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12 Sep 2007 : Column 2124W—continued
The Secretary of State has been formally delegated responsibility to determine the terms and conditions of staff in the Government offices for the regions outside
the senior civil service, including their remuneration, by the Minister for the Civil Service in accordance with the Civil Service (Management Functions) Act 1992. She exercises this responsibility in the same manner as she does for other staff in her Department.
East of England Development Agency: Publications
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) quarterly and (b) annual cost was of producing and distributing the East of England Development Agency magazine Source in the latest period for which figures are available. [155296]
Mr. Dhanda: EEDA produce four editions a year at approximate costs rounded up of £12,000 per edition.
For July 2006 to March 2007 (four editions) the cost for design, print and distribution was £47,857.63.
Flood Control: Expenditure
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much of the £14 million relief package promised by the Prime Minister for those areas affected by the recent flooding has so far been dispensed, broken down by recipient; and for what purpose each recipient received money. [155181]
Mr. Dhanda: On 7 July the Prime Minister announced a £14 million package of immediate support to help local authorities and communities in flood hit areas.
The package comprises of three elements:
£10 million Flood Recovery Grant scheme from Communities and Local Government for the hardest hit local authorities in flood affected areas;
£3 million from Department for Transport to meet claims from local authorities for help with the cost of repairing roads and bridges; and
£1 million which can be drawn on as contingency reserve by the Department for Work and Pensions for use by Jobcentre Plus to support additional demand for Social Fund Community Care Grants.
£10 million in Flood Recovery Grant has already been released to local authorities affected by the June Floods to support their work in helping those in greatest and most immediate need get back on their feet. Thirty nine authorities in total received a payment under the June scheme (full details on the grant paid is available on the CLG website www.communities. gov.uk/floodrecovery). Local authorities have been awarded this grant on the basis of the relative number of households affected (based on available information at the time). It is up to the local authorities to spend the money how they wish in line with local priorities.
The Department for Transport (DFT) has appointed consultants who will work with authorities and advise on the preparation of claims for emergency capital funding support for repairs to bridges and roads. Some work will require detailed assessments to be carried out, which are likely to take authorities a short while. Consequently, no money has yet been distributed. Initial estimates for the local authorities affected by the June and July floods have been requested by 17 September 2007. However authorities are encouraged
not to delay urgent remedial work. The cost of repairs will not be excluded from consideration because they proceeded a claim.
As of 7 September, the Department for Work and Pensions had paid Community Care Grants totalling £653,000 to people on qualifying benefits to meet the cost of replacing essential household items. Community Care Grants are non repayable grants to help to support vulnerable people living in the community. For example they can help people remain in the community rather than enter care or to ease exceptional pressures on families. An applicant must be in receipt of income support, income based job seekers allowance or pension credit.
| Community Care Grant—as of 7 September 2007 | |||
| Region | Number of applications | Number of payments made | Total cost (£) |
Home Information Packs
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department’s latest estimate is of the number of fully trained and accredited (a) home inspectors and (b) domestic energy assessors in the South West Government Office Region; and if she will make a statement. [151586]
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her latest estimate is of the number of qualified and accredited (a) domestic energy assessors and (b) home inspectors. [152848]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Members to the dedicated home information packs website for the most recently published national numbers of accredited assessors, together with a regional breakdown:
We will be providing regular updates on this site.
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether a (a) spare room, (b) study and (c) box room will be classified as a bedroom for the purposes of the commencement of home information pack provisions. [152518]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25 June 2007, Official R eport, column 164W.
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the expected date is for the publication of the reprinted Home Information Pack Toolkit. [152546]
Yvette Cooper: The revised Home Information Pack Toolkit was published, mailed and available to order from 30 July, and available on the HIP website from 27 July.
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of home condition reports commissioned to date. [152551]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 25 June 2007, Official Report, column 160W.
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether a room formerly used as a bedroom will be classified as a bedroom for the purposes of the commencement of home information pack provisions if the bed is removed from it. [152668]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25 June 2007, Official Report, column 164W.
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to issue revised statutory instruments relating to home information packs; and what the timescale is for the coming into force of such statutory instruments. [152698]
Yvette Cooper: The Government will continue to monitor HIPs closely to ensure benefits are being passed onto the consumer. The Home Information Pack Regulations (No.2) 2007 were laid on 11 June and came into force on 1 August 2007. The Government intend to make further statutory instruments which will commence HIPs for remaining properties. Any revised statutory instrument would be made in light of the experience following roll-out and would be subject to the standard parliamentary process for such statutory instruments.
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether additional funding has been provided to local authority trading standards departments to enforce the home information packs regulations. [152821]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 26 June 2007, Official Report, column 633W.
Mrs. Lait:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations her Department has received from the local authorities co-ordinators of regulatory services
on (a) home information packs and (b) energy performance certificates in the last 12 months. [153516]
Yvette Cooper: We have had regular discussions with all key stakeholders about home information packs and energy performance certificates, including LACORS.
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether a home information pack will be required at the point of sale. [153606]
Yvette Cooper: During the transitional period until the end of the year homeowners need to commission a pack and pay for it, or make a commitment to paying for it, before putting their home on the market.
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether her Department will retain the revenue from fines for breaching the home information pack regulations. [153722]
Yvette Cooper: No. Local Authority Trading Standards officers will have the power to issue fixed penalty notices where a breach of the home information pack duties is suspected.
Home Information Packs: Finance
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the my hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 26 June 2007, Official Report, column 633W, on Home Information Packs: Finance, what the financial value is of the additional resources provided to local authority trading standard departments in England in year 2007-08. [152683]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 26 June 2007, Official Report, column 633W.
Housing
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (a) what the lower quartile price was for new dwellings sold, (b) how many new houses were built and (c) how many new affordable houses were built in (i) each Government region and (ii) nationally in 2006. [155101]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 10 September 2007]: Data on (a) the lower quartile house price for new dwellings sold, (b) the number of new homes built and (c) the number of new affordable homes built in each government office region and for England are presented in the following table. Affordable housing supply figures are available by financial year only.
In addition to the numbers of new build affordable homes shown in the table above a further 11,834 affordable homes were supplied through the acquisition of dwellings from the private sector stock.
Housing: Cornwall
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the average age of first time house buyers in (a) the West Cornwall and Isles of Scilly constituency of St Ives, (b) Cornwall and (c) each Government region in each region since 1997, broken down by sex. [155344]
Mr. Dhanda: Data on First Time Buyers (FTBs) are available from the regulated mortgage survey which is supplied to Communities and Local Government by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. However due to a small sample size data on the average age of FTBs at UK level are unreliable. The gender split is unavailable.
The average age of FTBs at the UK level is available on the Council of Mortgage Lenders website at http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/filegrab/2ML2.xls?ref=4624. These figures are in the following table.
| Median age of first time buyers, UK | |
| Source: CML | |
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