House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 27 Mar 2006 (pt 54)

27 Mar 2006 : Column 835W—continued

Retrospective Planning Applications

Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has further to discourage retrospective planning applications; and if he will assess the merits of levying a large fee for the submission of such applications. [60435]

Yvette Cooper: We are currently reviewing the planning enforcement system in England. One of the issues we are considering is the role retrospective planning applications have in legitimising unauthorised development and the question of fees for them.

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Right-to-Buy

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the capital receipts from right to buy were in eachyear since 1997, broken down by local authority area. [60949]

Yvette Cooper: Figures for the right-to-buy capital receipts in each year since 1998–99 by local authority area can be found on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website (http://www.odpm.gov.uk/pub/383/Table648Excel545Kb_id1156383.xls). Information is available only for the years shown.

Social Landlords

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the registered social landlords participating in each Pathfinder scheme. [60123]

Yvette Cooper: The following table shows the registered social landlords that the pathfinders are working with in their areas.
Table 1: Pathfinders and their RSL partners

Pathfinder RSL

Birmingham Sandwell Black country Housing Group, Family housing Association and Midland Heart Housing Association.

East Lancashire Accent, Calico, Manchester Metropolitan, Places for People and Twin Valleys.

Hull and East Riding Chevin Housing Association, Places for People and South Yorkshire Housing Association.

Manchester Salford Adactus Housing Association, Contour Housing Group Irwell Valley Housing Association, Manchester Methodist Housing Group, Mosscare, Northern Counties, Eastlands, The Sutton Trust, Space New Living and William Sutton Housing trust.

Merseyside Adactus, Arena, Cosmopolitan, Crossby, Family Housing Association, Greater Hornby Housing Association, Liverpool Housing Trust, Maritime, Peirhead, Plus Group, Riverside Housing, Rodeny Servite, Venture Housing Association, Wirral Methodist and Wirral Partnership.

Newcastle Gateshead Anchor Housing Association, Enterprise 5, Home Group and People for Places.

North Staffordshire Aspire Housing Limited, Bentilee Community Housing Limited, Beth Johnson Housing Association, Manchester Methodists, Potteries Housing Association, Staffordshire Housing Association Limited, Touchstone Housing Association and William Sutton Housing Association.

Oldham Rochdale Bowlee Park Housing Association, First Choice Homes Limited, The Guinness Trust, Manchester Methodist Housing Association, Northern Counties Housing Association, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing Limited, St. Vincents Housing Association, Villages Housing Association and West Pennines.

South Yorkshire Arches Housing, Chevin Housing Association, Equity Housing Association, Manchester Methodists, Nashayman Housing Association, Northern Counties Housing Association, Places for People, Sadeh Lok and South Yorkshire Housing Association.

Pathfinder	RSL
Birmingham Sandwell	Black country Housing Group, Family housing Association and Midland Heart Housing Association.
East Lancashire	Accent, Calico, Manchester Metropolitan, Places for People and Twin Valleys.
Hull and East Riding	Chevin Housing Association, Places for People and South Yorkshire Housing Association.
Manchester Salford	Adactus Housing Association, Contour Housing Group Irwell Valley Housing Association, Manchester Methodist Housing Group, Mosscare, Northern Counties, Eastlands, The Sutton Trust, Space New Living and William Sutton Housing trust.
Merseyside	Adactus, Arena, Cosmopolitan, Crossby, Family Housing Association, Greater Hornby Housing Association, Liverpool Housing Trust, Maritime, Peirhead, Plus Group, Riverside Housing, Rodeny Servite, Venture Housing Association, Wirral Methodist and Wirral Partnership.
Newcastle Gateshead	Anchor Housing Association, Enterprise 5, Home Group and People for Places.
North Staffordshire	Aspire Housing Limited, Bentilee Community Housing Limited, Beth Johnson Housing Association, Manchester Methodists, Potteries Housing Association, Staffordshire Housing Association Limited, Touchstone Housing Association and William Sutton Housing Association.
Oldham Rochdale	Bowlee Park Housing Association, First Choice Homes Limited, The Guinness Trust, Manchester Methodist Housing Association, Northern Counties Housing Association, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing Limited, St. Vincents Housing Association, Villages Housing Association and West Pennines.
South Yorkshire	Arches Housing, Chevin Housing Association, Equity Housing Association, Manchester Methodists, Nashayman Housing Association, Northern Counties Housing Association, Places for People, Sadeh Lok and South Yorkshire Housing Association.

Standards Board for England

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for how long members of the Standards Board for England are appointed; and who appoints them. [55356]

Mr. Woolas: Under section 57 of the Local Government Act 2000 members of the Standards Board for England are appointed by the Secretary of State. The usual period for which members are appointed is three years, with the possibility of reappointment for a further three year period. However, some current members of the Board have been appointed or reappointed for periods of less than three years, to ensure a phased replacement process for members.

Stock Transfers

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much public money has been provided in the form of gap funding for stock transfers in each year since 1997; and how much his Department expects to provide in (a) 2006–07 and (b) 2007–08. [58877]

Yvette Cooper: The following figures are the sums paid or expected to be paid to registered social landlords in gap funding grant:

£ million

2004–05 7.65

2005–06 1.83

2006–07 ⁽⁶⁵⁾57.679

2007–08 ⁽⁶⁵⁾96.422

⁽⁶⁵⁾Provisional.

	£ million
2004–05	7.65
2005–06	1.83
2006–07	⁽⁶⁵⁾57.679
2007–08	⁽⁶⁵⁾96.422

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which local authorities have chosen as their preferred option for housing stock (a) retention, (b) transfer, (c) an arm's length management organisation and (d) a mix of those options. [58938]

Yvette Cooper: Of the 354 local housing authorities:

(a) 98 have opted to retain their stock;

(b) 185 have opted to transfer their stock to a registered social landlord (RSL);

(c) 60 have opted to establish an Arm's Length Management Organisation (ALMO) covering their whole stock;

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(d) 8 have opted for a mixed solution of one or more of the above options.

Three local authorities have yet to submit an Options Appraisal.

A list of local authorities and their chosen delivery routes has been placed in the Library of the House.

Sustainable Buildings

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the membership of the senior steering group for the Code for Sustainable Buildings. [54686]

Yvette Cooper: The Senior Steering Group for the Code for Sustainable Home is chaired by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and consists of:

Anne Power—London School of Economics

David Pretty—Barratt Group

lan Coull—Slough Estates

June Barnes—East Thames Housing Group

Michael Ankers—Construction Products Association

Peter Rogers—Stanhope Plc

In addition to this there are officials from ODPM and other government departments. There have also been wide ranging consultations with other stakeholders. The Environment Agency has also been invited to join the senior steering group.

Thames Gateway

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1)whether the Government plans to establish targets for the numbers of each different type and size of new house to be built in the Thames Gateway; [50199]

(2) what assessment he has made of whether sufficient housing is being provided within the Thames Gateway to meet the needs of families with children moving into that area. [51093]

Yvette Cooper: Local authorities should set targets for the levels and mix of housing and affordable housing in their plans.

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Planning Policy Guidance Note 3: Housing (PPG3) advises that assessments of housing need should be carried out to help authorities to identify where particular types of housing need to be provided for in development plan policies.

Walkergate (Durham)

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what factors underlay his decision to call in the proposed development on the old ice rink site in Walkergate, Durham; and if he will make a statement. [61225]

Yvette Cooper: My right hon. Friend's decision to call-in the application for housing and public realm development on the former ice rink site in Walkergate, Durham is contained in the Government Office's letter dated 16 February 2006. I have arranged for a copy of the letter to be placed in the Library of the House. The letter explains that the Secretary of State considers that the proposals may conflict with national policies on important matters and could raise significant architectural and urban design issues.

The hon. Member will understand that it would not be appropriate to make a statement about matters which will be the subject of a public inquiry by an independent inspector, who will report to the Secretary of State in due course. However, the letter identifies a number of important issues on which the Secretary of State particularly wishes the inspector to hear further evidence.

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