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6 Dec 2004 : Column 343W—continued
High Hedges
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made since the completion of the consultation process on the implementation of the provisions of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 relating to high hedges; and if he will make a statement. [202628]
Phil Hope:
In the light of the responses to the consultation the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently revising the guidance for local authorities and the Regulations to bring Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 into force. We intend to issue the guidance to local authorities at the same time as we lay the Regulations before Parliament and expect the complaints system to be fully operational early in 2005.
6 Dec 2004 : Column 344W
Home Ownership
Ms Buck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many shared ownership properties were sold in Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea in each year since 1997; and how many of those properties were purchased by someone (a) already in social housing in that area, (b) on the single housing register in that area and (c) a key worker. [201963]
Keith Hill: A table containing this information for every local authority in England has been made available in the Library of the House.
The table includes, for each financial year from 1997–98 to 2003–04 and for every English local authority and Government Office Region:
how many shared ownership sales were to people who were registered on a local authority waiting list/common housing register.
Note that the figures relate to the sales of initial shares only. Subsequent purchases of additional equity are not included.
It should be noted that figures on the number of key workers that bought shared ownership properties during the period 1997–98 to 2003–04 are not available. This is because the purchaser's occupation was not collected as part of CORE Sales during this period.
Homelessness
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many homeless households were in temporary accommodation in Shrewsbury and Atcham (a) in May 1997, (b) in June 2001 and (c) at the latest available figures. [200286]
Keith Hill: Local authorities report their activities under homelessness legislation quarterly, and this includes the number of homeless households in various forms of temporary accommodation as on the last day of the quarter. Information reported by Shrewsbury and Atcham DC is tabled as follows. At the 30 June 2004, 70 per cent. of households were accommodated in stock owned by a Registered Social Landlord; and 29 per cent. were in hostel accommodation. There was only one household in B&B type accommodation.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 31 March 1997 | 39 |
| 30 June 1997 | 40 |
| 30 June 2001 | 121 |
| 30 June 2004 | 77 |
(34) Households in accommodation either pending a decision on their homelessness application or awaiting re-allocation of a settled home following acceptance. Excludes those households designated as "homeless at home" that have remained in their existing accommodation and have the same rights to suitable alternative accommodation as those in accommodation arranged by authorities.
Note:
Data are not available for the position in May 1997
Source:
ODPM P1E homelessness returns (quarterly)
6 Dec 2004 : Column 345W
Housing
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which authorities have decided their stock options appraisal in favour of (a) stock transfer, (b) arm's length management organisation, (c) private finance initiative and (d) stock retention by the council; how many homes each authority has in each case; which authorities have yet to advise his Office of their intentions; and how many homes they own in each case. [200319]
Keith Hill: The tables made available in the Library of the House show what options each of the 233 authorities that owned stock at 1 of April 2004 have chosen in order to meet the decent homes target. Prior to this date 131 had authorities transferred their stock. Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is never a whole stock solution and so authorities that have chosen PFI for part of their stock are listed separately. Some authorities have more than one PFI scheme.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what estimate he has made of the total amount spent over the last two years by councils in (a) consultancy fees, (b) other fees, (c) information, (d) videos and (e) other ways in ballots for large-scale voluntary transfers or arm's length management organisations (ALMOs); what proportion of this sum was accounted for by funding provided to councils by his Department; how much was charged to successful registered social landlords and ALMOs; and how much was lost in unsuccessful ballots. [200560]
Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not collect information on the amount spent by local authorities on activities in preparation for ballots for large scale voluntary transfers or arms length management organisations. It is up to individual authorities to decide how much they will spend on these activities.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what estimate he has made of the amount of private capital brought into social housing by large-scale voluntary transfers in each of the last four available years. [200561]
Keith Hill: The estimated amount of private finance investment available to large scale voluntary transfers that have taken place in the last four years is tabled.
| Amount of private finance (£ billion) | |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 1.39 |
| 2002 | 1.59 |
| 2003 | 1.10 |
| 2004 | 0.71 |
| Total | 4.79 |
Housing (Overcrowding)
Ms Buck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he expects to issue a consultation paper on the revision of standards for determining levels of overcrowding. [201966]
Keith Hill:
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister hopes to publish a consultation paper on the overcrowding standards in March.
6 Dec 2004 : Column 346W
Housing Stock
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list local authorities that have transferred their housing stock to a registered social landlord, giving in each case (a) the date of the ballot and (b) the percentage for and against transfer. [201797]
Keith Hill: The details of local authorities who have transferred their housing stock to Registered Social Landlords (RSLs), the date of transfer and the percentage of tenants who voted in favour and against has been made available in the Library of the House.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average amount spent renovating a property in each of the Pathfinder areas in England was in the latest period for which figures are available. [201798]
Keith Hill: The information requested is not available. Information about the average dwelling costs for elements of market renewal Pathfinders' programmes—including refurbishment—will be collected annually. Data for the year ending 31 March 2005 will be submitted by 15 July.
Local Government Pension Scheme
Tony Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to postpone changes to the local government pension scheme until after the consultation for a new scheme to be introduced in April 2008 has been completed. [201664]
Phil Hope: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Normanton (Mr. O'Brien) on 1 December 2004, Official Report, column 125W.
Millennium Dome
Mr. Robathan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much (a) the maintenance of and (b) security at the Millennium Dome (i) cost in 2003–04 and (ii) has cost to date in 2004–05. [199566]
Keith Hill: In 2003–04, expenditure incurred on maintenance of the Dome site was £755,000 and £580,000 was incurred on security.
In 2004–05, up to the end of September, expenditure incurred on maintenance of the Dome site was £261,000 and £285,000 was incurred on security.
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