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10 Oct 2005 : Column 384W—continued
South London Family Housing Association
Mr. Pelling: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking in response to the Audit Commission's recent inspection report on the South London Family Housing Association; and in what circumstances funding for the Association may be suspended. [15538]
Yvette Cooper:
Following the publication of the Audit Commission's report the Housing Corporation, as statutory regulator for registered social landlords (RSLs), has placed both South London Family Housing Association Limited (SLFHA Ltd.) and its parent association, Horizon Housing Group, into supervision. The supervision process ensures that both SLFHA Ltd. and Horizon Housing Group produce and implement action plans to address the weaknesses evidenced by the
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inspection report findings. The RSLs will remain in supervision until the Corporation is satisfied that all issues have been addressed.
RSLs that are placed under supervision are considered on a case by case basis. If the Housing Corporation was of the view that an RSL in supervision was in such a financial position that public funds would appear to be at risk, no further funding at all would be provided to the RSL until the issues in question were resolved.
In the case of SLFHA Ltd. and Horizon, where the Corporation had confirmed, prior to the imposition of supervision status, that grant would be provided for specific schemes, that grant will still be made. Development schemes for which grant had been allocated to the Horizon Group but where formal confirmation had not been made prior to the imposition of supervision status are in the process of being re-allocated to another RSL. Neither Horizon Housing Group or SLFHA Ltd. will be permitted to bid for any grant funding or take further properties into ownership or management, while they remain in supervision.
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Standards Board
Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost of Standards Board investigations in each London borough was in each year since 1999. [15436]
Mr. Woolas: The Standards Board was established in March 2001.
The Standards Board does not record information in the format requested. It estimates that the current average cost of an investigation into allegations of a breach of the code of conduct is around £5,000 per case.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many cases were reported to the Standards Board for England in each year since 1999 by each London borough. [15437]
Mr. Woolas: The Standards Board does not record information in the format requested.
Information on the number of complaints received about councillors in London boroughs is shown in the table. The information dates from 2001–02 as the Standards Board was established in March 2001.
Supermarkets (Planning)
Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps his Department will take to ensure that the forthcoming guidance notes accompanying PPS6 will ensure competition and choice for consumers in the supermarket sector. [15891]
Yvette Cooper:
The ODPM, in consultation with stakeholders, is preparing practice guidance on assessing need and impact for retail and leisure development, and other main town centre uses, as foreshadowed in Planning Policy Statement PPS6: Planning for Town Centres.
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This guidance will reflect the Government's objectives, set out in PPS6, which include: enhancing consumer choice by making provision for a range of shopping, leisure and local services, which allow genuine choice to meet the needs of the entire community; and supporting efficient, competitive and innovative retail, leisure, tourism and other sectors, with improving productivity.
Supporting People Programme
Mr. Walker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the payments made to Hertfordshire from the Supporting People programme in each financial year since 1997; what payments he expects will be made in (a) 2005–06, (b) 2006–07 and (c) 2007–08; and if he will make a statement. [15034]
Mr. Woolas: The Supporting People programme was launched in April 2003, in the two years preceding this date Hertfordshire received Supporting People Administration Grant as a contribution towards the costs of implementing the programme. Since 2003 Hertfordshire has been allocated both Support People Administration Grant and Supporting People Programme grant. No decision has been taken regarding individual grant allocations in either 2006–07 or 2007–08 although the Government have committed that no authority will receive a cash increase greater than 10 per cent. or reduction greater than 5 per cent. in either of these years. Supporting People payments made to Hertfordshire are listed as follows:
| Total (£000) | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 287 |
| 2002–03 | 592 |
| 2003–04 | 23,023 |
| 2004–05 | 23,402 |
| 2005–06 | 22,057 |
Sustainable Development
David Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the annual spending by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies on (i) electricity use and (ii) water and sewerage services has been in each year since 2002–03. [16123]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The costs of electricity and water and sewerage services for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and its Agencies since 2002–03 are as follows:
(128)Not including Hempstead House, where cost is included within the service charge.
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The figures for 2004–05 have yet to be independently verified by DEFRA and therefore should be considered as provisional.
This answer does not include the buildings occupied by Government Offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.
David Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what change there has been in road transport vehicle carbon dioxide emissions from his Departmentagainst a baseline year of (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05; [16124]
(2) what reduction there has been in road transportvehicle carbon dioxide emissions from his Department against a baseline year of (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05. [16163]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is not available. CO 2 emissions cannot presently be calculated, as much of the mileage is by hire and private car and existing travel claim systems do not record the size of the vehicle engine.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently assessing methods and systems to record the required information in order to meet our framework for sustainable development target—Bl: To reduce road transport vehicle carbon dioxide emissions by at least 10 percent., to be achieved through any combination of:
This answer does not include data from Government Offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.
David Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what has been identified as the most significant sustainable development impact in relation to operation of the estate of his Department. [16153]
Jim Fitzpatrick: A recent assessment of Sustainable Development impacts within the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, carried out as part of ISO 14001:2004 accreditation, identified procurement as the most significant sustainable development impact.
Officials are currently working on delivering the required Sustainable Procurement Strategy as detailed in Target Fl of the Framework for Sustainable Development of the Government Estate. Standard clauses have been added to our contracts to ensure responsible supply chain management, reducing the ecological impact of any purchases made.
David Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1)what steps he is taking to assist the delivery of sustainable development within Government; [16156]
(2) what progress has been made on his Department's Sustainable Development Strategy; [16157]
(3) what steps have been taken by his Department to review its arrangements for public reporting of its sustainable development impacts. [16158]
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Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister played a full part in preparing the UK Sustainable Development Strategy Securing the Future", which was launched in March 2005. We will be producing a Sustainable Development Action Plan in December 2005, which will set out the steps we are taking to contribute to the delivery of the strategy, including arrangements for monitoring progress.
The Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate is the Government's main vehicle for systematically assessing, reporting and improving Government performance in managing its own land and buildings sustainably. The ODPM will be publishing its first Sustainable Operations Report covering its work and results on delivering the targets contained within the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate before the end of the year. This will also build on the data reported annually in the Sustainable Development in Government Report.
David Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment his Department has made (a) of the environment impact and (b) against sustainable development criteria of the bids made for contracts awarded by his Department; and if he will make a statement. [16159]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister places high priority on sustainable development and environmental impact in its procurement process and in this respect environmental and sustainability issues are considered when awarding contracts where they are considered relevant to the contract and where they have been included in the contract specification.
David Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of electricity used by buildings in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies came from renewable sources for each year since 2003–04. [16162]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Since 2003–04 the total proportion of renewable electricity used by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in its buildings in the (a) the Office and (b) its agencies each year is as follows:
| (a) Office(129) | (b) Agencies | |
|---|---|---|
| 2003–04 | 98 | 29 |
| 2004–05(130) | 98 | 46 |
(129)Not including Government Offices.
(130)The figures for 2004–05 have yet to undergo independent verification and so must be regarded as provisional.
This answer does not include the buildings occupied by Government Offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.
David Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what reduction there has been in water consumption by his Department between 2002 and 31 March 2005. [16164]
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Jim Fitzpatrick: The reduction in water consumption within the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's estate between 2002 to 31 March 2005 is as follows:
| Consumption (m(133)) | Reduction (m(133)) | Percentage reduction (year on year) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 161,096. | — | — |
| 2003–04 | 141,532 | 19,564 | 12.14 |
| 2004–05 | 132,787 | 8,745 | 6.18 |
Note:
These figures do not include water used for training purposes at the Fire Service College.
This answer does not include the buildings occupied by Government offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.
These reductions are assisting ODPM in achieving the Sustainable Development in Government water target (C2) of 7.7m 3 /person/annum.
David Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister atwhich non-office sites on his Department's estates he has identified opportunities for significant water savings. [16165]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has previously identified the following non-office sites as being likely to provide opportunities for significant water savings:
Since 2002–03 the Fire Service college's non-training water usage has reduced by 29 per cent. Water usage in the QEII Conference Centre has reduced by 4 per cent. in the same period, which is a significant reduction on a year ago when it had increased by 13 per cent. The water consumption in both establishments has decreased despite the increased business use of the establishments.
Initiatives are planed to further reduce consumption although savings are unlikely to be as significant as those achieved to date.
Since November 2002, DEFRA has monitored Departments' performance against the framework targets in the annual 'Sustainable Development in Government' reports (http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/sdig/reports/index.htm).
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