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23 Oct 2008 : Column 488W—continued
Departmental Official Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent on overnight accommodation by her Department's civil servants in the last 12 months. [228765]
Mr. Khan: For the 12-month period from October 2007 to September 2008 the amount spent on overnight accommodation by civil servants in the Department for Communities and Local Government, excluding Government offices, departmental agencies and NDPBs, was £482,887.
Departmental Pensions
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many civil servants working in her Department and its agencies have pensions with a cash equivalent transfer value of over £1 million. [229557]
Mr. Khan:
It is not appropriate to disclose pension information for civil servants other than board members whose details are shown in the remuneration report in annual resource accounts. A copy of Communities and
Local Government’s resource accounts for financial year 2007-8 can be found in the Library or accessed electronically using the following link
Deprivation Indicators
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 29 April 2008, Official Report, column 313W, on the index of deprivation, whether distance calculations were (a) made by the Oxford University researchers producing the report and (b) contained within the primary source data. [229651]
John Healey: The distance calculations were made by the University of Oxford using point data from the primary data source and population weighted centroid data from the Office for National Statistics.
Government Offices for the Regions
Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost to the public purse of the Government Offices for the Regions was in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08. [228623]
Mr. Khan: The administrative cost to the public purse of the Government offices for the regions was £137,803,159 in 2006-07 and £122,293,471 in 2007-08.
Government Offices for the Regions: Finance
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the total programme budget managed or influenced by Government Offices for the Regions (a) was in 2007-08 and (b) is in 2008-09 according to the Network Corporate Plan. [229680]
Mr. Khan: Programme expenditure is the responsibility of each of the sponsor Departments and the GO Network no longer retains annual records of this. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne (Julia Goldsworthy) on 6 March 2008, Official Report, column 2782W, which provided the programme spend breakdown for 2006-07.
Green belt
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 12 May 2008, Official Report, column 1393W, on the green belt, what her reasons were for approving the Regional Spatial Strategy's proposals to review and develop on the green belt. [229624]
Mr. Iain Wright: Once the general extent of a green belt has been approved, it should be altered only in exceptional circumstances. However, it is good practice to check, from time to time, that the extent of a particular green belt is still appropriate and justified. The Regional Spatial Strategy is the appropriate vehicle for this.
In general terms, if any alteration is proposed, the Secretary of State will wish to be satisfied that the relevant local planning authority has considered
opportunities for development in the urban areas contained by, and beyond, the green belt. National planning policy is a consideration throughout the process, including, especially, Planning Policy Guidance Note 2: “Green Belts”.
Detailed changes to a green belt boundary would be a matter for the local planning authority through the development plan process. The guidance states that boundaries should not be changed unless alterations to the Regional Spatial Strategy have been approved, or other exceptional circumstances make revision necessary.
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 37-39WS, on home information packs, in what ways her Department will seek to enhance the current product and quality of the pack. [229650]
Mr. Iain Wright: The consultation published on 22 July set out our proposals to improve the information provided to consumers as part of the home information pack. A copy of the consultation was placed in the Library of the House.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 6 October 2008, Official Report, column 322W, on home information packs, how many penalty charge notices have been issued to the responsible person for breaches of home information pack duties to date. [230077]
Mr. Iain Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 21 October 2008, Official Report, column 229W.
Homelessness
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many householders have presented themselves to a local authority as homeless in England in each year since 1985; and how many of those presented following (a) mortgage repayment difficulties and (b) rental arrears in each such year. [229415]
Mr. Iain Wright: Information about English local housing authorities’ actions under the homelessness legislation (Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected quarterly at local authority level. Data collected includes all decisions made on applications by eligible applicants, and the number of applicants accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty (to secure that suitable accommodation is available). These households are known as ‘accepted’ households.
The following table shows the total number of decisions from 1991 to 2007, on applications from households eligible for assistance under the homelessness provisions of the 1985 and 1996 Housing Acts.
| Total number of decisions made by English local housing authorities under the 1985 and 1996 Housing Act on applications from eligible households( 1) , 1991 to 2007 | |
| Total decisions | |
| (1) Decisions on applications from households eligible for assistance under the homelessness provisions of the 1985 and 1996 Housing Act. | |
Information on decisions by reason for loss of last settled home (which includes mortgage arrears and rent arrears) is not held centrally. However this information is held for accepted households and this is provided back to 1997 in our quarterly Statistical Release on Statutory Homelessness (table 5), which is published on our website and placed in the Library each quarter.
Housing Companies: Reorganisation
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether directors of the Homes and Communities Agency who are also employed by (a) the Housing Corporation and (b) English Partnership will receive remuneration for both roles until the formal amalgamation of the organisations has been completed. [228507]
Mr. Iain Wright: Directors of the Homes and Communities Agency who are currently employed by either the Housing Corporation or English Partnership will only receive remuneration for their substantive position. When they take up their posting in the HCA, once vesting has occurred, they will be remunerated by that organisation.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff are employed by (a) the Housing Corporation and (b) English Partnerships; and how many of these staff she expects to be retained by the Homes and Communities Agency. [228517]
Mr. Iain Wright: At 1 October, English Partnerships had an establishment of 610 full-time equivalents (FTEs), with 501 staff in post (FTEs). At 1 October, Housing Corporation had an establishment of 556.6 FTEs, with 497 staff in post (FTEs). At Vesting day, the Homes and Communities Agency will inherit 276 staff from the Housing Corporation and the Tenant Services Authority will inherit 250 staff.
In addition to the aforementioned numbers, the Homes and Communities Agency will have 58 posts from CLG and 30 posts from the Academy of Sustainable Communities.
A very small number of staff have decided not to transfer to either the HCA or TSA, and will therefore leave either English Partnerships or the Housing Corporation before the new agencies are created.
Housing: Low Incomes
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much of the public funding available for the provision of affordable housing in the next three years is ring-fenced for such provision in rural areas in (a) Stafford constituency, (b) the West Midlands region and (c) England. [225308]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Housing Corporation has been set a national target to provide 10,300 affordable homes in smaller rural communities. The Housing Corporation's investment partners can bid for grant funding from the National Affordable Housing Programme. Grant will be allocated to those schemes which meet the needs of local people, the regional strategy and demonstrate strong value for money.
The allocations made to date for units to be completed during 2008-11 for settlements below 3,000 is in (a) Staffordshire (Newcastle-under-Lyme, South Staffordshire and Stafford local authorities): £1.6 million for 27 social rent units and 26 LCHO units, (b) the West Midlands region is £10 million for 208 social rent units and 137 LCHO units and (c) England is £153 million for 3,520 social rent units and 1,572 LCHO units.
Housing: Overcrowding
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 14 October 2008, Official Report, columns 1098-1100W, on housing: overcrowding, what estimate she has made of the number of households living in overcrowded conditions in each local authority area. [228355]
Mr. Iain Wright: Estimates of overcrowding for individual local authorities are not routinely available because sample sizes at local authority level are too small. However, the results of a one-off model are available based on a combination of three years’ data from both the Survey of English Housing and DWP’s Family Resources Survey for 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2002-03. Based on this model, estimates of the percentages of households in various local authorities that were overcrowded during the three-year period 2000-01 to 2002-03 are set out in table 1 of the publication at the following link:
Housing: Private Finance Initiative
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment she has made of the effect of current economic conditions on the financial position of private finance initiative housing schemes. [227889]
Mr. Iain Wright: My Department is monitoring the situation and working closely with all PFI schemes to help support them in finding solutions where difficulties arise. If a local authority were to approach this Department with concerns about a scheme, we would provide advice and support as appropriate.
Housing: Valuation
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the capital value of (a) housing association and (b) council housing stock in each year since 1997. [229406]
Mr. Iain Wright: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 21 October 2008, Official Report, column 229W.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much public funding was provided to (a) Stroud District Council and (b) Gloucestershire County Council in (i) non-formula funding and (ii) formula grant in each of the last four financial years. [228870]
John Healey: The amount of non-formula funding and formula grant provided to Stroud district council and Gloucestershire county council in each of the last four financial years is shown in the following table.
| £000 | ||||
| (a) Stroud district council | (b) Gloucestershire county council | |||
| (i) Non-formula funding | (ii) Formula grant | (i) Non-formula funding | (ii) Formula grant | |
| (1) Provisional Source: Communities and Local Government Revenue Outturn (RO) returns | ||||
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