Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 10 October 2006
Communities and Local Government
Islamist Extremism
24. Mr. Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on the Government’s progress in combating Islamist extremism. [92559]
Ruth Kelly: The police and security services continue their good work to disrupt and prevent Islamist extremists.
My Department is leading the Government’s work engaging with Muslim communities to acknowledge and tackle Islamist extremism at the grassroots. With an expanding network of Muslim partners, we are developing communities that condemn and isolate extremist activity.
London Mayor (Planning Powers)
25. James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on the Government’s plans to amend the planning powers of the Mayor of London. [92560]
Yvette Cooper: Reviewing the powers of the Mayor of London was a Government Manifesto commitment. Following the review, we set out our proposals for enhanced powers for the Mayor in a policy statement in July. We are now consulting on detailed powers over planning applications ending on 2 November.
Low-cost Housing
26. Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects £60,000 homes to be available to people in West Ham constituency. [92561]
Ruth Kelly: None of the 10 sites being developed as part of the Design for Manufacture competition is in my hon. Friend’s West Ham constituency. However, we have asked English Partnership to develop a toolkit for local authorities. This will mean that a local authority could run a similar competition to develop £60,000 homes on land in their ownership in their areas should they wish to do so. This toolkit should be available later this year.
Local Services
28. Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she plans to take to enable communities to exert greater control over the manner of delivery of local services. [92563]
Angela E. Smith: The local government White Paper will place local people at the heart of local decision-making. There is a clear link between people’s satisfaction with public services and their ability to influence them. Our reforms will give local people new powers so they can have more say in service delivery.
Local Government
29. Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions the Government has had with Sir Michael Lyons on reform of local government finance and structures in the last 12 months. [92564]
Mr. Woolas: My Government colleagues and I have had a number of discussions with Sir Michael as he takes forward his independent inquiry into the funding, form and function of local government.
Unitary Authorities
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will set a minimum population size for the formation of unitary authorities. [92562]
Mr. Woolas: As made clear to the House in June this year, we will set out the approach to restructuring in the forthcoming local government White Paper which will be published shortly.
Affordable Housing
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the supply of affordable housing in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. [92677]
Yvette Cooper: Recognising the need for more affordable housing in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, the Housing Corporation has allocated £34.1 million from its National Affordable Housing Programme 2006-08, a 66 per cent. increase on investment in 2004-06. This is expected to provide around 795 additional affordable homes to rent or buy.
Local authority partners and other stakeholders in Cornwall are undertaking sub-regional Housing Market Assessments of the future housing needs and demand in their market areas. The results of theses studies will help inform future decisions on local housing and planning policies, including affordable housing policies, to apply in Cornwall.
Building Regulations
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government why houses of multiple occupation are not classified as a specific category of residential property; and if she will take steps to ensure that Building Regulations Part E, on resistance to the passage of sound, be applied in cases where landlords seek to rent a property to students, particularly in areas with large student populations. [91072]
Angela E. Smith [holding answer 13 September 2006]: Under the Building Regulations each individually occupied room in a house of multiple occupation would be a “room for residential purposes”. Part E—resistance to the passage of sound—will apply where there is a change of use of the building so that it contains a greater or lesser number of rooms for residential purposes than it previously did. This will include situations where the use of a house changes from ordinary housing into accommodation by students (or other type of HMO), or where the number of rooms in the house being used by students to live in changes.
Community Cohesion
Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent meetings she has had with faith group leaders to discuss community cohesion. [92615]
Meg Munn: The Department for Communities and Local Government’s vision is of prosperous and cohesive communities, offering a safe, healthy and sustainable environment for all. Hence the discussion of community cohesion is an intrinsic part of meetings held by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with faith group leaders of which there have been a number recently. For example, the Secretary of State launched the Commission on Integration and Cohesion on 24 August with faith group leaders of various faiths in attendance. Discussion at the launch focused on the Commission’s theme of forging cohesive and resilient communities.
Departmental Websites
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2006, Official Report, columns 304-5W, on departmental websites, what plans her Department has for the odpm.gov.uk domain name following the machinery of government changes. [90354]
Angela E. Smith: Owing to the high volume of traffic to odpm.gov.uk, the domain name will be retained for the foreseeable future and will continue to redirect to communities.gov.uk. This is in line with Cabinet Office guidance for legacy web addresses.
Deputy Prime Minister
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many full-time equivalent press officers in her Department are providing press support to the Deputy Prime Minister. [85695]
Angela E. Smith: The Deputy Prime Minister's Office is responsible for its own press arrangements.
Discretionary Housing Payments
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what efforts have been made to advertise the money offered to local
authorities by her Department for discretionary housing payments. [92045]
Mr. Plaskitt: I have been asked to reply.
Local authorities are notified annually by circular of the amount of funding available for discretionary housing payments. Circulars are widely available for viewing on the Department's housing benefit website.
Electromagnetic Fields
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the ICNIRP guidelines are in relation to the limitation of exposure of the general public to electromagnetic fields; and if she will make a statement. [92228]
Meg Munn: In April 1998, the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) published guidelines for limiting exposure to time-varying electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields in the frequency range up to 300 GHz. This report is available at www.icnirp.de.
Restrictions on the effects of exposure to time-varying EMFs are based on biological considerations of their interactions with the body and are termed basic restrictions.
Depending on frequency, the physical quantities used to specify the basic restrictions include: induced current density, measured in Amps per square metre (A m(2)); specific energy absorption rate (SAR), measured in watts per kilogram (W / kg); or, for higher frequencies, power density, measured in watts per square metre (W / m(2)).
For example, the basic restriction on exposure to EMFs in the frequency range between 10 Hz and 1 kHz, which includes the frequency of UK mains electricity, for occupational exposure, ICNIRP recommends 10 mA m(-2) (10 milliAmps per square cm). For public exposure, ICNIRP recommends a reduction in the limit to 2 milliamps per cm (2 mA m(-2))—five times less.
For the frequencies used by mobile phone companies, the ICNIRP guidelines for occupational exposure specify 22.5 watts per square metre (for 900 MHz) and 45 watts per square metre (for 1.8 GHz frequency). For public exposure, these guidelines are 4.5 watts per square metre and 9 watts per square metre respectively—five times less.
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether in accordance with the Government's policy and planning guidelines failure of a planning application to comply with the limitation of exposure of the general public to electro magnetic fields shall automatically result in a refusal; and if she will make a statement. [92229]
Meg Munn: Planning Policy Guidance Note 8: Telecommunications states:
“All new mobile phone base stations are expected to meet the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines.
With every application, the operators now have to include a statement that self-certifies to the effect that the mobile phone base stations, when operational, will meet the guidelines.
In line with the Group's recommendations the mobile network operator should also provide to the local authority a statement for each site indicating its location, the height of the antenna, the frequency and modulation characteristics and details of power output. Where a mobile phone base station is added to an existing mast or site, the operator should confirm that the cumulative exposure will not exceed the ICNIRP guidelines.
In most cases, the emissions from base station are many hundreds, or thousands, of times lower than the ICNIRP guidelines. However, should operators not submit a certificate of compliance with ICNIRP, the local authority would be able to refuse planning permission”.
Empty Dwellings
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many full-time equivalent staff in the Residential Property Tribunals are employed to work on Empty Dwelling Management Order hearings. [86785]
Yvette Cooper: The Residential Property Tribunal Service covers Rent Assessment Committees, Leasehold Valuation Tribunals and Residential Property Tribunals. It employs 92 full-time equivalent civil service staff on case work, each of whom are expected to assist with the full range of cases brought before the Committees and/or Tribunals. In 2005, the number of cases brought before the different Committees and/or Tribunals was 7,735 of which the majority, 4,395, were heard by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. No staff are employed specifically to deal with Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs). Residential Property Tribunals were given the jurisdiction to decide on applications in respect of EDMOs from 6 July 2006. At present there have been no EDMO cases submitted for consideration.
Home Energy Efficiency
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has for encouraging the insulation of walls in domestic properties. [89342]
Angela E. Smith: Ensuring that homes have both efficient heating and effective insulation is an integral part of the Decent Homes standard. Our guidance sets out the means by which landlords can meet this thermal comfort criterion, and also recommends that they seek to go further to improve energy efficiency, for example by replacing inefficient boilers, or installing extra insulation or double glazing. Within the private sector the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Warm Front Programme, designed to challenge fuel poverty, provides grants that can be used for insulation.
Home Information Packs
Mr. Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the average time that a property to which a home information pack applies will stay on the market; and whether this period varies according to house value. [72276]
Yvette Cooper:
The 1998 survey estimated that the then current average (median) time for a property to
remain on the market was 54 days. Research is currently in progress to update this estimate.
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what meetings (a) officials and (b) Ministers have had with the Association of Home Information Pack Providers in the last six months. [90390]
Yvette Cooper: Regular meetings have been held by officials with the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) over the last six months as with all major stakeholders. Since 9 May 2005, I have met twice with AHIPP and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has met with AHIPP once.
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the written statement of 18 July 2006, Official Report, columns 11-13WS, on home information packs, what estimate she has made of the number of home inspectors needed to implement the revised home information pack proposals. [90483]
Yvette Cooper: We estimate that from 1 June next year between 2,500 and 4,500 properly trained inspectors will be needed to produce Energy Performance Certificates required for packs and voluntary Home Condition Reports.
Home Inspectors
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether (a) convicted criminals who have served and completed a prison sentence more than five years ago, (b) persons on the Sex Offenders Register and (c) persons on List 99 are eligible to become home inspectors. [83062]
Yvette Cooper: There are currently no criminal record checks on estate agents or surveyors who conduct surveys for home buyers. The business standards for Certification Schemes, published on 14 June 2006, set out the requirements for all home inspectors to undergo a full background check, including a Criminal Records Bureau check. These standards are similar to those applying to join the police force and require applications to be rejected from those convicted or cautioned for selected serious arrestable offences. The Certification Scheme will use this information to make a judgment as to whether an individual is a “fit and proper person” to become a home inspector.
Certification schemes will not have access to the Sex Offenders Register or List 99 which are restricted to employers recruiting staff who will work directly with children or vulnerable adults. However the Criminal Records check will include all past convictions including sex offences.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |