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11 Jun 2007 : Column 815W—continued
Yvette Cooper:
As announced last month, EPCs and HEPs will be phased in starting with four bedroom homes and larger properties—rolling out to other sized properties once sufficient energy inspectors are in place, nationally and regionally to meet demand,
taking into account market conditions and evidence from implementation. This will include the marketed sales of properties that may have been repossessed, assuming they are not covered by any other exceptions.
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps are being taken to prevent home and energy inspectors receiving financial inducements from householders or estate agents. [140873]
Yvette Cooper: HIs and DBAs are required to join approved accreditation schemes before working. All accreditation schemes have codes of conduct and systems in place to avoid conflicts of interest. There is a clear duty for accreditation schemes to ensure that checks including criminal records have been carried out as well as checks such as references. These checks are stronger than those carried out on other groups who have access to people’s homes such as gas inspectors. We consulted the police who were content with this approach.
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) timetable is and (b) terms of reference are for the consultation on energy performance certificates; and if she will make a statement. [141723]
Yvette Cooper: The Department will carry out a public consultation this summer on what, in the longer term, the maximum age of an Energy Performance Certificate within a Home Information Pack should be when residential property is first marketed for sale. This consultation will be in accordance with Cabinet Office guidance and include an impact assessment to estimate the costs and benefits for a range of validity periods from three months up to 10 years.
Housing: Energy
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2007, Official Report, column 124W, on housing: energy, how many (a) domestic energy assessors and (b) home inspectors have failed their qualification examinations. [136949]
Ruth Kelly [holding answer 14 May 2007]: The overall pass rate for the three awarding bodies which offer the diploma in domestic energy assessment is 71 per cent.
The overall pass rate for the two awarding bodies which offer the diploma in home inspection is 63 per cent.
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2007, Official Report, column 124W, on housing: energy, how many practising (a) domestic energy assessors and (b) home inspectors there are in each region in (i) England and (ii) Wales. [137011]
Yvette Cooper:
The most recent data from home inspector certification schemes and domestic energy assessor accreditation schemes show the following information on certifications and accreditations by
region. There are a small number who come from companies with national coverage or who have not provided a valid postcode—these have been categorised as ‘not known’.
| Government office region | Accreditations or certifications |
Schemes have received a further 1,380 applications for accreditation. A total of 4,735 have now passed their exams.
Housing: Planning Permission
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department has produced on the requirement for building control permission for the installation of an additional bathroom in a domestic dwelling which does not otherwise require planning permission. [141819]
Angela E. Smith: Part G of the building regulations (hygiene) requires any dwelling to have at least one bathroom with a fixed bath or shower; and the guidance in Approved Document G describes how sanitary conveniences, washing facilities etc. should be constructed and installed, whether located in the required bathroom or elsewhere. Building regulations apply to controlled building works irrespective of whether planning permission is required.
Housing: Waiting Lists
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many families are on waiting lists for housing; and how many of those are (a) UK citizens and (b) immigrants. [139261]
Yvette Cooper: Local authorities in England report the numbers of households (not families) on their housing waiting list as at 1 April in their annual Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix returns. However, information on how many (a) UK citizens and (b) immigrants are on waiting lists for housing is not held centrally.
The number of households on local authority housing waiting lists, as at 1 April each year, is published on the Communities and Local Government website in Table 600. The link for this table is given as follows and a copy has been place in the Library of the House:
Planning
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations she received from non-governmental organisations representing planning and environmental concerns on the planning system prior to the publication of the planning white paper, Cm 7120; and what responses she made in each case. [139958]
Yvette Cooper: A number of non-governmental organisations representing planning and environmental interests wrote or e-mailed with their views on the Barker report on Land Use Planning and the Eddington Review of Transport Infrastructure. There was also a wide range of meetings, discussions, and events at which representatives of those organisations presented their views.
The feedback we received from the range of events and representations from these organisations helped inform the development of the proposals which have now been put forward in the white paper “Planning for a Sustainable Future” (Cm 7120). There is an on-going process of stakeholder engagement in developing proposals for further reform of the planning system. We have invited views on a number of key proposals and other issues in the white paper and issued four consultation papers alongside the white paper on a number of detailed proposals. Formal consultation on these proposals will run until 17 August 2007.
Preventing Violent Extremism Pathfinder Fund
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library copies of the guidance to local authorities on (a) bidding for and (b) spending the funding from the Preventing Violent Extremism Pathfinder Fund. [141731]
Ruth Kelly: I have placed a copy of the guidance on the funding process ('Preventing Violent Extremism Pathfinder Fund: Guidance Note for Government Offices and Local Authorities in England', Feb 2007) in the Library of the House.
Public Service: Somerset
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of key workers living in (a) Somerset and (b) Taunton constituency. [141227]
Yvette Cooper: The Key Worker Living programme does not currently operate in the south-west region. Therefore, we have made no estimate of the number of key workers living in Somerset and Taunton.
Rented Housing
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the relationship between the number of buy-to-let properties and trends in rent levels in the private rental sector in (a) Luton, (b) Bedfordshire and (c) England. [139979]
Yvette Cooper: Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that the number of outstanding Buy-to-Let mortgages in England has increased from around 120,000 in 2000 to around 850,000 in 2006. Despite this increase, the private rented sector as a whole only increased over this period from about 10 per cent. to 12 per cent. of the total housing stock(1).
Table 1 demonstrates that between 2000 and 2006 the number of BTL mortgages rose considerably more rapidly than the private sector rents index(1).
(1)( ) Source: CLG Survey of English Housing.
| Table 1( 1) | |||||||
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| (1) These figures are best viewed graphically. | |||||||
In recent years, due to the increase in supply of private rented properties, driven by the growth in Buy-to-Let, private sector rents have not been rising as fast as house prices suggesting that the private rented sector provides a more affordable alternative to owner-occupation. This relationship is displayed in Table 2.
| Table 2( 1) | |||||||
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| (1) These figures are best viewed graphically. | |||||||
Information is not held centrally on the number of Buy-to-Let properties below the national level.
Valuation Office: Contracts
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether information held by Rightmove from home condition reports and home information packs will be included within the current and historic database that the Valuation Office Agency has access to under its ongoing contract with Rightmove. [124475]
Ruth Kelly: There is no requirement for information from home information packs to be placed on the Rightmove website. Only information that has previously been freely available to the public on Rightmove’s website is accessed by the Valuation Office Agency.
Written Questions
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to reply to Question 137090, on home inspectors, tabled by the hon. Member for Cotswold on 9 May. [140350]
Ruth Kelly: I have now replied to the hon. Member’s question.
Treasury
Annuities: East Midlands
Annette Brooke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average time taken to process tax rebates for senior citizens with annuities through the Leicester and Northampton tax office was in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [141762]
Ed Balls: HMRC receives just under half a million repayment claims after the end of each tax year from customers who are outside PAYE or self assessment and who have had tax deducted from investment income, including retirement annuities. The Department aims to deal with 97 per cent. of repayment claims within 15 days and has exceeded this target during April and May 2007. Average time, or separate information for retirement annuitants or senior citizens, is not available. Recent changes mean that most retirement annuitants will no longer need to make annual claims.
Arthritis: Young People
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many children under the age of 16 years in (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK died from the juvenile form of rheumatoid arthritis in each year since 1997; [140826]
(2) how many adults died in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK from rheumatoid arthritis in each year since 1997. [140828]
John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 11 June 2007:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent questions asking how many children under the age of 16 years in (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK have died from the juvenile form of rheumatoid arthritis in each year since 1997 (140826); and how many people have died in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South
Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK from rheumatoid arthritis in each year since 1997 (140828). I am replying in her absence.
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