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24 Jun 2008 : Column 258W—continued
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much in direct and indirect taxes is (a) collected and (b) administered by each HM Revenue and Customs office in Scotland, in each of the last 12 months. [212920]
Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not available centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Tobacco
Mr. Crausby: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of cigarettes sold in the UK in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [212805]
Angela Eagle: The total number of cigarettes released for consumption in the UK can be found in Table 2 of the HM Revenue and Customs ‘Tobacco Bulletin’, which is available from the HM Revenue and Customs website addresses at
HM Revenue and Customs does not collect sales data.
Tobacco: Leeds
John Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of cigarettes sold in (a) Leeds West constituency and (b) Leeds metropolitan district in each of the last five years. [213360]
Angela Eagle: HMRC does not have geographic information on cigarette sales.
Valuation Office: Databases
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to page 19 of the 2008-11 Forward Plan of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), what information Ordnance Survey provided to the Valuation Office Agency to improve and align the VOA's database. [212728]
Jane Kennedy: The work between VOA and Ordnance Survey (OS) to improve and align respective databases is ongoing. The VOA will receive data from OS under this project later this year.
Communities and Local Government
Antisocial Behaviour
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the planned timetable is for the implementation of the community call to action procedures in the (a) Police and Justice Act 2006 and (b) Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. [212741]
Mr. Dhanda: ‘Strong and prosperous communities—the Local Government White Paper Implementation Plan: One Year On’, published in November 2007, states that Councillor Call for Action for local government matters will be implemented during 2008.
The Home Office's Policing Green Paper will consult on a number of proposals for improving local accountability and decisions about how to implement the Police and Justice Act 2006 will need to be taken in light of the results of that consultation.
Community Relations
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2008, Official Report, column 2773W, on community relations, what progress has been made on determining the process by which recommendation 25 of the report, ‘Our Shared Future’, on guidelines for local authorities on awarding public sector contracts to faith-based bodies, can be implemented. [212962]
Mr. Dhanda: Officials have begun discussion with other Government Departments and stakeholders to discuss the most appropriate way to take this forward. No decisions have yet been made.
Councillors: Equal Opportunities
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she plans to publish a response to the recommendations contained in the Councillors' Commission report, Representing the Future, published on 10 December 2007. [212933]
Mr. Dhanda: The Secretary of State announced on 15 May that the Government response to the Councillors Commission report would be published alongside the Community Empowerment White Paper, which will be published before the summer recess.
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what offices her core Department has outside central London. [212784]
Mr. Dhanda: Communities and Local Government occupies leased offices at Hempstead House, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, and 2 Victoria Street, Glossop, Derbyshire. A third office at Garston, Hertfordshire is due to be vacated very shortly.
In offices managed by other Government Departments or agencies, CLG occupy space at Temple Quay House Bristol, Ashdown House Hastings, Office for National Statistics Titchfield Hampshire, and Fire Service College Moreton in Marsh Gloucestershire.
Departmental Funiture
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) chairs, (b) desks and (c) other office furnishings have been purchased by her Department and its agencies in each of the last five years; and at what cost in each case. [211772]
Mr. Dhanda: Communities and Local Government (CLG) does not collect data on expenditure on its office furniture.
All expenditure incurred by CLG in the purchase and procurement of services and items is made in accordance with the departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in Government Accounting. Where possible CLG purchase furniture through centrally negotiated contracts, always ensuring that the material used accord with the sustainable development in Government initiative.
Departmental Marketing
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department and its agencies spent on branding and marketing activity in 2007-08. [212027]
Mr. Dhanda: I refer the hon. Member to chapter 10 in the Communities and Local Government annual report 2008 which contains expenditure for the Department's public information campaigns in 2007-08. The report can be found in the Library of the House.
Information on marketing activities by our agencies can be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Property
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the value of the property held by (a) her Department and (b) associated public bodies was at the most recent date for which figures are available. [212880]
Mr. Dhanda: The value of the property held at 31 March 2007, the most recent date for which audited figures are available, was:
£33.3 millions in the Department; and
£1,061.4 million in associated public bodies. Within the total held by associated public bodies £978.9 millions is property held short-term to enable sustainable economic regeneration and development in the English regions.
Departmental Publications
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library copies of her Department’s in-house staff magazine for the last 12 months. [212788]
Mr. Dhanda: Copies of the Department’s staff magazine are placed in the Library on a regular basis. I can confirm that the most recent edition is now available.
Greenbelt: East of England
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 2 June 2008, Official Report, column 544W, on the green belt: East of England, how many hectares of green belt land, in gross terms, will be developed as a consequence of the East of England Regional Spatial Strategy. [212721]
Mr. Dhanda: The East of England Plan requires the review of green belt boundaries at Stevenage, Hemel Hempstead, Harlow and Welwyn/Hatfield to help accommodate the housing requirements identified for this part of the region. The actual amount of green belt involved will depends on the outcome of these strategic reviews and the new boundaries will be established through the joint or co-ordinated local development frameworks developed by the local authorities involved.
Home Information Packs
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 8 May 2008, Official Report, columns 37-9WS, on home information packs, if she will place in the Library a copy of the initial assessment produced by the Deputy Chief Executive of the Land Registry. [212657]
Caroline Flint: A copy of the ‘Local Property Searches and Leasehold Information’ report by Ted Beardsall, the deputy chief executive of the Land Registry has been deposited in the House Library and is also available on the CLG website at:
The working group on leasehold Information in HIPs has been established and is due to report in the autumn. Membership and terms of reference of the working group are available on the CLG website at:
Housing: Carbon Emissions
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what estimate her Department has made of the annual carbon dioxide emissions from a typical three bedroomed dwelling that is (a) electrically and (b) gas heated under level three standard of the Code for Sustainable Homes; [212368]
(2) what estimate her Department has made of average annual carbon dioxide emissions from a typical three bedroomed dwelling (a) built to current Part L building regulations and gas heated and (b) electrically heated to level three standard under the Code for Sustainable Homes. [212369]
Mr. Iain Wright: Energy performance standards within Code level 3 incorporate a 25 per cent. improvement in carbon dioxide emissions compared to a similarly heated home built to 2006 Part L building regulations.
An indicative average sized house used in the Department's modelling is a 100 m(2)( )semi-detached house and the results below are for standard occupancy and patterns of heating and hot water usage for average UK weather conditions. The model does not take into account the use of appliances such as brown and white goods.
| Kg/year | |
| Heating type and standard achieved | Average carbon dioxide emissions |
|
Electrically heated home, compliant with Part L 2006 building regulations | |
These figures are target emission rates. Developers will use a variety of different solutions to achieve compliance with them and occupiers will consume more or less than this dependent on their real life behaviour. The target emission rates in Part L of the building regulations are different for gas heated and electrically heated homes due to the use of a ‘fuel factor’.
This factor recognises the higher carbon burden of grid electricity in comparison with gas and therefore the compliance difficulties which would be faced by homes which could not be built to use gas heating, for example homes that are not on the gas grid.
Housing: Construction
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department is taking to increase house-building activity within the construction sector. [211639]
Caroline Flint: In order to encourage home building within the construction sector, Communities and Local Government is continuing to engage with the construction industry and mortgage lenders seeking to stimulate building of the good quality and affordable homes that people need. This is supported by other actions being taken through our delivery bodies.
As we announced on the 14 May, we will be helping developers at a challenging time in the new build market by giving the Housing Corporation flexibility to fund its investment partners to buy unsold stock from developers at competitive rates with a view to provision of either social rent or low cost home ownership. We expect the Housing Corporation to spend £200 million in 2008-09.
Through an expansion of the Government's HomeBuy programme, all first time buyers with a household income of £60,000 a year or less will have the option to apply to
buy a share, from 25 per cent. of a home or to boost their purchasing power by up to 50 per cent. with a shared equity mortgage.
English Partnerships are seeking to help developers to acquire land needed to maintain supply of housing through improvements to their processes for selling sites.
Housing: Low Incomes
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much affordable housing was built in England in each quarter since 2006; and what her projections are for the amount to be built in the remainder of 2008. [211507]
Caroline Flint: The following table shows the number of new affordable homes built in England in 2005-06 and 2006-07—these figures are not available quarterly. The figures include new build Social rent and intermediate affordable housing; they exclude affordable housing acquisitions.
| New build affordable homes in England | |
| Number | |
| Source: Registered social landlord new build figures from the Housing Corporation, local authority new build completions from P2 returns, Section 106 new build figures from HSSA returns. | |
The Department does not produce forecasts of new build affordable housing delivery.
The total new build plus acquisitions figures for England are shown in the affordable housing live tables and statistics release, which were released on the Department's website on 12 June 2008—the links are as follows:
Link to Affordable Housing Live Tables:
Link to Affordable Housing Statistics Release:
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many units of social housing are available to residents in Chorley for (a) rental, (b) shared ownership and (c) purchase. [212303]
Mr. Iain Wright: The following table summarises the breakdown of social housing within Chorley, according to the most recent Regulatory and Statistical Return (RSR) dated 31 March 2007. The 2008 RSR is currently being collated.
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