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15 July 2008 : Column 270W—continued
These costs were included in the business case version one published in June 2007 and will be updated in part two of the business case to be published later in the summer. A copy of the full business case will be placed in the Library.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department’s estimate for planning purposes of the convergence costs associated with FiReControl was in each fire (a) authority and (b) region; and whether these costs will be included in the FiReControl business case. [R] [217125]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 8 July 2008]: Regional and Fire and Rescue Authority project costs including the costs of convergence activities are met through New Burdens funding. A detailed breakdown of payments and allocations to Regions and Fire and Rescue Authorities can be found in Implementation Funding Circulars 63/2005, 44/2006, 76/2006 and 5/2008.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) staffing costs, including civil servants, interim and agency staff, (b) secondment costs and (c) travel costs of the national FiReControl project team have been; and whether these costs are included in the business case. [R] [217126]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 8 July 2008]: The following table identifies the costs incurred on FiReControl to the end of June 2008.
| Resource type | Total (£) |
These costs were included in the Business Case version 1 published in June 2007 and will be updated in part 2 of the Business Case to be published later in the summer. A copy of the full Business Case will be placed in the Library.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) staffing costs, including civil servants, interim and agency staff, (b) secondment costs and (c) travel costs of the regional FiReControl project teams have been; and whether these costs are included in the business case. [R] [217127]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 8 July 2008]: Regional and Fire and Rescue Authority project costs including those associated with staffing, secondment and travel are met as part of the New Burdens funding. A detailed breakdown of payments and allocations to Regions and Fire and Rescue Authorities can be found in Implementation Funding Circulars 63/2005, 44/2006, 76/2006 and 5/2008. CLG does not keep records of this expenditure.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her estimate is of the cost, including VAT, of all consultants' fees for the FiReControl project for the duration of the project. [217129]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 8 July 2008]: To the end of June 2008 the cost of consultancy services for the FiReControl project totalled £38.6 million (inclusive of VAT). Communities and Local Government estimates that future costs will be £16.9 million (inclusive of VAT).
Fire Services
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost of each fire and rescue service regional management board was in financial year (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06, (c) 2006-07 and (d) 2007-08; and if she will make a statement. [216560]
Mr. Dhanda: The running costs of each Regional Management Board (RMB) are financed by the constituent Fire and Rescue Authorities from the FRAs’ allocations. How this is administered is a matter for each RMB. Central Government do not hold information about the cost of each RMB in each financial year.
Fish
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much fish was procured by her Department and at what cost in each of the last five years, broken down by species; and what amount and value of such fish met the Marine Stewardship Council standard in each such year, broken down by species. [217898]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Fraud
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) on how many occasions staff employed by her Department and its agencies defrauded her Department in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement; [214631]
(2) what estimate she has made of the losses to her Department from fraud committed by staff of her Department and its agencies in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement; [214638]
(3) how many staff in her Department and its agencies were prosecuted for (a) attempting to defraud and (b) defrauding her Department in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement; [214642]
(4) how many staff of her Department and its agencies were responsible for each instance of fraud or attempted fraud in her Department and its agencies in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement. [214645]
Mr. Dhanda: Since 2003 departmental records show that there have been two members of staff who have committed fraud totalling £871,818.73. Both were successfully prosecuted and action was taken to recover the monies. These two frauds consisted of 28 separate transactions. In addition there was one separate instance of attempted fraud of a value of £700. This attempted fraud was carried out by one of the perpetrators of the aforementioned frauds, but was prevented by the controls put in place during the fraud investigation.
Departmental records do not go back beyond 2003.
Home Information Packs
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 22 May 2008, Official Report, column 443W, on home information packs, whether informal minutes of the subsequent meetings were taken by civil servants from her Department. [217825]
Caroline Flint: No minutes were taken of the Stakeholder Panel meetings.
Housing
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many and what proportion of housing stock units were (a) owner-occupied, (b) privately rented and (c) socially rented in (i) England, (ii) each English region and (iii) each London local authority in (A) 1980, (B) 1990, (C) 2000 and (D) 2007; [217103]
(2) if she will rank each English local authority by the percentage change in the number of properties in the social rented sector in its area since 1980. [217104]
Mr. Iain Wright: The number of households by housing tenure are available from the 1981, 1991 and 2001 censuses. Estimates for 2007 are derived from the labour force survey, but only for England and the regions. Information on housing stock for 2007 is also available from the Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA), collected from local authorities. This information does not separately identify privately rented and owner occupied dwellings—however it does provide estimates for the London boroughs.
Data on the change in social housing stock between 1980 and 2007 are from the Housing Investment Programme (1980) and the HSSA (2007). Local authorities that did not provide data or are in areas where there was local government reorganisation over this period have been excluded.
Tables showing (1) census-based household figures for 1981, 1991, 2001 and labour force survey estimates for 2007; (2) housing stock figures by tenure for England, the regions and London boroughs as at 1 April 2007; and (3) social housing stock by local authority: England 1980 and 2007 have been deposited in the Library.
Housing: Construction
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what target has been set for house building in (a) North Northamptonshire and (b) England in the period to 2021; and what assessment she has made of progress towards these targets. [214944]
Mr. Iain Wright: Housing targets below national level are not set directly by Government, but are set out in regional spatial strategies and local development frameworks which are developed through the regional and local planning processes. The 2007 Green Paper “Homes for the Future: more affordable, more sustainable” (Cm7191), copies of which are in the Library, sets out the Government’s long-term objectives in terms of housing supply.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her most recent assessment is of the effect of current conditions in the housing market on the likelihood of her Department meeting its 2020 house-building targets. [217257]
Mr. Iain Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne (Julia Goldsworthy) on 12 June 2008, Official Report, column 497W.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will issue guidance to local authorities on the provision of short-term supply of land within their control for housing in the event of numbers of new housing starts falling; and whether the number of new housing starts in an area should be a material consideration in planning appeals relating to possible sites for new houses. [217553]
Mr. Iain Wright: Planning Policy Statement 3 Housing (PPS3) requires local planning authorities to identify sufficient specific, deliverable sites to deliver housing in the first five years, as part of a 15-year plan period horizon. The policy advises how local planning authorities need to regularly monitor housing performance against trajectory and that in circumstances where market conditions have changed, local authorities may find it necessary to reassess need and demand, considering a review of approach across the whole market area. PPS3, including those policies relating to whether the local authority has an up to date five year supply of deliverable sites, is capable of being taken into account by local planning authorities, the Planning Inspectorate Agency or other relevant decision maker, in determining planning applications.
Housing: Heating
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what estimate her Department has made of the number of electrically heated new homes built in the last five years that have compatible gas grid connections available; [217551]
(2) how many new homes which were (a) electrically heated and (b) gas heated were built in 2007-08. [217659]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Department’s statistics for new home completions do not include details of the form of heating used.
The Department for Communities and Local Government has not made estimates of the number of electrically heated new homes built in the last five years that have compatible gas grid connections available.
However, based on statistics for house completions in 2004, the regulatory impact assessment supporting the 2006 amendment to part L of the building regulations estimated that electricity was used for heating in 90 per cent. of flats, but only 1 per cent. of houses. Flats made up 43 per cent. of new build homes.
Mr. Mullin:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to amend the building regulations to require the
installation of energy efficient domestic heating pumps; and if she will make a statement. [217694]
Mr. Iain Wright: There are no plans to amend the building regulations to require the installation of particular heating systems. However, as announced in July 2007, it is proposed that the energy performance standards of the building regulations will be progressively improved in 2010, 2013 and 2016 to ensure all new homes are zero carbon by 2016. The installation of energy efficient technologies will help to meet these higher standards.
Housing: Standards
Mrs. Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Homes and Communities Agency promotes the application of lifetime homes standards in new build homes. [217117]
Caroline Flint: As stated in the National Strategy for Housing in an Ageing Society, in the first instance Lifetime Homes Standards will be a mandatory element in the Code for Sustainable Homes at level 6 from 2008, at level 4 from 2010 and level 3 from 2013. This will have the effect of ensuring that all public sector funded housing is built to Lifetime Homes Standards from 2011. We are currently proposing amendments to the Housing and Regeneration Bill to make explicit reference to the needs of both elderly and disabled persons.
We will expect the Home and Communities Agency (HCA) to promote well designed quality homes and places by using industry benchmarks in conjunction with recognised public sector standards. The standards adopted will include social, economic, environmental and physical measures of design and performance. They will apply equally to the private and public sector activity in which the HCA engages, covering regeneration and housing, existing places and new places. We also expect the HCA to consult widely about their proposed approach to quality before adopting specific measures.
Local Government Ombudsman: Freedom of Information
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will bring forward legislative proposals to remove exemptions from the Freedom of Information Act 2000 of the Local Government Ombudsman under Sections 32 and 44 of the Local Government Act 1974; and if she will make a statement. [217827]
Mr. Dhanda: There are no plans to remove the exemptions from the Freedom of Information Act that currently apply to the Local Government Ombudsman. The removal of such exemptions could deter people suffering injustice due to a council’s maladministration from raising the matter with the ombudsman and hence obtaining redress.
It is the policy of the Local Government Ombudsman to operate as openly as possible without putting at risk its investigations and the service provides for the public.
Ordnance Survey: Telephone Services
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what income her Department received from the Ordnance Survey 0845 number in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2006-07 and (c) 2005-06. [217540]
Mr. Iain Wright: Neither the Department nor Ordnance Survey has received income from Ordnance Survey's 0845 numbers in any of the years in question.
Planning Permission: National Parks
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will put in place measures to ensure that planning applications relating to areas within National Parks are dealt with expeditiously. [217609]
Mr. Iain Wright: National Parks are subject to the same national targets for dealing with planning applications as all other local planning authorities which are that 60 per cent. of major applications (10 houses or more) should be dealt with within 13 weeks, that 65 per cent. of minor applications and 80 per cent. of all other applications should be dealt with within eight weeks.
Planning Permission: Rural Areas
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the implications of proposed changes in planning regulations of (a) re-using under used or disused property in rural areas, (b) developing rural business centres and (c) new-build for employment purposes in the countryside. [217489]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Government published draft Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 4: ‘Planning for Sustainable Economic Development’ for consultation in December 2007. The draft PPS asks regional planning bodies and local planning authorities to plan positively and proactively to encourage economic development, in line with the principles of sustainable development.
The draft PPS asks local authorities to encourage new uses for vacant or derelict buildings, including historic buildings in urban and rural areas and is clear that local authorities should support small scale economic development in rural villages, whether it be rural business centres or dedicated new-build, where it provides the most sustainable option.
The Department has received over 300 responses to the consultation and is currently considering these. We also expect to receive shortly the report of the Taylor review into the issues facing rural areas in terms of housing and the economy. The hon. Member for Truro looked at these and other issues, and we will take account of his recommendations as we finalise our policies for sustainable economic development.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will take steps to reduce the average time taken to grant planning permission for employment purposes in rural areas. [217490]
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