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2 Nov 2006 : Column 626W—continued
Shared ownership includes both new build and those acquired and refurbished.
Allocations provided through the Housing Corporation’s Affordable Housing Programme 2006-08 are expected to deliver eight new build HomeBuy (formerly shared ownership) units in Warrington and 148 new build HomeBuy properties in Cheshire.
Immigration from Eastern Europe
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will estimate the likely effect on housing demand of expected immigration from Eastern Europe. [98799]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 1 November 2006]: The DCLG’s 2003-based household projections for England estimate that, out of 209,000 additional households per year between 2003 and 2026, about 65,000 per year (31 per cent.) is attributable to net migration into England. The migration from the eight accession countries is not accounted for separately.
Light Bulbs
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of light bulbs purchased by her Department in 2005 were of the compact fluorescent type. [98245]
Angela E. Smith: The Department for Communities and Local Government was created on 5 May 2006. The following information covers the period from September 2005 to October 2006, and thus includes data for the Department’s predecessor Department, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
83 per cent. of the light bulbs purchased in the period for the London headquarters buildings of the Department for Communities and Local Government were of the compact fluorescent type and were EU energy label class A.
This answer does not include buildings occupied by Government Offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.
Local Government (Consent Regimes)
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which consent regimes that regulate the activities of local government have been created since May 1997; and if she will make a statement. [98465]
Mr. Woolas: In March 2006 Cabinet Office and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published a joint report entitled “Consent Regimes—Reducing Unnecessary Bureaucracy” which identified 14 consent regimes which have been introduced across Government since May 1997. None of these were introduced by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).
DCLG is conducting a review of its consent regimes and we have identified 15 which were introduced prior to 1997 that have been removed or repealed since then. The Department is seeking to reduce the number of consent regimes further.
Local Government Finance
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of total council tax revenue raised by local authorities from charging on second homes in each year since 2001-02; and if she will make a statement. [98467]
Mr. Woolas: The revenue raised by local authorities charging on second homes is as follows:
| Council tax revenue from second homes | |
| £ million | |
These figures are estimates based on information reported by local authorities on the CTB1 and CTB1(S) forms.
Second homes figures for 2001-02 are not available on a robust basis.
Ministerial Meetings
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what meetings her Ministers have had with (a) councillors and (b) officials from local authorities in (i) South-West Bedfordshire constituency and (ii) elsewhere in (A) September and (B) October 2006. [97153]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 26 October 2006]: Ministers in the Department for Communities and Local Government meet regularly with both councillors and officials from a range of local authorities.
On 19 October 2006, I chaired the New Local Government Network and IdeA Mayoral Forum at 10 Downing Street at which Mayor Frank Branston, Mayor of Bedford borough council, was present.
Muslim Council of Britain
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions she has had with the Charity Commission about the Muslim Council of Britain. [99193]
Meg Munn: Since the creation of the Department for Communities and Local Government in May 2006, the Secretary of State has held no meetings with the Charity Commission.
New Link Centre, Peterborough
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will take steps to ensure that funding for the New Link Centre in Peterborough constituency is assured in 2007-08. [97496]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 30 October 2006]: The Peterborough Asylum and Migration project has been provided with three years of funding through the Treasury’s Invest to Save Budget. The grant is limited for three years.
The project has therefore produced recommendations that identify how its services might be delivered by statutory providers, as well as the voluntary and community sector. Discussions on next steps are currently being taken forward by local partners.
Right to Buy Scheme
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) houses and (b) flats formerly owned by local authorities have been sold under the right to buy since the scheme’s inception; and what the total value is at current prices of discounts in the period. [87450]
Yvette Cooper: The right-to-buy scheme (RTB) became available to tenants in October 1980. Local authorities in England report the number of sales, amount of money received and the discount given to Department for Communities and Local Government on a quarterly basis. This return is not statutory, but generally levels of response are greater than 90 per cent. In order to get a consistent estimate of RTB activity DCLG make estimates for missing LA returns. At the time of request, it is estimated that there had been a total of 1,734,940 right-to-buy sales in England between October 1980 and March 2006.
Reliable information concerning the money received and discount given on RTB activity is only held from the financial year 1998-99 onwards. In England between March 1998 and March 2006 it is estimated that there have been 408,000 right-to-buy sales raising £20,400 million in capital receipts after discounts worth around £14,300 million given (2005-06 prices). The Housing Act of 1985 allows the Secretary of State to amend RTB discount levels by way of an Order. Full details of recent reductions in discount levels can be viewed on the web:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2003/20030498.htm
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/sil998/19982997.htm
Reliable information on the number of RTB flat sales and the discount given on flats is not available however around one quarter of council properties sold through all schemes are flats.
Note: Figures used for the financial year 2005-06 are provisional.
Supporting People Programme
John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in what circumstances administering authorities award Supporting People grants to organisations that provide a service (a) solely and (b) mainly for people from outside their administrative area. [99018]
Mr. Woolas: It is a matter for administering authorities to decide how they commission for Supporting People services based on needs and priorities as set out in their Supporting People five-year strategy. The Department for Communities and Local Government does not have the power to intervene in local matters.
There are some cases where a group of authorities may agree regionally or sub-regionally for a designated authority to provide services which are of national importance and open these services to service recipients within and outside their boundaries. However, we are not aware of any administering authority that awards contracts to providers to deliver services solely or mainly for people from outside their administrative area.
Sustainable and Secure Buildings Act
Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what monitoring she has undertaken of the implementation of the crime prevention provisions in the Sustainable and Secure Buildings Act 2004; and if she will make a statement. [98464]
Angela E. Smith: The Sustainable and Secure Buildings Act 2004 gave powers to make building regulations for the purpose of “Furthering the prevention or detection of crime”. We are proposing to include security in the code for sustainable buildings that will be launched later this year.
As the code has not yet been launched we cannot monitor the success of its implementation, but we will do so in the future.
Trees
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to encourage the planting of more trees by local authorities. [97093]
Meg Munn: The planting of trees is a matter for each local authority to consider in the light of local circumstances and taking account of the needs of the local environment. To help guide such decisions, the Department encourages local authorities to develop tree strategies which evaluate the tree resource in their area and set policy objectives for how it should be managed and enhanced.
At the national level, our “Trees in Towns II” research has looked specifically at our urban tree stock. It has assessed local authority policies, resources and practices in tree planting and management as well as the quality and quantity of trees in towns and cities in England. This research identifies changes since the initial survey was undertaken in 1992. The results, which we expect to publish in January 2007, will provide information that local authorities can use to evaluate their own tree policies and practices.
More broadly we have put in place a planning and policy framework to ensure local authorities provide good quality urban parks and green spaces. The recent Public Accounts Committee report (October 2006) on enhancing urban green spaces recognised that good progress had been made, although work needs to continue to sustain and embed quality more widely.
Duchy of Lancaster
Islam and Muslim Affairs
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what arrangements her Department has in place for offering her advice on Islam and matters relating to Muslims; and who her advisers are on Islam and Muslim affairs. [94337]
Hilary Armstrong: The Department for Communities and Local Government is the lead Department on domestic matters relating to Muslim Communities and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is the lead Department on international matters. Where appropriate officials seek advice from these Departments.
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Minister without Portfolio what arrangements her Office has in place for offering her advice on Islam and matters relating to Muslims; and who her advisers are on Islam and Muslim affairs. [94339]
The Minister without Portfolio: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Work and Pensions
Household Statistics
Mr. Hepburn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) children and (b)
pensioners were recorded as living in poverty in (i) the UK, (ii) the North, (iii) South Tyneside and (iv) Jarrow constituency in each year since 1996. [97856]
Mr. Jim Murphy: Specific information regarding low income for Great Britain is available in ‘Households Below Average Income 1994-95-2004-05’. The threshold of below 60 per cent. contemporary median income is the most commonly used in reporting trends in low income.
The data source does not allow us to provide robust estimates for estimates below the level of Government Office Region.
The numbers of children and pensioners in households with low incomes, in Great Britain, the North and the North East over the period 1996-97 to 2004-05, are presented in Tables 1 and 2. Estimates are shown before and after housing costs.
| Table 1: Number of children living in low income households 1996-97 to 2004-05 | |||||||||
| Million | |||||||||
| 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | |
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