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24 Jan 2006 : Column 2063W—continued
Design for Manufacture
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister howmany of the homes being constructed as part of theDesign for Manufacture competition (a) are beingconstructed for £60,000 and (b) are intended to beclassed as affordable housing, broken down by location. [33490]
Yvette Cooper: The Design for Manufacture competition is being run by English Partnerships on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. English Partnerships is currently evaluating bids from developers for Stage 3 of the Design for Manufacture competition.
A minimum of 30 per cent. of the housing units within the competition will be built to a target cost of £60,000 and the remainder will be larger and smaller dwellings that should be built at an equivalent cost-efficiency.
At this stage, and subject to final planning applications, the number of homes on each site is as follows:
Oxley Park, Milton Keynes, Phase 2 site. Total of 145 homes, of which 43 are anticipated to be affordable housing.
Oxford Road, Former Territorial Army Centre, Aylesbury Vale. Total of 100 homes, of which 30 are anticipated to be affordable housing.
Upton, Northampton, Site D2. Total of 165 homes, or which 36 are anticipated to be affordable housing.
Allerton Bywater Millennium Community, Leeds, Yorkshire. Total of 150 homes, of which 30 are anticipated to be affordable.
Horns Cross, Stone, Dartford. Total of 37 homes, of which 11 are anticipated to be affordable housing.
Former Rowan High School site, Merton, London. Total of 180 homes, of which 54 are anticipated to be affordable housing.
Former Renny Lodge Hospital, London Road, Newport Pagnell, Bucks. Total of 60 homes, of which 20 are anticipated to be affordable housing.
Former Park Prewett Hospital, Kingsclere Rd, Basingstoke. Total of 137 homes, of which 47 are anticipated to be affordable housing.
Former Linton Hospital site, Maidstone. Total of 123 homes, of which 43 are anticipated to be affordable housing.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and English Partnerships are working to prepare a publication drawing out the lessons that have been learned from the Design for Manufacture competition. It will include information about costs, technologies and construction strategies. We aim to be able to publish this document by spring 2006.
Fire and Rescue Services
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) how much funding his Department is making available to regional fire and rescue authorities to take into account housing expansion in the South East in their annual budgets in real cash terms per year in the years from 2001 to 2009; [43909]
(2) what account he has taken of the expansion of Milton Keynes in the new Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes fire authority budget. [43910]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The local government finance settlement provides formula grant to local authorities, including single service fire and rescue authorities, in England. The provisional local government finance settlement for 2006–07 and 2007–08 that was announced on the 5 December 2005 took account of projected population growth in each authority's area. This grant combined with council tax, specific grants and reserves determine the annual budget of an authority. There is no specific grant available to fire and rescue authorities relating to housing expansion.
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many firefighters served the West Lancashire area (a) in 1997 and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available. [45138]
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Information on the number of firefighters employed at constituency level is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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Homelessness
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) how many homeless families in (a) Tamworth and (b) Staffordshire (i) were living in temporary accommodation and (ii) sleeping rough in each of the past five years; [42077]
(2) how many beds were available for homeless families in (a) Tamworth and (b) Staffordshire in each of the last five years. [42078]
Yvette Cooper: Information about the number of households with children in temporary accommodation, as arranged by local authorities under homelessness legislation, has only been collected since March 2002 and this information together with that for the latest three years is presented in the following table for Tamworth and Staffordshire. Also presented in the table is number of people sleeping rough on any single night of the year, in each of the past five years.
Each local authority in England has a duty to provide accommodation to households who have been accepted as homeless and are owed a main housing duty under homelessness legislation. If the authority cannot provide a settled solution straight away the household will be placed in temporary accommodation. For this reason, authorities will not have a set number of beds for homeless households.
(35) Households in accommodation either pending a decision on their homelessness application or awaiting 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 housing as those in accommodation arranged by the authority.
(36) Number of persons sleeping rough, based on local authority mid-year counts or estimates.
(37) Not collected.
(38) Data not reported.
Note:
Figures for Staffordshire, which include estimates for partial and non-response, have been rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
ODPM P1E homelessness returns (quarterly) and HSSA returns (annual)
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House Building (Aylesbury)
John Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the cost implications for the retained fire service of the planned expansion of housing in Aylesbury Vale. [44161]
Jim Fitzpatrick: No assessment has been made to the cost implications to Aylesbury Vale in relation to planned housing expansion in regards to the 2006–07 local government finance settlement. However, the provisional local government finance settlement for 2006–07 and 2007–08 that was announced on the 5 December 2005 by my hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government, (Mr. Woolas) included the use of population projections as the dominant data drivers of population in the settlements.
House Repossessions
Mr. Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what research his Department has commissioned into strategies to reduce the number of house repossessions in the UK. [43189]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) jointly commissioned report Homeowner Risks and Safety-nets: Mortgage Payment Protection and Beyond, University of York 2004" was a major piece of research that has informed the development of the Government's strategy on sustainable home ownership. The ODPM has also been involved in research commissioned by others through its membership of the SUSHO Partnership Steering Group". The Council of Mortgage Lenders, the Association of British Insurers and Department of Work and Pensions are also members of this group, whose aim is to produce an enhanced safety-net for home buyers that results in fewer households getting into arrears and losing their homes.
The numbers of repossessions has fallen dramatically since the early 1990s when mortgage possessions peaked at 38,930 in the first half of 1991 and the numbers are expected to remain small: the total number of repossessions in 2004 was 6,230. The Government is working closely with the industry to ensure that home ownership is sustainable, and to improve the links between private provision and state intervention. A key part of this initiative is the wider availability and take up of mortgage payment protection insurance and similar products providing cover for borrowers during periods of difficulty.
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