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5 Mar 2007 : Column 1794W—continued
Local Government Finance: Torbay
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to approve (a) the mayor's vision, (b) the housing land availability assessment for Torbay and (c) the capital programme for Brixham in relation to the new growth point programme for Torbay; and if she will make a statement. [124276]
Yvette Cooper:
Torbay council's applications for new growth point funding for developing the mayor's vision and for a regeneration project at Oxen Cove, Brixham are currently being assessed by the Government Office
for the south west. The results of that assessment will be available shortly to the Department.
I understand that the council has undertaken an assessment of housing land availability as required in planning policy statement 3 (published in November 2006). It is a factual assessment and does not require the Secretary of State's approval. I understand that the council was preparing such an assessment as part of developing the evidence base for its local development framework (LDF). The assessment will therefore be available for testing in the public examination.
The content of the mayor's vision is a matter for the mayor and Torbay council. We would expect it to be incorporated into the LDF, which will be the subject of a public examination in due course.
Local Government: Elections
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 31 January 2007, Official Report, columns 313-14W, on local polls, whether local polls may take place on the same day as a local government election should the local authority wish. [124364]
Ruth Kelly: Local elections must be held in accordance with the Representation of the People Acts and legislation made under them. No provision has been made in those enactments which would enable a local poll to be combined with a poll to be taken at a local election. It is for a council to consider whether it is appropriate to run a local poll in parallel to a local election.
Planning Policy Statement 3
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what changes planning policy statement 3 proposes in relation to development on (a) previously residential and (b) garden land. [104050]
Yvette Cooper: Planning policy statement 3 “Housing”, published on 29 November, gives local planning authorities greater flexibility as to the location and kind of housing that they wish to see in their area. Local planning authorities can set separate targets for different kinds of brownfield land if they need to. For example, they could choose, as a matter of policy, to concentrate development on available vacant or derelict land rather than on previously-residential or garden land. PPS3 also gives them greater flexibility to address concerns around development on previously-residential or garden land in areas where it would be inappropriate.
PPS3 states in clear terms that there is no presumption that land is suitable for housing simply because it is brownfield, stressing the need for sites to be suitable for housing development, and in suitable locations that will contribute to the creation of sustainable, mixed communities.
Planning: EC Law
Mr. Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she has taken to ensure that planning authorities take into consideration the terms of the convention on landscape agreed by the Council of Europe in 2000. [124997]
Yvette Cooper: The Government believe that the UK is already fulfilling the requirements of the convention. National planning policies, including planning policy statement 1, “Delivering Sustainable Development”, and PPS 7, “Sustainable Development in Rural Areas” recognise the need to provide appropriate protection and enhancement of rural and urban landscapes in England, in line with the principal aims of the European landscape convention. Planning authorities are required to have regard to these national policies when preparing their development plans and these policies may be material to the consideration of planning applications.
Planning: Industry
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much land was designated for industrial users in (a) 1985, (b) 1995, (c) 2005 and (d) the latest period for which figures are available. [121831]
Yvette Cooper: Figures for the quantity of land designated for industrial uses are not held centrally.
Planning: Small Businesses
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what steps she is taking to encourage a sufficient supply of industrial land for use by small and medium-sized enterprises; [121832]
(2) what steps she is taking to ensure there is sufficient (a) land and (b) premises available for the use of small and medium-sized enterprises. [121833]
Yvette Cooper: National planning policy set out in Planning policy guidance note 4: “Industrial and Commercial Development and Small Firms” asks planning authorities to ensure that there is a sufficient quantity and variety of land available to meet the differing needs of businesses. Planning authorities should also ensure that there is sufficient land available which is readily capable of development and well-served by infrastructure.
Regional planning bodies and local planning authorities, in preparing and reviewing their development plans, should make a realistic assessment of the quantity of land likely to be needed in their areas to meet the needs of business and developers. They should ensure that suitable locations are available for industrial and commercial development as well as for small and medium-sized enterprises.
To assist planning authorities in assessing the overall demand for and supply of employment land, we have published “Employment Land Reviews: Guidance Note” (December 2004). This guidance seeks to help planning authorities assess the suitability of sites to
accommodate employment development, to help protect the best sites in the face of competition from higher value uses and to help them identify those sites which are no longer needed for employment development and which can be released for other uses, including for housing.
Kate Barker's “Review of Land Use Planning” (December 2006) looked at how planning might better deliver economic growth and prosperity, alongside important social and environmental objectives. The Government have welcomed the report, and are carefully considering the recommendations. We will set out our response to the report's recommendations in a White Paper this spring.
Planning: Urban Areas
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department's policy is on the construction of new high-rise buildings in cities. [123745]
Yvette Cooper: The Government do not have a separate national policy for high-rise building development in cities. The Government expect local planning authorities to plan positively, in terms of high quality development and inclusive design, for all developments, as set out in planning policy statement 1, “Delivering Sustainable Development”. This applies to all forms of development, including tall buildings regardless of location.
Population
Mrs. Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department's estimate is of the (a) population, (b) number of households and (c) average household size in each standard Government region in each year since 2003; and what her Department's latest estimate is in each case for each year until the last year of the planning horizon used by the Department. [123832]
Yvette Cooper: This information is provided in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister statistical release “New Projections of Households for England and the Regions to 2026” that was published on 14 March 2006. The regional figures are presented in table E at the following web link:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1002882& PressNoticeID-2097
Property: Prices
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of properties sold at an open market value of more than £1 million in each local authority area in each year since 2001. [125081]
Yvette Cooper: Information on the number of properties sold for over £1 million in each local authority area in England for each year since 2001 has been placed in the Library of the House.
Radon
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assistance is available to householders for preventative work in areas identified as having a high radon risk. [122809]
Angela E. Smith: The Building Research Establishment published the following three booklets which provide guidance for preventative measures to resist the ingress of radon:
Radon: guidance on protective measures for new dwellings, A BRE guide to radon remedial measures in existing dwellings—dwellings with cellars and basements,
Radon: guidance on protective measures for new dwellings in Scotland.
Reference to radon protection is also included in approved document part C—site preparation and resistance to contaminants and moisture.
Repossession Orders: Lancashire
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many house repossessions there were in Lancashire in each of the last 10 years. [125317]
Yvette Cooper: Information on mortgage possessions is only available for the United Kingdom as a whole and is collected by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. This data is available on their web site at
http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/filegrab/3AP4.xls?ref=2753.
Road Signs and Markings: Advertising
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2007, Official Report, column 4W, on roadside advertisements, what (a) meetings have been held and (b) correspondence has been conducted by officials with local authorities regarding the removal of unauthorised roadside advertisements in the last 12 months; [124246]
(2) pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2007, Official Report, column 4W, on roadside advertisements, how many unauthorised roadside advertisements have been removed as a result of local authority intervention; and what their locations were; [124247]
(3) pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2007, Official Report, column 4W, on roadside advertisements, how many people have been prosecuted for displaying or refusing to remove unauthorised roadside advertisements in the last period for which figures are available; [124248]
(4) whether she has received evidence of advertising companies continuing to solicit business using unauthorised roadside sites. [124341]
Yvette Cooper:
In the last 12 months three meetings have been held with representatives of local planning authorities and officials have written to local
authorities about the removal of unauthorised roadside advertisements. The information we have shows that 303 unlawful advertisements have been removed as a result of local authority action: 243 from Greater Manchester, Merseyside and parts of Cheshire and Lancashire; 17 from North Wiltshire; 14 from Solihull; 13 from North Lincolnshire; eight from Salisbury; two each from Barnet, Chester, and Daventry; and one each from Colchester and North Tyneside. The information about how many offenders have been prosecuted for displaying or refusing to remove unauthorised roadside advertisements is not held centrally. The unlawful advertisements and fly-posting database will hold information about successful prosecutions when the database is launched later this month. The Department has not received evidence of advertising companies continuing to solicit business using unauthorised roadside sites. However, where local authorities have taken firm action to remove advertisements, it is important to prevent an increase in adverts in neighbouring local authorities who have not taken firm action. That is why the Government are publishing new advice on best practice for all local authorities alongside the new database.
Sewage: Building Regulations
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will amend building regulations to prohibit the use of lightweight non-lockable covers for septic tanks. [124461]
Angela E. Smith: Waste water systems, including septic tanks, are subject to the requirements in part H of the building regulations. Part H was last revised in 2002 and the related approved document specifically refer to cover to septic tanks. The guidance provided says:
“The access (cover) should be lockable or otherwise engineered to prevent personnel entry.”
Sleeping Rough: Northamptonshire
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her most recent estimate is of the number of people sleeping rough in (a) Wellingborough and (b) Northamptonshire. [123451]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 7 February 2007, Official Report, column 957W.
Social Rented Housing: Milton Keynes
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many housing association properties (a) available for rent and (b) in shared-equity schemes there were in Milton Keynes in each year since 1992. [123543]
Yvette Cooper: The level of registered social landlord stock in Milton Keynes since 1992 is shown in the following table:
| Registered social landlord stock in Milton Keynes, at 1 April 1992 to 2006 | |
| Stock | |
| (1) RSL stock from 2002 includes bed spaces Source: 1992-96: Housing strategy statistical appendix 1997-2006: Regulatory statistical return | |
Levels of shared-equity properties are not readily available. However, between 1 April 1992 and 31 March 2006, 1,885 new affordable units were provided in Milton Keynes through low-cost home ownership and sub-market rental schemes.
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