[garinda]

Originally Posted by g jones

The HiPs (Housing Improvement Programme) was allocated to only the deprived Borough's on some formulaic basis. Hyndburn is ranked a 40th from the bottom out of 354?

We received £2.8m, £2.8m, £2.1m and £1.4m over four hears to last year. It came unringfenced and local councils were expected to spend the money accordingly (housing).

Hyndburn's housing policy states future monies will be spent on housing in places particularly Rishton and Great Harwood and not in areas covered by previous or current schemes (such as ELEVATE).

The HiPs money has been used for such things as flower towers, prop up Area Councils and Area Council budgets, Oswaldtwistle Civic Theatre refurbishment, Broadway resurfacing, Pendle Street demolition. The Council has not raised any money itself but used this fund to fund all it's extra expenditure.

The money has now ended. As has £960 LAA grant as part of nearly £3million of cuts excluding the HiPs.

'Expected' to spend it on housing.

Was there no legal requirement for them to do so, and not spend it on flower towers etc.?