To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2007, Official Report, column 685W, on wardens, what central funding has been provided to fund neighbourhood warden schemes, further to the pledge in the Respect Action Plan. (183158)

For 2006-07 and 2007-08 £92.9 million of the Safer and Stronger Communities Fund was paid through the local area agreement (LAA) grant. Under LAAs local authorities and their partners have flexibility to decide how they spend their funds to deliver agreed LAA outcomes.

From 2008-09 onwards £67.1 million of the Safer Stronger Communities Fund will be paid as a contribution to the new area-based grant, a non ring-fenced general grant for local authorities. This will provide local authorities with even greater flexibility over how they spend their funding. The fund has been allocated to authorities in recognition of their need to improve public satisfaction with local areas which could include promoting warden schemes. However, it will be up to individual authorities to decide how they spend their area-based grant allocations.