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26 Nov 2008 : Column 1496W—continued
Fire Services: Consultants
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent to date on external consultants working on the FiRe Control project. [238687]
Mr. Khan: To the end of October 2008 the cost of consultancy services for the FiRe Control project totalled £41.8 million.
Fire Services: East of England
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects the FiRe Control project to be implemented in full (a) nationally and (b) in the East of England region. [238683]
Mr. Khan: Our current planning assumption is that the East of England will achieve cut-over in spring 2012. I refer the hon. Member to my statement on 26 November 2008 about the FiRe Control project.
As with any project of this nature, we will only have certainty about the timing of these later stages of the project once earlier stages have been completed successfully.
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department’s original estimated date for the full implementation of the FiRe Control project was (a) nationally and (b) in the East of England region. [238684]
Mr. Khan: The original estimated date for the full implementation of the FiRe Control project was September 2011. The East of England was in the final wave, and so expected to cut over to the new arrangements at that date 2011.
For further information on FiRe Control costs and delivery timetable I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made on 26 November 2008.
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on the FiRe Control project (a) nationally and (b) in the East of England region to date. [238685]
Mr. Khan: To the end of October 2008 £133.5 million has been spent on the FiRe Control project. This includes support to the East of England of £3.3 million in grant funding.
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department’s original budget was for the implementation of the FiRe Control project (a) nationally and (b) in the East of England region. [238686]
Mr. Khan: The FiReControl Business Case Part 2: the National Case, which will be published today, forecasts that the estimated current costs for the delivery of the FiReControl Project as £380 million. This compares to about £340 million contained in the Full Business Case version 1.0 published in 2007. The East of England has received £3.3 million in grant funding to support work required to transfer control room services to the new Regional Control Centre.
For further information on FiReControl costs and delivery timetable I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made on 26 November 2008.
Fire Services: South West
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the effect of the costs of operating the South West Regional Fire Control Centre is expected to be on Dorset Fire Authority’s budget. [232273]
Mr. Khan [holding answer 3 November 2008]: In the “FiReControl Business Case Part One” the South West region is forecast to make as saving of £64,000, compared to the cost of where a region is forecast to incur a net cost as a consequence of the FiReControl project, Communities and Local Government has committed to making a payment to meet the shortfall. It is for the authorities within the region to decide how shared costs are apportioned between them.
For further information on FiReControl costs and delivery timetable I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made on 26 November 2008.
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations she has received requesting a delay in the entry into operation of the South West Regional Fire Control Centre; and if she will make a statement. [232274]
Mr. Khan [holding answer 3 November 2008]: I have received no formal representations requesting a delay to the operation of the South West Regional Control Centre. We work closely with the fire and rescue services in the South West, as in other regions, to enable effective implementation of the FiRe Control Project.
I refer the hon. Member to my statement of 26 November 2008 about the FiRe Control project.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department originally budgeted for the creation of the South West regional fire control room; what its current anticipated cost is; and what estimate her Department has made of future savings which will be made from the regional fire control room project in the South West. [235979]
Mr. Khan: The current estimated cost of operating the South West Regional Control Centre is £6,992,000 per annum when the entire network is fully up and running. In the South West it is forecast that there will be a saving of £64,000 per year compared to the costs of running the existing separate control rooms.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what date she expects the South West regional fire control room to become fully operational. [235981]
Mr. Khan: Our current planning assumption is that the South West region will achieve cut-over in summer 2010. I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made on 26 November 2008 about the FiRe Control project.
As with any project of this nature, we will only have certainty about the timing of these later stages of the project once earlier stages have been completed successfully.
Fire Services: Taunton
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the monthly cost of maintaining the Regional Fire Control Centre at Taunton was in the latest period for which figures are available. [238999]
Mr. Khan [holding answer 24 November 2008]: The cost of the South West Regional Control Centre for October 2008 was £140,839.
Floods: Housing
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of households (a) displaced from their homes and (b) living in caravans as a result of the floods in (i) summer 2007 and (ii) September 2008. [239608]
John Healey: Estimates from the Association of British Insurers indicate that approximately 17,000 households were displaced by the floods in summer 2007. We do not have data on the number of those households who moved into caravans immediately. As at December 2007 we estimated that around 2,300 households were living in caravans.
The floods of September 2008, although very serious for those affected, were not of a scale which required national co-ordination of the recovery effort and this process is being managed effectively at the local level. In Castle Morpeth, which was by far the most badly affected area, 906 households were affected by the September flooding in some way, though of course many of those did not have to move out of their homes. The council contacted every household and continues to monitor the situation closely offering advice and information during the recovery period.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of people who will be living in temporary accommodation on 25 December 2008 as a result of the floods in (a) summer 2007 and (b) September 2008. [239609]
John Healey: Returns from affected local authorities indicate a quickening in the pace at which displaced households are returning to their homes following the floods of summer 2007. On a like-for-like basis, local authority data show that the number of displaced households fell by about 30 per cent. between the end of June and beginning of September and we estimate the figures have fallen by around 36 per cent. between the beginning of September and 24 October. Those living wholly or partially in caravans halved between the end of June and the beginning of September and, where we have updated data, the number had at least halved again by 24 October. Furthermore, the figures we have from local authorities show that all council and housing association tenants are now home.
We will publish more up-to-date figures on those still displaced by the summer 2007 flooding as soon as we are able. I continue to work closely with local authorities and the insurance industry to ensure that the momentum in getting people back home is maintained.
The floods of September 2008, although very serious for those affected, were not of a scale which required national co-ordination of the recovery effort and this process is being managed at the local level.
Homelessness: Suffolk
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people were recorded as homeless in Suffolk in each of the last five years. [240002]
Mr. Iain Wright: Information about English local authorities' actions under the homelessness legislation (Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected quarterly at local authority level. Local authorities within the Suffolk are as follows; Babergh, Forest Heath, Ipswich, Mid Suffolk, St Edmundsbury, Suffolk Coastal, and Waveney.
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 is also collected on the number of people who sleep rough—that is, those who are literally roofless on a single night.
Summary tables showing the total number of households (a) accepted as owed a main homelessness duty (b) in temporary accommodation for each year since 1997-98, and (c) rough sleeper estimates for each year since 1998, for each local authority, have been placed in the Library. For convenience an extract of the last five years for the local authorities within Suffolk can be found in the following tables.
| Table A: Number of households accepted as owed a main homelessness duty during the year, 2003-04—2007-08 | |||||
| Local authority | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-7 | 2007-08 |
| Table B: Number of households in temporary accommodation( 1) , March 2004 to March 2008 | |||||
| Local authority | 2003-0 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
| Table C: Number o f rough sleepers (persons), 200 - 07, mid-year estimates local authority | |||||
| Local authority | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
| (1) Data not reported. | |||||
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