authorities over the period 2003–06 to improve the delivery of planning services. We have now decided the basis on which we will distribute this new Planning Delivery Grant in 2003–04 and will be informing recipients of their allocations.
The grant is being paid out of additional resources from Spending Review 2002. The aim of the grant is to improve the planning system to ensure the effective delivery of our objectives for sustainable communities which we set out in the document Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future. It is specifically targeted towards meeting the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Public Service Agreements 5 and 6. PSA 5 aims to achieve a better balance between housing availability and demand. PSA 6 requires all authorities to have local development frameworks in place (in accordance with agreed local development schemes) and to meet the best value development control targets by the end of 2006–07.
The amount of grant distributed in 2003–04 is £50 million. It will be paid to local planning authorities, regional planning bodies and the Greater London Authority. The grant is a performance reward grant and rewards local authorities both for improvements towards and achievement of best value development control targets in the period June 2001 to June 2002. Those meeting the development control handling targets both at the start and the end of the year are rewarded separately for consistently high performance. No authority will receive an allocation of less than £75,000 in 2003–04 so that every authority has additional resources to help drive improvement in performance towards the targets. The grant allocations are enhanced for those local authorities within the high housing demand and growth areas identified in the document Sustainable Communities: Building for the future.
Regional planning bodies were notified in December of their share of the £6 million of existing funding which will, from 2003–04, be paid directly to them. They will also receive a share of the new planning delivery grant for their work on new regional spatial strategies (due to replace regional planning guidance under the Bill) and their review of existing 66WA regional planning guidance to take account of the growth area proposals. The Greater London Authority receives grant to assist its related review of elements of the London Plan.
County councils will not receive direct resources from the grant. The counties' planning functions are being changed under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill currently before Parliament. Subject to Royal Assent, county councils will cease to have a duty to prepare structure plans but their resources will not be reduced accordingly. Therefore, while in some cases counties may need to continue with structure plan preparation over the next year and possibly beyond, given the transitional period set out in the Bill, as this function winds down they will be able to take advantage of freed up resources. It will be important that these freed up resources and the expertise available in county councils are retained and used to deliver other county planning responsibilities and to undertake their function as statutory consultees in the preparation of regional spatial strategies and local development frameworks. Counties can be engaged to conduct work related to regional spatial strategies on an agency basis.
The criteria for grant allocations have been designed to drive up performance in the delivery of planning functions, both in respect of development control and plan making. Authorities should be aware that they will need to continue to secure improvements in performance in order to receive money in further years. Grant allocations are not ring-fenced and authorities have complete discretion in the way they spend this money. Areas that authorities may consider concentrating on include: contribution to the preparation of regional planning guidance and the future regional spatial strategies; completing current reviews of existing development plans and preparing for the new system of local development frameworks; better resourcing of IT systems; assistance from consultants; outsourcing of certain planning services; increasing staffing levels; training for staff and councillors; supporting mediation services; encouraging a more diverse planning workforce; bursaries for employees to gain planning qualifications and more use of technical staff.
The amounts payable are shown in the tables below.
Letters to all leaders of local and county planning authorities, chief executives of the regional planning bodies and the Mayor of London have been laid in the Libraries of the House. They set out the details of each recipient's grant.
We will be laying a special grant report before the other place shortly.
67WA
Table 1: Total Planning Delivery Grant (£) for 2003–04 £ Adur 138,189 Allerdale 151,179 Alnwick 75,000 Amber Valley 75,000 Arun 137,500 Ashfield 181,650 Ashford 163,816 Aylesbury Vale 203,206 68WA
Table 1: Total Planning Delivery Grant (£)for 2003–04 £ Babergh 75,000 Barking and Dagenham 150,758 Barnet 458,095 Barnsley 75,000 Barrow-in-Furness 75,000 Basildon 208,346 Basingstoke and Deane 203,463 Bassetlaw 75,000 Bath and North East Somerset UA 133,008 Bedford 203,206 Berwick-upon-Tweed 75,000 Bexley 236,793 Birmingham 75,000 Blaby 75,000 Blackburn with Darwen UA 75,000 Blackpool UA 75,000 Blyth Valley 75,000 Bolsover 75,000 Bolton 75,000 Boston 75,000 Bournemouth UA 157,781 Bracknell Forest UA 121,875 Bradford 75,000 Braintree 275,158 Breckland 88,297 Brent 283,364 Brentwood 108,480 Bridgnorth 75,000 Brighton and Hove UA 121,875 Bristol UA 189,258 Broadland 75,000 Broads Authority 75,000 Bromley 241,106 Bromsgrove 189,943 Broxbourne 101,316 Broxtowe 75,000 Burnley 75,000 Bury 125,400 Calderdale 75,400 Cambridge 101,316 Camden 223,407 Cannock Chase 75,000 Canterbury 200,070 Caradon 75,000 Carlisle 75,000 Carrick 97,304 Castle Morpeth 75,000 Castle Point 158,757 Charnwood 94,248 Chelmsford 137,500 Cheltenham 75,000 Cherwell 278,812 Chester 75,000 Chesterfield 75,000 Chester-le-Street 75,000 Chichester 336,900 Chiltern 249,282 Chorley 75,000 Christchurch 75,814 City of London 75,000 Colchester 137,500 Congleton 75,000 Copeland 129,735 Corby 115,100 Cotswold 232,085 Coventry 75,000 Craven 100,555 Crawley 109,091 Crewe and Nantwich 75,000 Croydon 219,955 Dacorum 229,265 Darlington UA 89,770
69WA
Table 1: Total Planning Delivery Grant (£) for 2003–04 £ Dartford 148,191 Dartmoor NP 75,000 Daventry 101,316 Derby UA 134,206 Derbyshire Dales 75,000 Derwentside 75,000 Doncaster 111,189 Dover 109,091 Dudley 207,414 Durham 83,569 Ealing 121,875 Easington 75,000 East Cambridgeshire 126,617 East Devon 75,000 East Dorset 75,000 East Hampshire 272,875 East Hertfordshire 163,542 East Lindsey 75,000 East Northamptonshire 107,684 East Riding of Yorkshire UA 213,853 East Staffordshire 75,000 Eastbourne 109,091 Eastleigh 173,009 Eden 207,267 Ellesmere Port and Neston 75,000 Elmbridge 254,351 Enfield 186,316 Epping Forest 199,600 Epsom and Ewell 75,000 Erewash 82,836 Exeter 100,000 Exmoor NP 75,000 Fareham 132,211 Fenland 113,199 Forest Heath 75,000 Forest of Dean 75,000 Fylde 75,000 Gateshead 201,962 Gedling 75,000 Gloucester 75,000 Gosport 75,000 Gravesham 124,878 Great Yarmouth 75,000 Greenwich 200,000 Guildford 75,000 Hackney 121,875 Halton UA 160,000 Hambleton 147,416 Hammersmith and Fulham 157,020 Harborough 214,061 Haringey 255,952 Harlow 181,028 Harrowgate 75,000 Harrow 251,783 Hart 109,091 Hartlepool UA 150,460 Hastings 146,840 Havant 75,000 Havering 171,591 Herefordshire UA 326,145 Hertsmere 75,000 High Peak 75,000 Hillingdon 320,040 Hinckley and Bosworth 75,000 Horsham 177,256 Hounslow 404,246 Huntingdonshire 141,866 Hyndburn 97,980 Ipswich 75,000 Isle of Wight U A 166,588 Isles of Scilly 101,965 Islington 237,532 Kennet 75,000
70WA
Table 1: Total Planning Delivery Grant (£) for 2003–04 £ Kensington and Chelsea 178,865 Kerrier 75,000 Kettering 136,309 King's Lynn and West Norfolk 75,000 Kingston upon Thames 195,300 Kingston-upon-Hull UA 109,981 Kirklees 75,000 Knowsley 165,505 Lake District NP 75,000 Lambeth 330,617 Lancaster 75,000 Leeds 75,000 Leicester UA 119,296 Lewes 75,000 Lewisham 184,375 Lichfield 111,461 Lincoln 104,952 Liverpool 250,982 Luton UA 203,267 Macclesfield 288,603 Maidstone 280,076 Maldon 75,000 Malvern Hills 75,000 Manchester 251,537 Mansfield 85,963 Medway UA 264,462 Melton 138,634 Mendip 75,000 Merton 195,450 Mid Bedfordshire 187,855 Mid Devon 140,627 Mid Suffolk 75,000 Mid Sussex 132,681 Middlesbrough UA 158,038 Milton Keynes UA 348,120 Mole Valley 75,000 New Forest 109,091 Newark and Sherwood 77,253 Newcastle upon Tyne 75,000 Newcastle-under-Lyme 164,755 Newham 201,503 North Cornwall 106,149 North Devon 148,241 North Dorset 138,788 North East Derbyshire 112,340 North East Lincolnshire UA 75,000 North Hertfordshire 148,191 North Kesteven 75,000 North Lincolnshire UA 99,889 North Norfolk 75,000 North Shropshire 75,000 North Somerset UA 75,000 North Tyneside 75,000 North Warwickshire 75,313 North West Leicestershire 75,000 North Wiltshire 123,305 North Yorkshire Moors NP 75,000 Northampton 169,285 Northumberland NP 75,000 Norwich 75,000 Nottingham UA 75,000 Nuneaton and Bedworth 75,000 Oadby and Wigston 75,000 Oldham 75,000 Owestry 75,000 Oxford 174,294 Peak NP 75,000 Pendle 75,000 Penwith 75,000 Peterborough UA 77,843 Plymouth UA 75,000 Poole UA 182,279 Portsmouth UA 137,500
71WA
Table 1: Total Planning Delivery Grant (£) for 2003–04 £ Preston 122,151 Purbeck 75,000 Reading UA 203,648 Redbridge 197,789 Redcar and Cleveland UA 75,000 Redditch 75,000 Reigate and Banstead 109,091 Restormel 191,936 Ribble Valley 75,000 Richmondshire 87,304 Richmond-upon-Thames 299,968 Rochdale 115,401 Rochford 156,036 Rossendale 75,000 Rother 75,000 Rotherham 188,698 Rugby 75,000 Runnymede 139,569 Rushcliffe 75,000 Rushmoor 85,695 Rutland UA 99,039 Ryedale 75,000 Salford 75,000 Salisbury 109,688 Sandwell 75,000 Scarborough 75,000 Sedgefield 103,484 Sedgemoor 75,000 Sefton 286,592 Selby 101,549 Sevenoaks 108,508 Sheffield 75,000 Shepway 109,091 Shrewsbury and Atcham 75,000 Slough UA 166,681 Solihull 75,000 South Bedfordshire 135,407 South Buckinghamshire 75,000 South Cambridgeshire 116,667 South Derbyshire 75,000 South Gloucestershire UA 153,702 South Hampshire 75,000 South Holland 75,000 South Kesteven 112,488 South Lakeland 75,000 South Norfolk 75,000 South Northamptonshire 186,876 South Oxfordshire 137,500 South Ribble 75,000 South Shropshire 115,864 South Somerset 140,728 South Staffordshire 75,000 South Tyneside 85,254 Southampton UA 124,029 Southend on Sea UA 116,667 Southwark 225,790 Spelthorne 75,926 St Albans 109,091 St Edmundsbury 79,076 St Helens 75,000 Stafford 165,858 Staffordshire Moorlands 75,000 Stevenage 75,000 Stockport 294,100 Stockton-on-Tees UA 75,000 Stoke on Trent UA 99,461 Stratford-on-Avon 118,587 Stroud 75,000 Suffolk Coastal 75,000 Sunderland 110,170
72WA
Table 1: Total Planning Delivery Grant (£) for 2003–04 £ Surrey Heath 167,324 Sutton 109,091 Swale 179,167 Swindon UA 75,000 Tameside 75,000 Tamworth 100,000 Tandridge 266,668 Taunton Deane 75,000 Teesdale 75,000 Teignbridge 156,222 Telford and Wrekin UA 75,000 Tendring 253,159 Test Valley 295,525 Tewkesbury 125,675 Thanet 118,945 Three Rivers 106,503 Thurrock UA 179,167 Tonbridge and Mailing 109,091 Torbay UA 75,000 Torridge 75,000 Tower Hamlets 224,039 Trafford 238,831 Tunbridge Wells 75,000 Tynedale 75,000 Uttlesford 246,201 Vale of White Horse 128,821 Vale Royal 225,115 Wakefield 75,000 Walsall 100,199 Waltham Forest 109,091 Wandsworth 246,513 Wansbcck 75,000 Warrington UA 75,000 Warwick 75,000 Watford 75,000 Waveney 75,000 Waverley 75,000 Wealden 192,964 Wear Valley 75,000 Wellingborough 108,383 Welwyn Hatfield 75,000 West Berkshire UA 268,281 West Devon 77,159 West Dorset 75,000 West Lancashire 75,000 West Lindsey 75,000 West Oxfordshire 121,875 West Somerset 75,000 West Wiltshire 75,000 Westminster 474,679 Weymouth and Portland 75,000 Wigan 210,441 Winchester 297,062 Windsor and Maidenhead UA 227,499 Wirral 267,697 Woking 166,989 Wokingham UA 170,019 Wolverhampton 120,263 Worcester 75,000 Worthing 219,977 Wychavon 254,927 Wycombe 109,091 Wyre 108,801 Wyre Forest 108,105 York UA 75,000 Yorkshire Dales NP 75,000
Table 2: Planning Delivery Grant for Regional Planning Bodies and the GLA for 2003–04 £ East Midlands Region Local Government Association 365,000 East of England Local Government Conference 516,000 Greater London Authority 75,000 Regional Assembly for the North East 263,000 North West Regional Assembly 369,000 South East Regional Assembly 581,000 South West Regional Assembly 324,000 West Midlands Local Government Association 332,000 Regional Assembly for Yorkshire and the Humber 325,000