FOI/19/01191 · FOI · partially withheld
New housing in councils: FOI release
Information requested
From the monies allocated for new housing by the Scottish Government to councils for 2018-19, how many houses have each council built?
Has any funding been drawn back unspent? If so please show by Council.
Response
To answer your questions in turn:
1. We have taken your question to relate to the published Resource Planning Assumptions for Local Authorities. The following table shows the number of affordable homes delivered by Registered Social Landlords and their subsidiaries, Local Authorities and private developers during the period 1 April 2018 to 31 December 2018, broken down by local authority area. Please note that as well as new build homes, the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP) also includes rehabilitation projects and off-the-shelf purchases.
We have provided how many affordable homes have been delivered to 31 December 2018, as this reflects the currently published housing statistics.
An exemption under section 27(1) of FOISA applies as figures for the full year 2018-19 will be included in the next Quarterly Housing Statistics publication, planned to be released on 11 June 2019 which is within 12 weeks of the date of your request. We consider that it is reasonable to withhold the information until that date, rather than release this routinely published information before the planned publication date.
This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in release and this will be met by our planned publication. In the meantime, there is a greater public interest in taking the time necessary to ensure the information has been properly collated and checked before it is published as planned.
Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP)
Completions 2018-19 – to end December 2018 Council Area Number of completions Aberdeen (City of) 232 Aberdeenshire 155 Angus 58 Argyll & Bute 62 Clackmannanshire 31 Dumfries & Galloway 59 Dundee (City of) 112 East Ayrshire 46 East Dunbartonshire 8 East Lothian 89 East Renfrewshire 8 Edinburgh (City of) 454 Falkirk 35 Fife 168 Glasgow 430 Highland 453 Inverclyde 44 Midlothian 101 Moray 32 Eilean Siar (Western Isles) 7 North Ayrshire 190 North Lanarkshire 193 Orkney Islands 28 Perth & Kinross 102 Renfrewshire 127 Scottish Borders 153 Shetland Islands 16 South Ayrshire 0 South Lanarkshire 108 Stirling 47 West Dunbartonshire 84 West Lothian 338 TOTAL 3970
2. The following table shows the provisional outturn expenditure for 2018-19. Please note this is programme management information and as such, the figures are provisional until our Outturn Report in respect of 2018-19 is published later on in the year:
Council area Provisional Outturn expenditure 2018-19 (£m) Aberdeen (City of) 29.434 Aberdeenshire 16.863 Angus 8.649 Argyll & Bute 11.978 Clackmannanshire 5.564 Dumfries & Galloway 15.599 Dundee (City of) 20.247 East Ayrshire 11.832 East Dunbartonshire 9.734 East Lothian 11.854 East Renfrewshire 3.565 Edinburgh (City of) 51.200 Falkirk 6.872 Fife 32.129 Glasgow (City of) 94.066 Highland 38.531 Inverclyde 15.028 Midlothian 12.495 Moray 6.195 Eilean Siar (Western Isles) 4.721 North Ayrshire 15.630 North Lanarkshire 27.288 Orkney Islands 0.418 Perth & Kinross 17.205 Renfrewshire 13.899 Scottish Borders 11.766 Shetland Islands 3.410 South Ayrshire 9.841 South Lanarkshire 33.430 Stirling 4.261 West Dunbartonshire 10.012 West Lothian 11.145 TOTAL 564.861
It is important to stress that there is very little correlation with the number of units completed, and the expenditure incurred, within one particular financial year. This is because expenditure incurred in projects often straddles two financial years, and sometimes longer. This relates to the length of time it takes from the acquisition of a site for development, through the process of starting on site and then completing the construction of the housing project.
Funds were not returned by councils or registered social landlords as unspent at the end of the financial year as money is not paid out in advance of need. Funds are only paid when an activity is complete, and upon receipt of back up certification/invoices.
Where slippage occurred in local programmes that could not be absorbed by strategic housing investment priorities within a council area within one financial year, the Scottish Government reallocated these resources to other areas.
Where possible, the Scottish Government will seek to manage resources across local authority areas and future years to ensure alignment with Resource Planning Assumptions over the long term. However, no guarantee can be given that funding will be increased in future years to compensate for any previous reallocation of funds.
About FOI The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Enquiry Unit Email: ceu@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrews House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
An exemption under section 27(1) of FOISA applies as figures for the full year 2018-19 will be included in the next Quarterly Housing Statistics publication, planned to be released on 11 June 2019 which is within 12 weeks of the date of your request. This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption.
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