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15 Jul 2003 : Column 283W—continued
Vehicle Recovery
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many vehicles were recovered by recovery agents contracted to police forces in each of the last 10 years; and at what cost. [124984]
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Ms Blears: This information is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Voluntary Sector
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of how the voluntary sector will be affected if people work to an older age in paid employment. [124583]
Fiona Mactaggart: The Government published 'Equality and Diversity: Age Matters' on 2 July 2003. It seeks views on proposals for the implementation of new anti-discrimination law under the European Employment Directive. It is the first consultation to focus exclusively on proposals for age legislation. The Department of Trade and Industry is the lead department on this matter and The Active Community Unit have been invited to respond.
Information gleaned from the Home Office Citizenship Survey 2000, shows that employed people have a higher propensity to volunteer and the development of the Corporate Challenge, launched on 7 July 2003, will contribute to increasing the number of employee-supported volunteering opportunities.
Work Permits
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many work permits were granted in 2002 for unskilled occupations. [123781]
Beverley Hughes: None. Work permits were not issued for unskilled work in 2002.
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many work permits were granted in the first six months of 2003 for unskilled occupations. [123782]
Beverley Hughes: No work permits were issued for unskilled work in the first quarter of 2003. Figures for the second quarter will not be available until end of August 2003.
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DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Domestic Violence Helpline
Lady Hermon: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the 24-hour national helpline for victims of domestic violence will be available in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on its operations. [121259]
Yvette Cooper: A national 24-hour telephone helpline service for victims of domestic violence already exists in Northern Ireland. This is run by the Women's Aid Federation of Northern Ireland (NIWAF). It offers advice, support and crisis intervention for abused women, as well as information and guidance to all agencies relating to specific cases. The experienced and trained staff receive around 35,000 calls a year.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is also working with Comic Relief on the production of an online information system that will be available for domestic violence service providers and the major helpline services across the UK. This will enable NIWAF to provide key information to people who call the helpline in Northern Ireland more quickly than before, and with the most up to date data on refuge vacancies, so people can be directed to the most appropriate support quickly and effectively.
Homeless Families
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on recent progress made in finding permanent homes for homeless families in priority need. [125853]
Yvette Cooper: The Homelessness Directorate in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister aims to foster sustainable communities by tackling homelessness more effectively and, in particular, delivering the Government's target to:
- end the use of B&B hotels for homeless families with children, except in short-term emergencies by March 2004.
The Directorate is investing £17 million over 2003/04/05 to support London & Quadrant Housing Trust to provide around 500 family houses for homeless households. Homes are being funded within the Housing Corporation's Social Housing Grant regime across a number of London boroughs where there are currently high numbers of black and minority ethnic households in temporary accommodation including B&B hotels.
Affordable housing has a vital role to play in tackling homelessness. As detailed in the Sustainable Communities Plan, £5 billion is being invested in affordable housing over the next three years. This will make a further contribution to preventing homelessness and moving families out of B&B.
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In 2003–04 we are increasing the funding for the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme to around £1.5 billion in 2003–04 to provide homes for both rent and low cost home ownership—an increase of £500 million on last year. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister expect the Housing Corporation's programme, including the Challenge Fund in London and South-east England, to deliver around 22,000 homes this year.
Neighbourhood Renewal Fund
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what criteria were used by the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund to select the five resorts chosen for the award of £30 million over three years; and for what reason the selection was limited to five authorities. [124763]
Yvette Cooper: The Indices of Deprivation 2000 (ID2000) have been used to determine Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) eligibility and the basis of distribution of the grant between eligible authorities. The Department decided that those authorities that appear within the top 50 most deprived districts on any of the six district level measures in the ID2000 should be eligible for the NRF. On this basis 81 authorities are eligible. It was also decided that there should be transitional arrangements for those authorities that were within the 50 most deprived areas on any of the four measures under the old Index of Local Deprivation, but are not in the list of 81 authorities that qualify using the ID2000. Therefore, a further seven local authority areas are eligible for the Fund. The 88 local authorities that are eligible for NRF and the amounts allocated to each authority in 2003/04 are listed in Annex A of the Special Grant Report 111 (SGR 111).
The sum to be allocated to each authority is based on a standard amount per head of population in those wards in the authority that are in the most deprived 10 per cent. of all wards nationally, with a minimum allocation in 2003–04 of £400,000 for any eligible authority. This relates an authority's grant funding to the severity of deprivation within its area, measured by the number of their residents living in particularly deprived areas.
Affordable Homes
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many affordable homes have been built; and how much has been spent in each constituency in each year since 1997. [125565]
Keith Hill: Information on the number of affordable homes built since 1997 and the expenditure is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asbestos
Dr. Cable: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the actions his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are taking to comply with the requirements of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002; whether he has made an estimate of the cost of compliance; and if he will make a statement. [117711]
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Yvette Cooper: Preparations for compliance with the new duties in respect of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 are under way across the estate of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Records of the estimated costs of compliance are not yet available.
Bed-and-breakfast Accommodation
Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) women and (b) men were in bed-and-breakfast accommodation on 31 March. [125023]
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Yvette Cooper: A summary of information being collected from local authorities on the type and gender of homeless households in bed and breakfast accommodation as at 31 March 2003 will be available later in the year in due course.
Departmental Policies (Pendle)
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what policies (a) initiated and (b) managed by his Department since 2001 have had an impact on Pendle; and if he will make a statement. [124091]
Yvette Cooper: The principal kinds of funding which this department has provided to Pendle since 2001 are tabled.
| Policies | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003–04 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue Support Grant | 3.9 million | 4.3 million | 4.3 million | 5.4 million |
| Redistributed National Non Domestic Rates | 3.2 million | 3.1 million | 3.5 million | 3.1 million |
| Central Government Capital Grant | 1.0 million | 1.7 million | 0.4 million | 0.4 million |
| Credit Approvals Available (covers housing, transport, social services, education) | 3.0 million | 1.5 million | 2.3 million | 2.7 million |
| Neighbourhood Renewal Fund | Note(46) | 1.0 million | 1.5 million | 2.0 million |
| Community Empowerment Fund | Note(46) | 115,000 | 115,000 | 115,000 |
| Community Chest | Note(46) | 77.5,000 | 116,000 | 179,500 |
| Community Chest | Note(46) | 77,500 | 116,000 | 179,500 |
| Community Learning Chest | Note(46) | Note(46) | 31,000 | 46,500 |
| European Funding | Note(47) |
(46) Neighbourhoold Renewal Funding, Community Chest and Community Empowerment Fund were not available until 2001–02 and Community Learning Chest was not available until 2001–02.
(47) Pendle has transition status under the 2000–06 NW Objective 2 programme. Since 2001, the East Lancashire Partnership has been allocated £13 million ERDF for its transition areas for business support activity. The Pendle Partnership has also been allocated £2.6 million ERDF for its community development programme.
(48) Pendle will also benefit from a proportion of the Housing Market Renewal Fund. This is a long-term project that will identify ways to tackle problems of housing low demand and abandonment in East Lancashire.
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