| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
3 Apr 2008 : Column 1252W—continued
Departmental Internet
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2008, Official Report, on departmental intranet, how many Wikipedia entries have been (a) created and (b) amended from departmental IP addresses. [195344]
Mr. Dhanda: Communities and Local Government does not hold this information centrally and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Wikipedia is not a website which we monitor the usage of specifically.
Departmental Marketing
Mr. Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department spent on publicity and advertising in 2007-08. [199023]
Mr. Dhanda: The final evaluation of the public information campaigns carried out by the Department in 2007-08 is currently being prepared and will be published in the Department’s annual report, which will be placed in the Library of the House.
Departmental Public Participation
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what payments her Department has made to opinion research companies other than Ipsos MORI in the last 12 months; at what cost; and for what purposes. [199266]
Mr. Dhanda: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 14 March 2008, Official Report, column 699W, given to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill).
Development: Standards
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 19 February 2008, Official Report, column 644W, on regional planning and development: standards, which local authorities have had their proposed core strategy rejected or found unsound by (a) her Department, (b) independent examination and (c) the relevant government office for the region; and what the reason was for such a finding in each case. [198652]
Mr. Iain Wright: Development Plan Documents are examined by an Independent Planning Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State.
The Inspector will produce a report, the recommendations of which are binding on the local authority, and which the authority must publish. If there are serious problems with the plan the Inspector may find it to be unsound and require it to be redone and resubmitted. At present, eight local authorities have had their core strategies found unsound in this manner. These are:
Windsor and Maidenhead
Carrick
Teignbridge
Lichfield
Stafford
Ryedale
Chichester
Restormel
The reasons why a plan is unsound are set out in the published Inspector’s report, details of which can be found on the web sites of the relevant local authorities.
Energy Performance Certificates
Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make it her policy that input matrix information relating to an energy performance certificate be released to the householder commissioning the certificate. [193040]
Caroline Flint [holding answer 10 March 2008]: The input matrix information is not currently available to the householder commissioning the energy performance certificate. We have no plans to make this information available.
Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department has issued to those preparing energy performance certificates on the account to be taken of (a) window sizes and (b) multiple glazing in assessing energy performance. [193041]
Caroline Flint [holding answer 10 March 2008]: The competencies required of energy assessors when preparing energy performance certificates are set out in the National Occupational Standards (NOS) published by Asset Skills. They include requirements to make accurate observations and measurements and to carry out calculations using the Government's Standard Assessment Procedure for the Energy Rating of Dwellings, SAP 2005. SAP 2005 takes into account window area and the presence or otherwise of multiple glazing.
General guidance on the software used to prepare EPCs has been produced by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Energy: Conservation
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will estimate the energy efficiency ratings of council-owned housing in the City of Newcastle; and what improvements in that rating she has required in the next phase of the Decent Homes programme. [196112]
Mr. Iain Wright: Newcastle city council have been required to report against Best Value Performance Indicator 63 entitled ‘Average Standards Assessment Procedure (SAP) rating for all HRA (local authority) dwellings’ using SAP 2001 methodology. Their returns are shown as follows.
| SAP | |
The Government have not taken any decisions about work following on from the Decent Homes programme. On December 12 the then Housing Minister my right hon. Friend the Member for Pontefract and Castleford announced a review of the financing of council housing. The purpose of the review of the Housing Revenue Account Subsidy System is to ensure that we have a sustainable, long term system for financing council housing. One of the work streams of the review is considering the issue of costs and standards for council housing. This work will help to inform any decision about a capital investment programme that will follow the decent homes programme.
Equality and Human Rights Commission: Public Appointments
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will appoint a commissioner to the Equality and Human Rights Commission with responsibilities for the non-religious element of the religion or belief equality strand covering beliefs such as humanism. [195654]
Barbara Follett: I have been asked to reply.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Board currently consists of 16 Commissioners (including three Transition’ Commissioners) with a range of different perspectives and expertise in the field of equality and human rights.
All Commissioners are appointed on the basis of their experience or knowledge of discrimination and human rights and collectively represent the wide range of views present in our society.
There are currently no plans to appoint any further Commissioners to the Board.
Fire Services
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many incidents on or near water were attended by the Fire Service in each year since 1994; and how many people were rescued by the Fire Service on or near water in each year. [197957]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many lift rescues were carried out by the fire and rescue service in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [198057]
Mr. Dhanda: The number of lift release incidents attended by fire and rescue services in England is set out as follows:
| Number of incidents | |
| Source: Annual returns to CLG | |
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) chemical and (b) fuel (i) spills and (ii) suspected spills the fire and rescue service in each fire authority area attended in each year since 1994. [198064]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many special service incidents were attended by the fire service in each fire authority area in each year since 1994. [198360]
Mr. Dhanda: Available information, for the period 1995 to 2006, has been placed in the Library
Fire Services: Buildings
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2008, Official Report, column 1220W, on fire services: buildings, what method of calculation was used to determine the size of regional control centres. [198803]
Mr. Dhanda: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given on 25 February 2008, Official Report, column 1220W, 6 March 2008, Official Report, column 2776W and 7 March 2008, Official Report, column 2887W. All of these factors combine to determine the size of the Regional Control Centres.
Fire Services: Exhaust Emissions
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many fire authorities have converted their fleets, in whole or in part, to run on (a) compressed natural gas, (b) liquid petroleum gas and (c) electricity. [198511]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Fires: Death
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many deaths in accidental dwelling fires there were in each fire and rescue service area in each year since 1997. [198357]
Mr. Dhanda: The following table shows the number of fatal casualties from accidental dwelling fires, for each Fire and Rescue Service in England, in each year since 1997. Please note that the figures for 2006 are provisional and subject to change.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |