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Housing and Regeneration Bill Contingency Fund

I wish to inform Parliament that Communities and Local Government has obtained approval for an advance from the Contingencies Fund to allow the early recruitment and appointment of chief executives and chairs, with support arrangements, for the Homes and Communities Agency and the social housing regulator after completion of Second Reading of the Housing and Regeneration Bill in the House of Commons, and before Royal Assent. The Homes and Communities Agency will bring together the current work and programmes of the Housing Corporation, English Partnerships and a significant part of Communities and Local Government's own housing programmes. The social housing regulator will encompass the current regulatory functions of the Housing Corporation and implement the recommendations of the Cave review. Bringing forward this expenditure through a Contingencies Fund advance will enable efficiency savings to be achieved earlier and will provide significant reductions in public spending. Parliamentary approval will be sought in the 2008-09 main estimate for CLG for additional resources of £930,000 for detailed operational work to establish the new agency and regulator while maintaining business as usual so it can be up and running by April 2009. Pending that approval, and Royal Assent of the Housing and Regeneration Bill, urgent expenditure estimated at £930,000 will be met by repayable cash advances from the Contingencies Fund.