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26 Jun 2003 : Column 894W—continued
Council Tax
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the level of council taxes in England in financial years (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2003–04. [114866]
Mr. McNulty: Information on the number of council houses in England is collected as part of the annual Housing Investment Programme round.
- (a) The reported figure for England as at 1 April 2002 was as follows: 2,706,000.
(b) The figure for the financial year 2003–04 will not be reported until July 2004.
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Mr. Leslie: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister White Paper "Strong Local Leadership—Quality Public Services", published in December 2001, said that
- "ahead of revaluation we shall devise a transitional scheme in which those who gain from the revaluation will contribute to the costs of the losers".
Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will estimate the cost to (a) his Department, (b) the Valuation Office Agency, (c) local government, (d) other departments and (e) other public bodies of the planned revaluation of properties for council tax purposes in 2005. [114980]
Mr. Leslie: In paragraph 367 of the explanatory notes to the Local Government Bill the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister estimates that the cost of the proposed revaluation of domestic properties is in the region of £200 million including the cost of handling appeals. This is very broad estimate because the cost will be affected by the methods used and decisions on this have not yet been taken.
Disabled Facilities Grants
Mrs. Dean: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was spent on disabled facilities grants in each of the last 10 years in (a) England, (b) Staffordshire and (c) East Staffordshire. [113153]
Mr. McNulty: The amounts spent by local housing authorities on disabled facilities grants in the years 1992–93 to 2001–02 in (a) England, (b) Staffordshire and (c) East Staffordshire are given in the table. These grants were made under section 1 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 and section 101 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 to private owners and tenants. Corresponding data for 2002–03 are not yet available.
| England | Staffordshire | East Staffordshire | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992–93 | 64,503 | 1,417 | 215 |
| 1993–94 | 77,674 | 1,688 | 234 |
| 1994–95 | 89,449 | 2,112 | 230 |
| 1995–96 | 89,506 | 2,496 | 278 |
| 1996–97 | 91,910 | 1,786 | 396 |
| 1997–98 | 100,495 | 1,871 | 110 |
| 1998–99 | 107,102 | 2,274 | 133 |
| 1999–2000 | 116,421 | 2,708 | 168 |
| 2000–01 | 130,707 | 2,594 | 363 |
| 2001–02 | 145,148 | 2,730 | 464 |
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Fire Brigades Union
Mr. John Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will ensure that members of the Fire Brigades Union will have the opportunity to vote in secret ballot on the revised pay and conditions of employment currently on offer to them; and if he will make a statement. [114586]
Mr. Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is pleased that following further discussions between the FBU and the employers the FBU Executive has decided to recommend the employers' final offer to its members. It is for the FBU to decide whether or not to hold a secret ballot of their members on this offer, but we would welcome any decision of theirs to do so. Firefighters should be in no doubt that the employers' final offer of a 16 per cent. pay increase over three years, linked to modernisation, is a generous offer and at the absolute limit of what the employers can afford.
Firefighters (London Weighting)
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many firefighters in (a) the Slough constituency, (b) the Beaconsfield constituency and (c) the Wycombe constituency are paid London weighting. [110203]
Mr. Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister understands from the fire authorities concerned that Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service pay the 65 operational staff based in the Slough constituency a London weighting allowance; and that Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service do not pay London weighting to operational staff in the Beconsfield and Wycombe constituencies.
Golden Jubilee Medals
Mr. Whittingdale: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) whether he will distribute Queen's Golden Jubilee Medals to retained firefighters in Essex as soon as they are available; [115674]
- (2) what his policy is towards the distribution of Queen's Golden Jubilee Medals to firefighters (a) who are participating in industrial action and (b) who are not participating in industrial action. [115675]
Mr. Raynsford: The Government have always said it hoped that the Golden Jubilee Medals would be given to eligible firefighters by the end of June 2003 as originally planned. Minting has been completed and distribution to brigades began on 28 May. Essex firefighters will receive their medals within this timeframe. No distinction is being made between those that have, and have not, participated in industrial action.
Graduate Recruitment Scheme
Mr. Gareth Thomas: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people applied for places on the local government graduate recruitment scheme; and what plans he has to expand the scheme. [114279]
Mr. Leslie: The Government are committed to building the capacity of authorities to respond to local needs and we consider the recruitment and retention of quality staff in authorities to play a key role in improving
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the delivery services to local people. I refer my hon. friend to the answer given to him on 13 February 2003, Official Report, column 973W.
The National Graduate Development Programme (NGDP) is run by the Employers Organisation (EO), one of the LGA's central bodies providing services to local authorities. The scheme was launched in 2002 to fund 50 applicants for that year. It was remarkably oversubscribed with 2,350 applications. The EO has made immediate plans to double the intake for this year, and is considering how best to increase the numbers for the future.
Of course the NGDP is not the only source of graduate recruitment available to local authorities. Seven authorities in England run their own graduate schemes. Graduates also enter local government through both general recruitment and specific programmes aimed at professions such as Environmental Health, Finance and Planning. Precise figures for these are not available centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
High Hedges
Mr. Chope: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 19 May 2003, Official Report, column 626W, on the High Hedges (No.2) Bill, if the guidance will be published by 13 June 2003. [116810]
Mr. McNulty: Yes. Copies of the draft guidance on the High Hedges (No. 2) Bill will available in the Libraries of the House no later than 13 June 2003.
Housing
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he last met representatives of the house building industry to discuss house building in England; and if he will make a statement. [113566]
Mr. McNulty: My ministerial colleagues and I have met frequently with the industry to discuss issues affecting house building.
Recent meetings with individual developers have included my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister and Wimpy on 7 April and my right hon. Friend the Lord Rooker and representatives from Berkeley Homes Group on 12 May.
Ministerial colleagues and I also meet with industry representative groups. I met with the Housebuilders' Federation on 17 January this year and my right hon. Friend the Lord Rooker spoke at the Housebuilders' Federation annual lunch on 8 April and met with representatives from the Housing Forum on 12 May. We also have contact with the industry through larger events, for example the Regional Housing Conferences. My right hon. Friend the Lord Rooker recently toured the exhibitions and spoke at the BRE showcase for off-site manufacture at Watford.
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Officials of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister also meet with the industry, both individually and in groups on a wide range of issues affecting housing, planning and sustainable communities.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many new houses have been built in (a) Adur district, (b) Worthing borough and (c) West Sussex in each of the last six years; how many more need to be built in order to meet the Government's housebuilding targets; and by what date the houses need to be built. [114822]
Mr. McNulty: The numbers of new dwellings completed in Adur district, Worthing borough and West Sussex are shown in the following table. Annual rates of housing provision are kept under regular review and are established through regional planning guidance and the spatial strategy it sets out.
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adur District | 62 | 96 | 144 | 49 | 54 | 26 |
| Worthing | 58 | 242 | 81 | 206 | 80 | 162 |
| West Sussex | 2,812 | 2,533 | 2,015 | 1,757 | 1,462 | 2,094 |
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to investigate the link between housing policy and children's health policy; and what plans there are to create a dedicated task force to investigate the link. [114296]
Mr. McNulty: The Government recognise the relationship between housing conditions and health, including children's health. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is developing a plan of action on housing and health alongside the Department of Health and others. This work is a key part of our cross-Government strategy to tackle health inequalities, and the needs of children will be a very important element of it.
To tackle poor health associated with housing conditions, the Office has set a target to bring all social housing up to a decent standard by 2010, and to increase the proportion of private housing in decent condition occupied by vulnerable groups. The number of non-decent homes in the social sector has already been reduced by about 700,000 since 1996. The Office has also set a target to end, by March 2004, the use of bed and breakfast accommodation for families with children except in emergencies, and then for no longer than six weeks; and is currently consulting on proposals to make it unlawful for local authorities to exceed this six-week deadline.
The draft Housing Bill contains proposals for a Health and Safety Rating System to establish health and safety hazards in the home as the basis for enforcing better housing conditions, with particular emphasis on the impact of these hazards on people most vulnerable to them.
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Mr. Wray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what measures he has taken since 1997 to provide improvements to housing in poorer inner city areas throughout the UK; and what proposals he has to regenerate these areas further. [115132]
Mr. McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is responsible for housing in England only. Responsibility in other parts of the UK rests with the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and my right hon. Friend the Member for Torfaen.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced policies on the issue of housing in the Communities Plan—"Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future" and is committed to improving the quality of social housing by making all social housing decent by 2010.
- "by 2010, bring all social housing into decent condition with most of this improvement taking place in deprived areas, and for vulnerable households in the private sector, increase the proportion who live in homes that are in decent condition."
The National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal sets out plans for narrowing the gap between the most deprived neighbourhoods in England and the rest of the country.
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps his Department is planning to take to co-ordinate his recently announced housing plans for Milton Keynes and Multi-modal Study Paper with the emerging district-based community housing plans. [115936]
Mr. McNulty: The conclusions of the independent study into the housing potential of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands area are being reviewed as part of a series of local growth area Assessments for its main settlements, including Bedford and Luton/Dunstable/Houghton Regis. These will also take into account the London-South Midlands Multi-modal Study. Bedfordshire county council and all the district authorities are represented on the Assessments steering group alongside other regional partners. This process will ensure the proposed alterations to Regional Planning Guidance for the Area, on which future district housing plans will draw, are grounded in a realistic appreciation of deliverability and ensure sustainable patterns of growth.
Richard Burden: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the operation of the Housing Density Directive; how many planning applications have been refused or called in; and which local authorities are affected. [114901]
Mr. McNulty: The Town and Country Planning (Residential Density) (London and South East England) Direction 2002 applies to local planning authorities in the area covered by Regional Planning Guidance for the South East (March 2001). Local planning authorities are required to consult the Deputy Prime Minister before giving planning permission for low density housing on large development sites. To-date
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there has been one notification. The planning application has been called in by the Deputy Prime Minister for his own determination and will be subject to a local inquiry.
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