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Personal Social Services
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out for each year from 1998-99 to 2001-02 the increase in Personal Social Services in (a) cash terms, (b) real terms and (c) as a percentage adjusted for the amount provided in Special Transitional Grant in 1998-99 and subsequently increased in line with the Government's inflation assumptions. [52609]
Mr. Boateng [holding answer 27 July 1998]: I have been asked to reply.
After allowance has been made for the transfer of responsibility for asylum seekers from the Department of Health to the Home Office, the increases in total
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resources from 1998-99 to 2001-02 for personal social services in England are as set out in the table.
| Planned provision (million) | Cash increase (percentage) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998-99 | 8,387 | -- |
| 1999-2000 | 8,915 | 6.2 3.6 |
| 2000-01 | 9,408 | 5.5 3.0 |
| 2001-02 | 9,906 | 5.3 2.7 |
The figures are for total provision. Thus, figures for 1998-99 include the special transitional grant, and all other revenue grants in that year, except support for asylum seekers.
ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS
Social Landlords
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to change the low cost home ownership incentive schemes offered by registered social landlords and to enable more registered social landlords to offer flexible tenure schemes. [54622]
Ms Armstrong: We plan to simplify the range of low cost home ownership schemes available through Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) in England by offering a new scheme based on the Homebuy scheme that has run successfully in Wales since 1994.
Qualifying tenants will receive interest-free equity loans to meet 25% of the cost of buying a home of their own. Funding for the scheme will be provided by the Housing Corporation, and RSLs will be able to bid for funds from their Approved Development Programme (ADP).
Homebuy will replace two existing schemes, the Tenants Incentive Scheme and Do-It-Yourself Shared Ownership. It will open to RSL tenants, those nominated from the local authority waiting list who would otherwise receive permanent social housing and local authority tenants, subject to appropriate eligibility rules.
In common with the two schemes it replaced Homebuy will be available only in areas where the scheme can help relieve a shortage of social housing by assisting tenants or those on the waiting list into home ownership.
Homebuy will not normally be offered in areas where there is no shortage of social housing. Support through the ADP for the development and sale of dwellings by RSLs on shared ownership terms will continue.
I believe that Homebuy will prove to be an attractive scheme for tenants, and I have asked the Housing Corporation to consult interested parties on detailed proposals for the new scheme. I will be laying a Statutory Instrument before the House in due course to add Homebuy to the permitted purposes of RSLs.
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We also plan to give RSLs greater scope to offer flexible tenure schemes to help households who have bought on shared ownership terms and who face repossession because of a change in their financial circumstances. Working within rules set by the Housing Corporation RSLs will be allowed to use recycled Social Housing Grant to buy back from shared owners some or all of the equity of their property.
Flexible tenure schemes are already offered by a small number of RSLs and enabling more to do so will be an important step in avoiding homelessness and maintaining stable communities. I have also asked the Housing Corporation to consult on detailed proposals for this new measure.
Mr. Ian Stewart:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a report on the progress of English Partnerships. [54623]
Mr. Caborn:
I have today laid before Parliament English Partnerships' Annual Report and Accounts for 1997-98, which sets out their achievements last year. The Report provides details of the Agency's £315 million development programme and illustrates the varied range of their projects across the English regions. It explains that 545 projects were approved in 1997-98 and a total of over 2000 have been completed in the Agency's first four years. The Agency's key outputs for 1997-98 were as follows:
| Outputs for 1997-98 | |
|---|---|
| Jobs created/safeguarded | 29,000 |
| Land regenerated (Ha) | 1,350 |
| Private finance attracted (£m) | 767 |
| Housing units facilitated | 7,540 |
| Commercial/industrial floorspace developed (sq.m) | 860,000 |
City Challenge
Mr. Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when his Department's research on the final evaluation of City Challenge will be published. [54624]
Mr. Caborn: The first output from the final evaluation of City Challenge, "What Works; Learning the Lessons", is published today. Copies of the report have been placed in the House Library. This report is based on a preliminary review of the monitoring data and interviews with representatives of City Challenge Partnerships. The full evaluation report is due in October 1998.
Business Aviation
Ms Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what research his Department has undertaken into business aviation in the South East; and if he will make a statement. [54627]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The Department of Transport and the Department of Trade and Industry published a report on Business Aviation in 1995. My Department has also recently let a consultancy contract for a study of business aviation in the South East, to update that earlier report. The consultants are undertaking a two-part study which
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should provide consistent background information, amongst other things, on the size of the current market, likely future demand, and availability of facilities and capacity, against which local and Central Government, airport operators, business aviation operators and other interested parties can base future decisions about the provision of Business Aviation.
The first part of the study, which involved an audit of demand and capacity, has not been completed and copies of the interim report have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Mr. Healey:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement about progress with the review of planning policy on opencast coal and the appeal cases which are currently before him for decision. [54686]
Mr. Caborn:
Planning policy for coal extraction, including opencast coal mining, is set out in Minerals Planning Guidance Note 3 (MPG3). Following the completion of the Energy Fuels Review, my Department will be preparing a revised draft of MPG3 for England which will be issued this autumn for a period of full consultation with all interested parties. This revised draft will take into account our pre-election commitments on opencast coal, the responses to our consultation in 1997 on Labour's 10-point plan for opencast coal, and, when available, the final conclusions of the Energy Fuels Review on the future of coal as a fuel for UK power generation.
Meanwhile, my Department has issued the Secretary of State's decisions on 4 opencast appeal cases which have been delayed whilst the Energy Fuels Review has been in progress. It would not have been reasonable to delay these any longer. In deciding future cases after the publication of the revised draft of MPG3 for England, its emerging policies, as well as those in the current MPG3, will in appropriate cases be relevant considerations both for mineral planning authorities and for the Secretary of State, and as such will need to be taken into account.
Ms Buck:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions where the Greater London Authority will be located; and if he will make a statement. [54811]
Mr. Raynsford:
We have now drawn up a list of eight possible locations for London's new Mayor and Assembly. This has been selected from information on over 50 buildings, new developments and sites sent to Knight Frank, our agents.
They are:
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The next step will be to provide the owners, managers and developers of these buildings and sites with details of the GLA's likely requirements and to invite them to submit details on how they can fulfil these, how quickly and at what cost. Some of the eight options are also being considered for other uses and may fall out. Some will need planning and other approvals and these will need to be considered by the appropriate authorities. If other possible locations come forward in the next few weeks, these too will be considered.
I anticipate that there will be strong competition to provide the high quality building which the Mayor and Assembly deserve. I hope to announce the final decision around the end of the year.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions on what date he plans the elections for the Greater London Authority to take place. [53586]
Mr. Raynsford:
As stated in paragraph 1.28 of the White Paper "A Mayor and Assembly for London" (Cm 3897), elections for the Mayor and the Assembly could be held in the autumn of 1999 or in Spring 2000. We hope to announce our preferred date in the autumn.
Camelford House, SE11 (refurbishment of a Thamesside building)
Canary Wharf, E14 (site WF-9--overlooking the Thames and the City)
Dean Ryle Street Building, SW1 (refurbishment--formerly part of Westminster Hospital)
London Bridge City, SE1 (a site between Tower Bridge and London Bridge on the Thames)
Regent's Place, Euston Road, NW1 (new development close to Regents Park)
St. George's Court, New Oxford Street, WC1 (refurbishment of a former Ministry of Defence building)
Vauxhall Cross, SE11 (the Effra site by Vauxhall Bridge)
Victoria House, Bloomsbury Square, WC1 (refurbishment).
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