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19 Feb 2008 : Column 627W—continued



19 Feb 2008 : Column 628W
The Minister for the East Midlands
Break down by county Number of visits

Derbyshire

2

Leicestershire

3

Nottinghamshire

10

Lincolnshire

4

Northamptonshire

1

Total

20


The table combines visits for my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln, the previous Minister for the East Midlands, and those of my hon. Friend the Member for Corby who was appointed on the 24 January 2008.

The Minister for London has made eight visits within Greater London not including visits made by the Minister relating to her Olympic responsibilities.

The Minister for the West Midlands
Un itary a uthorities Number of visits

Birmingham

1

Stoke on Trent

1

Wolverhampton

1

Sandwell

1

Telford and Wrekin

1

Dudley

1

Coventry

1

Counties:

Shropshire

1

Staffordshire

1

Warwickshire

1

Herefordshire (also unitary)

1

Worcester

1

Total

12


Energy: Conservation

Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the performance in reaching residential energy efficiency targets of (a) local authorities in England, (b) local authorities in each region and (c) each London local authority in respect of (i) private, (ii) registered social landlord and (iii) local authority housing; and if she will make a statement. [185755]

Mr. Woolas: I have been asked to reply.

The 1995 Home Energy Conservation Act requires local authorities with housing responsibility to prepare a strategy for improving energy efficiency within residential accommodation in their areas and report annually on progress. Since 1996, authorities have reported an average total improvement of approximately 19 per cent. to 31 March 2006. A breakdown of reported progress by English region can be found on the DEFRA website.

Results for the period up to 31 March 2007 will be published shortly.

A number of programmes are likely to have contributed to this improvement in energy efficiency, particularly the Energy Efficiency Commitment, Warm Front and Decent Homes.

It is important to note that the figures have not been independently verified and that, because Home Energy Conservation Act strategies and monitoring techniques differ, the information should not be used to compare the performance of authorities.


19 Feb 2008 : Column 629W

Enfield Borough Council: Finance

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much money was held in reserve by Enfield council in each of the last 10 years. [186500]

John Healey: The amount of revenue reserves held by the London borough of Enfield in each of the last 10 years is shown in the following table. Information for England has been published in Statistical Releases and editions of ‘Local Government Financial Statistics’.

£000
Level of revenue reserves
Date Schools Other earmarked Unallocated

At 1 April

1997

4,954

15,040

28,253

1998

4,512

23,144

20,039

1999

5,026

25,747

9,202

2000

6,367

19,615

0

2001

8,047

14,740

5,754

2002

8,085

15,583

9,486

2003

8,035

16,980

12,352

2004

10,163

18,857

12,418

2005

13,322

34,693

11,500

2006

13,835

45,546

10,507

At 31 March

2007

11,376

44,926

10,111

Notes:
1. Figures are as supplied by the local authority to Communities and Local Government.
2. Use of the schools reserves is not controlled by the council, but by the individual schools to which the reserves belong.
3. Comparisons across years may not be valid due to changing local authority responsibilities.
Source:
Communities and Local Government Revenue Outturn (RO) returns

Fire Services: Buildings

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the lease for each of the proposed regional control centres in respect of the FiReControl Project commences; how long each lasts; and if she will make a statement. [186134]

Mr. Dhanda: The Regional Control Centre (RCC) building leases commence five working days after practical completion of the buildings. Four buildings have achieved practical completion, as detailed in Table 1.

Table 1: RCC buildings that have achieved practical completion
Region Practical Completion Date Building Lease Began Lease Term (years)

East Midlands

29 June 2007

6 July 2007

25

North East

29 June2007

6 July 2007

20

South West

15 August 2007

22 August 2007

20

West Midlands

20 December 2007

27 December 2007

25


19 Feb 2008 : Column 630W

The remaining five RCC buildings are contracted to achieve practical completion as detailed in Table 2.

Table 2: Planned dates for remaining RCC buildings
Region Practical Completion Date Building Lease Begins Lease Term (years)

South East

14 May 2008

21 May 2008

25

North West

1 July 2008

8 July 2008

25

Yorkshire and Humberside

1 July 2008

8 July 2008

20

East of England

1 October 2008

8 October 2008

25

London

26 February 2010

5 March 2010

25


Fire Services: Contracts

Mr. Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when Firebuy will sign a managed service contract with the preferred bidder for the integrated cloth project (ICP). [186822]

Mr. Dhanda: Firebuy Ltd. expects to sign the fully managed service and purchase with managed services contracts for the integrated clothing project with the preferred-bidder in February 2008.

Floods: Finance

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding her Department has provided to (a) Gloucestershire County Council, (b) Tewkesbury Borough Council and (c) Cheltenham Borough Council for (i) flood recovery and (ii) improved flood resilience in the last 12 months; what restrictions she has placed on the ways in which such funds can be spent; what plans she has for further similar expenditure over the next 12 months; and if she will make a statement. [183648]

John Healey: To date the Government have made available up to £73 million to support communities in England affected by the floods last summer.

Gloucestershire county council has been allocated £12,107,900 of this funding:

In addition:

Tewkesbury borough council has received £673,500 in Flood Recovery Grant from Communities and Local Government and Cheltenham borough council £646,500 respectively. Both councils have submitted Bellwin claims and we are currently looking at the detail with a view to making payments within the next few weeks.

Local authorities have flexibility to decide how to best use Flood Recovery Grant based on their own local circumstances. In practice this has included:


19 Feb 2008 : Column 631W

There are no current plans to make any more payments under the Flood Recovery Scheme to the authorities affected by the June and July 2007 floods.

DEFRA is progressing with its £500,000 pilot grant scheme to encourage flood resilience and will be reporting to Ministers by the summer. The pilots, together with a parallel research project, are providing useful information that will help Ministers take a long term decision on whether such measures should feature in the long-term approach to flood risk reduction.

Homelessness

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps the Government is taking to bring forward a new statutory definition of homelessness as proposed in the Housing Act 2004; and if she will make a statement. [183178]

Mr. Iain Wright: There are no current proposals to bring forward a new statutory definition of homelessness. The Housing Act 2004 does, however, include a power for the Secretary of State to change the existing statutory definition of overcrowding. We have pledged to update the statutory overcrowding standards, to the Bedroom Standard.


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