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6 Nov 2006 : Column 892W—continued
Ocean New Deal for Communities Programme
Mr. Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) why the Ocean New Deal for Communities programme in London E1/E14 has been put into special measures; and what factors underlay the decision to suspend resident board member Shirin Choudhury; [97407]
(2) if she will take steps to ensure that investment is forthcoming from Ocean New Deal for Communities and other bodies to carry out necessary repairs and improvements at the Ocean Estate in London E1/E14. [97408]
Mr. Woolas: The Ocean NDC has not been put into special measures. The Department has commissioned an independent review of the NDC's programme, following the recent housing stock transfer ballot on the Ocean estate. Following this review and after discussion with London borough of Tower Hamlets (the accountable body for this NDC) we will be considering the position of the Ocean estate.
NDCs are set up with autonomous governance arrangements and boards. This will include codes of conduct which all board members are expected to adhere to. Any decision to suspend a board member will be taken by an NDC Board.
Planning
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she plans to establish a national land database of public land available for alternative uses including housing. [78902]
Yvette Cooper: Following the publication of the sustainable communities plan in 2003, English Partnerships established a register of surplus public sector land held by central Government bodies and available for reuse. A web-based version of the register was established in 2005 as part of the electronic Property Information Mapping Service (e-PIMS), operated by the Office of Government Commerce. e-PIMS records information about properties owned and occupied by central Government. Work is under way to provide more comprehensive information on surplus public land.
Mrs. Spelman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the planning application to construct the millennium dome
in the late 1990s was called in by the Secretary of State; and what reasons were given to justify any call-in. [94566]
Yvette Cooper: No planning application in relation to the millennium dome has been called in.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will list the planning applications from consideration of which the Deputy Prime Minister ruled himself out on probity grounds due to a potential conflict of interest with family members when he was the Secretary of State responsible for planning. [94643]
Yvette Cooper: The Deputy Prime Minister did not consider any such cases.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 15 May 2006, Official Report, column 813W, on planning, whether the planning decisions involved planning applications in which Estate Partnerships played a role. [95798]
Yvette Cooper: Our records of planning applications and planning appeals considered by the Deputy Prime Minister and other planning Ministers, show no applications from “Estate Partnerships”, either as applicant or agent.
We do not know which people and organisations are clients of “Estate Partnerships” and are therefore unable to provide any further answer with regard to them.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans the Government has to tackle the practice of the sale and marking out of development plots of green belt land where there is no realistic prospect of planning permission. [99394]
Yvette Cooper: Consultation ended on 24 October on my Department's proposals to speed up the procedures enabling local planning authorities to redraw permitted development rights in respect of the subdivision of rural land.
Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department has taken to ensure that local planning authorities are able to impose energy efficiency measures under the EU Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings (Directive 2002/91/EC) in relation to new planning applications. [98513]
Angela E. Smith: The requirements of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and associated energy performance calculation methodologies were implemented through an amendment to the Building Regulations introduced in April 2006. Compliance with Building Regulations is enforced by Local Authority Building Control and approved inspectors.
National planning policy set out in Planning Policy Statement 1 (PPS1) already expects the development plans prepared by regional planning bodies and local
planning authorities to contribute to global sustainability through policies which reduce energy use, reduce emissions (for example, by encouraging patterns of development which reduce the need to travel by private car, or reduce the impact of moving freight) and promote the development of renewable energy resources. In doing so, planning policies are expected to avoid replicating, cutting across, or detrimentally affecting matters within the scope of other legislative requirements, such as those set out in Building Regulations for energy efficiency.
We have said we will publish for consultation by the end of the year a new PPS on climate change. This will set out how the Government expects participants in the planning process to work towards the reduction of carbon emissions in the location, siting and design of new development. The PPS will sit alongside the Code for Sustainable Homes, and together with national Building Regulations support the Government’s ambition of moving first to low carbon and then to carbon neutral development.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of her Department’s guidance on propriety issues in handling planning casework. [90737]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 11 September 2006]: I have today placed a copy of the current “Guidance on Propriety Issues in Handling Planning Casework in Communities and Local Government” in the House Library. It is also available on the DCLG website at http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=l144571
Radon Gas
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment the Government have made of the possible effects of radon gas in respect of the development proposed in the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Regional Strategy. [77691]
Yvette Cooper: The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has assessed the levels of Radon gas across the UK. This assessment has shown elevated levels in some parts of the Milton Keynes South Midlands area. The provision of protection for new buildings against the ingress of radon is a normal part of the planning process through PPS23 and Buildings Regulations. Several authorities in the MKSM area are participating in the Government's radon programme—“Reducing Radon in the Home”.
Recycling
Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to encourage the use of reused and recycled materials in capital procurement projects for which her Department is responsible. [98006]
Angela E. Smith:
The Department for Communities and Local Government is adopting new procurement guidance that will specifically address sustainable
themes and encourage staff to take sustainable factors into consideration from the beginning of any capital procurement.
Regeneration (Thames Gateway)
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether public sector funding bodies with responsibility for delivering new housing in the Thames Gateway plan to make their contribution conditional on defined high standards of design. [93957]
Yvette Cooper: The Government recognise that high quality housing design is a prerequisite for creating sustainable and cohesive communities. We have been working with members of the Thames Gateway Strategic Forum to promote high quality housing design and we will be announcing a package of measure to support this in the forthcoming Thames Gateway Interim Strategic Framework that will be published on 22 November 2006.
In addition to this the Housing Corporation has established a Commission on Affordable Housing and Design Quality in the Thames Gateway. The aim of the Commission is to deliver a document that will specify design standards that will be applied to all new Corporation funded properties developed in the Thames Gateway.
Registered Social Landlords
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the value of the (a) assets and (b) surpluses of the 10 largest registered social landlords was in each of the last four years. [98265]
Yvette Cooper: The following table lists the largest 10 registered social landlords (RSLs) in each of the years from 2002 to 2006 together with the level of stock owned and managed, Net Book Value of their stock and their Surplus before Tax for each of the years.
| £000 | |||
| Owned and managed | Net book value | Surplus before tax | |
| Source: Housing Corporation | |||
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