Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: Housing, savings, Ukraine President, EU Lisbon Treaty Referendum and misc
Housing
Asked how many houses the Government would be able to buy with the funding announced today, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that it would be best for people to check with DCLG.
Savings
Asked how much money the Government would match in the savings scheme, the PMS said that we had piloted a number of different schemes, but the specific detail on the matter was something that the Treasury would announce as the schemes were unveiled. Asked if it would be pound for pound, the PMS reiterated that a number of different approaches had been piloted, with different Government contributions and it was his understanding that the Treasury would want to look at that experience as they rolled the scheme out nationwide.
Put that according to Caroline Flint’s document yesterday, a house bought today for £200million would only be worth £180million next year, the PMS replied that as Caroline Flint had said yesterday in her statement, the figures referred to in the document, referred to external estimates and not necessarily Government estimates. Asked if it was a good time to put taxpayers money into the housing market, the PMS said that there were a number of unsold properties on the market; the Government would obviously be looking to get the best value for money for the taxpayer and would seek a competitive price.
Asked what the Government estimates were, the PMS replied that the Government forecasts would have been set out in the Budget and the Treasury would update them in the pre-Budget Report.
Put that assuming a lot of unsold properties were bought, who would then manage them and let them, the PMS said that it was his understanding that the scheme was being run by the Housing Corporation, which was a Government Agency. It would be for them to decide subsequently, how the properties would be best managed.
Asked about shared ownership schemes and whether the Prime Minister thought it was a good time for people on lower incomes to be getting into the housing market, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought that it was a choice for individuals to make and not for the Government to give advice on. What the Government could do was to provide support to people who did want to get on the housing ladder. Asked what happened under a shared ownership scheme if the value of the property fell, the PMS said that he was sure the Treasury or DCLG could give people the details, but from memory there were quite detailed arrangements between building societies and the Government in terms of how it worked.
Ukraine President
Asked what the main issues would be at the Prime Minister’s meeting with the Ukrainian President, the PMS said that there would be issues around NATO membership for Ukraine. No doubt they would want to discuss regional issues such as Ukraine’s relationship with the EU, any bilateral trade issues or other wider bilateral issues.
EU Lisbon Treaty Referendum
Put that Jonathan Sumption QC had been hired to represent the Government in the Lisbon Treaty referendum case and was there any response to accusations that the case was a waste of taxpayers money, the PMS said that people should speak to the Foreign Office, who were responsible for hiring individual barristers. The general position was set out by the Foreign Secretary who had said that the Government was very confident of winning the case.
Misc
Asked to comment on Mervyn King’s prediction that there would be two quarters of negative growth this year, the PMS said that the Treasury had set out their forecast for the economy in the Budget and there would be an update in the PBR.
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