To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government why responsibility for reaching the Decent Homes target by 2010 has been transferred from her Department to Communities England. (112353)

Communities England is the proposed new national housing and regeneration agency, which will combine English Partnerships, the Housing Corporation and a range of key delivery functions from the Department, including in the area of Decent Homes.

The Government will consult on its plans for Communities England later in 2007.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes in West Lancashire have been included in the Government's decent homes scheme. (112214)

In 2001 West Lancashire district council owned 8,068 homes. All these homes were part of the decent homes programme as they all had to be made decent.

At March 2002 the council reported that 3,132 were non-decent, at March 2006 the council reported that 980 were still below the decent homes standard.

In 2006 there were 567 homes owned by Registered Social Landlords in West Lancashire, of which 137 where non-decent. We do not hold data on how many were non-decent in the past.

The decent homes programme also covers non decent homes in the private sector occupied by vulnerable households but we do not have any figures at local authority level.