HC Deb 25 January 1999 vol 324 cc124-6W
Mr. Swinney

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide a breakdown of all allocations of money over £10,000 made under the Empty Homes Initiative in the financial year 1997–98; if he will give the allocations over £10,000 already made under this programme for financial years 1998–99 and 1999–2000; if he will give(a) the amount allocated to running costs and (b) the total funds available for each of the next three financial years; and what percentage of this will be under the control of the Scottish Parliament. [65801]

Mr. Macdonald

[holding answer 18 January 1999]: The breakdown of allocations of over £10,000 made under the Empty Homes Initiative in 1997–98 and 1998–99 was as follows:

£
Local authority 1997–98 1998–99 Total
Aberdeen City Council — 45,610 45,610
Aberdeenshire Council 31,066 544,000 575,066
Angus Council — 30,000 30,000
Argyll & Bute Council — 30,000 30,000
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 28,000 40,000 68,000
Dumfries and Galloway Council — 55,000 55,000
Dundee City Council — 30,027 30,027
East Ayrshire Council 58,000 156,400 214,400
East Lothian Council — 65,000 65,000
East Renfrewshire Council — 77,092 77,092
City of Edinburgh Council 254,980 1,249,050 1,504,030
Falkirk Council 140,000 192,000 332,000
Fife Council — 29,000 29,000
Glasgow City Council 627,332 1,603,860 2,231,192
Highland Council 127,100 461,074 588,174
Inverclyde Council — 22,588 22,588
Moray Council 15,000 169,500 184,500
North Ayrshire Council — 141,300 141,300
North Lanarkshire Council 348,322 305,371 653,693
Perth & Kinross Council — 20,000 20,000
Scottish Borders Council 64,000 674,873 738,873
Shetlands Islands Council 10,700 51,100 61,800
South Ayrshire Council — 27,500 27,500
South Lanarkshire Council — 168,470 168,470
Stirling Council 140,000 230,000 370,000
West Dunbartonshire Council 30,000 149,000 179,000
West Lothian Council 110,000 425,000 535,000

The running costs associated with the Empty Homes Initiative are covered within the Scottish Office administration budget. Over the next three financial years, 1999–2000, 2000–01 and 2001–02, a further sum of up to £15 million has been identified for the Initiative and local authorities have been asked to submit proposals by 12 February. All Empty Homes Initiative funds will come under the control of the Scottish Parliament.

Mrs. Ewing

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many applications have been received to date under the Empty Homes Initiative broken down by(a) council and (b) amount. [66267]

Mr. Macdonald

Thirty-one local authorities have applied to date for funding through the Empty Homes Initiative. The applications, broken down by council and amount, are as follows:

£
Local authority Applications for funding in 1997–98 Applications for funding in 1998–99
Aberdeen City Council 13,000 788,010
Aberdeenshire Council 103,766 592,200
Angus Council 38,500 130,000
Argyll & Bute Council 30,000 30,000
Clackmannanshire Council — 500,000
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 120,250 92,500
Dumfries & Galloway Council — 55,000
Dundee City Council — 112,258
East Ayrshire Council 734,279 956,400
East Dunbartonshire Council — 350,000
East Lothian Council 57,000 65,000
East Renfrewshire Council 30,000 77,092
City of Edinburgh Council 717,857 2,582,250
Falkirk Council 140,000 192,000
Fife Council 35,000 183,208
Glasgow City Council 2,016,000 6,530,647
Highland Council 266,045 573,074
Inverclyde Council — 163,588
Midlothian Council 151,200 151,200
Moray Council 15,000 193,827
North Ayrshire Council — 441,300
North Lanarkshire Council 598,322 900,262
Perth & Kinross Council — 20,000
Renfrewshire Council 396,000 648,000
Scottish Borders Council 188,400 1,054,873
Shetland Islands Council 10,700 211,200
South Ayrshire Council 94,900 94,750
South Lanarkshire Council 410,500 239,352
(a) Central Challenge Fund
£000
Authority 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 Financial year 2001–02
Angus 2,613 1,705 854 — —
Aberdeenshire 1,701 1,500 199 — —
Clackmannanshire 310 210 — — —
Dumfries and Galloway 700 1,175 — — —
East Ayrshire 1,520 910 — — —
East Dunbartonshire 185 — — — —
East Renfrewshire 300 200 — — —
Edinburgh, City of 2,935 1,416 2,649 — —
Eilean Siar 800 1,200 1,200 650 —
Glasgow City 1,076 1,842 1,488 157 99
Moray 100 700 200 — —
North Lanarkshire 500 1,000 2,300 — —
Perth and Kinross 0 4,400 8,100 3,600 380
South Ayrshire 375 503 — — —
West Dumbartonshire 127 173 158 — —
West Lothian 1,646 1,898 1,888 — —
Total 14,888 18,832 19,036 4,407 479

Note:

The figures describe original awards which, due to slippage and other factors, are subject to change

Source:

Scottish Office Development Department

£
Local authority Applications for funding in 1997–98 Applications for funding in 1998–99
Stirling Council 200,000 230,000
West Dunbartonshire Council 30,000 409,000
West Lothian Council 215,000 525,000
Total 6,611,719 19,091,991

Sixteen authorities were awarded a total of £2 million for 1997–98 and 27 authorities were awarded a total of £7 million for 1998–99. In November 1998 local authorities were invited to submit applications by 12 February 1999 for funding in the three years from 1999–2000 to 2001–02.

From 1 July 1999 the Empty Homes Initiative will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.