To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what impact he estimates the abolition of Local Authority Social Housing Grant will have on Torbay UA; and if he will make a statement. [100250]
LASHG was an unfair funding mechanism that did not allocate funds to areas of greatest need, consistently under-spent nationally, and gave unfair advantage to debt-free local authorities.As part of the measures outlined in "Sustainable Communities: building for the future", The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has decided to abolish LASHG to allow a more strategic use of resources. The change is to take effect from 1 April 2003. I announced the transitional arrangements on 5 March 2003,
Official Report, column 82WS.
Torbay UA has submitted information to the Government Office for the South West indicating that it has a total Local Authority Social Housing Grant (LASHG) commitment of 2,181,500 for 2003–04 and 2004–05. Full details of the transitional arrangements have yet to be finalised.