§ Mr. MillerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will announce his decisions on the first round of local authorities' bids for additional resources to establish arm's-length housing management companies to improve their housing standards. [18828]
§ Mr. ByersWe have decided that conditional allocations should be made to the following local authorities sufficient to support capital investment through arm's-length companies on housing improvements in 2002–03 and 2003–04 up to the sums indicated:
£ million Local authority Conditional allocation Ashfield 24.0 Derby 31.1 Hounslow 35.0 Kirklees 62.5 Rochdale 24.2 Stockton-on-Tees 44.5 Westminster 20.3 Wigan 58.3 If confirmed, these allocations should ensure that the housing stock of most of the authorities concerned meets the Government's decent homes standard by 2006.
Final allocations will depend on services delivered by the arm's-length company achieving an excellent rating from the Housing Inspectorate. Exceptionally, for round one only, we are prepared to allocate 50 per cent. of conditional allocations where companies are assessed as good and likely to improve. Authorities will also require the Secretary of State's approval under section 27 of the Housing Act 1985, the granting of which will be subject to the criteria set out in my Department's Guidance last April, including criteria on the responsibilities, constitution and staffing of the arm' s-length companies.
We have been unable to accept the bid from Kensington and Chelsea because it did not fully separate strategic and operational responsibilities between the council and the proposed company as required by the arm's-length principle.
Authorities to which we have been unable to make conditional allocations in round one are invited to consider applying again. The closing date for applications in round two is the end of February 2002.