Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
9 July 2007 : Column 1265Wcontinued
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Leader of the House what arrangements have been made for hon. Members to question the Olympics Minister. [148084]
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Leader of the House what plans she has to establish an oral question time for the Minister for the Olympics and London to answer questions on her responsibilities. [147941]
Ms Harman: On 4 July 2007 I confirmed the new questions rota until the summer recess. This includes 10 minutes to the Olympics Minister. The rota will be reviewed during the summer recess.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of council houses which will be built in 2007-08. [147864]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 5 July 2007]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Jeremy Corbyn) on 6 June 2007, Official Report, column 535W.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans her Department has for the large scale resumption of building council houses; and if she will make a statement. [147867]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 5 July 2007]: Local councils have a vital role in the delivery of more social and affordable housing, working in partnership with developers and housing associations, using to the full their planning and other powers, and the use of their own land, to deliver the homes needed locally.
We are encouraging innovative ideas from local authorities to increase the supply and improve the quality of social housing, including through more direct development.
We expect housing associations to continue to deliver the majority of new social homes, as they can bring in significant additional independent borrowing. But we also see the potential for local authorities to make a bigger contribution towards meeting the housing needs of current and future generations.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many council homes were built in Essex in each year since 1997. [147369]
Yvette Cooper: There have been no reported local authority dwellings built in Essex local authorities since 1997.
Between 1 April 1997 and 31 March 2006, the following units of affordable housing (social rent and intermediate (e.g. low cost home ownership)) were built or acquired on behalf of Essex local authorities and the unitary authorities of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock.
Essex county council | Southend-on-Sea | Thurrock | |
Essex county council local authorities comprise of Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Colchester, Epping Forest, Harlow, Maldon, Rochford, Tendring and Uttlesford.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people are waiting for council homes in (a) Essex and (b) the London borough of Havering. [147408]
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) Essex and (b) the London borough of Havering 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:
Local authorities in England 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 houseparticularly where the priority system is heavily based on waiting time.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what the Governments target is for numbers of new council homes to be built in (a) Essex and (b) Romford; [147368]
(2) how many new council homes are planned to be built in the London borough of Havering in the next period for which figures are available. [147385]
Yvette Cooper: There are no Government targets for the provision of new council home in Essex or Romford.
The East of England Plan, the Regional Spatial Strategy, is expected to be published in autumn 2007 and states that a minimum of 98,620 new homes will be built in Essex between April 2006 and March 2021with the expectation that some 35 per cent. are affordable. The London Plan, the Regional Spatial Strategy for London, sets a 10 year target for the London borough of Havering of 5,350 net additional homes between 2007-08 and 2016-17. There is a strategic target in the London Plan that 50 per cent. of all additional housing London-wide should be affordable.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average level of discount on council homes was in (a) Essex and (b) England when bought under the right-to-buy scheme in (i) 2004, (ii) 2005 and (iii) 2006. [147404]
Yvette Cooper: The average market values and levels of discount awarded on council homes sold through the right to buy scheme, in Essex, England and the unitary authorities of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock are tabulated as follows, Essex county council local authorities comprise of Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Colchester, Epping Forest, Harlow, Maldon, Rochford, Tendring and Uttlesford.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what duty fire and rescue authorities are under to respond to calls for assistance from the general public to incidents of flooding. [147753]
Mr. Dhanda: Fire and rescue authorities have a general power to respond to emergencies under section 11 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004: this encompasses responding to calls for assistance to flooding incidents.
Fire and rescue authorities have duties to conduct risk assessments of their area as part of their integrated risk management plan process, and under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. If they conclude there is a flooding risk in their area they may procure resources to respond to that risk. In practice, fire and rescue authorities do respond to flooding incidents, as demonstrated so clearly in the June floods. Great use was made by the fire and rescue service of the high volume pumps, provided under Communities and Local Government's New Dimension programme.
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will assess the relevant experience held by the contractors designing the new computer systems for the proposed regional fire and rescue control centre in the East of England in the design and delivery of projects funded by the public purse. [146791]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 2 July 2007]: The contractor is EADS Defence and Security Systems Ltd.
Their relevant experience, as evaluated as part of the procurement process, is detailed in the following table.
Next Section | Index | Home Page |