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25 Nov 2008 : Column 1261W—continued
Police: Retirement
Mr. Skinner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in Derbyshire (a) retired and (b) took early retirement on health grounds in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [238084]
Mr. Coaker: The numbers of police officer medical retirements have been published each year by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) in their annual report. HMIC have advised that these data will no longer be published in their annual report and that the data for 2004-05 would be the last series of data to be published.
I have been advised by Derbyshire police of the data in the table subsequent to 2004-05.
| Police officer retirements in Derbyshire( 1) | |||||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
| (1) Figures are based on full-time equivalents that have been rounded to the nearest whole number | |||||
Secure Accommodation
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had with youth and social service practitioners on alternatives to long-term secure accommodation for young people vulnerable to sexual exploitation; and if she will make a statement. [237280]
Beverley Hughes: I have been asked to reply.
My officials have discussed the use of secure accommodation with stakeholders in the course of developing guidance aimed at safeguarding children and young people from sexual exploitation. Respondents to the recent consultation exercise on the draft guidance have also expressed views about this.
In some cases, it may be necessary to secure the safety of a child or young person who is being sexually exploited by removing them to a safe place. In general, they will need good quality placements with experience of building trusting relationships and skills at containing young people. These placements do not have to be secure. Placing a child or young person in secure accommodation should be considered only in extreme circumstances, when it is necessary to secure their safety from perpetrators.
Telecommunications: Databases
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 5 November 2008, Official Report, column 616W, on telecommunications: database, whether one of the proposed options to be included in the consultation paper will be giving local authorities access to the database of communications. [235864]
Mr. Coaker: The forthcoming consultation will set out a range of options to ensure that communications data is available in the future. Local authorities can currently access subscriber and service use data and there are no plans to change the type of data that they can access.
UK Border Agency: Disciplinary Proceedings
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) times disciplinary proceedings were brought and (b) officials were disciplined by the UK Border Agency and its predecessor bodies in each of the last three years. [221863]
Mr. Woolas: This information could be subject to change and numbers can go up as well as down depending on a number of factors, for example successful appeals will result in records being removed.
The table provides data for the last three financial years. The figures for the number of disciplinary proceedings brought against staff encompass attendance management, discipline and performance management as a total figure.
It should also be noted that with regard to Attendance Management and Performance Management, an individual may have several separate entries under these procedures as there may have been more than one occasion where an individual was absent which required action under the policy or had performance related issues that also required action under the relevant policy.
| Financial year | Number of disciplinary proceedings (inclusive of attendance/performance management and discipline) | Number of staff |
Vetting
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks and (b) enhanced CRB checks were carried out in each of the last five years. [236577]
Meg Hillier: I refer the hon. Member to my written answer of 16 October 2008, Official Report, column 1446W.
Vetting: Greater London
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of (a) the average length of time taken by the police in each London borough to provide information in support of applications for Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) clearance and (b) the average length of time for the completion of CRB clearance once police have been asked to provide this information in the last 12 months, broken down by London borough. [235873]
Meg Hillier: Data concerning the average time taken by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) to complete a disclosure by police force area and the average length of time for the completion of CRB clearance once police have been asked to provide this information are not collated by the bureau.
The CRB operates to a set of published service standards (PSS) which include to issue 90 per cent. of standard disclosures within 10 days and 90 per cent. of enhanced disclosures within 28 days. The CRB has met the PSS set in October 2008.
The CRB has been supporting those forces that have encountered problems in meeting their targets by a range of measures including the provision of additional resources, monitoring performance, providing demand forecasting data and assistance in introducing new IT initiatives.
A revised service level agreement came into effect in April 2006 between the CRB and the 43 police forces of England and Wales. This agreement, which was agreed by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), places an additional focus on delivery and the responsibilities of chief officers and ACPO to ensure that the obligations within the service level agreement are met. Monthly performance figures for each of the police forces for their part of the disclosure service are now published on the CRB website at
Vetting: Young People
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many under 18-year-olds have had Criminal Records Bureau checks in 2008-09 to date. [234651]
Meg Hillier: During the financial year 2008-09 to date the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) has issued 80,806 disclosures to applicants under the age of 18 years.
Written Questions: Government Responses
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to answer question 21456, tabled on 24 June 2008, on the prosecution of US personnel. [228294]
Mr. Alan Campbell: I replied to the hon. Gentleman on 10 November 2008, Official Report, column 783W.
Communities and Local Government
Compulsory Purchase: Coastal Areas
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many compulsory purchase orders have been issued in each of the principal seaside towns in England in each of the last 10 years. [239393]
Mr. Iain Wright: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Council Housing
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) council houses, (b) housing association properties, (c) homeless families placed in temporary accommodation and (d) families on the housing waiting list there are in each local authority in England. [239014]
Mr. Iain Wright: Information on the number of social dwellings owned by local authorities is published on the Communities and Local Government website in Table 116 at:
Copies of this table have been deposited in the Library of the House.
Information on the number of social dwellings owned by registered social landlords (RSLs) is published on the Communities and Local Government website in Table 115 at:
Copies of this table have been deposited in the Library of the House.
Information about English local authorities' actions under the homelessness legislation (Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected quarterly at local authority level. Data collected include the number of households 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). If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority must secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available.
Information on the numbers of households with dependant children (including expectant mothers with no other dependant children) in temporary accommodation is reported quarterly by local authorities as at the last day of each quarter. The most recent figures reported by local authorities were for 30 June 2008 and are provided in a table, which has been placed in the Library.
Information about social housing waiting lists is collected in respect of households rather than families. Where local authorities and registered social landlords operate a common register, households registered with the RSL will be included in the data.
However, registered social landlords are independent bodies and can keep their own waiting lists. Information on the number of households on local authorities' waiting lists is published on the Communities and Local Government website in Table 600 at:
Copies of this table have been deposited in the Library of the House.
Local authorities in England report the number of households on their housing waiting list as at 1 April in their annual Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix returns. The size of the waiting list is not an indicator of absolute need; it is only useful as a broad indicator of housing demand in an area. Not everyone on the waiting list is necessarily in urgent housing need. The waiting list includes those who consider social housing as their preferred or one of a number of housing options, and those who decide to get onto the waiting list ladder before they need or want to move house.
Departmental Land
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much surplus land (a) her Department and (b) its agencies own; and what the (i) area and (ii) estimated monetary value of each site is; [236432]
(2) what plans she has for each of the sites owned by her Department and registered on the Register of Surplus Public Sector Land; what construction projects are planned for each site; and when she expects each site to be returned to use. [236443]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold any surplus land. English Partnerships, the national regeneration agency, is an executive non-departmental public body for which my Department has responsibility. A core part of English Partnerships' work involves making the best use of the available land supply by identifying surplus previously-developed land which can be brought back into effective re-use for development, particularly housing development. My Department has similar responsibilities for the Fire Service College, which is also an executive agency and has responsibility for the delivery of training in support of fire-fighters and public safety.
English Partnerships and the Fire Service College hold land in the context of and incidental to their core businesses. To date, land that has been identified as surplus by English Partnerships and the Fire Service College totals about 17 sites covering over 250ha. The total estimated value of the sites is about £7 million.
The Register of Surplus Public Sector Land is managed by English Partnerships on behalf of my Department and HM Treasury. The Treasury publication 'Managing Public Money' requires all central government bodies and their agencies to place details of their surplus sites on the Register. The Register provides a single reference point for all participating public sector bodies on the available national supply of surplus land and helps to
ensure that wider Government objectives, including housing needs and regional economic and housing strategies, are factored into land disposal decisions. English Partnerships publishes a quarterly return of surplus sites available on the Register via its website at
The most current information is on the September 2008 issue of the Register.
Local planning authorities are responsible for preparing their development plan documents as part of their local development framework. While a public sector body selling land may discuss potential future uses with the local planning authority and seek planning permission, it is the market that will finally determine when individual sites come back into effective use and the exact form of the development, taking account of the local planning needs and requirement.
Disabled Facilities Grants
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what mechanisms her Department has in place to increase funding to local authorities when there is increased demand for disabled facilities grants. [238406]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Government regard the Disabled Facilities Grant programme as a very important means to help disabled and older people continue to live as independently as possible in their own homes. That is why we have more than doubled the Government funds available for the programme from £57 million in 1997 to £146 million in 2008 with an increase of £10 million in each of the subsequent years making the budget £166 million by 2010. This represents a significant investment in this important programme.
Eco-towns
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what the central budget for the eco-town programme is; [230306]
(2) how much has been spent to date by her Department and its agencies in relation to the eco-town programme, broken down by main budget heading. [230312]
Mr. Iain Wright: The eco-towns policy was announced in the Housing Green Paper in July 2007 and it has been developed alongside our housing policies. The costs for developing the policy form part of the Department's running costs and are set out in the Departmental Annual Report, Community, opportunity, prosperity. Future allocations to support infrastructure and local authority expenditure in relation to any of the sites will be drawn from the growth funding made available in CSR07. However the bulk of investment needed to create an eco-town will come from the private sector.
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