To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many applications were received for the Mortgage Rescue Scheme in December 2008, broken down by individual Fast Tracker Authority. (253317)

The Government's Mortgage Rescue Scheme was “fast tracked” by 76 local authorities on a voluntary basis from 1 December 2008.

An informal telephone survey of approximately half the “fast track” local authorities was conducted by officials at Communities and Local Government on 5 January 2009. This showed that up to 200 approaches had been made, resulting in approximately 80 cases meeting the eligibility criteria. We are putting in place formal monitoring arrangements from early February.

We continue to work closely with all participating local authorities following the Mortgage Rescue scheme's official launch on 16 January 2009.