§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Government achieved its target of reducing the council house repairs backlog by at least 900,000 properties by April; and what the estimated number of council house properties suffering from a backlog of repair was on 1 April. [173419]
§ Keith HillProgress against this target is monitored using the English House Condition Survey. The first results from the continuous survey are due to be published later this year, with the assessment of the stock at April 2004 due to be published in 2005.
Progress against this target is closely linked to progress against the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's decent homes Public Service Agreement (PSA) target. Local authority returns on decent homes indicate that we may achieve this target later in 2004, rather than the original date of April 2004
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister when local authorities were allowed to raise resources against their assets and the income stream to improve the quality of their housing. [174602]
§ Keith HillFrom 1 April this year, local authorities have been free to borrow for capital projects, such as housing improvement, without Government consent, provided that they can afford to service the debt from their revenue resources. They remain prohibited from offering their assets as security for loans.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total cost is of the dowry funding allocated to housing transfers under the Estates Renewal Challenge Fund. [174654]
§ Keith HillEstates Renewal Challenge Fund dowry funding between 1996–97 to 1999–2000 was £488.173 million which generated over £860 million in private finance for investment in the schemes.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the role and mission statement are of his Community Housing Task Force. [174656]
§ Keith HillThe current role of the Community Housing Task Force (CHTF) is to lead the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's work on options appraisal. The CHTF offers free, 'hands-on' advice to local authorities who are going through the process, and this advice continues when an authority decides on, and progresses with, any one or more of the options available to them. The Task Force advisers check1052W proposals at key stages, assist with the development and sharing of good practice, and offer support to allow tenants and other key stakeholders to make informed decisions on the future of their housing stock.
The CHTF has never had a formalised mission statement. However, on the front of all CHTF publications there is a quote from the Head of CHTF, which adequately describes the main ethos and aims of the division. This reads as follows:
The CHTF is dedicated to ensuring that the Decent Homes target is met. We will work closely with local authorities and tenants from the beginning of the Option Appraisal process to develop the most appropriate option for them. The end result must be sustainable communities where people want to live.
§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his estimate is of the total amount of debt write-off(a) involved in housing transfers in 2004–05 and (b) actually paid out in 2003–04; how this is to be funded; and by what Department this is to be funded. [173523]
§ Keith HillIt is estimated that if all housing transfers currently estimated to transfer in 2004–05 secure a positive ballot and transfer this financial year then the 2004–05 Office provision for making overhanging debt payments of £616 million would be used in full. £90.9 million was paid to the Public Works Loans Board in 2003–04. The resources used to make overhanging debt payments are part of the Office's Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) and are outside the Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL). The payment reflects the continuing liability the Office would otherwise have to pay subsidy on a local authority's housing attributable debt. It is not possible to use this resource for capital purposes.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) whether his officials vet the promises made by housing associations on transfer proposals; whether offer documents are standardised; and how his officials ensure delivery of the promises; [174100]
(2) whether the Community Housing Task Force supplies (a) templates and (b) drafts of offer documents to housing associations; and how they advise councils on housing privatisation proposals. [174146]
§ Keith HillIt is for Authorities and Registered Social Landlords to develop any transfer proposal with tenants and other stakeholders. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will ensure that these comply with the Housing Transfer Programme criteria.
The Housing Transfer Manual 2003 Programme gives guidance on how to prepare the formal consultation document. It advises authorities to take into account specific local circumstances. The Community Housing Task Force discuss the developments of the proposal and the engagement of all stakeholders. They neither supply a template for nor draft the offer document.
Both transferring authorities and receiving Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) will be required to fulfil annual performance monitoring and evaluation requirements by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Housing Corporation. The exact set of indicators that authorities and RSLs will be asked to 1053W provide will be finalised after a piloting exercise has been undertaken. Authorities and RSLs will be provided with information and support to assist them in completing their returns. This framework applies to all transfers from the 2001 programme onwards.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether civil servants in his Department are allowed to(a) campaign for large scale voluntary transfer proposals and (b) advise councils on how to win tenant support in ballots. [174101]
§ Keith HillOfficials in the Office's Community Housing Task Force are there to provide advice and support to all stakeholders in the transfer process so they can develop housing transfer proposals that maximise the potential benefits in conjunction with the policy guidance contained in the Housing Transfer Manual 2003 Programme.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of tenants eligible to vote, voted(a) for and (b) against transfer in this year's ballots on (i) large-scale voluntary transfers and (ii) arm's length management organisations. [174102]
§ Keith HillThe information requested is as follows.
Large-scale voluntary transfers (LSVT) ballots since January 2004 Local authority Pontential votes
Turnout (%)
In favour (%)
Not in favour (%)
Middlesborough 13,983 59.84 77.16 22.84 Trafford 11,101 63.56 72.91 27.09 Manchester (Woodhouse Park) 2,741 78.5 92.7 7.3 Wirral 16,636 60.63 77.36 22.64 Wakefield 39,282 65.1 73.6 26.4 North East Lincolnshire 9,735 64.87 67.26 32.74
Arm's length management organisations (ALMO) ballots since January 2004
Local authority Potential votes
Turnout (%)
In favour (%)
Not in favour (%)
Almo Round 3 Camden 25,300 30 23 77 Harrow 7,783 32 73 27 ss Bassetlaw 7,406 58 88 12 Sheffield: Hillsborough, 5,606 45 87 13 Nether Thorpe Sheffield: Parson Cross, 10,854 38 94 6 Foxhill, Longley Sheffield: Westfield, 7,851 43 89 11 Hackenthorpe