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7 May 2008 : Column 1037W—continued
Eco-Towns
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which of the shortlisted eco-town proposals involve development on (a) green belt and (b) greenfield land. [203065]
Caroline Flint: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him today.
Eco-Towns: Motor Vehicles
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to promote the restriction of car (a) ownership and (b) parking spaces in eco-town developments. [203057]
Caroline Flint: We have set out in the consultation document “Eco-towns—living a greener future” what needs to be achieved in terms of sustainable transport and this includes a significant reduction in car reliance. This would mean, for example, locating major facilities and services within a 10-minute walk of homes within the eco-town and provision of frequent and reliable public transport. Through these measures and those set out in the consultation document, we would expect there to be less of a need for car parking spaces, but each location will need its own approach.
Eco-Towns: Planning Permission
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which bids to become eco-towns included plans for development on (a) green belt and (b) greenfield land. [202558]
Caroline Flint: On the basis of an evaluation of the shortlisted bids, I can confirm that no new homes will be built on green belt land. In terms of greenfield land, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25 April 2008, Official Report, column 2303W to the hon. Member for Cotswold (Mr. Clifton-Brown).
Eco-Towns: Regional Planning and Development
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the Infrastructure Planning Commission will consider planning applications for eco-towns or their associated infrastructure. [203036]
Caroline Flint: Under the proposals in the Planning Bill, the Infrastructure Planning Commission will consider nationally significant infrastructure projects, such as proposals for major new power stations. Planning applications for eco-towns will be submitted to the appropriate local authority.
Electronic Government
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether mechanisms are in place to monitor the extent to which her Department's (a) internal and (b) external (i) correspondence and (ii) distribution of publications are carried out electronically. [199195]
Mr. Dhanda: The Department is able to monitor the number of downloads from its website and intranet, and the volume of external e-mail correspondence. We have not set up the capacity to monitor the level of internal e-mail correspondence.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her responsibilities in respect of the e-Government regional partnerships are. [202634]
Mr. Dhanda: The Local e-Government Programme concluded at the end of March 2006, having delivered against the Prime Minister’s pledge that 100 per cent. of services would be electronically enabled by December 2005. The e-Government regional partnership network has now become self-sustaining, with member authorities taking responsibility for the individual partnerships’ forward work programme within the devolved arrangements for regional improvement and efficiency.
Floods: EU Grants and Loans
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much of the £110 million received from the EU for emergency flood relief will be put at the disposal of (a) central Government, (b) local government and (c) Gloucestershire county council. [202625]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to my parliamentary statement of 6 May 2008, Official Report, column 18WS.
Floods: Planning Permission
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many times the Planning Inspectorate overruled decisions to refuse planning permission for new developments proposed to be built in flood risk areas when the Environment Agency and the relevant local authority have advised against such a development in the last two years. [202969]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Planning Inspectorate does not capture data to enable it to identify appeals that relate to development within flood risk areas. If a planning application for development in a flood risk area were to be referred to the Planning Inspectorate on appeal, it would be decided in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicated otherwise. All representations made would be taken into account, as well as Government policy set out in Planning Policy Statement 25, “Development and Flood Risk”. Each case would be determined on its merits.
Gardens: Valuation
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the presence of a roof garden is taken into account by the Valuation Office Agency during a council tax valuation. [202614]John Healey: When undertaking a valuation to arrive at, or amend, a council tax banding, all material factors that affect the open market value of a dwelling will be taken into account, as required by the Council Tax (Situation and Valuation of Dwellings) Regulations 1992.
Home Information Packs
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her policy is on voluntary home condition reports; and if she will make a statement. [202640]
Caroline Flint: The Government remain convinced of the benefits of the Home Condition Report (HCR) and encourages sellers to include one in their pack. The Department continues to work with industry to promote and find solutions to increase the uptake of the HCR on a market-led basis.
Homelessness
Mr. Pickles:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homeless households, where the household type was a
(a) couple with dependent children and (b) lone- parent household with dependent children, were in temporary accommodation in England in each year since 1997. [203054]
Mr. Iain Wright: Information about local authorities’ actions under homelessness legislation is collected quarterly at local authority level on the PIE statistical return. This information includes the number of households accepted by local authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty. The duty owed to an accepted household is to secure suitable accommodation. If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority may secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available.
Data on the number of households in temporary accommodation are provided in our quarterly statistical release on statutory homelessness, published on our website and placed in the House Library. The latest release was published on 10 March 2008.
Data on household type was first collected on the main PIE form from June 2006. Figures showing a breakdown by household type, including (a) couples with dependent children and (b) lone parent households with dependent children, are available for each quarter from June 2006 onwards and are provided in Table 10c, available on the website at:
A summary of data from the table is provided as follows. It shows the number of households in temporary accommodation, by household type, as at the last day of December in 2006 and 2007.
| Number of households in temporary accommodation, by household type, as at 31 December | |||||
| Total in temporary accommodation( 1) | Couple with dependent children( 2) | Lone parent household with dependent children | |||
| Percentage of total | Percentage of total | ||||
| (1) This should be a “snapshot” of the numbers in accommodation on the last day of the quarter, not the numbers taking up accommodation. (2) Includes expectant mothers with no other dependent children. (3) Provisional data. Note: Totals may not equal the sum of components because of rounding. Source: CLG PIE Homelessness returns (quarterly) | |||||
Homes and Communities Agency: Finance
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what she estimates the running costs of the Homes and Communities Agency will be in its first year of operation. [202586]
Caroline Flint: The Homes and Communities Agency’s running costs will be brought together from a range of components, including the current running costs of English Partnerships, a percentage of the current running costs of the Housing Corporation that relate to those functions transferring to the HCA, the current running costs of the Academy for Sustainable Communities and costs associated with the delivery of a number of programmes currently delivered by my Department. Work to disaggregate the costs involved is under way.
Housing: Bournemouth
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the proposal to build 1,500 new homes next to the River Stour in North Bournemouth. [202084]
Mr. Iain Wright
[holding answer 28 April 2008]: There have been no discussions between the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at ministerial level. However, discussions have taken place between officials of the two Departments
as part of the consideration of the Secretary of State's proposed changes to the regional spatial strategy for the south west.
Housing: Chelmsford
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of housing allocations made by housing associations in the Chelmsford local authority area were made to people who had no previous direct or indirect links to the borough in each of the last three years. [202911]
Mr. Iain Wright [holding answer 1 May 2008]: The information is not available in the form requested.
Housing: Conservation Areas
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many domestic dwellings there are in conservation areas according to Valuation Office Agency property attribute records. [202593]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 21 April 2008, Official Report, column 1410W in respect of the Value Significant Code OS.
Housing: Construction
John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new houses were built in the Easington constituency in each of the last five years. [203788]
Mr. Iain Wright: Information on house building rates is not held on a parliamentary constituency basis, but for the Easington district as a whole the numbers of houses built (gross) over the last five years is as follows:
| Units | |
Housing: Low Incomes
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what powers are available to local authorities to apply conditions to ensure that homes granted planning consent as affordable are retained within the affordable sector in perpetuity; and if she will take steps to ensure that local authorities use the powers available. [203175]
Mr. Iain Wright [holding answer 1 May 2008]: There are a number of methods by which homes that are sold can be retained in the social housing sector.
Local authorities which sell under the Right to Buy scheme properties located in
National Parks;
Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty; and
40 areas designated by the Secretary of State as ‘rural’ for RTB purposes,
may impose covenants restricting the resale of these properties to people who have lived or worked locally for at least three years. ‘Locally’ means within a ‘region’ designated by the Secretary of State for this purpose. Alternatively, they may require that if the owners wish to resell such properties, they must first offer them back to the local authority.
In order to retain social rented properties in areas where replacement is difficult, the Right to Acquire scheme, under which housing association tenants may buy their rented homes at a discount, does not apply in small rural settlements.
In addition, providers have a right of first refusal to buy back properties sold under the Right to Buy and Right to Acquire schemes if they are resold within 10 years if it is essential to retain the homes for social rent.
Measures in the Housing and Regeneration Bill, which completed its second reading in the House of Lords on 28 April, will enable landlords of shared ownership houses to restrict the equity share that shared owners can buy in areas where replacement is difficult, thereby retaining the property within the affordable housing sector for future purchasers where it is essential to do so.
Housing: Valuation
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the Valuation Office Agency’s policy is on whether the addition of an extension to a property will normally be assumed to entail an increase in the banding of the property when it is sold. [202567]
John Healey: This is not a matter of policy. Whether an extension results in a banding increase when the property is sold is a matter of fact and valuation.
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