§ Mr. Edward DaveyTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) how many key workers, broken down by worker category, were assisted by the Starter Homes Initiative; [175947]
273W(2) how much was spent on (a) administration and (b) staff costs under the Starter Homes Initiative. [175948]
§ Keith HillAt the end of April 2004, 9,021 key workers had completed their house purchases under the £250 million Starter Home Initiative (SHI): 4,028 health workers, 3,255 teachers, 1,351 police and 387 other key workers such as social workers. 295 of these were key workers who jointly purchased a home with another key worker. There are also some further key workers who exchanged contracts before the end of March 2004 who have still to complete their SHI house purchases.
As at the end of April 2004, £12.4 million had been spent on scheme managers' administration costs including marketing of the scheme, an average of £1,374 per key worker helped.
In addition, extra funding was identified in March 2004 to help a further 1,200 key workers applying under the SHI. A breakdown of this figure by sector is not held centrally.
274WStaff costs in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister associated with the Starter Home Initiative are in the region of £220,000 over the entire three-year life of the scheme.