Mr. McCradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the Northern Ireland Housing Executive plans for reducing the time taken to process grant applications for home improvements. [145105]
§ Mr. SpellarThe Northern Ireland Housing Executive has initiated the Modernising the Private Sector Improvement Services project. The main aim of this project is to streamline the grants process and make it easier for applicants. Preliminary work has been undertaken on the project including a review of processes and the preparation of detailed requirements for a new Grants Management IT System. Work on the IT system is planned to start early in 2004 and it is anticipated that it will be complete in two years. However, it is expected that, during this process, procedures will be identified that can be streamlined within the overall timeframe for the project.
Applications for small scale works made under Home Repairs Assistance Grant, which was introduced from 1 December 2003, can be processed in a comparatively short time to help the elderly and those with disabilities.