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6 Nov 2006 : Column 871W—continued
Fire Stations
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department has issued on the installation of smoke alarms in (a) retained and (b) non-retained fire stations. [99582]
Angela E. Smith: Fire stations are subject to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in the same way as other non-domestic premises. Any decision about whether any particular type of fire precaution, including fire detection and warning, is required should be taken in the light of a fire risk assessment of the premises and their use.
Gasworks Redevelopment
Mr. Galloway:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the total cost to public funds has been of the redevelopment of
the Old Gasworks site at the corner of Harford Street and Ben Jonson Road, London E1; and what contributions have come from each source of public funds in each relevant year. [97406]
Yvette Cooper: The Department for Communities and Local Government has provided public funding for the development in the form of social housing grant via the Housing Corporation to provide over 500 new homes of mixed tenure, being developed by two Registered Social Landlords (RSLs)—Newlon Housing Trust and East Thames Housing Group. The total social housing grant agreed by the Housing Corporation is £24,824,911, with the remainder of the funding for this housing programme coming from the RSLs' own reserves. A total of £16,625,925 of this has been paid to date: £7,549,212 in 2003-04, less £24,105 reclaimed in 2004-05 and £9,100,818 in 2005-06.
In addition to the above, £12,350 of New Deal for Communities money has been spent on undertaking feasibility work relating to the potential development of a multi-purpose community facility, incorporating key Primary Care Trust activities, along with facilities for training, employment and enterprise activities. This breaks down to £12,075 in 2005-06 and a further £275 in this financial year.
Government Social Research Service
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost was of the Government Social Research Service in her Department in each of the last five years; how many projects have been completed by the Service in that period; and how many people are employed in the Service in her Department. [95852]
Angela E. Smith: The projects completed by the GSR Service in DCLG for each of the past five financial years are:
| Completed projects | |
The costs of the Government Social Research Service are only available for the past four financial years:
| GSR service cost (£) | |
DCLG currently employs 64 Government Research Service staff, some of whom work on a part-time basis.
Home Condition Reports/Information Packs
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the Register of Home Condition Reports will be fully operational. [94805]
Yvette Cooper: The key services required to enable the successful lodgement and retrieval of Home Condition Reports and Energy Performance Certificates will be available for the commencement of the area trials on 6 November, Plans are in place to develop this core service to provide full functionality by the first quarter of 2007 to allow for contingency before the start of live running on 1 June 2007. These development plans will take into account experiences gained and enhancements identified during the area trials.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her estimate is of the cost of a home information pack (a) excluding the Home Condition Report and (b) including VAT. [94852]
Yvette Cooper: The price of the pack will be determined by the market, not Government. The Regulatory Impact Assessment published in June assumed that costs would be similar to costs currently charged for similar products, although we expect competition and innovation will lead to a reduction in these prices.
We are currently revising our estimate for the cost of home information packs, including producing the Energy Performance Certificate in the light of the statements made on 18 July and 21 September. A revised estimate of the costs will be included in the updated Regulatory Impact Assessment to be published alongside new regulations in early 2007.
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the Government’s planned expenditure is for the home information packs public relations and marketing campaign. [90356]
Yvette Cooper: The total communications budget for the HIP Programme in 2006-07 is £2.6 million excluding VAT. This is to ensure that the public and those working in the home buying and selling industry understand the changes that are being made and the benefits they will bring to consumers and the environment. It includes expenditure to support the area trials and includes information for estate agents, information about energy performance certificates and facts for home buyers and sellers.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Mr. Gove) on 9 October 2006, Official Report, column 382W, on Home Information Packs, what is the estimated full-time equivalent number of individuals required to satisfy demand. [95808]
Yvette Cooper: The estimated number of qualified home inspectors required after June 2007 to satisfy demand on a full-time equivalent basis would be approximately 2,200. Based on the range of current industry working practices, this means between 2,500 to 4,500 individual Home Inspectors would be required.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) of 2 October 2006, Official Report, column 2535W, on Home Information Packs, whether her Department has produced estimated costs of a Home Condition Report in London. [95812]
Yvette Cooper: The price of the pack will be determined by the market, not Government. For the purposes of preparing the RIA published in June we have assumed that costs will be similar to costs currently charged for similar products, although we expect competition and innovation will lead to a reduction in these prices.
The full Home Condition Report (HCR) will be similar in content to the existing mid-range survey on the market, The Homebuyers Survey and Valuation, which costs about £400 plus VAT on average across the country as a whole. The actual cost of the HCR will be determined by the market and this will depend, as now, on the size, condition and location of the property. We expect competition in the market to ensure that costs are held down.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what home information pack trials are taking place; where the next trials are planned; and whether the next trials will include environmental standards. [99231]
Yvette Cooper: Trials will take place in Bath, Cambridge, Southampton, Northampton, Newcastle and Huddersfield. We are working with the Association of Home Information Pack Providers to ensure providers are in place to conduct the trials.
No further locations are currently planned.
The trials will include testing of the Energy Performance Certificate and the Home Condition Report.
Home Improvement Agencies
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the status is of the national contract to act as the co-ordinating body for home improvement agencies; and what plans she has to renew it. [97577]
Yvette Cooper: The contract is currently held with Foundations who act as the national co-ordinating body for Home Improvement Agencies. A decision will be taken shortly as to how best to continue to support a national co-ordinating body when the existing contract period expires. This is still the subject of procurement discussions and, further to these, we hope to be able to make a decision in November.
Home Inspectors
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the Government plan to fund compensation for those who have trained to be home inspectors; and if she will make a statement. [94823]
Yvette Cooper: The Government's policy is that mandatory Home Condition Reports (HCRs) remain on the table if the industry fails to make a success of the roll-out of HCRs. We will promote the voluntary take-up of HCRs, and have allocated £4 million to support their take-up and testing of home information packs. Therefore home inspectors will still be needed and job opportunities for home inspectors remain for those who have undertaken training. Moreover, the introduction of Energy Performance Certificates for private and social rented properties will further enhance these opportunities.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many home inspectors are in training. [94824]
Yvette Cooper: According to the figures supplied by assessment centres, as at 5 October, there were 4,180 home inspectors in training. This excludes those who had completed training.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the most recent figures are for the number of home inspectors who are now (a) qualified and (b) in training. [95840]
Yvette Cooper: The most recent figures, as at 5 October, supplied by assessment centres show that
(a) there are 500 home inspectors who have completed their training, of whom 190 have now been issued with their certificate
(b) there were 4,180 candidates still in training.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of trained home inspectors. [95888]
Yvette Cooper: At least 470 home inspector candidates have completed their training.
This figure is based on returns provided by six of the 11 assessment centres at 25 August, together with earlier returns from the other centres.
Honours
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authority councillors received a Commander of the Order of the British Empire award between May 1997 and November 2006, broken down by political party affiliation. [98877]
Mr. Woolas:
Records in the Department for Communities and Local Government showing the number of CBE awards made to local authority councillors for services to local government in England and Wales are available from 2001. In the period from
the new year 2001 to the Queen’s birthday 2006 lists, 15 such awards were made. National honours to local authority councillors are awarded for the contribution the individual has made to the local community. The individual’s party political affiliation is not taken into account in assessing potential candidates for honours.
Housing
Michael Gove: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what proportion of new housing built on brownfield sites in the 12 months to 1 April was built on garden or playing field sites; [64947]
(2) what assessment has been made of the change in the amount of garden space in urban and suburban areas since May 1997. [65062]
Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested on gardens is not available centrally. The extent of garden space compared to curtilage of previous building is not recorded in land use change statistics on development of previously developed land.
Outdoor recreation is classified as an undeveloped use, not as brownfield. In 2004 2 per cent. of new dwellings were provided on land that was previously outdoor recreation, down from 4 per cent. in 1994 and 3 per cent. in 1997. Planning policy on open space and recreation is set out in planning Policy Guidance 17 (PPG17) (July 2002) which states that existing open space, sports and recreational building and land should not be built on unless an assessment has been undertaken which has clearly shown the open space or the buildings and land to be surplus to requirement. In addition new investment has brought other kinds of brownfield land back into use for outdoor recreation.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effect of large bonus payments to people employed in the financial services industry on house prices in London. [99369]
Yvette Cooper: As part of the Government’s response to the Barker Review of Housing Supply, the Government undertook detailed analysis and modelling of affordability, as detailed in the research publication “Affordability Targets: Implications for Housing Supply” (ODPM, 2005). The modelling took into account rising incomes over the period and this analysis contributed to the decision to set an ambition to increase housing supply to a level of 200,000 annual net additions by 2016. It looked at long term prices, rather than short term pressures in individual locations. The new National Housing and Planning Advice Unit will provide more detailed assessments for regions and local areas.
At an aggregate level house prices are affected by a wide range of variables, including interest rates, level of household income and flexibility of the credit market.
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many projected additional households are attributable to each of the principal factors generating additional households in each year from 2003 to 2026. [94218]
Yvette Cooper: An analysis of the components of growth in household numbers as projected by the 2003-based household projections produced by the Department for Communities and Local Government is tabulated. Household growth has been split into the four principal factors generating additional households. The changes are best viewed over several years as tabulated.
(a) the projected growth of the total adult private household population;
(b) the change in the age structure of the population;
(c) changes in the marital status of the population, including proportions cohabiting, as well as legal marital status; and
(d) changes in household formation rates specific for age, sex, legal marital status and cohabitation.
The table includes a “remainder” column, which shows the change due to interaction between the components, for instance, the combined effect of increasing population and changes in the age distribution.
| Components of the projected increase in households 2003-26: England | ||||||
| Thousand | ||||||
| Adult population | Age structure | Marital status | Household formation rates | Remainder | Total | |
| Source: 2003-based household projections (DCLG and APU) | ||||||
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