Previous Section Index Home Page

26 Feb 2007 : Column 1129W—continued


Homelessness: EC Action

Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions her Department has had with other Government Departments on a cross-departmental response to the possible effect of European Union enlargement on homelessness services. [120264]

Yvette Cooper: Communities and Local Government officials have met with the Home Office, Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and the Cabinet Office to discuss a cross-departmental response to homelessness among Eastern Europeans from the new accession countries. Communities and Local Government and the Home Office have given £497,000 to date to central London local authorities to support their work with the small number of people from the accession states who end up sleeping rough on the streets. The Home Office recently announced further funding of £107,000 in 2007-08 for Westminster city council.

The Improvement and Development Agency and the Audit Commission are also taking forward work on the Government's “Sharing Migration Good Practice” programme which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced last December.

Housing

Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what (a) statutory provisions and (b) departmental guidelines provide authorisation for action by housing associations in respect of (i) refurbishment of their existing stock, (ii) new build and (iii) replacement of existing stock by higher density new build; and what financial incentives are provided to housing associations in each case. [111181]

Yvette Cooper: Housing associations are independent not-for-profit organisations who are regulated by the Housing Corporation, a non-departmental public body.

Sections 18, 20, 21, 27 and 28 of the Housing Act, 1996 set out the statutory provisions to provide and
26 Feb 2007 : Column 1130W
recover grant via the Housing Corporation to registered social landlords (RSLs) and other developers in respect of housing activities as specified under Section 2 of the Housing Act 1996 of refurbishment of existing stock, new build and replacement of existing stock.

The Department has not published guidelines on the conduct of these activities but approves the Housing Corporation’s prospectus for the Affordable Housing Programme. More specifically Housing Corporation policy on providing grant is as follows:

The Department also enters into gap funding grant arrangements with RSLs who take negatively valued housing stock through voluntary transfer from local authorities. Current guidance is contained within the Department’s published Housing Transfer Manual 2005 (and 2006 Supplement).

In June 2006 the Department issued “A Decent Home: Definition and Guidance for Implementation for all local authorities and RSLs”. The guidance explains a number of Decent Homes policy amendments and seeks to clarify issues that have arisen in the implementation of the programme. It also sets out how we see social landlords building on the success of the programme working more flexibly to go beyond the Decent Homes programme to undertake more radical solutions to transform some of the poorest neighbourhoods into mixed sustainable communities.

We also want to encourage local authorities, ALMOs and RSLs to ensure they are considering the need for new build in their area alongside decent homes.

Housing: West Midlands

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people in (a) Coventry and (b) the west midlands are on housing waiting lists. [122286]

Yvette Cooper: Information is available on numbers of households rather than people. However, the number of households on the waiting list for social housing in (a) Coventry and (b) the west midlands, as at 1 April each year, is published on the Communities and Local Government website in Table 600. The links for this table are as follows and the table has been placed in the Library of the House.


26 Feb 2007 : Column 1131W

Local authorities in England report the numbers of households on their housing waiting list as at 1 April in their annual Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix returns. Not everyone on the waiting list is necessarily in urgent housing need. The waiting list includes those who consider social housing as their preferred or one of a number of housing options, and those who decide to get onto the waiting list ladder before they need or want to move house—particularly where the priority system is heavily based on waiting time.

Housing: Zero Carbon Plan

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assumptions her Department has made about electric heating in the context of the Government’s zero carbon housing plan; what discussions she has had about the role of electric heating in a long-term housing policy; and if she will take steps to ensure electric heating is retained as part of a long-term sustainable energy and housing strategy. [112568]

Angela E. Smith: Electric heating will always have a place in homes. The industry has indicated it will continue to improve efficiencies and innovate in conjunction with the other building interests and the electricity supply industries so that annual carbon burdens can be reduced while still providing the internal environments that householders need.

Building regulations set overall performance standards expressed in terms of annual carbon emissions. They do not prescribe means of meeting these standards. The electric heating industry was extensively consulted in advance of the amendments to the building regulations that came into effect in 2006 and I expect that they will respond to our consultation on “Building a Greener Future” published last month. The consultation proposes further amendments of the building regulations in 2010, 2013 and 2016 and in the normal way there will be detailed technical consultations before changes are made.

Liveability Fund

Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Liveability Fund spent in each region of England in the most recent year for which figures are available, broken down by programme. [112147]

Yvette Cooper: The Liveability Fund provided £89 million over three years (2003-06) to support local authorities to achieve innovations in transforming the quality of public spaces. Expenditure of the fund in its final year, 2005-06, amounted to £37.5 million, the regional break down of which is set out in the following table.


26 Feb 2007 : Column 1132W
2005-06
Region Pilot Amount (£)

Eastern

Ipswich

1,680,000

Luton

1,315,000

Maldon

1,315,000

East Midlands

High Peak

1,071,500

Leicester

1,510,000

Mansfield

1,344,000

London

Camden

1,510,000

Baling

1,242,000

Greenwich

1,685,000

North East

Castle Morpeth

1,120,000

Easington

1,461,000

NE Lines

1,071,500

N Tyneside

1,081,000

North West

Blackburn

1,344,000

Bury

1,344,000

Ellesmere Port

1,373,000

South East

Havant

1,685,000

Medway

1,680,000

Spelthome

633,000

South West

Gloucester

1,120,000

N Dorset

1,680,000

W Cornwall

1,510,000

West Midlands

Coventry

1,510,000

Dudley

1,510,000

Worcestershire

1,510,000

Yorkshire and Humber

Doncaster

1,685,000

Sheffield

1,510,000

Total

37,500,000


Planning: Industry

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much previously designated industrial land was transferred to residential use in each of the last 10 years. [121834]

Yvette Cooper: The information available is from Land Use Change Statistics set out in the following table.

The data show annual totals of land moving from an industrial use to a residential use. Between 1995 and 2004 1,895 hectares of land changed from industrial land use to residential.


26 Feb 2007 : Column 1133W
Total land use changed from industry to residential (hectares) Percentage of all land changing to residential that was previously industry

1990

170

2.1

1991

110

2.2

1992

95

1 .7

1993

100

1 .7

1994

120

1 .8

1995

150

2.3

1996

120

2.0

1997

170

2.7

1998

195

3.1

1999

n/a

3.6

2000

190

2.8

2001

215

3.2

2002

235

3.9

2003

215

3.1

2004

215

5.3

1995-2004

1,895

3.1

Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five hectares.
2. There is an inevitable time-lag between land use change occurring and it being recorded, therefore data are constantly being updated.
3. The data in the table above are based on records received from Ordnance Survey up to September 2006.
4. 1999 data are incomplete for absolute amounts but percentages are robust.

Next Section Index Home Page