§ Mr. SoleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much of the £75 million set aside for Estate Action schemes in 1987–88 has been finally approved to date; what proportion of this total to date has been approved for continuing schemes; and how much has been finally approved for new schemes in 1987–88.
§ Mrs. RoeOf the £75 million additional resources available to Estate Action in 1987–88, £74,635 million has been formally allocated to local authorities, 53 per cent. has been allocated to continuation schemes and 47 per cent. to new schemes. The remaining £360,000 is on the point of formal allocation to continuation schemes.
§ Mr. SoleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what sums have been put into Estate Action schemes by private developers since 1985–86; and how many schemes to date have been supplemented by resources from private developers;
(2) how much council-owned property had been sold to private developers as part of Estate Action schemes since his Department began targeting the housing investment programme via estate action in 1985–86.
§ Mrs. RoeTo date some 4,600 council dwellings have been, or are in the course of being, disposed of to the private sector as part of Estate Action packages to revitalise rundown estates. Forty two schemes have been accompanied by private investment. It is not possible to say precisely how much money each private investor has contributed.
§ Mr. SoleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what factors his Department has taken into consideration in dividing the total Estate Action allocation of £75 million between regional offices; and how much of the allocation has been allocated to each regional office.
§ Mrs. RoeEstate Action resources are distributed regionally on the basis of the quality and number of individual schemes submitted by local authorities in each region. The amounts allocated for schemes in each region in 1987–88 so far are as follows:
Region £ million Northern 8.040 Yorkshire and Humberside 10.898 North-west 21.948 Merseyside Task Force 3.934 West midlands 10.669 East midlands 4.085 Eastern 0.362 South-east 0.058 South-west 0.497 London 14.144 74.635
§ Mr. SoleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many of Estate Action's continuing schemes have been finally approved to date by each of his Department's regional offices.
59W
§ Mrs. RoeThe number of Estate Action continuation schemes which have received additional resources this year to date is shown below:
Continuation schemes in 1987–88 Region Number Northern 16 Yorkshire and Humberside 13 North-west 21 Merseyside task force area 6 West midlands 5 East midlands 4 Eastern 1 South-east 1 South-west 0 London 19 TOTAL 86
§ Mr. SoleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the criteria for approvals of Estate Action schemes which his Department used in(a) 1985–86, (b) 1986–87 and (c) 1987–88; and what the criteria for the approval of Estate Action schemes will be in 1988–89.
§ Mrs. RoeThe criteria used in assessing Estate Action proposals submitted by local authorities have been constant since the programme was launched in June 1985 and remain the same for the coming financial year. They are spelt out in detail in the annual reports published in 1986 and 1987, copies of which are in the Library. Each application is considered on its merits with priority given to those proposals which offer residents greater choice and control over their living conditions and environment and which take full advantage of any opportunities for combining public and private sector skills and resources; under estate action's homelessness initiative additional resources are made available to help local authorities bring vacant properties on estates back into use to benefit homeless people.