18 Jun 2003 : Column 213W
Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 18 June 2003
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Regeneration (North-West)
10. Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on regeneration in the North West. [119758]
Yvette Cooper: "Sustainable communities in the North West—Building for the future" accompanied the publication of the national action plan launched in February. This sets out proposals in the North West, complementing the work of the Local Strategic Partnerships and investment of the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.
Regional Government
11. Mr. Jack: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his referendum proposals for regional government in the North West. [119759]
Mr. Raynsford: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister announced on Monday 16 June that the level of interest in the North West region is sufficient to warrant a referendum about whether to establish an elected regional assembly. My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister directed the Boundary Committee for England to undertake a local government review in the region as a precursor to a referendum.
Homelessness
12. Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if he will make a statement on trends in the numbers of homeless households in priority need since May 1997. [119760]
Keith Hill: The latest Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Statistical Release on statutory homelessness, covering figures for England in the first quarter of 2003, was published on 17 June. Table 1 of the statistical release shows the number of households accepted by local housing authorities in England as homeless and in priority need under the homelessness legislation for each year from 1997–98 to 2002–03, with a quarterly breakdown of figures for each quarter since 1 January 2000. Copies of the statistical release are available in the Library of the House.
Affordable Housing
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to require property developers to provide more affordable homes in private housing schemes. [119755]
Keith Hill: The recently published Sustainable Communities Plan sets out our intentions with regard to increasing the number of affordable homes. The Office
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of the Deputy Prime Minister is updating existing planning guidance and will support this with practical advice about what works well and where. The latest statistics show a steep rise in permissions for affordable homes to around 18,500. Through the update we want to see this improved yet further.
Arson
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of fires (a) on farms and (b) in retail premises were caused by arson in each year from 1997 to 2001; and what the estimated cost to the fire service was in each year. [120031]
Mr. Raynsford: The information requested is in the following tables. Malicious fires are those where malicious or deliberate ignition was proved or suspected.
Information on the cost to the fire service is not available before 1999. The estimates in the table are derived from applying an average fire service response cost for commercial fires of £12,950 to each farm and retail fire attended.
| Total | Malicious | Percentage malicious | Estimated costs (£000) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 1,663 | 747 | 45 | — |
| 1998 | 1,315 | 659 | 50 | — |
| 1999 | 1,435 | 650 | 45 | 8,418 |
| 2000 | 1,380 | 651 | 47 | 8,430 |
| 2001 | 1,267 | 486 | 38 | 6,294 |
| Total | Malicious | Percentage malicious | Estimated costs (£000) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 5,787 | 2,321 | 40 | — |
| 1998 | 5,699 | 2,229 | 39 | — |
| 1999 | 5,699 | 2,236 | 39 | 28,956 |
| 2000 | 5,358 | 2,200 | 41 | 28,490 |
| 2001 | 5,687 | 2,474 | 44 | 32,038 |
Notes:
Data for 2001 are provisional.
The definition of retail premises includes vehicle trade premises
Council Tax
Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the expenditure was by local authorities on council tax benefit administration for the financial years 1999–2000 to 2002–03. [119995]
Mr. Raynsford: Council tax benefit administration costs as reported by local authorities are as tabled:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 178.8 |
| 2000–01 | 194.8 |
| 2001–02 | 218.7 |
| 2002–03(1) | 208.3 |
(1) Budgeted figures
Source:
RO4 forms 1999–00 to 2001–02 and RA form 2002–03
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Equality
Mr. MacDougall: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans his Department has to establish a single equality body to deal with all equality issues. [114613]
Ms Hewitt: I have been asked to reply.
I announced a consultation on the future of Great Britain's equality institutions on 22 October 2002, Official Report, column 246W, looking at the possibility of creating a single equality body among other options. We received nearly 300 written responses to this consultation which closed in February and are currently considering in detail the views expressed. We will make an announcement on the broad shape of future arrangements for equality institutions in due course.
Estate Agents Act
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to amend the Estate Agents Act 1979. [118133]
Mr. Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
The Office of Fair Trading is currently investigating the market for estate agents in England and Wales, including the effectiveness of the Estate Agents Act 1979.
I will consider carefully any recommendations the Director General of Fair Trading makes about future regulation of this market.
Fire Service
Mr. Willis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the number of firefighters who will be made redundant in each fire authority in England under the new arrangements; and if he will make a statement. [119677]
Mr. Raynsford: No such estimate has been made as part of the process of introducing integrated risk management. The Deputy Prime Minster has repeatedly made it clear that the modernisation of the fire service can be achieved without the need for compulsory redundancies.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the effect on fire service 999 emergency response times in Harrogate and Knaresborough of the new risk management plans. [119678]
Mr. Raynsford: No assessment has been made of the effect on fire service 999 emergency response times in Harrogate and Knaresborough. Under integrated risk management, it will be for fire authorities to set local standards for responding to fires and other emergencies in the light of a full assessment of the risks faced by their communities.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will place in the Library (a) the Burchill proposed costing for each fire authority in England and (b) the fire authority costing for the proposals put forward by the fire authorities. [119680]
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Mr. Raynsford: The proposals put forward by Professor Frank Burchill for the resolution of the pay dispute between the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and their local authority employers contained no detailed costings. The proposals put forward by the employers, accepted by the FBU on 12 June 2003, do not include costings, but the employers have assured me that the deal is deliverable within current budgets, supported by £30 million of transitional funding from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, repayable over the Spending Review 2002 period.
Home Starter Initiative
Andrew George: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many key sector workers were housed and what amount was spent on affordable housing in rural areas under the Home Starter Initiative since September 2001. [117988]
Keith Hill: As at 31 May 2003, £5.253 million has been spent under the Starter Home Initiative to assist 287 key workers in local authorities with rural districts.
Official Spelling
Bob Russell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make it his policy that all official (a) correspondence, (b) reports and (c) documentation from his office uses the English spelling of words where this differs from the American version. [118748]
Yvette Cooper: In line with the guidance issued by the Cabinet Office to departments on the Handling of Ministerial and Order correspondence it is the policy of the Office of the Prime Minister to use the English spelling of English words. Where we employ specialist proof readers, and typesetters we direct them to use the Oxford English Dictionary as their reference and to use the guidance issued on Plain Written English. Within the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister the spell check facility on our IT systems is set to the UK English dictionary.
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