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9 Feb 2006 : Column 1423W—continued
Freedom of Information Act
Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what total sum has been received by his Department for the provision of information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in its first year of operation. [48472]
Jim Fitzpatrick: No fees have been received by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, its agencies or the Government Office network, for the provision of information under the Freedom of Information Act or the Environmental Information Regulations since 1 January 2005.
Fuel Costs
Mr. Olner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what additional financial assistance he plans to give to local authorities to fund increases in gas and electricity costs; and if he will make a statement. [48910]
Mr. Woolas: None. On 31 January 2006, I laid before the House the Government's plans for local government financial settlements for 2006–07 and 2007–08. The management of cost pressures within their budgets is a matter for each local authority.
Growth Location Business Plans
Anne Main: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 9 January 2006, to question 37947, what steps he is taking to encourage each growth location to secure local agreement on (a) priorities and (b) funding of growth location business plans. [41894]
Yvette Cooper: The answer to question reference 37947 referred to providers of private sector funding in the growth areas and it stated that Government are encouraging growth locations to follow the principles demonstrated by the Milton Keynes Partnership in securing local agreement on priorities and using both public and private funding to best effect to support their growth location business plans.
This work is being led by local delivery vehicles in each major growth location, to ensure local agreement and buy-in.
Each delivery vehicle includes local authority members as well as other key stakeholders. Work on a similar approach to that achieved in Milton Keynes has begun in North and West Northampton, in Ashford, Aylesbury and Cambridge.
Housing
Anne Main: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 1 December 2005, Official Report, column 681–82W, on housing, how many empty private sector dwellings there were in (a) 2001–02, (b) 2002–03 and (c) 2003–04; and what percentage were returned to occupation in each year. [39336]
Yvette Cooper:
The total numbers of vacant private sector dwellings in England based on snap-shot data, for 2002 to 2004, are given in the following table:
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| Number of vacant private sector dwellings | |
|---|---|
| 2002 | 631,200 |
| 2003 | 633,300 |
| 2004 | 609,800 |
Information on the percentage of vacant dwellings that were returned to occupation is not collected centrally. This question is pursuant to the answer to parliamentary question 2104, which is related to the monitoring of local authorities' delivery of empty homes strategies. For this, the centrally held information on the percentage of vacant private sector dwellings that were returned to occupation or demolished as a direct result of local authority action by each district was provided.
The same information for England is 2.9 per cent. for 2004 and 3.4 per cent. for 2003. Data for 2002 cannot be derived because the figures collected at local authority level were in percentages rather than total numbers.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to enable first-time home buyers in Coventry to buy a home locally. [45657]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 30 January 2006]: In December 2005 details of the open market homebuy scheme were announced that an additional 20,000 households will be helped into homeownership by 2010. Nationally the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has made available over £5 billion funding for investment by local authorities and housing associations in 2006–07 and 2007–08 to support key housing priorities, including support for low cost home ownership (LCHO). The homebuy programme offers shared equity to help first time buyers to buy a share of the council or housing association home they rent, or of a newly built home. Allocations for the region will be announced in the next few weeks.
Local Government Finance
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what access private sector firms have to the business rating list for individual business premises; and what the costs are for such access. [47867]
Mr. Woolas: Local non-domestic rating lists compiled and maintained by valuation officers can be accessed free of charge through the Valuation Office Agency website at: www.voa.gov.uk
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total Government grant per capita to each local authority in England, including fire and police authorities, was in each year since 1998–99; and what the estimate is for 2006–07. [47871]
Mr. Woolas: The information available has been made available in the Library of the House.
Government grant information for 2006–07 is not currently available centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Information for 2006–07 is obtained from local authorities' Revenue Account Budget (RA) forms. These data are expected to be available by the end of June 2006.
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Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what preparatory work his Department conducted before the decision to postpone the council tax revaluation in England. [47876]
Mr. Woolas:
My right hon. Friend the Minister of Communities and Local Government set out the Government's reasons for the decision to postpone council tax revaluation on 20 September 2005.
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Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many households are in each council tax band in each local authority area in London. [48041]
Mr. Woolas: The numbers of dwellings liable for council tax in each local authority area in London as at 19 September 2005 and in each council tax band are tabled as follows.
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The data are as reported by local authorities on the annual CTB1 return. Dwellings that are subject to the Council Tax (Reductions for Disabilities) Regulations 1992 (as amended), are charged council tax at the rate of one band lower than that on the Valuation Office valuation list. Council tax for a Band A- dwelling is charged at 5/9 of the council tax of a Band D dwelling; Band A dwellings are charged at 6/9 of the council tax of a Band D dwelling.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many households in each council tax band in London were eligible in 2004–05 for (a) single person's discount and (b) empty home discount. [48043]
Mr. Woolas: The number of dwellings liable for council tax in each council tax band in London that were eligible at 11 October 2004 for (a) single person's discount and (b) long-term empty property discount is tabled as follows.
The data are as reported by local authorities on the annual CTB1 return.
Dwellings that are subject to the Council Tax (Reductions for Disabilities) Regulations 1992 (as amended), are charged council tax at the rate of one band lower than that on the Valuation Office valuation list. Council tax for a Band A- dwelling is charged at 5/9 of the council tax of a Band D dwelling; Band A dwellings are charged at 6/9 of the council tax of a Band D dwelling.
Long-term empty homes can be subject to a discount of between 0 per cent. and 50 per cent.
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