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Communities and Local Government
Arm's Length Management
Mr. Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much rent surplus is available to each arm's length management organisation for reinvestment in 2006-07. [83374]
Yvette Cooper: The money that an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) receives is determined by the scope of its management agreement with the local authority and the agreed level of extra funding paid to the local authority for its ALMO to deliver decent homes. The money for the ALMO will come from the local authorities Housing Revenue Account (HRA).
Those local authorities that operate Arm's Length Management Organisations receive specific ALMO allowances as part of their HRA annual subsidy determination. Assumed surpluses (and deficits) are calculated after all assumed income (including rent) and allowances have been taken into account.
Surpluses are collected by the Department and together with a net contribution from the Exchequer of around £200 million a year, are paid to authorities with assumed deficits.
Brownfield Sites
Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many acres of brownfield sites she estimates there are in (a) West Sussex and (b) Mid Sussex. [84843]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 13 July 2006]: The information shown as follows is the total of sites reported by local authorities for the 2004 National Land Use Database of Previously-Developed Land. Local authorities do not claim to cover all sites in their returns, particularly small sites, so the totals understate the full amounts.
| Hectare | ||
| West Sussex | Mid Sussex | |
Community Infrastructure Scheme
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many projects have been selected for detailed appraisal under the Community Infrastructure Scheme; and how many of these (a) have been rejected, (b) have been approved and (c) are under review. [85075]
Yvette Cooper: Two London Gateway transit schemes were allocated £34 million of Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF) funding in November 2004 to provide support to the 2012 Olympics bid. In addition, the Government received 104 expressions of interest in January 2005 for the remaining £166 million of CIF funding. These were reviewed and in March 2005 the Government announced that 48 schemes would be invited to prepare full bids. Following detailed assessment of the bids received, 25 schemes have been allocated CIF funding, with a further six schemes receiving Department for Communities and Local Government funding. The Government are working with local partners to look into other funding options for a small number of the remaining schemes.
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much of the Community Infrastructure Fund announced in July 2004 has been (a) spent and (b) otherwise committed to be spent on identified projects; and what these projects are. [85076]
Yvette Cooper: In total £193 million of the £200 million Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF) has been allocated following a series of announcements—the final of which took place in 11 April 2006. The remaining £7 million is to be used as a contingency reserve to address any emerging issues that may arise over this two-year programme.
Following is a list of the approved GIF schemes:
| Scheme name | Growth area | Total CIF £ million (to 2dp) |
Council Tax
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many full-time equivalent staff work in the council tax capping division in her Department. [85697]
Mr. Woolas: The Expenditure Control Division of the Department deals with council tax capping among other issues. At present the division has 8.6 full-time equivalent members of staff, including temporary staff.
It is not possible to set out the split of staff input between capping and other work.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the total administrative cost was of the council tax capping division in her Department in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06. [85699]
Mr. Woolas: The total expenditure incurred by the Division dealing with council tax capping, including work on issues other than capping, was:
It is not possible to set out the split of resources between capping and other work.
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of the population pays council tax; and what percentage of those qualify for discounts. [86005]
Mr. Woolas: The number of chargeable dwellings liable for council tax in England as at November 2005 was 21,267,000 of which 8,018,000 dwellings (37.7 per cent.) were entitled to a discount.
The number of chargeable dwellings and those entitled to a discount are taken from the CTB1 forms submitted to this Department by all 354 billing authorities in England. The number of individuals liable for council tax cannot be accurately determined from these or other sources.
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much council tax was collected by local authorities in the last year for which figures are available. [86025]
Mr. Woolas: A total of £18.4 billion council tax was collected by local authorities in England in 2005-06, irrespective of the financial year to which the liabilities relate.
Councillors (Parental Rights)
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what (a) maternity rights and (b) paternity rights councillors have; and if she will make a statement. [85674]
Mr. Woolas: Legislation does not provide maternity or paternity rights for local authority councillors.
Crasher Green (Stroud)
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she will name the successful bidder for the Crasher Green site, Stroud. [83276]
Yvette Cooper: English Partnerships is currently conducting a feasibility study in to the development of the Crasher Green site in Stroud which is due to be completed in July. A decision about the future development of the site will follow in the autumn.
Discharged Psychiatric Patients
Mr. Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of discharged psychiatric patients who (a) became homeless and (b) were given (i) temporary accommodation and (ii) council housing in each year since 1990. [83376]
Yvette Cooper: Although psychiatric patients should not be discharged as homeless, some may nevertheless self-discharge and not have accommodation available to them. People may be discharged to temporary accommodation as part of a plan agreed between mental health services and housing departments, but this is not recorded as part of routine monitoring.
Information collected by my Department about households accepted by local authorities as unintentionally homeless and in a priority need group identifies those where the applicant or a household member was vulnerable as a result of mental illness or disability. Results for years since 1997 are presented in Table 4 of the quarterly Statistical Release on homelessness, first quarter of 2006, published on12 June. A summary of information back to 1990 is presented in the table. However, information on the number of these who had been former psychiatric patients, and whether they were subsequently allocated temporary accommodation or a settled tenancy, is not available centrally.
Green and White Papers
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will list in date order (a) Green and (b) White Papers produced by her Department since October 2005. [81267]
Angela E. Smith: No Green or White Papers have been published by this Department for the period in question.
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