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9 July 2008 : Column 1630W—continued
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much is expected to be (a) collected in negative subsidy and (b) allocated in positive subsidy in the housing revenue account subsidy system in 2008-09. [215904]
Mr. Iain Wright: Only provisional details of total negative subsidy to be collected in 2008-09 and total positive subsidy for the same period taken from the 200801 Advance claim form are available at this stage and are subject to revision as further claim forms are submitted during the year.
The current data from these forms show expected negative subsidy of -£756,397,779 and total positive subsidy of £560,580,841.
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much of the housing revenue account subsidy is expected to be retained by the Exchequer in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10. [215905]
Mr. Iain Wright: Only provisional details of housing revenue account subsidy entitlements in 2008-09, taken from the 200801 advance claim form, are available at this time and are subject to revision as further claim forms are submitted during the year.
The current data from these forms show a provisional surplus of £195,816,938, although this is subject to change and fluctuations.
Beyond 2008-09, our forecasts will depend on decisions yet to be taken by Ministers on the annual Housing Revenue Account Subsidy Determination, on which we aim to consult shortly with local authorities.
Council Housing: Offenders
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on the criteria to be used in the allocation of social housing to former prisoners who are on the Sex Offenders Register. [216976]
Mr. Iain Wright:
In 2004 the Department wrote to housing authorities to advise them of their duty, under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, to co-operate with the police, probation and the prison service in establishing arrangements to assess and manage the risks posed by
sexual and violent offenders. This letter advised housing authorities that the Department expects the duty to co-operate to include such matters as:
providing information on the availability, type and location of housing
offering advice on the suitability of available accommodation, and entering into reciprocal arrangements with Registered Social Landlords and
neighbouring authorities in order to make it easier to achieve a satisfactory housing solution for offenders.
The advice also made clear that the Department expects housing authorities to consider carefully all housing options, including an appropriate allocation within their own stock or nomination to an RSL.
The statutory Allocations Code of Guidance, issued in 2002, advises housing authorities that, where sex offenders are allocated accommodation, this should be in the light of considered decisions about managing risk associated with their release from prison into the community. The code also refers local authorities to earlier guidance issued by the Department in November 1999.
Council Housing: Tamworth
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many council dwellings have been (a) sold and (b) built in Tamworth constituency since 1997. [215846]
Mr. Iain Wright: Between 1997-98 and 2006-07, Tamworth local authority reported 1,395 sales through right to buy.
Over the same period Tamworth local authority reported no local authority new build dwellings.
Source:
Returns from local authority to Communities and Local Government.
Council Housing: Waiting Lists
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many applications for medical priority points were made in each London local authority in each of the last five years; and how many households were awarded medical priority in each year. [216481]
Mr. Iain Wright: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Council Tax
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to what extent local authorities (a) keep and (b) equalise away the increased council tax revenue from the construction of additional dwellings within the locality. [215999]
John Healey: Local authorities keep all of the council tax revenue they raise on chargeable dwellings in their area, whether newly constructed or not.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of domestic residences pay only a single person occupancy council tax charge. [217252]
John Healey: Details of the number of domestic properties in England granted a discount on council tax because of single person occupancy can be found in table 2.21 of Local Government Financial Statistics England No 18 2008, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.
Council Tax: Second Homes
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding has been used to reimburse local council tax billing authorities under provisions for a council tax discount for second homes in each year in which figures are available since financial year 2000-01. [217282]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 3 September 2007, Official Report, column 1640W.
Deprivation Indicators: Rural Areas
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will redefine the Index of Multiple Deprivation to take better account of the facilities available for rural populations in remote areas. [217663]
John Healey: The Indices of Deprivation are designed to ensure that deprivation is recognised in all types of areas as deprivation is measured independently of the size of the population. The measurement of deprivation at Super Output Area level rather than ward level also means that we are able to pick up small pockets of deprivation more accurately, and thus are able to pick up pockets of deprivation in rural as well as urban areas.
East Midlands Development Agency
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much money the East Midlands Development Agency has disbursed in (a) revenue and (b) capital spending in each of the financial years for which figures are available. [214775]
Mr. McFadden: I have been asked to reply.
EMDA delivers a number of programmes, principally the Single Programme. Also the Coalfields Programme and some elements of the 2000-07 ERDF programme. Not all programmes have a consistent capital/current definition. Please see the following table showing current and capital programme figures for the last five years.
| £000 | ||
| Current programme | Capital programme | |
Empty Property
Mr. Kidney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many empty dwelling management orders have been made; and
what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of such orders in helping to bring empty dwellings back into use. [213532]
Mr. Iain Wright: To date, 12 Interim Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs) have been approved by the Residential Property Tribunal Service (RPTS) since the legislation came into effect in April 2006.
We are confident that the legislation is beginning to work well. We always intended that it should be used only as a last resort where other measures have proved unsuccessful. Our policy is to encourage voluntary re-occupation of empty homes but this can only work well where there is realistic compulsion to back them up. EDMOs provide this compulsion and should therefore be a key component of a comprehensive empty property strategy.
Since the legislation was introduced, the number of properties empty for longer than six months has fallen by 4 per cent. from 282,461 to 271,252.
Fire Services
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what processes are in place to measure the effectiveness of regional management boards in respect of regionalisation of fire control centres; and if she will make a statement. [216509]
Mr. Dhanda: It is for the FRAs in each region to decide how they want to work together to ensure effective FiReControl delivery. The delivery mechanisms include regional management boards.
Significant progress continues to be achieved in delivering the FiReControl Project and the Regional Control Centres. Seven local authority control led companies have been established. An eighth is expected to be in place shortly. Seven buildings are complete, with London and east of England on track. Seven out of eight regional control centre director posts have been filled, five are already in post. London as a single authority is making its own arrangements about its structures.
Housing
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what definition her Department uses of intermediate market in respect of housing; [217258]
(2) whether her Department's targets for new housing include targets for the provision of intermediate market housing. [217259]
Mr. Iain Wright: Intermediate affordable housing is defined in Planning Policy Statement 3 ‘Housing’ (PPS3) and can include shared equity schemes, such as the Government's HomeBuy scheme, other low cost homes for sale and homes for intermediate rent, which are above social rent but below market rent. Low cost market housing is outside of this definition.
We are investing £8.4 billion for affordable housing in 2008-11—a £3 billion increase compared to the previous three years and we are committed to delivering at least 70,000 more affordable homes a year by 2010. This includes 45,000 new affordable homes for rent a year by
2010-11—a 50 per cent. increase on the target for 2007-08 and 75,000 shared ownership and shared equity homes over the next three years funded mainly by the Housing Corporation, contributing to our overall housing supply aspirations.
Housing: Construction
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new dwellings have been constructed in (a) Lower Lea and Stratford, (b) The Royals, (c) Greenwich Peninsula, (d) Woolwich, (e) Barking Riverside and Town Centre, (f) Thurrock, (g) Basildon, (h) Ebbsfleet Valley, (i) Kent Thames Waterfront and (j) Medway Waterfront and Chattenden since 1 April 2005; and if she make a statement. [216980]
Mr. Iain Wright: Information is not available for the small areas requested. The following table presents reported new build completions for the local authorities in which these areas are located.
| Local Authority | Area | New build completions in 2007-08 |
| (1) Indicates incomplete data where a local authority has reported for only part of the year. Source: New build completions from P2 quarterly returns submitted by local authorities and National House Building Council (NHBC). The local authority figures are as reported and do not include imputation estimates. | ||
Housing: Domestic Safety
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what information her Department collects on the implementation of the housing health and safety ratings system; and if she will make a statement. [217105]
Mr. Iain Wright: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 8 July 2008, Official Report, column 1501W.
Housing: Prices
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate her Department and its agencies have made of the rate of change in sale prices of (a) flats and (b) houses in each of the last 12 months. [216002]
Mr. Iain Wright: Data on house price changes by dwelling type are available from the monthly CLG house price index available at:
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