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17 Dec 2007 : Column 1137W—continued
Mean high water (MHW) is the average elevation of all high waters recorded at a particular point or station over a considerable period of time, usually 19 years. For shorter periods of observation, corrections are applied to eliminate known variations and reduce the result to the equivalent of a mean 19-year value.
Source:
Home Information Packs
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the impact of the introduction of home information packs on the residential housing market in the six areas trial. [171582]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 29 October 2007, Official Report, column 655W.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the effect of the introduction of home information packs on the number of properties being placed on the market. [171627]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement ‘Home Information Packs’ made on 22 November 2007, Official Report, column 140-42WS.
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 22 November 2007, Official Report, columns 140-2WS, on home information packs, which 85 local authorities have reduced their charges for average property searches by £30 on average as a result of the introduction of home information packs. [172073]
Yvette Cooper: The list of local authorities is as follows:
LAs that have reduced their property search charges:
Arun
Ashfield
Ashford
Babergh
Barnsley
Bassetlaw
Birmingham
Bolsover
Brentwood
Brighton
Broadland
Bromley
Castle Point
Chelmsford
Cherwell
Chiltern
Christchurch
Colchester
Cotswold
Crewe
Derby
Derbyshire Dales
East Herts
East Lindsey
East Riding
East Staffs
Eden
Elmbridge
Epping Forest
Exeter
Gateshead
Guildford
Hambleton
Harrogate
Havant
Hertsmere
Kingston upon Thames
Knowsley
Lewes
Liverpool
Medway
Melton
Mid Devon
Mid Sussex
New Forest
Newark
North Hertfordshire
Northampton
Oswestry
Pembrokeshire
Plymouth
Portsmouth
Redditch
Restormel
Rushmoor
Salford
Sefton
Shepway
Slough
South Bucks
South Gloucester
South Hams
South Lakeland
St. Albans
St. Edmundsbury
Stafford
Staffordshire Moorlands
Surrey Heath
Sutton
Test Valley
Thanet
Torbay
Torridge
Wakefield
Waltham Forest
Wansbeck
Warrington
Warwicks
Wealden
West Somerset
Winchester
Worcester
Worthing
Wychavon
Wyre.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) domestic energy assessors and (b) home information pack inspectors have had their licences revoked. [165775]
Yvette Cooper: Domestic energy assessor (DBA) accreditation schemes and home inspector (HI) certification schemes have not reported that they have revoked (permanently withdrawn) the accreditation or certification of any HIs or DEAs.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of home information pack companies which have closed in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement. [165778]
Yvette Cooper: The Department is not aware of any home information pack providers which have closed in the last 12 months.
Home Information Packs: Finance
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when Europe Economics completed its economic analysis of home information packs; and if she will place in the Library a copy of the final report. [173337]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement ‘Home Information Packs’ made on 22 November 2007, Official Report, columns 140-42WS.
Housing
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what arrangement she plans to put in place to ensure liaison with the (a) Welsh Assembly Government and (b) Scottish Executive respectively, in cases where housing development on brownfield land acquired by the New English Homes and Communities Agency that immediately adjoins the national borders with Wales or Scotland will have a consequent environmental or planning impact on land in Wales or Scotland. [172995]
Yvette Cooper: Should such a situation arise, we would expect the Homes and Communities Agency to consider fully the wider impact of any work it was undertaking and to liaise with the appropriate authorities. We are developing a tasking framework, which will set out our expectations of how the agency will work in practice.
We expect to liaise with colleagues in the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Executive on the arrangements for cases in border areas.
Housing: Applications
Dr. Gibson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) if she will commission research into the quality of assessments of the vulnerability of homeless applicants, housing medical assessments and assessments on disabled
facilities grant applications which have been made by private companies; [169433]
(2) if she will issue guidance on the methodology to be adopted by private medical assessors providing homelessness vulnerability assessments, housing medical assessments and assessments for disabled facilities grant applications. [169434]
Mr. Iain Wright: It is for individual local authorities to determine how best to make assessments which may require specialist medical advice, and from whom to seek appropriate advice, while ensuring that they meet their statutory obligations. The Government have no current plans to commission research into such assessments or issue guidance on methodology to be adopted.
Housing: Finance
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Government spent on housing in each financial year since 1997-98; and of these sums how much was (a) spent on council owned housing stock, (b) spent through registered social landlords and (c) used to support home ownership schemes in each year. [164961]
Mr. Iain Wright: The following table shows the overall capital sums invested in housing; investment in council owned housing stock; through registered social landlords and by registered social landlords to support home ownership schemes from 1997-98 to 2006-07. The total is greater than the component parts set out as it includes, for the most part, local authority investment in private sector housing. The balance between the total investment figures provided and the sum of the council and registered social landlords figures relate to grants provided to the private sector such as housing market renewal and disabled facilities grant.
| £ million | ||||
| Total CLG capital investment in housing | (a) council owned stock | (b) registered social landlords | (c) Home ownership schemes (included in (b)) | |
Government investment in council owned housing stock has primarily been provided through the housing revenue account (HRA) subsidy system in the form of local authorities supported capital expenditure (SCE), ALMOs supported borrowing allocations and major repairs allowance (MRA). Other funding also included in the figures are funding through Estate Action and Housing Action Trusts.
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