HC Deb 11 June 1998 vol 313 cc632-4W
Mr. Burstow

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the pilot schemes announced since 1 May by his Department that involve local authorities in a lead or partnership capacity; if he will list each of the local authorities involved in each case; and what revenue and capital funding each local authority will receive through the pilot in 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000 and 2000–01. [45337]

Angela Eagle

Local authorities are involved in a wide range of activities across my Department, and it is not possible to provide a definitive list.

However, pilot schemes that have been announced by my Department since May 1997 and which involve local authorities in a lead or partnership capacity include Best Value pilots and the joint commissioning of new social housing schemes.

The relevant details are as follows:

Best Value

On 4 December 1997, my hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Housing announced the selection of 37 pilot projects to test the best value framework in advance of the introduction of the Government's best value policy. The pilots began on 1 April 1998 and are expected to run for 2 or 3 years. No additional funding is being provided by the Government. The successful authorities were:

  • Birmingham City Council
  • Bradford City Council
  • Braintree DC Brent LB
  • Brighton/Hove, Tandridge, Wealden DCs
  • Bristol City Council
  • Camden LB Carrick DC
  • Cleveland Police Authority
  • Cumbria County Council
  • CWOIL group (Cambridge, Welwyn, Oxford, Ipswich, Lincoln)
  • Exeter City Council
  • Gosport BC
  • Great Yarmouth BC
  • Greater Manchester Police
  • Greenwich LB
  • Harrow LB Ipswich BC
  • Leeds City Council
  • Lewisham LB
  • Lincolnshire County Council
    • 633
  • Manchester City Council
  • Newark and Sherwood DC
  • Newcastle upon Tyne City Council
  • Newham LB
  • Northamptonshire County Council
  • Oldham MBC
  • Portsmouth City Council
  • Reading BC
  • Redcar and Cleveland BC
  • Southampton City Council
  • South Norfolk DC
  • Sunderland City Council
  • Surrey County Council
  • Warwickshire CountyCouncil
  • Watford BC
  • York City Council.

Joint Commissioning

Joint Commissioning involves the development of a long term housing strategy and a set of investment priorities for both ADP and non-ADP fund ing, agreed between the Housing Corporation and a local authority. It also often involves the competitive selection of a set of RSLs who are then invited to bid for funding for social housing schemes. The objectives are to ensure that investment in social housing is based on sound long term strategies and to reduce the amount of wasteful competition between RSLs for ADP funds each year. The 42 local authorities involved in the Joint Commissioning pilot scheme are set out according to the Housing Corporation Region in which they are located:

London Region

  • Redbridge
  • Hillingdon
  • Kensington
  • Greenwich

South West Region

  • Bournemouth
  • Cotswold
  • Cornwall SNAP (Special Needs Across the County)
  • Taunton Dean

South East Region

  • Surrey
  • Eastbourne
  • Crawley
  • Spelthorne Swale
  • Brighton and Hove
  • Portsmouth New
  • Forest Reading
  • East Hampshire

East Midlands and Eastern Regions

  • Ipswich
  • Essex Strategic Reserve (supported housing)
  • Harlow
  • Newark and Sherwood
  • Ashfield
  • Northampton
  • Fenland
  • Leicester

North West Region

  • Chester
  • Oldham
  • Manchester
  • Preston
  • Bolton

Merseyside

  • Wirral

West Midlands Region

  • Oswestry
  • Wrekin
  • Wychavon
  • Cannock

Yorkshire and Humberside and North Eastern Regions

  • NE Lincolnshire
  • Sheffield
  • Sunderland
  • Derwentside
  • South Tyneside
  • Hull.