Arms Length Management Organisations The Minister for Housing and Planning (Yvette Cooper : I am today announcing funding allocations for arm’s length management organisations, ALMOs, in 17 local authority areas totalling £485 million. Some 12 round 4 ALMOs in Bassetlaw, Bury, Ealing, Eastbourne, Hammersmith and Fulham, Manchester, Newark and Sherwood, Nottingham, Rotherham, Sandwell, Slough and Wolverhampton and six round 2 ALMOs in Bolton, Carrick, Hillingdon and Leeds, where there are 3 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 and now finally achieving the required standard to make it eligible for funding. Full details of the allocations are set out in the table. ---------------------------------------------------- |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 and Fulham|£47,122,000 | ---------------------------------------------------- |Hillingdon |£11,300,000 | ---------------------------------------------------- |Leeds (3 ALMOs) |£100,000,000 | ---------------------------------------------------- |Manchester |£29,836,000 | ---------------------------------------------------- |Newark and 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 | ---------------------------------------------------- This 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 being in not only 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.