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18 Jul 2005 : Column 1427W—continued
Audit Commission
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the (a) budget of and (b) number of full-time equivalent staff employed by the Audit Commission was in each year since its creation; and what the estimated figure is for 2005–06. [13119]
Mr. Woolas: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission. I will ask the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member and to ensure the answer is made available to the House.
Local Government Research
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost is of the research his Department has commissioned from BMG Research on people's views on local authorities; how many people will be surveyed; how the replies will be collated; when the results will be published; how recipients of questionnaires were selected; and for what purposes the research was commissioned. [12753]
Mr. Woolas: BMG have been contracted by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister through the Local and Regional Government Research Programme to undertake a national level survey which will track public satisfaction rates with local government and its services between rounds of the BVPI surveys that all English local authorities are required to undertake every three years. This survey will also provide information which will allow for the current standardised BVPI user-satisfaction questionnaire to be developed into an instrument that is of even more practical value to local authorities in understanding drivers of satisfaction with local government and the actions that can be taken to address them at a local level.
BMG have sent 8,000 questionnaires to individuals across England as part of this national survey.
The sample for the survey was selected randomly from the Postal Address File. Thus every address listed on the Postal Address File had an equal chance of being sent a questionnaire. Returns are anonymised and treated in the strictest confidentiality.
BMG will be paid £36,000 plus VAT by ODPM for the national survey of public-satisfaction with local government and its services. This survey is currently in the field.
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The responses to the survey will be entered into a statistical computer package which will collate the data.
The data collection and analysis for this work is likely to be completed by the autumn of 2005. A report on this work will be subsequently published by the end of 2005.
Business Rates
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the average reduction in bills for small business rate relief in England in 2005–06. [11999]
Mr. Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister estimates the average relief to be around £650.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1)what estimate the Government have made of the notional revenue forgone from introducing small business rate relief in England in 2005–06; [12006]
(2) what estimate the Government have made of the revenue raised from increasing the business rates multiplier by 0.7 pence for medium and large firms. [12007]
Mr. Woolas: On the basis of returns completed by local authorities before the start of the current financial year, an estimated £390 million is expected to be claimed in small business rate relief for 2005–06 and an estimated £355 million raised from those business properties not eligible for the relief. These estimates will be revised in due course in the light of actual applications made for relief and the amount of revenue actually collected from non-eligible properties. Applications for small business rate relief may be made up to six months after the end of the financial year to which the application relates, or six months from notification of an alteration to a rateable value that makes the hereditament eligible for relief.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the claim rate for small business rate relief in England in 2005–06. [12010]
Mr. Woolas:
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister estimates the claim rate for small business rate relief in England for 2005–06, per rateable value band, to be as follows.
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Social Housing
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people were registered on council housing waiting lists in each local authority (a) in 1997and (b) on the last date for which figures are available. [11160]
Yvette Cooper: Information on the number of households on the housing waiting list (excluding tenants awaiting a transfer) in each local authority in England has been placed in the Library of the House. Figures provided are as at 1 April 1997 and 2004, the latest year available.
Local authorities sometimes maintain a common waiting list with the RSLs, sometimes known as Housing Associations, in their district. However, information is not held centrally where a RSL maintains a separate waiting list to the local authority.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many families were housed in temporary accommodation by each local authority (a) in 1997 and (b) on the last date for which figures are available. [11161]
Yvette Cooper: Information reported each quarter by local authorities about their activities under homelessness legislation includes the number of households in temporary accommodation on the last day of the quarter, and since 2002 those that include dependent children or a pregnant woman.
A table presenting information on the number of households in temporary accommodation by each local authority as at 31 March 1997, and the number as at 31 March 2005 (the latest available date) together with the number that contain dependent children or a pregnant woman, has been placed in the Library of the House.
The Government have set a target to halve the number of households in temporary accommodation by 2010. Homeless acceptances in the first quarter of 2005 were 20 per cent. lower than the corresponding period in 2004.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Department keeps a list of tenants' advisers for housing transfers. [9640]
Yvette Cooper:
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has a record of tenants' advisers who undertake a range of work which may include work related to housing transfer, but which primarily relates to work on training and networking. The Office of the
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Deputy Prime Minister does not maintain a list of approved" tenants advisers solely for housing transfer work.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many homes have been built in the social rented sector as a result of planning gain agreements between developers and local authorities in each year since 1997. [12221]
Yvette Cooper: Information has only been collected centrally since 2000–01. An estimate of the annual number of units of dwellings provided for the social rented sector in England under Section 106 agreements without other funding since 2000–01 are in the following table:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 700 |
| 2001–02 | 1,000 |
| 2002–03 | 700 |
| 2003–04 | 1,500 |
Source:
Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix returns from local authorities to ODPM.
Further dwellings are delivered with fixed funding.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many homes have been built for the social rented sector by local authorities or other registered social landlords in each year since 1997. [12222]
Yvette Cooper: The annual numbers of dwellings built for rent by either local authorities or by registered social landlords (through Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme and Transitional Local Authority Social Housing Grant) are in the following table:
| Local authority | Registered social landlords | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 323 | 22,851 |
| 1998–99 | 194 | 22,278 |
| 1999–2000 | 88 | 19,513 |
| 2000–01 | 179 | 17,303 |
| 2001–02 | 63 | 17,494 |
| 2002–03 | 200 | 16,601 |
| 2003–04 | 180 | (36)16,100 |
(36)Includes estimation
Source:
Local Authority house building returns (P2) to ODPM; Housing Corporation
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will produce guidance for housing associations and local authorities on support for tenants (a) with mental health problems and (b) who exhibit antisocial behaviour. [12162]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) has already published a range of guidance on these two areas.
ODPM is committed to working closely with the Home Office and the Housing Corporation, as part of the 'TOGETHER' campaign to support social landlords and other relevant practitioners in tackling antisocial behaviour by way of balanced approaches involving prevention, support and enforcement. This
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includes providing material aimed at social landlords on the Together website, access to a helpline (the Together hotline) and the Together Academy (a centre of excellence in tackling all aspects of ASB).
Guidance produced is as follows:
(a) In April 2004, ODPM published guidance Achieving positive shared outcomes in health and homelessness", jointly with the Department of Health, to local authorities, PCTs and other health providers on key positive outcomes which health and housing partnerships might work towards, including improving mental health treatment and preventing homelessness through targeted health support.
(b) Action on Mental Health" was published by ODPM in October 2004 as a follow up to the Mental Health and Social Exclusion report published in June 2004. The pack contains a number of factsheets aimed at both service users and service providers and gives guidance to promoting social inclusion for adults who are affected by mental health problems. The factsheet on housing gives information on ensuring appropriate housing allocations, enabling someone to keep their home and preventing and addressing homelessness for this vulnerable group.
(c) In March 2005, ODPM published guidance on Accommodation and support options for people with mental health problems". This was primarily aimed at local authority Supporting People officers and local service commissioners, but will also be of assistance to landlords in understanding the needs and support options of tenants.
The Housing Corporation's Regulatory Code and guidance sets out the fundamental obligations and expectations of registered social landlords. In July 2004 the corporation published circular Tenancy Management: Eligibility and Evictions" which provides guidance on RSLs working with local authorities and other agencies to arrange appropriate support, so that it is available at the beginning of a tenancy, to those individuals whose assessments indicate vulnerability for whatever reason.
In August 2004 the corporation published circular Statutory Housing Management Guidance on Anti-social Behaviour Policies and Procedures" which sets out the corporation's expectations of RSLs' compliance with section 12 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 and how compliance will be assessed. In addition the corporation has published statutory guidance on the prevention of antisocial behaviour including measures such as mediation services, uniformed warden patrols and reward schemes for tenants with a record of a well conducted tenancy.
Alan Simpson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for North-West Leicestershire (David Taylor) on 29 June 2005, Official Report, columns 1295–96W, if he will break down the £6.5 billion levered into the housing sector via stock transfers by source; and what the market value is of the transferred stock now managed by (a) arm's length management organisation, (b) registered social landlords and (c) the private sector. [11533]
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Yvette Cooper: Stock transfers are always to a Registered Social Landlord (RSL). In both ALMOs and PFI the ownership of the stock stays with the council. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister do not hold information on the source of the private finance levered in by an RSL through stock transfer or the current market value of the transferred stock.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the registered social landlords which have been the subject of mergers or take-overs since 1998; and how many homes belong to each. [11156]
Yvette Cooper: Details of transfer of engagements or undertakings between RSLs for the past two years have been placed in the Library of the House. The cost to the Housing Corporation of searching back through individual RSL files to provide details of cases from 1998 to April 2003 to find out whether a merger had taken place or not would be disproportionate.
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