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Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Answer

Mr. Benton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how the change in the level of council funding for housing has affected the residents of Bootle since 1997. [170076] Keith Hill: Since 1997 allocations of capital funding to local authorities for housing purposes have risen consistently by about 15 per cent. per annum on average. This includes the Major Repairs Allowance we introduced in 2001-02 specifically for the improvement of local authority stock alongside the Decent Homes standard which sets out minimum standards to be met by 2010. Sefton's allocations in the period 1997 to 2003-04 have risen by over 200 per cent. and have been supplemented by the announcement of £86 million to be made available to the Merseyside Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder, NewHeartlands, between 2003-04 and 2005-06. In addition to this, there is support through the Community Housing Task Force and Government Office for the North West to help the local authority and its tenants to choose the best strategy for long-term improvement.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

420 c1331-2W; 170076

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Capital investment Council housing Local government finance Merseyside Standards Sefton Bootle

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk