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20 Jul 2004 : Column 209W—continued

Local Authority Building Control

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of the 2003 annual monitoring report on the costs of local authority building control functions. [183682]

Phil Hope: No. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Welsh Assembly Government carry out an annual monitoring exercise whereby local authorities in England and Wales are asked voluntarily to provide a return stating their total charges income and costs in carrying out their prescribed building control functions under the Building (Local Authority Charges) Regulations 1998, but formal 'annual
 
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monitoring reports' are not prepared. The information derived from the annual returns is primarily used for internal monitoring purposes, although it is shared with the Local Government Association (LGA). Moreover, a commitment has been given to individual local authorities and the LGA that the annual monitoring exercise will be carried out on an in-confidence basis. This arrangement is currently being reviewed in the light of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which comes fully into force on 1 January 2005.

Market Towns Initiative (Harwich)

Mr. Ivan Henderson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much funding has been spent in the Harwich constituency from the Market Towns Initiative. [185000]

Keith Hill: Expenditure in Harwich under the Market Towns Initiative for the period 2002–05 was forecast to be £288,884; actual expenditure to date stands at £254,157.

These figures relate to investment delivered through the Regional Development Agency. The amount of additional funding and resources estimated to have been levered into Harwich to supplement market towns investment through the RDA is £1.5 million, derived from supporting partners including English Heritage (HERS fund); Countryside Agency; Sport England and Lottery.

Mobile Phone Masts

Mr. Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent representations he has received regarding the placing of mobile phone masts near schools and hospitals. [185421]

Keith Hill: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost as it is not possible from the central recording systems to accurately identify all of representations received that included the issues of the placing of mobile phone masts near schools and/or near hospitals.

Multi-occupancy Housing

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps his Department is taking to combat (a) overcrowded and (b) dangerous multi-occupancy housing. [182162]

Keith Hill: Local authorities have powers in the Housing Act 1985 to deal with overcrowded or unfit Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs). Section 352 of the Act gives local authorities powers- to require works to be carried out to render an HMO suitable for the number of occupants. In addition section 354 permits local authorities to limit the number of occupants in an HMO to the number which the authority considers it to be suitable for. A failure to comply with a direction or notice under these sections is a criminal offence. These provisions are to be replaced by new measures in the Housing Bill.

The Bill includes provisions for a new Housing Health and Safety Rating System which will replace the current fitness standard and will enable authorities to take action to deal with health and safety hazards in all
 
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housing including HMOs. The Bill also includes provision for mandatory licensing of large HMOs, and local authorities will have powers to introduce additional licensing to tackle the smaller HMOs. In order to obtain a licence, the landlord will be required to satisfy the local authority that he, or the manager of the property, is a fit and proper person and the house is reasonably suitable for the permitted number of occupants. It will be a criminal offence to operate an HMO without a licence if it is required to be licensed or to permit such an HMO to be occupied by more persons than are permitted under the licence. In addition, local authorities will have powers to make management orders on individual HMOs that are not subject to licensing, if a tribunal agrees that it is necessary to make the order to protect the health, safety and welfare of the residents or other persons occupying properties in the vicinity.

Under the Housing Bill, the Secretary of State and the National Assembly for Wales will have power to amend by Order the statutory overcrowding standards in Part 10 of the 1985 Act and also the provisions in Part 4 of the Bill under which local authorities may serve notices to tackle overcrowding in HMOs. I will be consulting later this year on the ways in which this power might be used.

Northern Way Growth Strategy

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the number of new houses need to fulfil the Northern Way growth strategy. [185282]

Keith Hill: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has asked the three northern Regional Development Agencies to produce a joint plan for driving sustainable economic growth in the north and that will be published shortly. This plan will also examine the links between housing and economic growth in the north. Until we have sight of this it will be premature to speculate on the number of new houses needed to fulfil the Northern Way growth strategy.

Regional Assembly Referendums

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) meetings and (b) correspondence his Department has had since 10 June with the Electoral Commission concerning the regional assembly referendums; and if he will place copies of such correspondence in the Library. [182347]

Mr. Raynsford: As part of a regular series of meetings, officials from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister met with officials from the Department of Constitutional Affairs and the Electoral Commission on 28 June to discuss the regional assembly referendums.

Since 10 June, officials from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and those at the Electoral Commission have continued to exchange e-mails on technical issues related to the referendums orders, notably about counting officers' fees and charges, due to changes in the number of assistance and delivery points.

There was also a meeting and some correspondence between an official from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chief Executive of the Electoral
 
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Commission on when the referendums orders should be laid and consequently the timing of the referendums. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister side of that correspondence has been placed in the Library of the House.

In addition, I wrote to Sam Younger on 15 June, and an official from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister wrote to the Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission on 6 July, with regard to the text of the ballot paper and the explanatory material for the local government options in the forthcoming referendums. Again, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's side of that correspondence has been placed in the Library of the House.

Solar Panels

Mr. Anthony D. Wright: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to reduce the UK's carbon emissions through the introduction of a requirement in building regulations to fit solar panels to all new developments. [185439]

Phil Hope: The Building Regulations set functional requirements rather than specifying particular ways of showing compliance. This enables builders to develop their own ways of complying with the requirements, using conventional or new technologies as appropriate. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is reviewing the energy efficiency provisions in line with the commitments made in the Energy White Paper and the prospective higher standards that we aim to bring into effect in 2005 will make systems like solar panels more attractive. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister shall be announcing consultations on the proposed amendments on 21 July.

Special Advisers

Mr. Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many of the reductions in the numbers of civil servants in his Department announced in the spending review will be of special advisers. [185479]

Phil Hope: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Brent South (Mr. Boateng) today at column 190W.

Supporting People

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much funding has been made available in each of the last three years under the Supporting People programme to (a) Portsmouth City Council, (b) Southampton City Council and (c) Hampshire County Council; and what the projected funding is for each of the next three years. [184309]

Phil Hope: The Supporting People programme went live in April 2003. Prior to this date the Government contributed towards the administration costs of Administering Authorities in establishing the programme. For 2003–04 and 2004–05 Supporting People grants have been given for both administration and programme costs. Budgets for 2005–06 to 2007–08 have not yet been finalised. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister plans to announce individual allocations to Administering Authorities for 2005–06 to 2007–08 in the autumn.
 
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£

Grants	Portsmouth city council	Southampton city council	Hampshire county council
2002–03
Administration	202,412	195,405	619,499
Programme	—	—	—
2003–04
Administration	237,195	274,415	815,418
Programme	9,744,076	11,521,802	33,634,572
2004–05
Allocated administration	225,105	253,267	888,620
Programme	9,570,871	11,438,573	33,506,365

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the impact of the Supporting People programme in (i) Portsmouth and (ii) the rest of Hampshire; and if he will make a statement. [184310]

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not commissioned any research to evaluate the impact of Supporting People in Portsmouth and Hampshire.

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