HC Deb 29 March 2004 vol 419 cc1245-7W
Mr. Hoyle

To 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. Pond

The 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

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
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.