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Disabled Facilities Grant
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will raise the income thresholds for eligibility under the disabled facilities grant scheme. [51265]
Ms Keeble: The means test for disabled facilities grant makes a careful assessment of an applicant's resources and expenditure needs in order to calculate whether he is in a position to contribute towards any required adaptation to the property. The Government think that this test is fair and reasonable and because demand for DFG is very high it ensures that help goes to those most in need. Many of the detailed allowances used in the assessment are updated annually and SI 2002 No.530, which came into force on 1 April, makes the necessary changes which will be applicable for the year 2002–03.
Housing
Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 26 March 2002, Official Report, column 977W, on housing, which local authorities were running a cash incentive scheme in (a) 1997–98, (b) 1998–99, (c) 1999–2000 and (d) 2000–01. [48709]
Ms Keeble: Details of the local authorities in England reporting expenditure on cash incentive scheme grants in these years have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent assessment the Government have made of the number of new dwellings needed in London and the South-east to satisfy the need for affordable housing over the next 10 years. [50049]
Ms Keeble: The Government do not make national estimates of housing need, nor the dwellings required, as such approaches are unable to reflect local needs. Instead, local authorities, in conjunction with regional planning bodies, are expected to produce estimates of need and the dwellings required.
Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 26 March 2002, Official Report, column 977W, what figures his Department has collated
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on the sum each local authority in London running a cash incentive scheme in 2000–01 originally identified as being available to potential applicants. [48716]
Ms Keeble: The information provided by London authorities on their planned spend on Cash Incentive Schemes grants in 2000–01 is shown in the table.
| £000 | |
|---|---|
| Barking and Dagenham | 0 |
| Barnet | 619 |
| Bexley | 0 |
| Brent | 0 |
| Bromley | 0 |
| Camden | 1,992 |
| City of London | 0 |
| Croydon | 1,410 |
| Ealing | 0 |
| Enfield | 1,283 |
| Greenwich | 0 |
| Hackney | 537 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 0 |
| Haringey | 500 |
| Harrow | 290 |
| Havering | 185 |
| Hillingdon | 450 |
| Hounslow | 0 |
| Islington | 0 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 0 |
| Kingston upon Thames | 400 |
| Lambeth | 0 |
| Lewisham | 300 |
| Merton | 150 |
| Newham | 0 |
| Redbridge | 0 |
| Richmond upon Thames | 58 |
| Southwark | 0 |
| Sutton | 200 |
| Tower Hamlets | 500 |
| Waltham Forest | 1,222 |
| Wandsworth | 750 |
| Westminster | 400 |
Source:
Housing Investment Programme returns submitted by authorities in July 2000
Right to Buy
Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) published on the right to buy scheme since 1 May 1997. [49914]
Ms Keeble: Three research projects have been commissioned:
- (i) The impact of the February 1999 changes to limits on Right to Buy discounts.
- (ii) Exploitation of the Right to Buy scheme by companies.
- (iii) A review of the system for valuing properties for Right to Buy purposes.
Results from these projects will be made publicly available when the work is completed.
Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what information he has collated on the activities of
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commercial property companies offering local authority tenants a cash incentive to exercise the right to buy their home. [50917]
Ms Keeble: We are aware of anecdotal evidence of a number of abuses of the RTB by companies, particularly in London. We have commissioned research into what is happening, including the extent and type of such 'abuses' and the effect on the housing market. The results will be made publicly available when the work is completed.
Housing Stock Transfer
Mr. Page: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many units of housing stock have been transferred from local authority control to (a) housing associations and (b) similar bodies in each of the last five years; and how many ballots have taken place over that period of local authority tenants in which they have failed to agree a transfer. [51658]
Ms Keeble: The table shows the number of dwellings transferred from local authority ownership to housing associations in each of the most recent five financial years. Also shown for each of these years is the number of ballots in which tenants have not supported the transfer proposal.
| Financial year | Dwellings transferred | Negative ballots |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 32,982 | 2 |
| 1998–99 | 73,900 | 5 |
| 1999–2000 | 97,385 | 4 |
| 2000–01 | 134,219 | 4 |
| 2001–02 | 35,390 | 5 |
The Secretary of State will not normally give his consent to the transfer of tenanted local authority dwellings to organisations other than registered social landlords.
Fire College, Gloucestershire
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions in relation to the fire college at Morton-In-Marsh, Gloucestershire, when he received the report of the internal auditors investigation into financial irregularities; what the results of that report were; if he will publish it; and what action he is taking. [51226]
Dr. Whitehead: There are a number of matters outstanding and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage. The final report will fall within various exemptions of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information including that relating to law enforcement and legal proceedings. It would therefore be inappropriate to disclose the contents.
Arson
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, (1) pursuant to his answer of 25 March 2002, Official Report, column 675W, on the Fire Service, if he will place in the Library the criteria used by the Arson Control Forum to assess bids from local fire authorities for arson reduction initiatives; [50988]
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- (2) pursuant to his answer of 25 March 2002, Official Report, column 675W, on awards made by the Arson Control Forum, if he will place in the Library the guidance provided to local fire authorities when bidding for funding from the Arson Control Forum. [50902]
Dr. Whitehead: The guidance to local fire authorities and the criteria used by the Arson Control Forum to assess their bids were set out in a letter to potential bidders from the chairman of the Arson Control Forum, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of the Fire Service, Graham Meldrum, dated 6 November 2001. A copy of the letter has been placed in the Libraries of the House today.
Telecommunication Masts
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what powers he has to intervene in decisions on the installation of a telecommunication mast in a residential area once the local council authority has given permission for the installation of the equipment; and if he will make a statement. [50861]
Ms Keeble: Local planning authorities have powers under section 97 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to make orders to revoke or modify a planning permission, prior to it being implemented, where they consider it expedient to do so. If an order is opposed, it has to be confirmed by the Secretary of State before it can take effect.
The Secretary of State also has powers, under section 100 of the Act, to revoke a planning permission granted by a local planning authority. However, the Secretary of State will generally use this power only if the original decision is judged to be grossly wrong, so that damage is likely to be done to the wider public interest.
Under section 102 of the Act, local planning authorities also have power to make an order, requiring that any use of land be discontinued or continued subject to conditions or that any buildings or works shall be altered or removed. Such an order will not take effect unless it is confirmed by the Secretary of State.
Section 104 of the Act gives the Secretary of State powers to make discontinuance orders himself.
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his Department's policy is on the siting of mobile phone masts; what recent discussions he has had on the siting of mobile phone masts; and if he will make a statement. [51460]
Ms Keeble: Current planning guidance on telecommunications is set out in Planning Policy Guidance note 8 (revised) (PPG8).
Our general policy is to facilitate the growth of telecommunications systems while protecting the environment.
We attach considerable importance to keeping the numbers of telecommunication masts to the minimum consistent with the efficient operation of the network. We
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strongly encourage the sharing of masts and sites, where that represents the optimum environmental solution in a particular case, and the use of existing buildings and other structures to site new antennas. We also encourage the use of sympathetic design and camouflage.
On 22 August 2001, following consultation, we significantly strengthened the planning arrangements for telecommunications development. We:
- strengthened public consultation requirements on mast proposals of 15 metres and below and for masts on buildings and structures so that they are exactly the same as applications for planning permission
increased the time for authorities to deal with prior approval applications from 28 and 42 days to a uniform 56 days
underlined that school governors must be consulted on all proposals for new masts on or near a school or college
increased fees to enable authorities to carry out full public consultation.
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