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Public Consultations
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the public consultations undertaken by his Department since 8 June 2001, indicating the (a) length and (b) number of responses received in each case. [68702]
Mr. Leslie: A list of the public consultations undertaken by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister or its predecessors since 8 June 2001 has been placed in the Libraries of the House, including the dates for which the period for responses opened and closed. The list is based on central records and reflects the public consultations undertaken within the areas for which the Office is currently responsible. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not, however, keep central records relating to the number of responses received for each consultation.
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Street Wardens
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what targets have been set, and what progress has been made, on the Street Wardens Initiative. [66892]
Mr. McNulty: The Prime Minister announced the introduction of street wardens at the Liveability Conference in April last year. 123 bids were approved in late October and schemes have since been developing their implementation plans. The first street warden scheme began in January this year and to date 106 schemes are up and running with about 700 wardens expected to become active during the coming year.
The targets set for the coming year include 80 per cent. of schemes focusing on crime to achieve a 20 per cent. reduction in burglary, auto crime or fear of crime and for those that focus on liveability, 80 per cent. of abandoned cars have removal notices placed within three days.
Council Tax
Mr. Watts: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he intends to use his reserve capping powers this year in respect of any local authorities' council tax increases; and if he will make a statement. [69416]
Mr. Raynsford: In our White Paper, "Strong Local Leadership—Quality Public Services", we made clear that we would use our reserve capping powers only in exceptional circumstances. We have carefully considered this year's increases and concluded it would not be appropriate to use the powers this year. (However, we remain concerned about the level of council tax increases and the willingness of local people to pay them. We have issued guidance on best practice on consulting local people about tax and spend decisions and we will be looking at how effectively authorities have engaged their local tax payers on future council tax increases.)
Affordable Housing
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what progress has been made on providing key workers with affordable housing in central London; [66895]
- (2) what measures are in place to help key workers find affordable housing in London. [66896]
Mr. McNulty: The Government recognise the importance of affordable housing for key workers in London in maintaining balanced and successful communities.
£146 million of the £250 million Starter Homes Initiative has been allocated to London schemes and will help around 4,600 key workers to realise their aspirations of home ownership. We hope that the initiative will act as a catalyst, and encourage other innovative approaches to housing key workers.
The NHS in London is providing 2,000 units of affordable rental accommodation for health staff in the three years up to June 2003.
London will receive £558 million of funding through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme in 2002–03. This is a 7 per cent. improvement
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over last year and is expected to achieve a completion target of 7,000 affordable homes, of which almost 2,000 will be for low-cost ownership.
In addition we are fundamentally overhauling the planning system to make it more effective overall and more responsive to the community's affordable housing needs. We have established an Affordable Housing Unit to work closely with partners in regional and local authorities, professional housing managers, developers and others in the public sector, and identify how each can contribute to improving the delivery of affordable homes in both the social rented low-cost ownership sectors.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of residential housing is planned to be (a) social housing and (b) housing for essential key workers in the proposed development of the Dome. [66894]
Mr. McNulty: Meridian Delta Ltd is currently working towards submission of a planning application for development of the Dome and land on the Greenwich peninsula, and the delivery of new housing, including social and key worker housing, will feature in its discussions with the planning authorities and other stakeholders. It would not be appropriate to speculate on the outcome of those discussions or of the planning process.
Sonae Factory (Kirby)
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make the HSE findings on the recent explosion at the Sonae factory in Kirby available in the Library as soon as they are concluded. [68355]
Mr. Jamieson: I have been asked to reply.
Responsibility for health and safety matters rests with the Department for Transport.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into the dust explosion which occurred on 1 June 2002 at the Sonae (UK) Ltd factory in Kirby is extensive and still continuing.
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When the investigation is complete HSE will make the findings available in the House Library.
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the improvement notices the HSE have issued to the Sonae factory in Kirby. [68351]
Mr. Jamieson: I have been asked to reply.
As a result of the dust explosion on 1 June 2002, two enforcement notices were issued on plant and systems at the Sonae (UK) Ltd factory in Kirby.
A prohibition notice was issued on 25 June 2002. It prohibits the restarting of the plant involved in the recent explosion until a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks associated with this plant is carried out.
An improvement notice was issued on 28 June 2002. It requires the company to carry out a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks associated with wood dust in the other production areas on site not affected by the explosion. Compliance with this notice is to be achieved by 12 August 2002.
Four other enforcement notices have been served on the company:
- May 2001—an improvement notice on work in confined spaces;
September 2001—a prohibition notice on the wood chip fuel feed area, following an explosion;
November 2001—an improvement notice concerning automatic self-propelled transfer carriages;
June 2002—an improvement notice on the safe use of industrial lift trucks.
Quiet Lanes
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he will issue guidance to local authorities in respect of quiet lanes and the Transport Act 2000. [68476]
Mr. Jamieson: I have been asked to reply.
The Department for Transport aims to publish statutory guidance on quiet lanes (and home zones) in parallel with the publication of regulations. The regulations will be laid before Parliament later this year.
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WORK AND PENSIONS
Carers Allowance
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many appeals against refusal of applications for carers allowance (formerly invalid care allowance) in (a) Angus and (b) Scotland have been successful in each of the last five years. [62386]
Maria Eagle: The information requested for Angus is not available.
The available information for the total number of successful appeals in Scotland in each of the years from 1998 to 2001 is in the table.
| Number of successful appeals | |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 70 |
| 1999 | 85 |
| 2000 | 50 |
| 2001 | 40 |
Telford Job Centre
David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals have been assisted in the Telford Jobcentre Plus offices since their opening. [63376]
Mr. Nicholas Brown: Precise figures for the number of individuals who have been assisted by the Jobcentre Plus office in Telford, and its linked offices in Madeley and Wellington, are not available. Many people, for example, call at the offices without an appointment simply to look at the job vacancies we hold and we do not keep records of such visits.
However, to give an approximation of the level of usage of the offices, we know that some 45,000 submissions to job vacancies have been made since the new offices opened last October. In the same period we have taken some 15,000 calls from customers inquiring about a claim to benefit and issued over 10,000 claim forms to them.
Benefits (Habitual Residence Test)
Mr. Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have been refused benefits under the habitual residence test rules in each of the last five years in the (a) Brighton, Pavilion, (b) Brighton, Kemptown and (c) Hove constituencies; and in how many of these cases the refusal has been reversed on appeal. [63494]
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have been refused benefits under the habitual residence test rules in each of the last three years in the Portsmouth, South constituency; and if he will make a statement. [64723]
Malcolm Wicks: The purpose of the habitual residence test is to ensure that income-related benefits are paid to
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people with reasonably close ties to the UK and an intention to settle here. Introduced in 1994, its underlying principle is that UK taxpayers should not have to subsidise people with very tenuous links to the UK.
Data on claims subject to the habitual residence test are not available by parliamentary constituency. The table gives the available information by Jobcentre Plus district office.
| Financial year | Brighton district office | Hove district office | Portsmouth district office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 245 | 24 | 62 |
| 1999–2000 | 161 | 21 | 42 |
| 2000–01 | 119 | 6 | 25 |
| 2001–02 | 144 | 1 | 22 |
| 2002–03(21) | 24 | 0 | 0 |
(21) Up to 31 May 2002
Notes:
1. Data before 1998–99 are not available.
2. Excludes housing benefit and council tax benefit claims administered by local authorities. Information on the number of these claims where the habitual residence test has not been satisfied is not collected centrally.
Source:
Management Information Statistics Program (MISP).
Appeals data are not available by parliamentary constituency.
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