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23 Jan 2008 : Column 2048W—continued
Housing: Vista Panels
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what contracts have been provided to Vista Panels by the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder schemes. [180156]
Mr. Iain Wright: None of the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders is known to my Department to have had a direct contract with Vista Panels.
Local Government Business Growth Initiative
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the local government business growth initiative (LEGI); and how much additional funding has been provided under the LEGI to local authorities. [178465]
John Healey: I understand my hon. Friend means this question to relate to Local Authority Business Growth Incentives Scheme (LABGI) rather than Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI).
At the end of the first year of LABGI, we revisited the methodology used to calculate the level of funding given to local authorities to ensure that the scheme continued to deliver an incentive for local authorities to maximise local economic growth. As a result, the scheme was simplified by removing the ceiling on payments made to local authorities.
On 7 January 2007, the Government announced that, following further consideration of new legal challenges that have been made against the current scheme and the inherent uncertainty that this caused to the remaining LABGI pot, it intended to re-consider all aspects of the approach used to distribute the remaining resources available for Year 3 of the LABGI scheme. The full statement can be found at
In October 2006, the Government published an issues paper, which sought views on reform of LABGI. This set out the Government’s intention to develop an incentive as a full and permanent part of the local government finance system and to phase this in from 2009-10, with funding of £50 million doubling to £100 million in its second year. We are now considering the responses that have been received.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Harborough of 20 December 2007 on the eco-town proposal in Harborough. [181136]
Mr. Iain Wright [holding answer 22 January 2008]: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Mr. Dhanda) replied to the hon. Member on 17 January.
Muslims: Females
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to her answer of 18 December 2007, Official Report, columns 1338-9W, on Muslims: females, which academics, theologians and leading Muslim women attended the two roundtable meetings in which women’s access to mosque life was discussed; and who attended the two wider stakeholders meetings. [181184]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 22 January 2008]: In my right hon. Friend’s answer of 18 December, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government identified two roundtable meetings at which the issue of women’s access to mosque life was discussed. The following academics and theologians attended the first of these meetings:
| Name | |
The following stakeholders attended the second meeting.
| Name | |
|
Mental Health Development Team, Yorkshire Primary Care Trust | |
|
Principal Community Cohesion Officer, London borough of Hounslow | |
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government also identified two stakeholder roundtable meetings. The following persons attended one or both of these meetings:
| Name | |
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether her Department has published good practice guidance on initiatives to support the role of Muslim women in the community since the report on preventing violent extremism was published. [181186]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 22 January 2008]: The good practice guide on effective initiatives to strengthen the role that Muslim women play in their communities was published on 23 January.
Property
Mr. Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when a consultation paper will be published on proposed reforms to the property search market. [179225]
Mr. Iain Wright: The consultation paper was published on 18 January.
Regeneration: Coventry
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what grants her Department has provided for the re-development of Coventry in the last 12 months; and what (a) grants and (b) loans for that purpose are planned for the future. [180717]
Mr. Dhanda: There have been no specific Communities and Local Government grants or loans provided for the re-development of Coventry in the last 12 months apart from a contribution to Coventry’s New Deal for Communities (NDC) initiative based in three deprived outer estates in the north east of the city.
Religious Buildings: Planning
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in respect of how many sites applications for planning permission for change of use from a place of worship to (a) private housing, (b) commercial usage, (c) community functions and (d) other usage have been granted in each of the last 10 years. [180429]
Mr. Iain Wright: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Communities and Local Government collects quarterly aggregate statistics on development control from all local planning authorities in England. However, we do not collect information on individual planning applications.
Repossession Orders: Housing Benefit
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many possession orders were (a) suspended and (b) dismissed relating to properties owned by (i) registered social landlords and (ii) local authority housing departments because of non-payment of housing benefit by local authorities in the latest period for which figures are available. [181100]
Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
Data are not available relating to the number of possession actions initiated by social landlords or local authority housing departments which were suspended or dismissed on the grounds of non-payment of housing benefit by local authorities. This information could be compiled centrally only at disproportionate cost.
However, the Ministry of Justice publishes general quarterly statistics on mortgage and landlord possession actions. This publication includes court-level data on the number of suspended orders, and is available from the statistics pages of the Ministry of Justice website.
Rural Areas: Business
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department is taking to promote rural towns as desirable places to set up and expand businesses. [181160]
Mr. Dhanda: The Government’s review of sub-national economic development and regeneration (known as the SNR), published in July 2007, set out policies designed to enable all places, including rural towns, to reach their economic potential.
Regional development agencies lead work to drive economic development in the regions. However, under the proposals set out in the SNR, local authorities will play an increasingly important role in driving forward economic development and will develop and deliver the regional strategy alongside the RDAs. The SNR also proposed a new economic appraisal duty for local authorities, which would require each upper tier local authority to assess the economic circumstances and challenges in its area. The Government will be consulting on these proposals shortly.
Rural Areas: Renewable Energy
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department is taking to assist rural households on planning issues in relation to alternative sources of energy and microgeneration. [181163]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Planning Policy Statement on climate change we published at the end of 2007 sets out new planning rules to boost the use of local renewable and low carbon energy. These expect local planners, whether in rural or urban locations, to promote and encourage alternative sources of energy and microgeneration when they help cut carbon emissions. We are also going to make it easier for householders including those in rural areas to install microgeneration equipment without the need to apply for planning permission, subject to certain safeguards to minimise the impact on others. Our aim is to amend the relevant legislation in the spring. Where the proposal would still require a planning application, and it is in line with our new policy rules for cutting carbon emissions, we expect it to be handled expeditiously and sympathetically.
Home Department
Arrests
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) prosecutions have been made and (b) fixed penalty notices have been issued by (i) police and (ii) local authorities for (A) fly tipping, (B) graffiti, (C) dog fouling, (D) the dropping of litter and (E) parking offences in each year since 1997. [176115]
Jonathan Shaw: I have been asked to reply.
Information on prosecutions at magistrates courts is held by the Ministry of Justice for (A) fly tipping offences, (B) ‘other’ criminal damage, (C) dog fouling, (D) littering and (E) parking offences since 1997; these are provided in the following tables. The offence class of ‘other’ criminal damage includes, but cannot separately identify, offences of graffiti. Data on fly posting offences cannot be separately identified from the data held by the Ministry of Justice.
| (A) Fly tipping | |
| Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates court | |
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