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8 Nov 2006 : Column 1568W—continued
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will bring forward proposals to ensure that compliance with part P of the building regulations is assessed in home condition reports and subsequently home information packs. [99242]
Yvette Cooper: The HCR will contain a safety warning about the need for periodic inspection and testing, and advise that any electrical installation carried out after part P came into effect on 1 January 2005 should have an electrical installation certificate.
Information about standards of safety to which a property ought to, or does, comply with is authorised for inclusion in the pack, so safety certificates could be included and it would clearly be in the seller’s interest to do so.
We are considering how electrical safety information, including where electrical work has been “self-certified” under a competent persons scheme, can be made available through the standard search process.
Housing
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the research report commissioned by her Department ‘Perceptions of Privacy and Density in Housing’. [94819]
Yvette Cooper:
This report, ‘Perceptions of Privacy and Density in Housing’, was commissioned by the Design for Homes Popular Housing Research (a group that resulted from the merger of Design for Homes and the Popular Housing Group). This work was supported
by the then Office for the Deputy Prime Minister, as well as the professional bodies RICS, RIBA and RTPI, and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.
Many of the report's recommendations were aimed at improving practice among designers. However, this Department has taken measures to improve privacy in households. In particular, the 2003 and 2004 revisions to Part E of the Building Regulations have improved performance and compliance on sound insulation; one of the report's central recommendations.
This report was not a Government publication. However, copies of this report are being placed in the Library of the House. In addition, a summary of the report, and information about how to get further printed copies, is available at:
http://www.designforhomes.org/privacy_and_density.html
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) lowest and (b) highest sale prices were for two-bed properties sold under shared ownership schemes in (i) England, (ii) each region and (iii) each London local authority area in 2005. [99930]
Yvette Cooper: It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of shared ownership sales in (a) England, (b) each English region and (c) each London local authority was to households with a total income of (i) £25,000 and under (ii) £50,000 and under and (iii) £75,000 and under in 2005-06. [99932]
Yvette Cooper: It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many house repossessions have occurred in Coventry, South in the last 12 months. [99736]
Yvette Cooper: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Davies) on 6 November 2006, Official Report, column 897W.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have take up Government initiatives on shared ownership and subsidised home ownership in Coventry, South. [99737]
Yvette Cooper: Between 1991-92 and 2005-06, 700 households were helped through shared ownership or subsidised home ownership schemes in Coventry, subsidised through the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme. We do not hold information on these programmes before 1991-92.
Information specific to the Coventry, South constituency is not held centrally.
Housing (Pet Covenants)
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what assessment the Government have made of (a) the merits and (b) the enforceability of covenants on new homes banning cats and dogs as pets in special protection areas; [87351]
(2) what assessment the Government have made of the effect of special protection area status on housing developers’ decisions on building new homes with covenants that prevent residents owning dogs or cats. [88230]
Yvette Cooper: Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are classified under the EU Birds Directive and receive statutory protection under the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) Regulations 1994. Development must be in line with the Regulations.
The Government are working with stakeholders to consider mechanisms that will allow development to take place without having an adverse impact on SPAs. The Examination-in-Public process for the South East Plan provides an opportunity for consideration of how specific impacts on the SPA from new housing (including from recreational dog walking and predation of bird species by domestic cats) can be addressed.
Housing Data Warehouse
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans his Department has to develop the housing data warehouse; and what sources will contribute to the database. [66318]
Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
Housing data are currently held in a series of different ways including the National Register of Social Housing, local authority information on empty homes and homes of multiple occupations, and Valuation Office Agency information. The Housing Data Warehouse will coordinate that data so it can be used more effectively for statistical analysis, for example for cross checking the level of housebuilding or gathering statistical data about housing for geographic areas which cut across local authority boundaries (for example Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders).
Hutchinson Ports
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what meetings (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) civil servants in his Department have had with (i) Hutchinson Ports and (ii) third parties representing Hutchinson Ports; and if he will make a statement. [64264]
Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
My Department has no record of any meetings between my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister and Hutchinson Ports or their representatives. Neither I nor any other current Minister has had any such meeting. And, as far as we are able to ascertain, no current official of the Department for Communities and Local Government has had any meetings with
Hutchinson Ports or their representatives, other than the planning inspectors who heard evidence given to the public planning inquiries into the Bathside Bay and Felixstowe port developments.
Land Use
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the difference is between the Full National Land Use Database (NLUD-Baseline) and the Generalised Land Use Database in terms of what (a) data is held and (b) range of the data held. [94570]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Hammersmith and Fulham (Mr. Hands) on 10 August 2006, printed on 4 September 2006, Official Report, column 1672W.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the National Land Use Database typology of land or buildings currently in use where it is known there is potential for redevelopment (but the sites do not have any plan allocation or planning permission) includes (a) gardens and (b) open spaces surrounding existing residential properties. [94613]
Yvette Cooper: The typology for land currently in use only includes land which the local authority has identified as suitable for development. It includes residential as well as other land, however there is an optional threshold of 0.25 hectares and therefore it generally does not include small sites.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the research report commissioned by her Department ‘Valuing the Benefits of Undeveloped Land’. [94820]
Yvette Cooper: Yes a copy of ‘Valuing the External Benefits of Undeveloped Land: A Review of the Economic Literature’ will be placed in the Library.
The report is also on the Department’s website (www.communities.gov.uk). A link to the report can be found at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1145258
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research her Department has undertaken in relation to developing (a) a national property database and (b) a national spatial data infrastructure. [94848]
Yvette Cooper: The information is as follows:
(a) None; and
(b) The Department has not undertaken any research into a national spatial data infrastructure. However, the Geographic Information Panel has commissioned a UK Geographic Information strategy. This will consider the benefits to society, Government and business of a more formally co-ordinated approach to management of geographic information.
The Geographic Panel is a cross-sectoral advisory group, established by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in response to Select Committee recommendation to provide Ministers with high-level
advice on geographic information issues of national importance. Further information can be found on its website at www.gipanel.org.uk
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for the implementation of the National Land Use Database. [78334]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Hammersmith and Fulham (Mr. Hands) on 10 August 2006, printed on 4 September 2006, Official Report, column 1672W.
Local Councillors (Complaints)
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many complaints against elected members of (a) local authorities and (b) parish councils referred to the Adjudication Panel by the Standards Board have taken longer than 12 months to reach a decision; [100349]
(2) how many complaints against elected members of (a) local authorities and (b) parish councils in each year between 2001 and 2006 are outstanding at the Adjudication Panel after being referred by the Standards Board; [100350]
(3) in respect of how many (a) local authorities and (b) parish councils the Standards Board has not received a complaint against an elected member since 2001; [100351]
(4) how many complaints were received by the Standards Board against an elected member of a (a) local authority and (b) parish council in each year between 2001 and 2006; [100352]
(5) how many complaints were referred to the Adjudication Panel by the Standards Board against an elected member of a (a) local authority and (b) parish council in each year between 2001 and 2006; [100353]
(6) how many complaints against elected members of (a) local authorities and (b) parish councils referred to the Adjudication Panel by the Standards Board were upheld in each year between 2001 and 2006; [100354]
(7) how many complaints against elected members of (a) local authorities and (b) parish councils referred to the Adjudication Panel by the Standards Board concerned the failure to declare a (i) non-financial interest and (ii) personal interest in each year between 2001 and 2006; [100355]
(8) how many complaints against an elected member of (a) a local authority and (b) a parish council in (i) London, (ii) the South East, (iii) the South West, (iv) the Midlands, (v) the North East, (vi) the North West and (vii) Wales have been referred to the Adjudication Panel by the Standards Board since 2001; [100356]
(9) how many complaints have been received by the Standards Board since 2001; [100357]
(10) how many complaints have been referred to the Adjudication Panel by the Standards Board since 2001; [100358]
(11) how many complaints have been upheld by the Adjudication Panel after being referred by the Standards Board since 2001. [100359]
Mr. Woolas: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
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