§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what grants were awarded to(a) Lancashire and (b) Chorley by his Department in each of the last three years that fall outside the revenue support grant. [157253]
§ Mr. PondThe Department for Work and Pensions pays grants to individual local authorities, rather than the county, therefore there are no figures of funding paid to Lancashire. However, the following table shows
1246W
2003–04 £ Authority Housing Benefit Council Tax Benefit New Tax Credit Pension Credit New Tax Credit-special provision Pension Credit Set-up Blackburn with Darwen 671,852 493,065 36,851 80,123 10,050 15,841 Blackpool 883,229 520,812 44,471 100,128 12,128 18,600 Burnley 450,336 300,367 23,808 55,492 6,493 11,119 Chorley 222,698 210,433 13,712 42,146 3,740 7,464 Fylde 191,921 126,467 10,078 30,255 2,748 6,148 Hyndburn 310,988 261,308 18,141 47,450 4,947 9,067 Lancaster 450,406 328,724 24,668 65,083 6,728 11,430 Pendle 292,769 275,667 18,014 49,208 4,913 9,022 Preston 446,490 390,722 26,507 69,737 7,229 12,096 Ribble Valley 70,656 68,923 4,419 15,535 1,205 4,100 Rossendale 184,444 177,927 11,466 38,042 3,127 6,651 South Ribble 218,022 182,068 12,660 39,154 3,453 7,083 West Lancashire 275,538 308,280 18,480 63,352 5,040 9,190 Wyre 284,734 238,517 16,575 49,325 4,520 8,500 Total 4,954,083 3,883,280 279,850 745,030 76,321 136,311 payments made in respect of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit administration to all the local authorities within Lancashire, including Chorley.
Payments made in respect of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit administration to local authorities in Lancashire 2001–02 £ Authority Housing Benefit Council Tax Benefit Blackburn with Darwen 240,595 247,123 Blackpool 373,567 235,413 Burnley 174,315 127,130 Chorley 100,743 99,509 Fylde 83,866 59,568 Hyndburn 129,842 117,234 Lancaster 215,292 158,685 Pendle 114,019 108,291 Preston 218,990 200,902 Ribble Valley 31,545 32,094 Rossendale 88,990 87,089 South Ribble 99,727 87,196 West Lancashire 131,420 151,054 Wyre 132,028 93,021 Total 2,134,939 1,804,309 1247W
2002–03 £ Authority Housing Benefit Council Tax Benefit Pension Credit/New Tax Credit Set-up Blackburn with Darwen 331,141 253,899 69,435 Blackpool 402,393 250,099 75,691 Burnley 181,377 138,010 42,124 Chorley 105,067 102,465 30,834 Flyde 92,439 62,171 25,574 Hyndburn 132,220 120,417 35,331 Lancaster 210,295 161,372 47,170 Pendle 128,827 125,996 35,797 Preston 202,377 196,520 44,391 Ribble Valley 33,097 33,746 16,718 Rossendale 91,393 87,927 27,973 South Ribble 107,632 90,286 29,906 West Lancashire 131,613 150,871 38,267 Wyre 134,328 107,525 34,355 Total 2,284,199 1,881,304 553,566 Note:
Prior to 2003–04, the Department for Work and Pensions distributed half of the available grant for administration costs for Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit. The other half was distributed by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, National Assembly for Wales and the Scottish Executive. From 2003–04 these two elements were brought together, with DWP distributing the total amount of the grant.
Source
DWP Data.
Additional payments have been made under the Performance Standards Fund and the Help Fund.
The Performance Standards describe action needed to administer Housing Benefit effectively and securely, and address all aspects of administration. A three year fund of £200 million has been available since April 2003 to help local authorities achieve these standards. The Performance Standards Fund provides substantial help through, for example, investment in recruitment, training and better IT. 254 local authorities have already benefited from the first awards which are worth a total of £47 million. The local authorities range from small districts to large metropolitan councils across England, Scotland and Wales.
Performance Standards Fund £ Authority 2002–03 2003–04 Blackburn with Darwen — 119,488 Blackpool — 40,833 Lancaster — 80,257 Rossendale 20,030 244,539 West Lancashire — 43,357 Wyre — 117,557 In 2001–02 a Help Fund award of £132,114.00 was made to Pendle, the lead authority for the Lancashire Benefits Consortium. This was a multiple bid with the following authorities: Burnley, Chorley, Fylde, Hyndburn, Lancaster, Preston, Ribble Valley, Rossendale and Wyre.
In 2002–03, Help Fund awards were made to Blackpool of £29,554.40 (this was for two separate bids, one of £3,554.40, and one of £26,000.00), Lancaster was awarded £28,500.00, and Pendle was awarded £35,000.00 (this was a single authority bid).
Blackpool was also awarded a payment of £18,739 in November 2003 to cover the start-up costs incurred as a Standard Local Housing Allowance Pathfinder authority.