The Local Government Association has claimed that new figures show the government was wrong to abolish the local authority social housing grant on the basis of it not being spent.
Government figures obtained by the LGA show that, rather than any underspend of the £500m fund worsening, it had actually decreased to almost nothing when the scheme was abolished in February this year.

This comes as the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has responded to anger over the abolition by making more money available for transitional funding and extending the deadline for some schemes from 30 June to 31 July.

The ODPM cited council underspend as one of the prime reasons for killing off the LASHG programme. Members of the LGA claim former housing minister Lord Rooker told them this was the prime reason for abolition in a meeting on 9 June.

However, the ODPM's own figures show that council performance had been consistently improving, and in 2002-03 the underspend on the £500m fund was only £1m.

The LGA plans to raise the issue at its annual general meeting next week. It claims a lack of stable finding is having a significant impact on housing provision.

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Housing Today