| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
13 Jun 2007 : Column 1066W—continued
36 per cent. of fathers (1.83 million) and 27 per cent. of mothers (1.44 million) usually work evenings, nights or shifts.
47 per cent. of fathers (2.40 million) and 39 per cent. of mothers (2.06 million) usually work either shifts, evenings, nights or days at the weekend.
Communities and Local Government
Architects Registration Board
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what basis the Architects Registration Board took the decision to spend £100,000 on legal action against Ian Salisbury, one of its former board members. [140846]
Angela E. Smith: Any decision to issue legal proceedings is a matter for the Board to decide in the course of exercising its statutory functions. I am assured that the Board would only expect to issue proceedings as a last resort, on legal advice and following strenuous efforts to resolve matters without proceedings. The proceedings between the Board and Mr Salisbury were settled on terms satisfactory to both parties.
Audit Commission: Visits Abroad
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will list the visits which representatives of the Audit Commission have made outside the UK at public expense in the last 12 months. [141756]
Ruth Kelly: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member. The Chief Executive subsequently replied on 11 June and a copy of the letter has been placed in the Library of the House.
Constituencies: Greater London
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to amend the boundaries of Greater London; and what representations she has received on this in the last 12 months. [141873]
Ruth Kelly: The Department has no plans to amend the boundaries of Greater London, and has received no representations on this matter over the past year.
Council Tax
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the likely changes in the level of council tax for residents in each of the shire counties in which consideration is being given to (a) new unitary authority arrangements and (b) enhanced two-tier working arrangements if those arrangements are implemented. [141623]
Mr. Woolas: The Government have not made any estimate of the likely changes in council tax arising from any new unitary authority arrangements or enhanced two-tier working arrangements. The Government have made clear that proposals for new arrangements must represent value for money and be met from existing resources. As part of their business case for new arrangements, bidding authorities were required to include worked examples of how an authority could align council tax across its area. Copies of the business cases are available from the authorities’ own websites, accessible via a link on the Communities and Local Government website:
Departments: Data Protection
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many times her Department was found to have been in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [139207]
Angela E. Smith: The definition of ‘found to have been in breach’ is a broad one. Depending on their nature, breaches by Government Departments of the Data Protection Act 1998 can be dealt with by the Information Commissioner, the Courts or by Departments at an informal local level. The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Official Residences
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will list the official ministerial residences allocated to Ministers in her Department; and what the total annual cost is of running each. [141967]
Angela E. Smith: There are no ministerial residences allocated to Communities and Local Government Ministers.
Departments: Property
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was raised from the sale of departmental property in each of the last five years. [139321]
Angela E. Smith: No land or buildings for which Communities and Local Government, its agencies or its predecessor Department are responsible for, has been sold in the last five years.
This answer does not include land or buildings occupied by Government Offices, which carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent estimate has been made of the value of her Department’s property portfolio. [139384]
Angela E. Smith: The most recent valuation dates of the Department’s property assets, not including properties held by sponsored bodies, were 31 March 2006 (audited) and 31 March 2007 (not yet audited) and the total portfolio value at both dates was £25 million.
This answer does not include land or buildings occupied by Government Offices, which carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.
Domestic Wastes: Waste Management
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance the Audit Commission has produced on the effectiveness of moving to alternate weekly collections in terms of meeting the objectives of waste management. [141818]
Ruth Kelly: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member. The Chief Executive subsequently replied on 11 June and a copy of the letter has been placed in the Library of the House.
Fire Services
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her estimate is of the percentage of work currently carried out by emergency fire controls which is out of scope of the Fire Control Project but which will remain the responsibility of local fire brigades; and what her estimate is of the cost of carrying out the work currently deemed out of scope. [142178]
Angela E. Smith: All aspects of emergency call handling, mobilisation and incident management are within the scope of the new networked Regional Control Centres (RCCs), and their costs are reflected in the FiReControl business case.
In 2006, based on detailed information provided by the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS), a preliminary estimate was made of the activities which are currently performed within existing control rooms and how they might be delivered under the new regional control arrangements. The ongoing cost to FRSs was estimated to be around £4 million per annum.
Significant local differences exist in the amount of “out of scope” activity carried out by existing control rooms. Each FRS will need to produce a plan for dealing with this work as part of its detailed transition planning. This will provide a more accurate estimate of the cost of continuing to deliver these activities.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she will consider the introduction of national response times for the Fire Service following the move to regional fire controls in order to determine whether response times from time of call to arrival at an incident will improve after regional controls go live; and if she will make a statement. [142179]
Angela E. Smith: It is for each Fire and Rescue Authority to determine appropriate response times as part of its integrated risk management plan. The Government have no plans to introduce national targets. As part of the process of introducing Regional Control Centres the Department has developed a set of benefits indicators, one of which will enable it to show the impact of Regional Control Centres on response times. Two features of the fire control system, Automatic Vehicle Location Systems (AVLS) and the ability to dynamically mobilise fire appliances directly, even when they are not in a fire station, are expected to put a downward pressure on response times. There are a number of other factors affecting response times, including the number and location of fire appliances as well as the control arrangements.
Freedom of Information: Easington District Council
John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to respond to the District of Easington Council with the information requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on 4 April 2007; what the reasons are for the delay; and if she will make a statement. [141941]
Angela E. Smith: The Freedom of Information request from Easington district council seeks information about the proposal by Durham county council for a unitary local authority for Durham, and is one of a large number of requests received on unitary proposals. The Department wrote to Easington district council on 4 May informing them that we did hold information which came within their request, but that the information came within the qualified exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and that we required further time to assess whether the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing it. We intend to respond to the request no later than 15 June 2007.
Housing: Camden
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions she has had with Camden council on funding for Decent Homes; and if she will make a statement. [141301]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 11 June 2007]: The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has not had any meetings with Camden council about their decent homes programme or funding. As Minister for Housing I met Camden council on 24 May this year to discuss decent homes. I previously met the council on 18 July 2005.
Housing: Construction
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how the guidance on the use of windfall land to meet regional housing targets in Planning Policy Statement 3 differs from the 2000 edition of Planning Policy Guidance Note 3; and if she will make a statement. [129364]
Yvette Cooper: Reflecting the need to build more homes across the country to meet the needs of our growing population, and the plan-led approach to the provision of housing, Planning Policy Statement 3: “Housing” (PPS3) asks local authorities, wherever possible, to identify specific sites for housing in their plans.
In some circumstances it may make sense for local authorities to include a windfall allowance in planning their land supply. PPS3 makes clear that it is open to local authorities to do this if they can clearly demonstrate why, in the particular circumstances of their local area, specific sites cannot be identified.
Planning Policy Guidance 3: “Housing” (PPG3; (2000), which new PPS3 replaces, asked local authorities to make specific allowances for windfalls in their plans.
We want authorities to plan properly for their housing provision, on the basis of specific sites that reflect clear and informed strategies for the location of housing development, and for the infrastructure needed to service it.
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration has been given to ways of decreasing the potential damage to health from small particle emissions in housing developments near roads. [141118]
Mr. Bradshaw: I have been asked to reply.
Health based air quality standards have been set both at a domestic and EU level on a range of air pollutants, including particulate matter. Action to improve air quality is underway across Government at national, international and local levels.
The introduction of the “Euro” series of progressively tighter emission standards has been underway since 1992, and has drastically lowered the permitted limits for particulate matter emission from new diesel vehicles. This has been complemented by improvements in product standards for petrol and diesel, which have lowered the permitted amounts of certain pollutant-forming substances in these fuels. Further “Euro” vehicle emission standards, with even tighter emission limits for particles, are due to be introduced between now and 2014. This is supported by other Government action, including the promotion of cleaner, less polluting fuel and vehicle technologies.
Local authorities are also taking forward their duty to review and assess air quality in their areas against objectives for a range of pollutants. If there is a likely chance of failure in meeting any of these objectives, an authority is required to declare an Air Quality Management Area and take forward action plans within its remit to address the problem. Such action is
progressed in coordination with other agencies, including the Highways Agency and Environment Agency.
The content of action plans varies from one authority to another, and depends upon the sources of the pollutants of concern. However, common elements where emissions from roads are a particular problem include:
(i) A commitment to working closely with the Highways Agency on possible emissions reduction measures where trunk roads are major local sources of pollutants;
(ii) Local traffic management measures to limit access to, or re-route traffic away from, problem areas. Low emission zones are a possible solution that some authorities have been looking at in this context;
(iii) Commitment to developing green travel plans and/or to using cleaner-fuelled vehicles in the authority’s own fleet;
(iv) A strategy for informing members of the public about air quality issues, via local newsletters or other media;
(v) Quality partnerships with bus or fleet operators to deliver cleaner, quieter vehicles in return for the provision of better bus lanes or more flexible delivery arrangements; and
(vi) local walking and cycling strategies.
Housing: East Sussex
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex are on waiting lists for social housing. [141889]
Yvette Cooper: Information is available on numbers of households rather than people. The number of households on the waiting list for social housing in (a) Eastbourne and (b) East Sussex, as at 1 April each year, is published on the Communities and Local Government website in Table 600. The link for this table is as follows:
Local authorities in England currently 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: Low Incomes
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties were (a) bought and (b) part-bought in (i) Somerset and (ii) Taunton constituency under the Government’s Homebuy scheme in each of the last five years. [141228]
Yvette Cooper: The following table shows the total number of properties purchased under low cost home ownership schemes in each of the last five years for Somerset and for the area covered by Taunton Deane borough council. This information is not held on a constituency basis.
| 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-7( 1) | |
| (1 )Provisional. Source: Housing Corporation | |||||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |