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4 Jun 2007 : Column 195W—continued
Right to Buy Scheme
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what changes the Government have made to the regulations and guidance to local authorities on how to handle the proceeds from right to buy sales since 1997. [129212]
Yvette Cooper: On 1 April 2004 legislation changing the treatment of capital receipts arising from right to buy (RTB) disposals came into force. Prior to that date, local authorities with debt were required to set-aside 75 per cent. of the capital receipt generated by an RTB disposal for repayment of that debt, and were able to use the remaining 25 per cent. of the receipt for any capital purpose. Debt-free authorities were not required to set-aside and were able to use their entire receipt for any capital purpose.
Since 1 April 2004, all local authorities have been required to pay the same proportion of RTB receipts to the Secretary of State. This process is known as “pooling”. The Government, however, have consistently invested more in housing than they have received in receipts. In 2004-05 the amount paid to government from all housing receipts (not just right to buy) was £1.7 billion. The amount invested in housing was £4.1 billion ie almost 2.5 times the amount received in receipts.
Second Homes
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she plans (a) to require planning permission for second homes, (b) to impose quotas on the number of second homes in specific areas and (c) to charge second home owners an impact fee; and if she will make a statement. [129100]
Yvette Cooper: The Affordable Rural Housing Commission identified certain problems associated with high levels of second home ownership in particular communities. The Commission concluded that across rural England as a whole, the impact of second homes was modest. It did however recommend that we consider measures to offset any detrimental effects in those localised areas where they occur.
We have no plans to alter the use class order to require planning permission for second homes.
We have already given local authorities flexibility to reduce the council tax discount offered on second homes to 10 per cent. In 2005-06 that raised an additional £92 million to spend on local priorities. We have no plans to make further changes.
Social Rented Housing
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authority homes were sold under right to buy in each of the last five years; and how many new homes were built by (a) local authorities and (b) registered social landlords in each of the last five years. [136381]
Yvette Cooper: The numbers of local authority homes sold through the right to buy scheme in each of the last five years are shown in the following table 1:
| Table 1: Local authority dwellings sold through the right to buy scheme: England | |
| Right to buy sales | |
| Source: Statistical returns from local authorities (P1B) | |
The numbers of affordable homes delivered by local authorities and registered social landlords in each of the last five years are shown in the following table 2. Affordable housing includes both social rent and intermediate housing. Intermediate housing includes low cost homeownership and intermediate rent.
| Table 2: Affordable homes delivered( 1) : England | ||
| Local a uthorities | Registered s ocial l andlords | |
| (1) Includes both acquisitions and new build. Source: Statistical returns from local authorities (P2), Housing Corporation | ||
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will revise the system of consultations between public sector long leaseholders and registered social landlords under the 1985 Landlord and Tenant Act to require full consultation between the two parties in each case. [139051]
Yvette Cooper: Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (as amended by section 151 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002) requires that leaseholders must be consulted before the landlord carries out works above a certain value (currently where the amount exceeds £250 for any individual leaseholder) or enters into a long-term agreement (currently where the amount exceeds £100 for any individual leaseholder per year) for the provision of services.
We have no current plans to amend these consultation requirements.
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the administrative costs were of the 10 (a) largest and (b) smallest registered social landlords in England in 2006-07. [139982]
Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not held centrally.
Thames Gateway: Parks
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on her plans for the proposed Thames Gateway Parkland. [139123]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 24 May 2007]: On 22 November 2006 the Government published its Interim Plan for the Thames Gateway, which, among other things, set out the Government's intention to develop the Thames Gateway Parklands.
The parklands will establish a unifying green vision for the Gateway's natural, built and historic landscapes. It will promote well designed, sustainable and high quality places with the Thames estuary at its heart.
A framework for delivery will be published later in the year.
Travelling People
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what legislation allows the immediate moving on of travellers trespassing on local authority land in circumstances where there is a local authority traveller site available. [139752]
Meg Munn: Sections 62A-E of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 enable the police to move on Gypsies and Travellers trespassing on any land where a suitable pitch is available on a publicly owned site in the area.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what action may be taken against local authorities which do not provide adequate traveller sites. [139753]
Meg Munn: Under section 15(4) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act, the Secretary of State may direct a local planning authority to amend its Local Development Scheme to include a Development Plan Document for the allocation of Gypsy and Traveller sites and the timetable within such a plan must be prepared.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which tier of authority has legal responsibility for provision of traveller sites in two tier authority areas. [139784]
Meg Munn: District and unitary councils are required to undertake accommodation needs assessments for Gypsies and Travellers in their areas, and to identify land in their Development Plan Documents to deliver the pitch numbers allocated to them by the Regional Assembly in the Regional Spatial Strategy. However, sites may be provided by any type of local authority, registered social landlords or private organisations and individuals.
Travelling People: East Midlands
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the required number is of traveller site spaces in each local authority in (a) the East Midlands and (b) South Yorkshire. [139751]
Meg Munn: Local authorities are now required to undertake an assessment of the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers in their area. The South Yorkshire authorities jointly and all authorities in the East Midlands are currently undertaking this work and we expect caravan site pitch numbers to be identified and published as part of their assessments later this year.
Travelling People: South Yorkshire
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authority travellers sites there are in each local authority area in (a) South Yorkshire and (b) the East Midlands; and what the size is of each site. [139750]
Meg Munn: The Department for Communities and Local Government publishes data on the number of Gypsy and Traveller caravans on authorised public and private sites, and unauthorised encampments and developments twice yearly. This contains a list of publicly owned sites with information on the number of pitches that each accommodates. Copies of the latest publication “Count of Gypsy Caravans on 18 January 2007: Last Five Counts” have been distributed to the Libraries of the House. An electronic version is also available on the Department’s website at:
Travelling People: Trespass
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many convictions of travellers there were in 2006 for trespass on (a) Government and (b) local authority-owned land. [139033]
Meg Munn [holding answer 24 May 2007]: Criminal sanctions are available under sections 61, 62A-E, 77 and 78 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Communities and Local Government does not hold any information on the number of convictions for trespass on Government or local authority owned land.
Unitary Councils: Higher Civil Servants
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) name and (b) grade is of the most senior civil servant working on unitary authority bids; how long that person worked in her Department; and how much he or she is paid per annum. [138101]
Mr. Woolas: It has not been the practice of successive Governments to name officials in public responses. Peter Housden is the Permanent Secretary and is the Department’s Principal Accounting Officer and Principal Policy Adviser to the Secretary of State. He has been in his post at this Department and previously at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister since 24 October 2005.
Urban Areas: Tree Planting
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she has taken to encourage the planting of trees in (a) urban streets and (b) other urban locations; and if she will make funds available to local authorities for the planting of trees in urban areas. [139153]
Yvette Cooper: We have funded Trees for Cities, through the Special Grants Programme, to develop guidance to enable local authorities, communities and other local groups to work in partnership to plant new trees. Pilot programmes have been established in Bristol, Kettering, Leeds, London, Manchester and Reading.
Funding is provided through revenue support to local authorities for the planting and maintenance of trees. We have made more money available for urban parks over the past five years though the Liveability Fund, and the Safer and Stronger Communities Fund. We also provide continued support to local authorities to improve the quality of their parks through the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment Space enabling scheme and our How To Programme.
The quality of urban parks has improved since 2000, as recognised by the recent National Audit Office report, “Enhancing Urban Green Spaces”. We remain committed to supporting local authorities deliver quality parks and green spaces through our Cleaner, Safer, Greener Communities programme.
Urban Areas: Trees
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research she has commissioned into the amenity value of trees in (a) urban streets and (b) other urban locations. [139167]
Yvette Cooper: We have not commissioned any research into the amenity value of trees.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her policy is on the planting and maintenance of trees in (a) urban streets and (b) other urban locations; and if she will make a statement. [139168]
Yvette Cooper: The Government's policy, stated in the England Forestry Strategy, recognises the value of trees within the urban environment and encourages their planting and maintenance. We have been in discussion with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs regarding the development of a new strategy for England's trees, woods and forests. The strategy will be published in the summer.
The planting and maintenance of trees is a matter for each local and highway authority to consider in the light of local circumstances and taking account of the needs of the local environment. Local authorities are encouraged to produce tree strategies to promote the management and enhancement of the tree population in their areas, including street trees and to use current best practice.
Written Questions
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to reply to question 136345, on home information packs, tabled by the hon. Member for Cotswold on 2 May. [140352]
Yvette Cooper: I answered the hon. Member’s question on 24 May 2007, Official Report, column 1528W.
Justice
Acquittals
Mr. Marsden: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many people who were jailed in the United Kingdom for (a) murder and (b) manslaughter have been subsequently found innocent by the Court of Criminal Appeal and released from prison since 1987. [139767]
Ms Harman: The following table shows the number of people whose conviction for (a) murder and (b) manslaughter was quashed by the Court of Appeal Criminal Division between 1996 (the first year for which reliable figures are available) and 2007. For cases which involved an order for retrial, the final result is not known.
| Conviction quashed; no order for retrial | Conviction quashed; retrial ordered | Total conviction s quashed | |||
| Murder( 1) | Manslaughter( 1) | Murder( 1) | Manslaughter( 1) | ||
| (1 )Also includes inchoate offences (2) 1 January 2007 to 30 April 2007 | |||||
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