My right honourable friend the Minister for Housing and Planning has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I am today announcing funding allocations for arm’s-length management organisations (ALMOs) in 17 local authority areas totalling £485 million. Twelve round 4 ALMOs in Bassetlaw, Bury, Ealing, Eastbourne, Hammersmith & Fulham, Manchester, Newark & Sherwood, Nottingham, Rotherham, Sandwell, Slough and Wolverhampton and six round 2 ALMOs in Bolton, Carrick, Hillingdon and Leeds (where there are three ALMOs) will receive £468 million in allocations for 2007-08.
In addition, Waltham Forest, which originally set up its ALMO under round 2 of the programme, will receive £17 million in recognition of several years’ work to improve its performance, now finally achieving the required standard to make it eligible for funding. Full details of the allocations are set out in the table below.
Local Authority ALMO allocation for 2007-08 Bassetlaw £12,000,000 Bolton £25,037,000 Bury £7,920,000 Carrick £1,000,000 Ealing £41,000,000 Eastbourne £7,520,000 Hammersmith & Fulham £47,122,000 Hillingdon £11,300,000 Leeds (3 ALMOs) £100,000,000 Manchester £29,836,000 Newark & Sherwood £11,310,000 Nottingham £13,000,000 Rotherham £50,000,000 Sandwell £63,400,000 Slough £8,538,500 Waltham Forest £17,000,000 Wolverhampton £39,300,000
The funding will enable these ALMOs to carry on with their crucial work of improving the quality of homes occupied by social rented tenants. The continuation of funding recognises how successful ALMOs are not only in providing new roofs, new windows new kitchens and central heating, but also in delivering better and more efficient services to tenants.
ALMOs are playing a key role in delivering wider government initiatives. They are supporting the creation of more mixed communities and are creating job opportunities for local people through new apprenticeship and training schemes. They are taking the lead in developing innovative and successful approaches to tackling anti-social behaviour through the respect agenda.
The resources allocated today are from the funding made available in the 2004 spending review. Throughout the country 56 ALMOs are managing more than 828,000 homes and spending £840 million each year on bringing them up to the Government's decent homes standard through their refurbishing and modernising programmes. Decisions on allocations beyond 2007-08 will be considered in the context of the spending review. I have been impressed with the achievements of the ALMO programme to date and remain committed to our objective of making all social housing decent.