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Safety Cameras
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether planning permission is required for (a) traffic cameras and (b) speed cameras; and whether each category of camera has permitted development rights. [78333]
Yvette Cooper: The installation of traffic and speed cameras is not development as defined in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, so neither planning permission nor permitted development rights are required.
Shared Equity Scheme
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have participated in the Government's Shared Equity scheme since May 2005. [79899]
Yvette Cooper: Information on the number of people participating in shared equity schemes is not held centrally. However, 16,405 shared ownership and HomeBuy equity loan sales, funded through the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme, were completed between April 2005 and May 2006.
Shared Ownership (West Midlands)
Mr. Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans there are to expand the number of homes available for shared ownership in the West Midlands. [74194]
Yvette Cooper: The Government award Regional Housing Pot funding to each region in England and ask Regional Housing Boards to recommend how the funding should be allocated in accordance with the Regional Housing Strategy. In the West Midlands, 2006-08 Regional Housing Pot funding has been allocated to fund provision of an additional 1,690 homes for shared ownership.
In addition, by 2010 an estimated 1,050 new homes for shared ownership will be under construction in the West Midlands under our First Time Buyers Initiative.
Existing social homes are also available for shared ownership through the Social HomeBuy scheme. The shared equity task force is looking at further ways to expand home ownership. People living in the Dudley area interested in shared ownership can contact the new one-stop-shop provided by Mercian Housing Association on 0845 607 6726 or find details at: www.homebuyagents.org.uk
Social Housing, Islington
Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent on social housing in Islington in each year between 1979 and 2006, broken down by source. [80876]
Yvette Cooper: The following table shows the total expenditure on the provision of social housing in Islington from 1997-98 through the Housing Corporation Approved Development Programme and Local Authority Social Housing Grant.
| £ million | |
| Source: Housing Corporation Annual Investment in London publication. | |
These figures include expenditure on new build schemes as well as for acquisition and refurbishment. Information on expenditure before 1997-98 is not readily accessible.
Statutory Overcrowding
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to revise the definition of statutory overcrowding. [72419]
Yvette Cooper: The current statutory standard is set out in Part 10 of the Housing Act 1985. It has not changed since 1985. The Government believe that this is out of date and will publish a consultation paper on options for reform this summer.
Sustainable Buildings
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Communities and Local Government what incentives for sustainable construction techniques in housebuilding have been introduced since 1997. [79377]
Margaret Hodge: I have been asked to reply.
The Low Carbon Buildings programme, with an£80 million budget over 3 years, provides grant support for the installation of microgeneration technologies to householders, communities and business including housebuilders.
Furthermore, the Department has introduced a number of fiscal research initiatives since publication of Sir John Egan's reports: ‘Rethinking Construction', in 1998; these have been aimed at improving the supply chain, enhancing knowledge transfer and encouraging focus upon the wider aspects of sustainability throughout the Construction Industry.
Sustainable Communities
Mr.
Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for
Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon.
Member for Meriden, of 25 May 2006, Official Report, column
2067W, on the
sustainable communities plan, if she will place inthe Library
copies of the written submissions and responses by the water companies
on planning for the growth areas and regional planning.
[78240]
Yvette Cooper: The water companies have and will continue to make a number of representations as part of the development and review of Regional Spatial Strategies, including modifications to consider additional housing in growth areas. For example, in the recent East of England Examination In Public, Anglian Water and Thames Water both made representations to the independent panel outlining their views on the impact on water supply as a result of house building. However, such representations by water companies can be made at different stages of the planning process, both formally and informally. These are not held centrally by Government and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Sustainable Regeneration
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the Sustainable Development Commission's Mainstreaming Sustainable Regeneration report; and what action has been taken to implement its recommendations. [80858]
Yvette Cooper: I welcome the Sustainable Development Commission “Mainstreaming Sustainable Regeneration” report as a useful contribution to bringing sustainable development principles into regeneration. Since the report was published in 2003, the Department has continued to embed sustainable development principles into its regeneration work. Examples of this work include:
Government's “Together We Can” initiative, to enable people to engage with public bodies and influence the decisions that affect their communities;
Establishing the Academy for Sustainable Communities to improve the skills, knowledge and behaviours needed to deliver sustainable communities;
Community renewal programmes like neighbourhood management and the Liveability Fund, which have helped co-ordinate and reshape environmental services, particularly in deprived areas;
Establishing CABE Space, which has helped local authorities take a strategic approach and champion a renaissance in urban green spaces;
The introduction of local area agreements as a vehicle through which many initiatives relating to sustainable communities, including regeneration, can be addressed in a joined up way by Government and local partners.
Driving forward the sustainability of housing through such measures as the new Part L of the Building Regulations and the forthcoming introduction of the Code for Sustainable Homes;
Reforms to the planning system, which put sustainable development at the heart of planning, both via legislation and planning guidance.
Thames Gateway
Mr.
Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for
Communities and Local Government what progress
has been made towards meeting job creation targets in the Thames Gateway
area; and if she will make a statement.
[75820]
Yvette Cooper: Later this year, the Department will publish a Strategic Framework for the Thames Gateway. It will have at its core an economic rationale for the Gateway, developed in partnership with the three Thames Gateway regional development agencies and the Thames Gateway sub-regional partnerships. The Department plans to publish a baseline report alongside the framework, which will describe the position at the start of the programme in 2003. We intend to use this to produce progress updates at appropriate intervals thereafter.
Mr. Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps are being taken to ensure that the views of local people within the Thames Gateway redevelopment area are taken into account with regards to infrastructure and planning. [79285]
Yvette Cooper: The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires local planning authorities, including those in the Thames Gateway, to prepare a statement of community involvement for their area. The statement of community involvement sets out how the local planning authority will engage with the local community and stakeholders in the preparation of local development documents and on consultations for planning applications. Where local authorities have not adopted a statement of community involvement they are required to comply with the minimum requirements set out in the Town and Country Planning (Local Development)(England) Regulations 2004 in terms of engaging the local community and stakeholders in the preparation of local development documents.
At the regional level, regional planning bodies are responsible for preparing draft regional spatial strategies (RSS) and are required to prepare a statement of community involvement on how they intend to engage the public and on how the public were involved in the preparation of the draft RSS. The adequacy of community involvement and how the views of the community have been taken on board is one of the tests of soundness which is considered at the public examination of the draft RSS.
Mr. Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what environmental initiatives are being planned as part of the redevelopment of the Thames Gateway. [79286]
Yvette Cooper: The Government believe that communities are more successful and enjoy a better and healthier quality of life if they have easy access to an attractive well designed and managed green environment which is rich in biodiversity.
In 2004 the Government published
“Greening the Gateway”, a strategy for Thames Gateway
which established the principle that new and existing residential and
commercial areas should be set in a network of varied and well-managed
green space, known as green grids. Green grids create green pathways
and wildlife corridors through commercial
and residential areas to link rural and green spaces together, making
them more welcoming and accessible.
To date, £26 million has been allocated in greenspace projects from the Thames Gateway programme fund including:
£1 million to enable Groundwork to develop and deliver a Marshes Plan for Dartford, Crayford and Erith, including a strategic cycle route, heritage trail and other access improvements, habitat creation and education areas.
Flood Storage along River Cray
£500,000 as part of a plan to improve access down to and along the River Cray. Funding for works to improve habitat creation and optimise flood storage capacity
£1 million for Lower River Roding valley environmental, flood alleviation and path works.
£5.25 million for this green grid flagship project, involving the construction of a continuous 3.65 km long, 3m wide footpath and cycleway across the Rainham, Wennington and Aveley Marshes (the640 hectares of which is known as the London Riverside Conservation Park).
£665,000 towards the £l,348,000 project to create flagship country park and nature reserve, within the Kent Downs area of outstanding natural beauty and within reach of urban developments in Medway and Kent Thameside. Ranscombe Farm is one of the richest botanical sites in the British Isles and home to the single most important arable flower field in the UK. The 600 acre site also includes ancient woodland and relict fragments of chalk grassland.
Mr. Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what regulations are in place in relation to the building of new housing in the Thames Gateway to reduce (a) carbon levels, (b) waste production, (c) electricity use and (d) overall environmental impact; and how the regulations will be enforced. [79287]
Yvette Cooper: Part L of the Building Regulations covers conservation of fuel and power as it relates to a building. Building Regulation standards for new housing in England and Wales have been improved by 40 per cent. since early 2002. It covers all energy used for space heating and hot water.
Part H of the Building Regulations covers drainage and waste disposal. It states that adequate provision shall be made for storage of solid waste. It does not cover reduction of waste.
The Building Regulations do not cover carbon levels or general environmental impact.
The Government are also introducing a new codefor sustainable homes to go further than building regulations.
The Government have announced a
feasibility study into the extent to which we can facilitate the Thames
Gateway becoming a low carbon development area within the next decade,
with the ultimate goal of
achieving zero carbon development area status. We envisage that the
results of this work will inform future decisions about the
Governments' wider approach to environmental standards within the
Thames Gateway.
Visual Arts Facility
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what involvement her Department had in the decision to grant planning consent for the Visual Arts Facility at Colchester. [76466]
Yvette Cooper: The Department carefully considered all the planning issues raised about the application for a Visual Arts Facility in Colchester, in reaching the decision not to call it in for the Secretary of State's determination, the main matters relevant to this decision were her policies:
(i) which promote high quality, inclusive design in terms of function and impact, which takes the opportunities available for improving the character and quality of an area (PPS1: Delivering Sustainable Development);
(ii) to promote the vitality and viability of town centres by focusing development in such centres and encouraging a wide range of services in a good environment, accessible to all (PPS6: Planning for Town Centres);
(iii) that planning permission is not refused if development can be subject to conditions that will prevent damaging impacts on wildlife habitats or other important physical features, or if other material factors are sufficient to override nature conservation considerations (PPS9: Biodiversity and Geological Conservation);
(iv) to actively manage the pattern of urban growth to make the fullest use of public transport; focus major generators of travel demand in city, town and district centres and near to major public transport interchanges; and locate day-to-day facilities in local centres, to be accessible by walking or cycling (PPG13: Transport);
(v) for the protection of the wider historic environment, including scheduled ancient monuments, World Heritage Sites, historic parks and gardens, historic battlefields, buildings of local importance and trees in conservation areas (PPG15: Planning and the Historic Environment);
(vi) for the protection, enhancement and preservation of sites of archaeological interest and of their settings (PPG16: Archaeology and Planning).
Having considered carefully these and other relevant planning issues raised by the proposal together with all representations received, and having regard to her policy on call in, the Secretary of State concluded on balance that intervention would not be justified as there was insufficient conflict with national planning policies on the above matters to warrant calling in the application for her own determination.
Water Provision
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she last met Water Voice to discuss the long-term provision of water to meet the future development needs of London and the south-east; what conclusions were reached; and if she will make a statement. [80387]
Yvette
Cooper: The Secretary of State has not met with Water
Voice. The Department for Communities
and Local Government (DCLG) and Consumer Council for Water (formerly
Water Voice) do meet to discuss matters concerning the sustainable use
of water resources as members of the Water Saving Group, chaired by the
Minister for Environment and Climate Change at Defra. This important
forum is exploring how water industry stakeholders can work together in
practical ways to promote the efficient use of water in households, to
help protect the long-term sustainability of supply. DCLG is also
working with a number of key stakeholders, including Ofwat, water
companies and the Environment Agency, to ensure that the long-term
provision of water meets the needs of an ageing and growing
population.
Deputy Prime Minister
Departmental Budget
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the planned budget is of his office in each of the next three years. [81936]
The Deputy Prime Minister: Expenditure will be accounted for in the Department's annual report and accounts in the usual way.
Departmental Staff
David Simpson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) how many of his staff are (a) under and (b) over 55 years of age; [77320]
(2) how many people over the age of 55 years have been recruited by his office in each of the last three years. [77321]
The Deputy Prime Minister: The latest available figures are taken at 31 December 2005, for which I refer the hon. Member to the answers given on 26 June 2006, Official Report, column 127W by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government (Angela E. Smith).
Diversity Training
Mr. Hands: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he has received diversity training since becoming a Government Minister. [70122]
The Deputy Prime Minister: New Ministers are offered an induction course following general elections or substantial reshuffles. These are run by the National School of Government in conjunction with the Cabinet Office and Her Majesty's Treasury. I also rely on my10 years' seafaring experience, five years’ experience as a union official, 36 years' experience as a Member of Parliament and nine years as a Minister in the Cabinet to help me fulfil my role to the best of my ability.
I am fully
committed to the principles of diversity. Since coming into Government
in 1997, we have brought in the Civil Partnership Act 2004, Disability
Discrimination Act 2005 and the Equality Act 2006, as well as the Work
and Families Bill which is currently before the House. All of these
measures are actively helping to promote diversity throughout our
society.
Dorneywood
Mr. Robathan: To ask the Deputy Prime Ministeron how many occasions he used Dorneywood for entertainment at public expense in each yearsince 1997. [75032]
The Deputy Prime Minister: The position remains as in the answer given to the hon. Member by the then hon. Member for Shipley (Christopher Leslie) on28 March 2003, Official Report, column 484W. The total cost came to £40.
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