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Multiple Occupation

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effect of (a) discretionary and (b) mandatory licensing of houses of multiple occupation on the (i) buy-to-let and (ii) housing market. [141798]

Ruth Kelly: The Building Research Establishment (BRE) was commissioned to undertake a baseline survey on Houses in Multiple Occupation prior to licensing. This will be published shortly. BRE have also been commissioned to conduct a follow up study on the practical implication, effectiveness and impact of mandatory and discretionary licensing and this research is due to commence in early 2008.

North Lincolnshire Council

Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the capital allowance to North Lincolnshire Council was in each of the last 10 years. [110019]

Mr. Woolas [holding answer 19 December 2006]: The information requested is not held centrally.

Planning

Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she plans to take to improve parliamentary scrutiny of national planning policy statements following paragraph 1.44 of the planning white paper, Cm 7120. [139956]

Yvette Cooper: Paragraphs 3.27 and 3.28 of the White Paper “Planning for a Sustainable Future” (Cm 7120), explain that as Ministers would no longer be taking decisions on individual applications, it believes that draft national policy statements should be subject to parliamentary scrutiny, and that further work is needed to identify the most appropriate mechanism for ensuring parliamentary scrutiny. The White Paper consults on what mechanisms might ensure appropriate parliamentary scrutiny.

Planning Obligations

Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what steps her Department is taking to support the development of a landowner and developer tariff for infrastructure delivery in growth areas as an interim measure pending the introduction of the proposed Planning Gain Supplement; [143167]

(2) what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of existing landowner and developer tariff schemes as a means of capturing land value and securing funds for infrastructural development; [143168]

(3) what definition her Department uses of a landowner and developer tariff for the purposes of infrastructure delivery. [143169]

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Yvette Cooper: Communities and Local Government does not use a definition for landowner and developer tariffs. In practice landowner and developer tariffs are planning obligations negotiated between the landowner, developer and the local planning authority under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as amended by section 12 of the Planning and Compensation Act 1991.

Communities and Local Government has provided support to local planning authorities and local delivery vehicles in the growth areas:

(i) they have submitted a bid for funding from the Growth Area Fund towards studies underpinning the schemes,

(ii) our costs contribute to specific infrastructure projects in the Growth Areas which meet our strategic objectives, and;

(iii) through advice and expertise provided via English Partnerships.

For example, in Kent Thameside, Communities and Local Government has been working in partnership with Local Planning Authorities, Kent County Council, Highways Agency and Department for Transport to develop a solution enabling local and regional transport infrastructure to support development aspirations.

Planning Policy Commission

Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what arrangements are in place for taking account of the views of Ministers in the devolved administrations in decisions on the Planning Policy Commission, where those decisions potentially have an impact on Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. [142445]

Yvette Cooper: Chapter 10 of “Planning for a Sustainable Future” (cm 7120) explains that decisions on major energy infrastructure projects in Wales presently made by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry would be transferred to the independent planning commission. Decisions on all other major infrastructure projects would continue to be made within Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The commission would consult Welsh Ministers during its consideration of any energy scheme within Wales, including at the decision stage.

The Government will also work with Scotland and Wales to put in place effective arrangements for any
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cross border projects which need to be jointly determined by the commission and Scottish or Welsh Ministers.

Planning: Housing Improvements

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations her Department has received from the Federation of Master Builders on the proposals in the Planning White Paper to amend the planning regime for household extensions. [143637]

Yvette Cooper: We have received no representations from the Federation on this issue. However officials have arranged to meet the Federation to discuss the Government’s consultation proposals.

Rescue Services: Finance

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much financial support was made available for urban search and rescue teams in each fire authority area in each financial year for which support was made available. [143158]

Angela E. Smith: Communities and Local Government (CLG) has provided financial support direct to fire and rescue authorities (FRAs) to assist urban search and rescue (USAR) teams through grants under section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003. Details of all these grants are published in Fire Service Circulars. The following table summarises this funding, the amounts provided to individual FRAs and the financial year they were paid.

Government have also funded over £8.7 million in new USAR training facilities at the Fire Service College to enable USAR teams to undertake generic and specialist training. To date over £6.8 million has been spent on training courses for USAR technicians primarily at the college.

Other funding, paying for the initial purchase and maintenance of equipment hosted by the USAR teams, has been undertaken collectively with other New Dimension assets and it is not possible to separate out the USAR costs in isolation.

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S31 grant funding paid to FRAs in support of USAR teams
£
	2004-05	2005-06
Fire authorities	Crewing and training (resource)	Crewing (resource)	PPE (capital)	Accommodation (capital)
Avon Fire Authority	—	306,000	42,469	—
Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority	—	306,000	42,469	—
Cheshire Fire Authority	115,900	150,000	—	—
Devon Fire Authority	109,800	459,000	42,469	—
Essex Fire Authority	103,700	306,000	42,469	—
Greater London Authority	1,695,800	1,836,000	169,876	—
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority	146,400	150,000	—	—
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority	128,100	612,000	42,469	—
Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority	—	306,000	42,469	—
Kent and Medway Towns Fire Authority	85,400	306,000	42,469	—
Lancashire Combined Fire Authority	—	306,000	42,469	—
Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Combined Fire Authority	103,700	459,000	42,469	—
Lincolnshire County Council	189,100	306,000	42,469	24,535
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority	146,400	612,000	42,469	—
Norfolk County Council	—	459,000	42,469	—
Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Authority	384,300	459,000	42,469	13,804
West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority	109,800	459,000	42,469	—
West Sussex County Council	103,700	150,000	—	—
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority	122,000	459,000	42,469	—
Total	3,544,100	8,406,000	806,911	38,339
Overall total	—	—	—	—

£
	2006-07
Fire authorities	PPE (resource)	Accommodation (capital)	Timber (resource)	Local training facilities (capital)	Crewing (resource)
Avon Fire Authority	18,753	387,800	10,000	122,100	719,942
Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority	18,753	—	10,000	—	719,942
Cheshire Fire Authority	—	—	—	—	75,000
Devon Fire Authority	18,753	321,893	10,000	155,000	359,971
Essex Fire Authority	18,753	316,754	10,000	122,100	719,942
Greater London Authority	75,012	1,050,327	40,000	244,200	2,879,768
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority	—	—	—	—	75,000
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority	18,753	270,157	10,000	122,100	719,942
Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority	18,753	148,000	10,000	122,100	719,942
Kent and Medway Towns Fire Authority	18,753	310,000	10,000	103,940	719,942
Lancashire Combined Fire Authority	18,753	283,765	10,000	103,940	719,942
Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Combined Fire Authority	18,753	102,500	10,000	122,100	719,942
Lincolnshire County Council	18,753	—	10,000	103,940	719,942
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority	18,753	111,310	10,000	103,940	719,942
Norfolk County Council	18,753	191,550	10,000	122,100	539,957
Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Authority	18,753	—	10,000	103,940	719,942
West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority	18,753	307,227	10,000	122,100	719,942
West Sussex County Council	—	—	5,000	—	359,971
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority	18,753	215,000	10,000	122,100	675,526
Total	356,307	4,016,283	195,000	1,895,700	13,604,497
Overall total	—	—	—	—	32,863,137
Notes: 1. Crewing Grants were provided to cover the employment costs of crewing the USAR teams. 2. PPE Grants were for the provision and maintenance of personal protective equipment for USAR technicians. 3. Accommodation Grants were given to cover the costs associated with housing USAR equipment at fire stations. 4. The Timber Grant covered the cost of replenishing wood required for shoring. 5. The Local Training Facilities Grant was for the purchase of a training rig to allow USAR teams to undertake maintenance of skills training at their own fire stations.

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