17. Does the Department's Bids under SR 2000 for its Housing Programme anticipate an annual rent increase year on year of GDP plus 2%?

1. No assumptions have yet been made for rent levels but the Committee's views would clearly be welcomed. A paper has been prepared showing different scenarios for the housing programme given varying rent increases.

17. How would the lot of pensioners with occupational pensions who do not qualify for income related benefits be affected by an increase of GDP plus 2%? Would their pensions rise to match the increase?

1. No assurance could be given on those cases, as occupational pension annual increases are solely dependent on the individual schemes.

17. Minister, how successful do you think your bid will be, given that you are not actually in the Executive meeting to fight your case?

1. A robust argument will be made for this bid which is clearly designed to target social need. Although I do not attend the Executive meetings - in accordance with my party's mandate - Departmental Officials can attend if and when necessary.

17. Can the Officials explain the £11.9m bid for 53 houses for the travelling community?

1. This is to provide the resources for four group housing pilot schemes, which will accommodate extended families and provide communal services and facilities. The cost reflects the extra land intake required for workspace provision and recreational facilities. The previous Minister has already emphasized the crosscutting nature of this bid and the rationale for other Departments to shoulder some of the burden.

17. What impact on the Department's resources has the recent trouble on the Lower Shankill had? Has an assessment been made yet of the costs involved? Will there be a bid on SPED?

1. The Housing Executive has a statutory responsibility to provide help for the households who have been displaced, although this whole issue is viewed as a security one. The full extent of the damage is not yet known but additional costs will be incurred through staff overtime, storage of furniture, securing dwellings, and especially in repairing damages. The Minister will seek the Committee's support in arguing strongly that responsibility for meeting the costs lies with the NIO.

17. Who makes the final decision on Urban II, and has it been made yet? Can two schemes be considered for here?

1. The Minister will make the decision sometime in October before it goes before the North/South Ministerial council for ratification in order to meet the European deadline of 20 November. Central Government have confirmed that only one scheme can go forward.

17. There is concern about the level of funding for the voluntary and community sector.

1. Applications are making colossal demands on the £2m budget. Some £12m of bids have been made this year.

17. Why does the paper not show any bid for Domestic Energy Efficiency Scheme in year 2000/01? Why do the proposals differentiate between the over-60s and the chronically sick in terms of the maximum grant payable?

1. The current year will be spent in preparation for the scheme, which is anticipated to come on stream in April 2001/02. The report is still out for consultation and all comments are welcomed and will be considered. There is room for adjustments but there is clearly a finite pot of money available.

17. Do you accept that successive annual rental increases of some 2% above GDP would make some low-income bracket people, who are liable to pay full rent, progressively worse off?

1. We take on board the point made and would like to reflect further before coming back with a considered response.

17. The approved bid for SPED this year is £2m but without fail the Department has to apply for considerable increases later in the year, which the Housing Executive claims often come too late to spend. Why does the Department not simply make a more realistic bid in the first instance?

1. The figure for SPED is a nominal one but the Department is currently in negotiations with DFP on this matter. The initial amount bid for reflects the hope that in peaceful times the demand will fall. We do need to ensure that there is no adverse impact on the Housing Executive budget through absorbing SPED.

17. Is there potential to attribute the cost of intimidation grants to the security budget?

1. The thinking is that that should fall to the NIO.

17. Is the Department content that the level of the compensation bill will suffice to enable redevelopment proposals to proceed given the hikes in land values in Belfast?

1. An additional £4.1m bid has been made for next year. The Housing Executive is satisfied that the current redevelopment plan can proceed on the basis of the figures specified.

17. Why is the capital receipts estimate not projected upwards given that some £50m (of actuals over and above estimates) has been surrendered to the centre over the last few years?

1. It is always difficult to gauge exactly receipts from sales. For example, rapidly rising prices in the property market can produce conservative figures. However, the fact is that higher figures for receipts simply means a correspondingly lower figure for the Housing Programme. Control is exercised on gross expenditure and not revenues - all surplus receipts must be surrendered to the centre.

17. Are we fast reaching saturation point - with 70% owner occupier rates in N.I. and with a rapidly diminishing Housing Executive stock - where the capital programme will fall away? Do estimates for capital receipt sales impact adversely on other housing programmes in terms of assuming a reduction in overall stock?

1. We perceive the potential market as declining. The number of house sales in any year is insufficient to impact on other programmes. The bid is made against the total stock held at the time.

17. What is meant by the pay price bid referred to in the Budget document?

1. The pay price bid is a centrally provided means of factoring in an annual increase for the cost of service delivery to offset the impact of inflation.

17. A Green Paper on Rents for England and Wales is contemplating no year on year increases for public sector rents. If such a restriction on rental increases were replicated here, how would that affect the Departmental Budget? Should the Department not simply ask for more from the Executive rather than increasing rents by GDP plus 2%?

1. The Paper was linking rent increases to inflation. This is a policy issue but while no decision has been made yet, if rental incomes were frozen indefinitely, it would be fair to say that consequences would flow. The Executive has a responsibility for examining in detail all bids and their relative merits, and the weaker ones will be lost.

17. The high level of inaccuracies in benefit assessments in the Social Security and Child Support Agencies that create huge over/underpayments are a deep cause of concern. Is the overall cost of these errors known? Is anything being done to tackle the very high levels of absenteeism in this sector?

1. No exact figure is available. However, the Department is trying to develop new simplified systems and procedures to tackle the problem. Foe example, new Child Support legislation will shortly be introduced to speed up and greatly simplify maintenance assessments. The Managing Attendance Programme is a relatively new scheme designed to reduce the absenteeism levels through dealing with staff both sensitively and compassionately.

Social Development Minutes 21 September 2000