§ Mr. Davidsonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what the precise factors were in assessing Hyndburn's generalised needs index assessment; and how this was used to determine Hyndburn's eventual allocation.
§ Mr. StanleyThe precise factors taken into account within the generalised needs index are:
- (a) household/dwelling balance;
- (b) overcrowding;
- (c) dwellings in poor condition (unfit dwellings lacking basic amenities, and dwellings requiring major repair expenditure);
- (d) homelessness; and
- (e) requirement for local authority mortgages.
The way in which these factors are calculated, and Hyndburn's score on each of the indicators within the GNI, are set out in the paper which I placed in the Library in reply to my hon. Friend for Reading, North (Mr. Durant) on 25 January—['Vol. 35, c. 406.] The GNI governs the distribution of 60 per cent. of each region's share of the housing investment programme allocations, outside London, to individual authorities. The remaining 40 per cent. is allocated on the basis of the "local discretionary element", that is the Department's judgment of the relative needs of each individual authority in any given year.