Yesterday the allocations were released for the New Homes Bonus.

And Grant Shapps happily slapped away criticisms that councils in the North were being unfairly treated under the scheme saying three of the top five councils benefiting most are in the North or Midlands.

His geography may have been correct when reading from the list of the biggest lumps of money allocated. Sadly he appears to have revealed either his ineptitude with statistics or his willingness to abuse their meaning.

Let’s have a look at Gateshead.

Why?

Well, people I have spoken to seem to think that the good folk of Gateshead have been rather positive when it comes to planning and regeneration.

And certainly the outward image of Gateshead is one that appears exceptionally planning friendly.

Statements like “If you are looking for planning permission, then you’re likely to get the right decision faster in Gateshead than almost anywhere else in the UK” are unlikely to ring from nimby boroughs.

Nor phrases like: “…to build new homes for local people is excellent news.”

But in the New Homes Bonus race Gateshead will receive 36p per head of population against the average of £2.74, if my rather rapid calculations are correct.

And just to make the whole thing seem a little more surreal the biggest winner on a per capita basis appears to be the City of London at £28.51 per head.

Indeed, if we look at the winners and losers on a per capita basis we find that Salford is the only northern council in the top 10, in fact the only one outside the South East.

The more I look at it the more I am of the mind that there is no way you can suggest the New Homes Bonus is fair and consistent with rewarding good planning performance and be within 180 degrees of the truth.

As I have mused many times before, this is not actually a bonus (ultimately it is an incentive that reallocates funds – so is as much a penalty as a bonus) and it is not about building new homes (it is about increasing housing stock).

In places like Gateshead the issue is about the right homes in the right place. This may mean knocking down homes to build more appropriate accommodation. Sadly knocking down decrepit homes does you no favours at all under the New Homes Bonus regime.

In this light what are we to make of this statement reported in yesterday’s Hansard.

Grant Shapps: It may have escaped the attention of Opposition Members that the new homes bonus rewards the authorities that build homes. That is why it is called the new homes bonus. Of the five areas that are building the most homes – the five top councils to receive the new homes bonus – three of them are in the midlands or the north.

For those that are interested, below I have done some rough calculations based on the number of people estimated for each council taken from the 2010 sub-national population projections used in the in the 2010-11 headline allocations for formula grant. This is a simple £ per head of the New Homes Bonus grant determination for 2011-12.

This allocation of funds takes no account of the fact that when the New Homes Bonus is in full flow the “bonus” will be drawn from the formula funding, which will disproportionately be taken from northern boroughs and London, if rough calculation I did some months ago remain true.

 

	New Homes Bonus (£)	£ per head	Number of people
City of London	242,908	28.51	8,521
Islington	3,706,471	19.78	187,360
Tower Hamlets	4,287,276	19.08	224,648
Hackney	2,331,376	11.11	209,868
Milton Keynes UA	2,513,998	10.77	233,417
Uttlesford	714,365	9.96	71,741
Southwark	2,590,116	9.63	269,067
Salford	2,016,347	9.35	215,667
Forest Heath	562,383	9.02	62,351
Basingstoke & Deane	1,324,978	8.16	162,446
Swindon UA	1,451,214	7.73	187,756
Corby	415,135	7.57	54,844
Hillingdon	1,848,758	7.33	252,112
Lambeth	1,972,531	7.25	271,971
Camden	1,767,042	7.11	248,559
Gloucester	781,912	6.84	114,307
Bedford UA	1,087,251	6.64	163,644
Peterborough UA	1,112,997	6.62	168,078
Cambridge	786,646	6.54	120,335
Tewkesbury	526,818	6.51	80,972
South Norfolk	787,157	6.47	121,630
Croydon	2,201,847	6.46	340,902
Hounslow	1,362,781	6.36	214,285
Newham	1,580,423	6.13	257,954
West Devon	323,920	6.12	52,916
South Cambridgeshire	868,649	6.12	141,906
Westminster	1,638,472	6.10	268,569
Maidstone	892,316	6.09	146,580
Shropshire UA	1,791,669	6.06	295,640
Harborough	507,757	5.95	85,408
Bracknell Forest UA	646,849	5.78	111,841
Tonbridge & Malling	648,353	5.59	116,056
Manchester	2,616,342	5.57	469,337
Swale	749,034	5.55	134,872
Malvern Hills	409,762	5.50	74,502
Bristol	2,281,004	5.49	415,359
North Somerset UA	1,145,139	5.46	209,620
Bradford	2,760,424	5.42	509,486
Selby	445,327	5.41	82,289
Sedgemoor	624,174	5.40	115,521
South Bucks	346,180	5.31	65,218
Ashford	621,103	5.28	117,613
Runnymede	430,103	5.28	81,532
Watford	419,613	5.22	80,458
Norwich	674,706	5.18	130,135
Lincoln	453,642	5.14	88,261
Hammersmith & Fulham	909,107	5.10	178,341
West Lindsey	462,341	5.08	91,055
South Kesteven	665,623	4.98	133,576
Redbridge	1,285,543	4.97	258,869
Leicester UA	1,410,116	4.95	285,148
Huntingdonshire	831,677	4.82	172,562
Crawley	477,309	4.80	99,421
Rugby	434,964	4.73	92,037
Stoke-on-Trent UA	1,105,641	4.69	235,678
Aylesbury Vale	810,441	4.67	173,694
North Kesteven	521,829	4.64	112,371
East Cambridgeshire	380,082	4.55	83,476
Reading UA	639,334	4.55	140,561
Coventry	1,372,696	4.52	303,778
Mendip	504,175	4.51	111,760
Solihull	925,418	4.50	205,691
Barnet	1,517,737	4.47	339,858
Northampton	878,116	4.43	197,999
Winchester	495,220	4.42	111,954
Windsor & Maidenhead UA	617,745	4.40	140,291
Worcester	406,308	4.36	93,276
North Hertfordshire	552,405	4.35	127,101
Mid Suffolk	408,611	4.34	94,210
Haringey	955,962	4.32	221,105
Central Bedfordshire UA	1,120,673	4.30	260,597
Barking & Dagenham	719,290	4.29	167,731
Rother	384,943	4.27	90,163
Nottingham UA	1,215,981	4.24	286,458
Derby UA	1,004,576	4.21	238,736
Rushmoor	359,101	4.18	85,895
Bournemouth UA	671,476	4.13	162,492
Colchester	723,832	4.11	176,233
Craven	229,124	4.07	56,297
South Derbyshire	382,769	4.03	94,970
Medway UA	1,040,716	4.02	258,795
South Holland	354,880	3.99	88,840
Greenwich	923,819	3.99	231,427
Charnwood	644,387	3.99	161,618
Stockton-on-Tees UA	771,262	3.99	193,521
Ryedale	214,540	3.95	54,252
Wiltshire UA	1,841,402	3.95	465,945
East Northamptonshire	355,008	3.93	90,236
Brent	1,065,343	3.92	271,639
Slough UA	453,994	3.88	116,970
Thanet	508,780	3.83	132,853
Torridge	260,467	3.80	68,570
Vale of White Horse	451,595	3.78	119,318
Wandsworth	1,081,014	3.78	285,732
Wokingham UA	580,965	3.76	154,372
Sheffield	1,957,819	3.74	522,946
Poole UA	505,966	3.74	135,397
Kettering	342,982	3.71	92,497
South Somerset	601,146	3.71	162,242
Ashfield	437,395	3.69	118,674
Ealing	1,120,353	3.68	304,045
Eastleigh	443,536	3.68	120,514
Wakefield	1,198,710	3.66	327,469
Cornwall UA	1,997,957	3.65	546,860
Telford & Wrekin UA	615,027	3.65	168,426
Leeds	2,732,599	3.63	753,398
Walsall	911,506	3.60	253,435
Calderdale	724,567	3.60	201,483
York UA	714,173	3.59	198,805
East Lindsey	529,377	3.58	147,869
Hambleton	315,221	3.56	88,463
Shepway	372,278	3.55	104,790
West Dorset	352,833	3.55	99,375
South Hams	297,567	3.54	83,973
Wealden	522,341	3.52	148,267
Brentwood	254,966	3.52	72,402
Breckland	471,169	3.52	133,991
Fylde	278,633	3.49	79,878
Test Valley	409,762	3.48	117,667
Taunton Deane	391,980	3.46	113,205
Braintree	509,036	3.45	147,395
Middlesbrough UA	461,350	3.45	133,628
Warrington UA	670,517	3.44	194,723
Richmond upon Thames	642,532	3.43	187,162
Southampton UA	793,010	3.42	231,597
Chichester	382,896	3.41	112,423
East Staffordshire	381,233	3.40	112,155
Rutland UA	131,609	3.39	38,797
Teignbridge	442,256	3.39	130,391
Ipswich	416,286	3.39	122,875
Woking	310,360	3.39	91,658
Bath & North East Somerset	611,349	3.38	180,673
Plymouth UA	832,349	3.36	247,574
Newark & Sherwood	389,805	3.36	116,030
North Norfolk	349,762	3.36	104,196
Erewash	377,012	3.36	112,355
Isle of Wight UA	484,537	3.35	144,461
West Oxfordshire	342,342	3.35	102,085
Melton	168,868	3.34	50,553
South Gloucestershire UA	883,361	3.33	264,913
Arun	508,908	3.33	152,787
Hinckley & Bosworth	349,762	3.33	105,164
Elmbridge	452,619	3.31	136,604
Babergh	295,392	3.31	89,257
Bromley	993,382	3.29	301,812
Broxbourne	296,415	3.28	90,395
Kensington & Chelsea	673,395	3.27	205,800
Exeter	389,165	3.26	119,326
North Dorset	225,286	3.25	69,283
Herefordshire UA	590,720	3.25	181,888
Kingston upon Thames	516,680	3.22	160,444
Luton UA	596,477	3.22	185,510
North Devon	306,778	3.20	95,790
Wellingborough	244,987	3.18	77,103
Blackpool UA	466,147	3.16	147,305
North Lincolnshire UA	518,919	3.16	164,359
Hertsmere	305,115	3.15	96,968
Birmingham	3,202,265	3.14	1,019,014
Harrow	678,832	3.14	216,233
Kirklees	1,273,870	3.13	407,167
Reigate & Banstead	409,122	3.12	130,966
Stroud	349,635	3.12	112,052
East Riding of Yorkshire UA	1,086,291	3.11	348,967
Barnsley	698,661	3.09	226,439
Northumberland UA	961,719	3.08	312,572
Fenland	290,147	3.06	94,708
Kings Lynn & West Norfolk	451,595	3.06	147,481
East Hertfordshire	415,263	3.06	135,806
Oxford	472,960	3.04	155,678
Cherwell	439,186	3.03	144,788
Wychavon	361,276	3.02	119,757
Wycombe	484,473	3.01	160,842
Gedling	339,784	3.01	112,850
Maldon	193,175	3.00	64,396
Hartlepool UA	277,130	2.98	92,935
Harlow	231,938	2.98	77,917
Waltham Forest	643,012	2.95	218,255
Tameside	637,894	2.95	216,524
Trafford	625,261	2.92	214,010
Halton UA	347,332	2.92	119,024
Wigan	884,001	2.87	308,054
St Albans	391,468	2.87	136,455
Horsham	378,803	2.86	132,361
Tandridge	234,241	2.85	82,250
Castle Point	254,710	2.85	89,509
Canterbury	440,593	2.85	154,856
Bolton	759,269	2.84	267,027
Cotswold	240,382	2.83	84,935
Great Yarmouth	274,155	2.82	97,291
Mid Sussex	359,997	2.81	128,185
Chorley	301,916	2.81	107,624
Lewisham	705,698	2.80	251,747
East Hampshire	306,266	2.75	111,202
Merton	551,861	2.75	200,670
Darlington UA	274,411	2.75	99,962
West Berkshire UA	401,862	2.74	146,717
Weymouth & Portland	180,638	2.71	66,755
Worthing	273,132	2.69	101,368
Lichfield	260,723	2.68	97,230
Waverley	311,255	2.66	117,106
Dover	294,113	2.65	110,984
Dartford	239,102	2.64	90,634
Wyre Forest	258,420	2.64	98,022
Cheltenham	290,275	2.62	110,766
Durham UA	1,299,616	2.62	496,978
North Tyneside	516,840	2.61	197,922
Spelthorne	230,275	2.59	88,915
Mid Devon	202,514	2.59	78,269
St Edmundsbury	267,503	2.57	104,069
Rushcliffe	281,831	2.52	111,715
West Somerset	91,342	2.52	36,247
Sevenoaks	282,343	2.49	113,466
Bassetlaw	285,669	2.47	115,695
Tunbridge Wells	258,932	2.45	105,508
Boston	152,110	2.45	62,009
North West Leicestershire	226,821	2.42	93,777
Derbyshire Dales	169,252	2.41	70,324
North East Lincolnshire UA	383,312	2.40	159,913
South Staffordshire	252,279	2.39	105,777
Cheshire East UA	869,769	2.38	365,167
Epping Forest	295,136	2.37	124,473
Brighton and Hove	595,997	2.34	254,430
Wyre	271,597	2.33	116,585
Carlisle	243,452	2.32	104,856
Dacorum	324,944	2.32	140,046
New Forest	408,227	2.30	177,755
East Devon	310,872	2.27	136,969
Barrow-in-Furness	157,866	2.22	71,253
Hastings	194,710	2.20	88,435
Sandwell	634,536	2.19	289,345
Lewes	211,341	2.19	96,661
Staffordshire Moorlands	209,039	2.18	95,823
Torbay UA	305,115	2.16	140,985
Purbeck	97,739	2.14	45,613
Gravesham	207,504	2.13	97,291
Newcastle-under-Lyme	263,921	2.10	125,530
Sunderland	576,967	2.09	275,842
Welwyn Hatfield	221,832	2.09	106,325
Warwick	292,450	2.08	140,283
Mansfield	207,120	2.08	99,508
Tamworth	156,075	2.07	75,390
Redditch	164,263	2.06	79,602
Fareham	226,565	2.04	110,798
Liverpool	876,965	2.04	430,044
Daventry	169,764	2.04	83,270
Forest of Dean	168,357	2.02	83,346
South Oxfordshire	259,699	2.01	129,198
Rotherham	508,364	1.98	257,022
South Northamptonshire	182,941	1.97	92,949
Christchurch	89,935	1.97	45,749
St Helens	343,974	1.93	178,251
Wolverhampton	443,760	1.89	234,684
Eastbourne	187,290	1.86	100,475
Tendring	282,983	1.85	152,579
Chelmsford	309,592	1.85	167,100
Enfield	527,714	1.83	288,224
Stratford-on-Avon	217,738	1.82	119,644
Dudley	545,784	1.79	305,477
Stafford	222,216	1.78	125,148
Kingston upon Hull UA	444,559	1.75	253,450
Havering	396,745	1.74	227,727
Newcastle upon Tyne	455,753	1.73	263,924
Mole Valley	139,956	1.72	81,441
Harrogate	272,620	1.69	161,105
Broxtowe	190,873	1.69	112,875
Sutton	310,232	1.67	185,395
Portsmouth UA	333,899	1.67	199,694
Amber Valley	204,689	1.67	122,610
Suffolk Coastal	207,887	1.66	125,514
North East Derbyshire	162,344	1.65	98,595
Waveney	200,851	1.65	122,059
Blaby	154,412	1.64	94,250
Bexley	359,005	1.60	224,384
Cannock Chase	153,261	1.59	96,391
Rochdale	334,699	1.58	211,959
West Lancashire	174,242	1.57	110,962
Lancaster	231,427	1.56	148,487
Thurrock UA	235,552	1.55	152,046
Rossendale	102,472	1.54	66,596
Bolsover	117,312	1.53	76,923
Epsom and Ewell	107,846	1.52	70,792
South Ribble	165,158	1.52	108,885
Broadland	187,674	1.48	127,125
North Warwickshire	91,087	1.46	62,454
Sefton	405,860	1.46	278,530
East Dorset	124,860	1.42	88,178
Rochford	116,801	1.41	82,594
Bury	253,623	1.38	183,778
Doncaster	403,301	1.38	292,419
Nuneaton & Bedworth	167,589	1.37	122,165
Bromsgrove	124,988	1.33	93,749
Southend-on-Sea UA	210,606	1.31	160,397
Eden	70,490	1.30	54,093
Cambridgeshire	789,300	1.29	612,987
Oadby & Wigston	73,176	1.27	57,647
Chesterfield	126,907	1.25	101,416
Oldham	257,780	1.17	220,664
Stockport	322,225	1.14	281,532
Pendle	101,065	1.11	90,692
Lincolnshire	784,951	1.08	723,981
South Tyneside	158,314	1.07	148,152
Havant	124,477	1.06	117,770
Stevenage	84,562	1.04	80,961
Somerset	553,204	1.03	538,975
Adur	62,430	1.02	61,088
Guildford	137,525	1.02	134,881
Ribble Valley	62,046	1.01	61,378
Gloucestershire	589,345	1.01	586,378
Cheshire West and Chester UA	326,383	0.98	332,213
Kent	1,378,613	0.97	1,425,503
Northamptonshire	647,233	0.94	688,898
Norfolk	799,055	0.93	861,849
Redcar & Cleveland UA	125,692	0.90	139,474
Basildon	153,517	0.89	171,974
Allerdale	84,178	0.89	95,059
Buckinghamshire	417,662	0.85	489,628
Surrey Heath	69,338	0.83	83,052
Devon	633,385	0.83	766,204
Wirral	260,019	0.83	315,001
Leicestershire	531,296	0.82	648,417
Suffolk	589,728	0.82	720,335
Richmondshire	45,160	0.81	55,598
Burnley	69,722	0.81	86,550
Hampshire	1,024,533	0.80	1,287,129
West Sussex	610,869	0.78	787,633
Worcestershire	431,254	0.77	558,908
Blackburn with Darwen UA	110,500	0.77	143,647
Three Rivers	67,931	0.76	89,142
Hyndburn	62,942	0.76	83,011
Oxfordshire	491,446	0.75	651,067
Essex	1,010,013	0.72	1,398,313
East Sussex	375,157	0.72	524,001
Hertfordshire	769,887	0.71	1,083,657
Nottinghamshire	533,119	0.68	787,347
Dorset	267,823	0.65	414,953
Surrey	708,160	0.64	1,099,197
North Yorkshire	381,969	0.63	609,061
Staffordshire	474,687	0.57	833,444
Warwickshire	300,957	0.56	536,583
Derbyshire	385,071	0.50	769,759
Lancashire	464,868	0.39	1,193,152
Knowsley	57,569	0.38	150,145
Gateshead	68,283	0.36	188,181
Chiltern	29,552	0.33	89,874
Cumbria	149,199	0.30	503,008
Preston	38,251	0.29	132,504
South Lakeland	25,842	0.24	108,319
Copeland	14,968	0.22	69,428
Scarborough	5,885	0.05	111,057
Gosport	–		78,739
Hart	–		92,389
High Peak	–		92,566
Isles of Scilly	–		2,264