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12 Dec 2007 : Column 689W—continued
Regional Planning and Development: East of England
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what further stages and consultations remain to be undertaken in relation to the East of England Regional Spatial Strategy before it is finalised. [173308]
Mr. Dhanda: Following the current consultation on the Habitats Directive Assessment and Further Proposed Changes which ends on December 18, Ministers will consider the representations on the two sets of proposed changes and publish the final version of the Alterations to the Regional Spatial Strategy, incorporating any final changes to reflect consideration of the representations. The current timetable anticipates publication of the final alterations in early 2008.
Repairs and Maintenance: Finance
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government by (a) how many percentage points and (b) how much the average management and maintenance allowances changed in (i) 2005-06, (ii) 2006-07 and (iii) 2007-08. [163510]
Mr. Iain Wright: The changes in average management and maintenance allowances per dwelling are shown in the following table:
| Management and maintenance allowance | Difference (£) | Difference (percentage) | |
Safer Stronger Communities Fund
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding was made available via the Safer and Stronger Communities Fund in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08; what allocation is planned for 2008-09, split by local authority; and if she will make a statement. [173393]
John Healey [holding answer 11 December 2007]: Full details of the local authority split for 2008-09 can be found on the Communities and Local Government website. The overall allocation is £112,848,000.
From 2008-09 funding that was previously paid through the Safer Stronger Communities Fund will be part of the Area Based Grant. Area Based Grant is a non-ringfenced general grant, which means local authorities are free to use the totality of the grant as they see fit to support the delivery of local, regional and national priorities in their areas, including the achievement of their new local area agreement targets.
The overall SSCF allocations for English local authorities for previous years were as follows:
| Overall SSCF allocations (£) | |
Stamp Duties
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of first time buyers in England purchased properties in the three or four per cent. stamp duty band in each of the last three years. [173311]
Mr. Iain Wright: Data on first time buyers (FTBs) using a mortgage is available from the Regulated Mortgage Survey which is supplied to Communities and Local Government by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. However, as the survey is a sample, data on the number of FTBs for England is unavailable. However we can still derive proportions.
The proportion of first time buyers in England that purchased properties in the 3 and 4 per cent. stamp duty bands is shown in the following table.
| Proportion of first time buyers that purchased properties in the 3 or 4 per cent. stamp duty hands, England | |||
| Percentage | |||
| 3 per cent. stamp duty band | 4 per cent. stamp duty band | 3 or 4 per cent. stamp duty bands | |
| Source: Regulated Mortgage Survey | |||
Supporting People Programme
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the written statement of 6 December, on Supporting People, at what time the (a) table of indicative Supporting People grant allocations and (b) copy of the consultation response were placed in the Library. [173412]
Mr. Iain Wright [holding answer 11 December 2007]: In accordance with parliamentary guidance on Deposited Papers, the table of indicative Supporting People grant allocations and copy of the consultation response were sent electronically to the Libraries.
The consultation response was sent at 1.08 pm; the table of indicative Supporting People grant allocations at 1.12 pm.
Travelling People
Mr. Pickles:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many
unauthorised Gypsy and Travellers’ (a) caravans and (b) developments there were in each (i) January and (ii) July since 2001 in (A) England and (B) each government office region in England. [171638]
Mr. Iain Wright: Communities and Local Government publish data on the number of Gypsy and Traveller caravans on authorised public and private sites, and unauthorised encampments and developments twice yearly.
The latest publication “Count of Gypsy Caravans on 19 July 2007: Last Five Counts” is available on the Department’s website at:
The following table shows the levels of unauthorised caravans, encampments and developments in England since 2001:
| NW | NE | EM | WM | Y and H | East | SE | SW | London | England | ||
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