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10 Mar 2008 : Column 54W—continued
Figures are as supplied by the local authority to Communities and Local Government.
The large change in specific grants within Aggregate External Finance (AEF) from 2005-06 to 2006-07 is because local authorities now receive funding for schools through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) (a specific grant within AEF) rather than as part of formula grant.
Most of the increase in specific grants outside AEF between 2003-04 and 2004-05 is because rent rebates paid to Housing Revenue Account (HRA) tenants are, from 2004-05, paid through the general fund revenue account rather than the HRA account.
Most of the volatility in specific grants outside AEF between 2004-05 and 2006-07 relates to Connexions grant. The purpose of this grant is to support the delivery of Connexions Services to young people; providing information, advice, guidance and access to personal development opportunities.
Central Government revenue grant is defined here as the sum of Formula grant (Revenue Support Grant, Police grant, General GLA grant and redistributed non-domestic rates) and Specific grants within Aggregate External Finance (AEF) but excludes specific grants outside AEF.
Specific grants within AEF are defined here as those revenue grants paid for council’s core services (e.g. Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and Standards Fund).
Specific grants outside AEF are defined here as those revenue grants that are not for authority's core services, but are passed to a third party (e.g. rent allowances and rebates).
The aforementioned grants exclude capital grants, funding for the local authority’s housing management responsibilities and those grant programmes (such as European funding) where authority is simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area.
Comparisons across years may not be valid due to changing local authority responsibilities.
Debt Collection: Standards
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government who in her Department is responsible for ensuring compliance with the National Standards for Enforcement Agents by local authorities; what compliance checks were undertaken in 2007; and if she will make a statement. [187010]
Mr. Dhanda: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Garston (Maria Eagle) on 21 February 2008, Official Report, column 965-6W.
Departmental Impact Assessments
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many regulatory impact assessments her Department has conducted in the last 12 months. [191277]
Mr. Iain Wright: Information on the final Regulatory Impact Assessments published between 1 January and 30 June 2007 can be found in Command Paper 7297, available at:
For Communities and Local Government, 12 have been listed.
Departments are in the process of identifying the final Regulatory Impact Assessments published between 1 July and 31 December 2007.
From April 2008, all final Impact Assessment will be published on a central website.
Departmental Older Workers
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people over the age of 55 have been recruited by her Department and its predecessors in each of the last three years. [191519]
Mr. Dhanda: The following table gives the numbers of recruits to the Department aged over 55 for each of the past three years. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
| Recruits over age 55 | |
These figures exclude our executive agencies or the Government offices. Temporary agency staff or other workers who are not departmental employees are also excluded.
Domestic Wastes: Waste Disposal
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the (a) number of households and (b) size of the population in each waste collection authority area in England. [191652]
Mr. Iain Wright: A table showing information on households and population figures for 2004 by local authority has been deposited in the Library of the House.
Fire Prevention
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households in England received home fire safety advice in 2007 in the most recent year for which figures are most recently available, broken down by fire authority. [193027]
Mr. Dhanda: For the year ending September 2007 (the most recent information available) fire and rescue services in England carried out 555,253 home fire risk checks. This is broken down by fire and rescue authority area in the following table:
| Fire and rescue authority | Home fire risk checks undertaken |
| (1) Devon and Somerset fire authorities merged in April 2007. The data prior to April 2007 are given separately. | |
Fires
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many primary fires there were in each (a) fire authority and (b) region in each year since 1986. [192719]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested has been deposited in the Library of the House.
Floods: Planning
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 29 January 2008, Official Report, column 229W, on flooding: planning, what the location was of each site for which planning application was approved contrary to Environment Agency objection on grounds of flood risk in each year since 2001. [191639]
Mr. Iain Wright: Information identifying the planning applications approved contrary to the Environment Agency's objections on flood risk grounds is set out in Appendix 3 to the agency's annual High Level Target 5 reports to CLG and DEFRA on development and flood risk for the years 2002-03 to 2006-07. This identifies the district in which the application was submitted, although it does not include the precise location of each site. This information will be obtainable from the local planning authorities which approved the applications listed in Appendix 3 to each report. The latest report is available on the Environment Agency's website at:
Earlier reports are available on request from the agency.
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 29 January 2008, Official Report, column 229W, on flood: planning, what the location was of each planning application recorded by the Environment Agency as approved contrary to its objections on flood risk in each year since 2001. [192184]
Mr. Iain Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today. (PQ 191639).
Government Office for London
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will bring forward proposals to grant the Government office for London powers to examine and report on the expenditure of (a) the Greater London Authority and (b) the London Development Agency. [192401]
Mr. Dhanda: There are no plans to enhance the Government office for London's role in relation to the expenditure of the Greater London Authority or London Development Agency.
Home Information Packs
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research her Department has undertaken into the number of houses marketed in each of the energy performance certificate bands. [188210]
Caroline Flint:
No research has been undertaken on the number of houses marketed in each of the energy performance bands. However information on SAP ratings for the whole housing stock is published as part of the English House Condition Survey (EHCS). The
2006 EHCS Headline Report, published in January 2008, presented the number of homes in each energy performance certificate band.
Housing Market: Empty Property
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will take steps to collect data in respect of spending on empty properties under market renewal programmes; and if she will make a statement. [191098]
Mr. Iain Wright: Pathfinders and local authorities independently collect information specific to their needs and this often relates to empty properties where appropriate and relevant. The relative balance of such spending from pathfinder to pathfinder varies widely, reflecting their different market circumstances and investment programmes.
Vacancy rates across the housing market renewal areas have fallen since the programme began in 2002 from 5.09 per cent. to 4.27 per cent. in 2006, representing a fall of 16 per cent. over the period. We expect these figures to continue to fall further towards targets of 1.65 per cent. for the North-West and 1.35 per cent. for Yorkshire and the Humber by 2016.
We have introduced Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs) and other measures to enable local authorities to bring long-term empty homes back into use as a last resort where owners have declined voluntary measures and have no plans to bring their properties back into use.
We are working with the Empty Homes Agency to ensure that all local authorities implement effective empty property strategies that target properties left empty for long periods of time.
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