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21 July 2008 : Column 770W—continued
| Number of rough sleepers (persons) London, 1998 to 2007 (mid-year estimates)( 1) | |
| London | |
| (1 )Estimates based on a combination of recent street counts in those areas where there is a known or suspected rough sleeping problem and of estimates made by local authorities, as reported on their HSSA returns to CLG in June of each year. | |
Homelessness: Northampton
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration her Department has given to the conversion of Robinson House, Northampton under the Places of Change programme. [219869]
Mr. Iain Wright: Northampton borough council have been allocated £1.42 million from the Places of Change Programme towards the reprovision of its services for rough sleepers in Robinson House. They are currently conducting an options appraisal of sites in Northampton, including Robinson House, in order to take this project forward.
Housing
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people are on social housing waiting lists in each region. [219872]
Mr. Iain Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 19 March 2008, Official Report, columns 1198-99W.
Information on local authority waiting lists is collected in respect of households rather than individuals.
Housing: Bournemouth
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new dwellings were built in Bournemouth in each of the last 10 years. [220396]
Mr. Iain Wright: The figures requested are presented in the following table:
| New build completions | |
| Source: New build completions from P2 returns submitted by local authorities and National House Building Council (NHBC) | |
Housing: Migration
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 9 May 2008, Official Report, column 1206W, on housing: migration, what research she has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the proportion of projected household growth attributable to net migration in England; how many such projections have been made since 1987; and what her most recent projection is of the proportion of household growth attributable to net migration. [206253]
Caroline Flint: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 23 July 2007, Official Report, column 745W.
Housing: Overcrowding
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of families living in overcrowded conditions in each London borough in each of the last 10 years. [219276]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Survey of English Housing, using the bedroom standard, estimates the number of overcrowded households living in London over the last 10 years were:
| Overcrowded households( 1)( ) ( T housand) | |
| (1) Three year moving average | |
It is not possible to derive estimates at a local authority level.
Housing: Rural Areas
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will develop policies to ensure exclusive provision to the local population of housing supply in remote rural locations; and if she will make a statement. [219187]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Government recognise that rural communities face particular pressures. National planning for housing policies in Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3) gives local authorities in rural areas the flexibility to determine the kind of new housing that should be built in their area. They should be proactive in identifying sufficient suitable sites that can be brought into development.
The rural exception site policy in PPS3 allows local authorities, where practical and economically viable, to grant permission for 100 per cent. affordable housing on small sites that would not normally be released for
housing. This is an important means of providing affordable housing in perpetuity to meet needs of local rural communities.
In addition, in order to retain affordable housing for local communities in areas where replacement would be difficult, the right to acquire, under which housing association tenants may buy their rented home at a discount, does not apply in areas designated as rural, generally settlements of 3,000 or fewer inhabitants.
In general, section 106 can be used to impose a planning obligation restricting the use of land in any specified way or requiring land to be used in any specified way. An obligation created under section 106 is not only enforceable against the person entering into it but also against any person deriving title from them. Therefore, where restricting occupancy of affordable housing to the local population is material to the granting of planning permission for a residential development, a section 106 agreement provides a means of ensuring that this occurs.
Housing: Standards
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 3 July 2008, Official Report, columns 1062-3W, on housing: standards, what estimate she has made of the cost of bringing all (a) owner-occupied, (b) private rented, (c) local authority and (d) registered social landlord housing up to code level 3 for sustainable homes. [219776]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Code for Sustainable Homes is a framework for the design and construction of sustainable new homes. Existing homes can not be assessed against the standard because some elements of the standard apply to the construction process, such as having a site waste management plan. There are also a number of sections that would be unrealistic to expect in existing homes where major renovation or re-building would be required to achieve them. There is therefore no intention of requiring existing homes to come up to Code level 3 standards.
New homes built with public funding are required to meet Code level 3. The 2007 cost analysis in the impact assessment undertaken by Cyril Sweett concluded that the additional cost of building to Code level 3, over and above the cost of building to current building regulations standards, is around 4-8 per cent. This report, however, only took into account capital costs, excluding benefits such as reduced energy costs and added value to the property.
Housing: Sustainable Development
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the potential contribution of high energy efficiency pumps for (a) central heating, (b) air conditioning and (c) water boosting could make towards achieving her Department's target for zero-carbon emission housing by 2016. [220463]
Mr. Iain Wright:
The Government's programme to achieve zero carbon homes by 2016 will involve a progressive tightening of the energy efficiency provisions within Part L of the Building Regulations. The first changes
will be made in 2010 and we have started to review the relevant provisions. As part of this review we are considering the potential for the introduction of energy efficiency standards for pumps in domestic and non-domestic properties. Any such proposals would be the subject of formal consultation in 2009.
Lighting: Recycling
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance she has given to local authorities on providing recycling facilities for energy-saving light bulbs. [219580]
Joan Ruddock: I have been asked to reply.
The Department has not issued specific advice to local authorities about the recycling of low energy light bulbs.
Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs—the most common type of energy efficient bulbs) are covered by the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. All local authorities in England are providing designated collection facilities for WEEE. Information about which sites take back CFLs (and other types of WEEE) is available on the recycle-more website.
Once CFLs have been collected, producers of the equipment have responsibility to fund treatment and recycling.
The Department has published background information on CFLs—their benefits in terms of energy efficiency as well as advice on their disposal at the end of their lives. This can be found on the DEFRA website.
Local Authorities: Housing
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities operate choice-based letting schemes that include private rented housing options; and if she will make a statement. [219520]
Mr. Iain Wright: Communities and Local Government does not generally collect information on the detailed workings of Choice Based Lettings schemes.
Bolton, Leeds, Wychavon and the East London Letting Company (comprising Hackney, Havering, Newham, Redbridge and Waltham Forest) are known to offer housing applicants private rented options alongside social housing in their Choice Based Lettings schemes. Other schemes may also include or be developing these options.
Communities and local government is committed to ensuring that housing applicants have more choice over where they live. We encourage local authorities to work with private landlords so that housing applicants and tenants who are seeking a transfer have more housing options from which to choose.
Local Authority Business Growth Incentives Scheme
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authorities have funded social enterprise under the local authority business growth incentive scheme. [218912]
John Healey: Grants to local authorities under the local authority business growth incentives (LABGI) scheme are not ring-fenced, so local authorities are able to choose how they spend any funding they receive. We do not keep records centrally of how local authorities have spent LABGI funding.
Local Government Association
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the operation of the central-local concordat; what progress she has made with the Local Government Association on the operation of the concordat; and if she will make a statement. [219803]
John Healey: The Central-Local Concordat, signed in December 2007, enshrined the principle of devolution at the heart of the Government's relationship with local councils in England. It provides a point of reference for how this relationship should develop in the future.
Since the concordat was signed significant progress has been made, including the signing of 150 local area agreements across all of England, which means that councils and their partners can concentrate their efforts on the specific needs of the local people they serve.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what changes there have been to the mechanisms for the allocation of money from central government to local government since 1997-98. [219978]
John Healey: The main changes to the mechanisms for the allocation of money from central Government to local government since 1997-98 are set out in “Local Government Finance Statistics England No. 18 (2008)”, in annexes C5 and D2, a copy of which is available in the Library of the house. The Government regularly review the mechanisms for allocating money to local government, including during periodic consultation on formula grant distribution for local government; and make changes as appropriate.
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what changes there have been to the measurement of deprivation for the purposes of allocation of funding from central government to local government since 1997-98. [219979]
John Healey: Local funding to tackle deprivation has been distributed in the form of the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund from 2001, and the Working Neighbourhoods Fund since 2008. These allocations have used measures of deprivation—the Indices of Deprivation (ID).
Each version of the ID has evolved to measure deprivation more accurately.
The 2000 ID was ward based, contained 32 indicators, and covered six socio-economic domains.
In 2004 the new Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) geography was used, a new domain was introduced (crime), and the number of indicators increased to 37.
The ID2007 indices were an update to the ID2004, with minor changes to some of the indicators and the number of indicators increased to 38.
More details can be found in the technical reports for each index, published on the CLG website.
Mainstream local authority funding does not use measures of deprivation specifically to allocate funding, however distribution of formula grant to local authorities uses broad measures of the social and economic characteristics of an area. The factors used in each year since 1997-98 are set out in the Local Government Finance Report (England) for each year. These reports are approved by Parliament and copies are deposited in the Library of the House.
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