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13 Jun 2006 : Column 1077W—continued
We have estimated that the number of home inspectors required in England and Wales by 1 June 2007, will be between 5,000 and 7,400. The ‘Report on the Number of Home Inspectors Required from Introduction of Home Information Packs’ published by DCLG on 23 May 2006 shows the number of inspectors expected to be required in each of the English regions and Wales. I have deposited a copy in the Library of the House.
Housing
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average waiting time was for a council property with disabled access in (a) Leeds and (b) the West Yorkshire region in the latest period for which figures are available. [75490]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 7 June 2006]: Information in the form requested is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what plans she has to (a) build and (b) supply council housing for those with serious disabilities in (i) Leeds and (ii) the West Yorkshire region; [75491]
(2) what plans her Department has to improve the provision of council housing for those with serious disabilities in (a) Leeds and (b) the West Yorkshire region. [75492]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 7 June 2006]: We have a duty to deliver housing appropriate to the needs of those with serious disabilities. Housing Associations are now the main providers of new social housing. Regional Housing Boards recommend the allocation of resources to deliver regional and sub-regional priorities identified in Regional Housing Strategies. The Housing Corporation has invested £3.3 million for 54 new supported housing units in West Yorkshire between 2004-06. For the period 2006-08, £4.2 million has been allocated to provide 95 new supported housing units in West Yorkshire.
In addition, Leeds are delivering through the private finance initiative high-quality accommodation and support services for people with learning disabilities. In addition to specialist provision, we continue to enable people with serious disabilities to live in their own homes if they wish to do so, with the appropriate level of care. Council housing adaptations are resourced through Council's Housing Revenue Account, or from other financial resources available to the local authority. Local authority tenants are statutorily entitled to assistance under the Disabled Facilities Grant programme but the present financial arrangements preclude the ODPM ring fenced fund being used for the provision of such adaptations for LA tenants. In the private sector, each year around 30,000 applicants benefit from a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), which since 1997 has increased from £57 million to £103 million in 2005-06. Leeds allocation for 2006-07 is £1.5 million, a 37 per cent. increase. Provision for suitable accommodation will
also be increased through our decision to implement the Lifetime Homes Standard through the new Code for Sustainable Homes.
I also understand that Leeds city council is preparing a Disability Housing Strategy and a Learning Disabilities Strategy (Valuing People), which will set out the approach that the authority needs to take in future years for provision of new housing which meets the needs of the seriously disabled in our communities.
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people with serious disabilities are on the waiting list for council housing in (a) Leeds and (b) the West Yorkshire region. [75496]
Yvette Cooper: Information in the form requested is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.
Infrastructure (Sussex)
Mr. Soames: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to ensure timely development of infrastructure to keep pace with housing construction in (a) West Sussex and (b) Mid Sussex. [64450]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 19 April 2006]: I have been asked to reply.
Government have increased overall spending in the south east since 2000 by 50 per cent. from £30 billion to £45 billion, including a 244 per cent. increase in housing and community funding, 67 per cent. increase in health, 59 per cent. in transport and 58 per cent. in education.
The South East Plan has been recently submitted to Government and sets out the regional assembly's views on required house building levels in the south east to 2026. This work has been prepared in partnership with local councils, and so takes account of local assessments of need. In its draft the assembly has taken a view of infrastructure requirements across the region, and this will be debated at the forthcoming examination in public. In due course, the Government will give their approval to the final version, which will certainly take into account the issue of infrastructure delivery, on the basis of the best information available at the time.
The Government response to the Barker report included:
a cross-cutting review in the run-up to CSR 07 to co-ordinate infrastructure provision across Departments;
consultation on the Government's response to Kate Barker's recommendation for a Planning-Gain Supplement (PGS) to help finance infrastructure and ensure that local authorities share in the benefits growth brings.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Purchase: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he will announce the local authorities' (a) capital grants for 2006-07 and (b) indicated grants for 2007-08. [46138]
Mr. Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
Information on capital grants issued to local authorities is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much rates support grant was given to Lancashire county council over the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [53372]
Mr. Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
The following table shows the amount of formula grant provided to Lancashire county council for the period 1998-99 to 2007-08, together with the increase year-on-year on a like-for-like basis after adjusting for changes in funding and function. Formula grant comprises revenue support grant, redistributed business rates and, for authorities with responsibility for policing, principal formula police grant. It is not appropriate to show just revenue support grant as the amount for England is dependant on the amount of redistributed business rates available for England in the year.
The large change in the level of formula grant in 2006-07 is due to the transfer of schools funding to the Dedicated Schools Grant.
| Previous year's adjusted formula grant | Current year’s formula grant | Change in formula grant | Percentage change in formula grant | |
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities make provision for their councillors to hold a budget which they can spend on approved projects and organisations in their own wards. [76274]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in respect of which local authorities the Government are proposing to reduce their support for borrowing for capital expenditure; and if she will make a statement. [76617]
Mr. Woolas:
Government support for borrowing by local authorities is issued as part of the Formula Grant Settlement. Formula Grant is unhypothecated and so capital support is not provided as a separate funding
stream. The amount issued is calculated on a formulaic basis and therefore the Government do not intervene by reducing support to individual local authorities.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the Government's policy is on supported borrowing for capital expenditure by Buckinghamshire county council; and if she will make a statement. [76618]
Mr. Woolas: Government support for borrowing by local authorities is issued as part of the Formula Grant Settlement. Formula Grant is unhypothecated and so capital support is not provided as a separate funding stream. The amount issued to Buckinghamshire county council, as with all local authorities, is calculated on a formulaic basis and therefore the Government do not intervene by reducing support to individual local authorities.
Mixed Communities Initiative
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on the Mixed Communities Initiative. [76449]
Yvette Cooper: The mixed communities approach is one element of our strategy to tackle concentrated deprivation and create sustainable communities for all. It brings together social, economic and physical regeneration, alongside essential improvements in public services, in order to transform failing communities into ones able to attract and retain households on a wide range of incomes. The Government are currently working with a number of locally led and managed projects in order to develop mixed communities in some of our most disadvantaged areas, while also testing out approaches to encourage mixed communities more widely. One such project is based in Coventry.
Parliamentary Questions
John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she will answer question 65110, tabled on 19 April to the Deputy Prime Minister. [73584]
Mr. Woolas: I have answered the hon. Member’s question today, 13 June 2006.
Staff Discipline
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many civil service staff formerly working in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have been disciplined as a result of breaches of rules contained in the departmental staff handbook in each year since 2001; and if she will make a statement. [76238]
Angela E. Smith: Information on the number of disciplinary cases is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Supported Housing
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effect of the introduction of Supporting People on the safety and security of staff in supported housing. [76226]
Mr. Woolas: Supporting People is a national programme which funds and enables local provision of housing-related support services. The programme went live on 1 April 2003, and brought together a range of pre-existing services and funding streams under a single strategic framework. This included the establishment of national quality standards—the Quality Assessment Framework—which include, among many other matters, ensuring proper procedures for risk assessment and health and safety of staff and against which all of these services have now been assessed.
While no specific assessment has been made by DCLG of the effect of the introduction of Supporting People on the safety and security of staff in supported housing, the Audit Commission national report on Supporting People (published in October 2005) reported that the Quality Assessment Framework has been effective in raising standards.
Defence
Military Units (Oxfordshire)
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which military units from (a) the UK, (b) the United States and (c) other nations have been based in Oxfordshire in each of the last five years; and where each unit has been based. [76412]
Mr. Ingram: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
Bearskins
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent research he has commissioned on whether animals used to provide bearskins are killed humanely; and if he will make a statement. [76169]
Mr. Ingram: The pelts used to provide bearskins are provided by traders operating under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Authorities. Those pelts that are provided are certified under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Details on the manner in which the bears are killed are a matter for the Canadian Authorities. The UK MOD requirement for fresh bearskins has been reduced through the operation of a refurbishment programme.
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