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14 Oct 2008 : Column 1094W—continued
Housing: Owner Occupation
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average rate of home ownership is in England; what the rate is among those from ethnic minority groups; and if she will make a statement. [225907]
Mr. Iain Wright: It is estimated that 70 per cent. of households in England in 2007 were owner occupiers. Among ethnic minority groups, 50 per cent. of households were owner occupiers. These estimates are based on ONS Labour Force Survey data.
Housing: Repairs and Maintenance
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding is to be provided to home improvement agencies under the Supporting People budget in the next 12 months. [226663]
Mr. Iain Wright: We are not able to say how much Supporting People funding will be provided to Home Improvement Agencies under the Supporting People budget in the next 12 months. The Supporting People programme is delivered at a local level and decisions on how much money is spent on services, including Home Improvement Agencies, are made by the top tier local authorities, based on local priorities and need. The 2008-09 allocations for Supporting People amount to £1.686 billion. We do know that, together, the top tier authorities spent £12,768,942 on Home Improvement Agencies in 2005-06, increasing to £15,413,865 in 2006-07 (2007-08 data is not yet available).
Housing: Standards
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if her Department will consider the merits of re-introducing Parker-Morris standards for new housing. [224722]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Government's delivery bodies, the Housing Corporation (HC) and English Partnerships (EP) are already engaged in this issue. They have taken a lead in setting benchmarks for high quality urban design, construction and environmental sustainability. It is important that they understand the issues around residential living space, to help build on existing good practice and explore innovative ideas. The Homes and Communities Agency will consider how to take this forward.
'Parker Morris' standards were appropriate for the housing needs of the time. A partnership of industry bodies have been working together to examine the issue. Currently these partners, including the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), EP, HC and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIB A) are sharing information and undertaking research to understand if there is a legitimate issue concerning size of new build open market units. It is important that an evidence base is established before conclusions can be drawn on whether there is a problem and whether this is a matter for public policy intervention.
Local Authorities: Housing
Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities have been permitted to introduce selective licensing schemes under the Housing Act 2004; how many applications have yet to be approved; how many have been refused; and if she will make a statement. [225300]
Mr. Iain Wright: The following local authorities have been granted approval to operate selective licensing schemes under the Housing Act 2004.
Salford city council;
Middlesbrough borough council;
Manchester city council;
Gateshead borough council;
Sedgefield borough council;
Burnley borough council; and
Bolton borough council.
The Department is currently considering applications from Blackburn with Darwen borough council, Leeds city council,. Easington district council and Hartlepool borough council. We invite local authorities to work with CLG officials in the development of their proposals so that the applications when submitted are consistent with published criteria. This has meant that the Secretary of State has not refused any applications.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department is taking to assist local authorities with deposits in Landsbanki. [226999]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement ‘Impact on local authority finances of Icelandic bank failures’ made by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government today.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what assistance her Department is giving to those local authorities that have deposited funds with Icelandic banks; [227060]
(2) what role her Department is playing in providing help and support to those local authorities that have invested in Icelandic banks. [227062]
John Healey: I refer my hon. Friend to the written ministerial statement ‘Impact on local authority finances of Icelandic bank failures’ made by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government today.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities have invested in Icelandic banks. [227061]
John Healey: The LGA is now completing its urgent analysis of the situation for individual local authorities that may have had investments in Icelandic banks. I will be meeting with the LGA again this week to discuss the issues arising on a case by case basis.
I also refer the hon. Member to the written statement, ‘Impact on local authority finances of Icelandic bank failures’, made by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government today.
Local Government Finance: Bassetlaw
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the Bassetlaw Council's expenditure of local government business growth initiative money on job evaluation. [226773]
John Healey: The grant that has been paid to authorities under the Local Authority Business Growth Incentives scheme is non-ringfenced—which means it is for local authorities themselves to decide how that money is spent.
Local Government: Bassetlaw
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what options are available to Bassetlaw residents seeking the introduction of a unitary local government authority in their area; and if she will make a statement. [224926]
John Healey: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) on 13 March 2008, Official Report, column 583W.
Mortgages: North Lanarkshire
Mr. Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many mortgage applications relating to the purchase of property in Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill constituency were approved in each of the last 24 months. [225960]
Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
The Government do not hold these figures. The Bank of England publishes national data on mortgage approvals, which are available at:
Regional Planning and Development: South East
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether responses to the South East Plan consultation sent to her Department, rather than the Government Office for the South East, will be considered as part of the South East Plan consultation process. [227125]
Mr. Khan: All consultation responses should be sent to the Government office for the south-east (GOSE) by 24 October. Any responses received by the Department for Communities and Local Government will be passed on to GOSE.
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many responses to the South East Plan consultation have been received by (a) the Government Office for the South East and (b) her Department. [227126]
Mr. Khan: All consultation responses should be sent to the Government office for the south-east (GOSE) by 24 October. Any responses received by the Department for Communities and Local Government will be passed on to GOSE.
As the consultation period is still running it is not possible to give a precise answer to this question, as comments are still being logged. However, GOSE estimate that around 2,000 responses had been received by 13 October.
Social Rented Housing: Sales
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many right to buy sales of council and social housing there were in each month of the last two years; and what revenue was generated in each month. [225552]
Mr. Iain Wright:
The following table sets out sales of local authority and registered social landlord (RSL) properties under the right to buy and preserved right to buy schemes between April 2006 and March 2008, and the receipts arising from those sales in the same period. These figures are presented by quarter for local authorities,
and annually for RSLs, rather than monthly, as this is the basis on which Communities and Local Government collects this information. Figures are based on returns made to the Department by local authorities and to the Housing Corporation from RSLs.
| Quarter | Number of RTB sales of dwellings by local authorities | Total receipts arising from LA RTB sales (£m) | Number of RTB and preserved RTB sales of dwellings by registered social landlords | Total receipts arising from RSL RTB and preserved RTB sales (£m) . |
Figures for local authority (LA) sales and sales receipts are from PIB quarterly returns from local authorities to CLG.
Figures for registered social landlord (RSL) sales are from RSR (regulatory and statistical return) annual returns from RSLs to the Housing Corporation. Figures for sales receipts are from CORE (continuous recording) returns from RSLs to the Housing Corporation.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she plans to reply to Question 167261, on insurance of flood-damaged property, tabled on 19 November 2007. [227131]
Mr. Khan: The hon. Member’s question was transferred to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and answered by my hon. Friend the then Environment Minister, the hon. Member for Oldham, East and Saddleworth (Mr. Woolas) on 27 November 2007, Official Report, column 316W.
Children, Schools and Families
Academies
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which academies use their powers to select up to 10 per cent. of their intake by aptitude; and if he will make a statement. [225068]
Jim Knight: Of the 130 open academies there are 21 who can select up to 10 per cent. of their intake by aptitude. They are as follows:
The Business Academy, Bexley
The City Academy, Bristol
Capital City Academy, Brent
The Academy at Peckham, Southwark
City of London Academy, Southwark
Djanogly City Academy, Nottingham
Dixons City Academy, Bradford
Macmillan Academy, Middlesbrough
Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham Academy, Lewisham
Haberdashers' Knights Academy, Lewisham
Harefield Academy, Hillingdon
The John Madejski Academy, Reading
Ashcroft Technology Academy, Wandsworth
William Hulme's Grammar School, Manchester
The Belvedere Academy, Liverpool
Harris City Academy, Crystal Palace, Croydon
John Cabot Academy, South Gloucestershire
Wren Academy, Barnet
The Priory LSST Academy, Lincoln
Colston's Girls' School, Bristol
Bristol Choir Academy, Bristol
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