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26 Nov 2008 : Column 1508W—continued
| Table 4: Mean weekly rent( 3) for private tenancy households, by weekly income of household reference person( 4) (£) | |||||
| Weekly net income | |||||
| Under £200 | £200 to under £400 | £400 to under £600 | £600 and over | All | |
| Source: Family Resources Survey | |||||
Multiple Occupation
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authorities have introduced (a) licensing requirements for homes in multiple occupation outside the Housing Act 2004 and (b) selective licensing arrangements for houses in multiple occupation in areas (i) of low housing demand and (ii) with significant antisocial behaviour problems. [238090]
Mr. Iain Wright: There have currently been no departmental approvals for additional HMO licensing schemes. However, there have been an increasing number of local authorities expressing interest in the additional HMO licensing provisions.
The following local authorities have been granted departmental approval to operate selective licensing schemes in areas of low housing demand.
Salford City Council;
Middlesbrough Borough Council;
Manchester City Council;
Gateshead Borough Council;
Sedgefield Borough Council;
Bolton Borough Council;
Burnley Borough Council;
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council; and
District of Easington Council
The Department is also currently considering applications for selective licensing from Leeds city council, Blackburn with Darwen council (second designation) and Hartlepool borough council.
Multiple Occupation: Coastal Areas
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 17 November 2008, Official Report, column 129W, if she will make it her policy to (a) collect and (b) hold centrally information on houses of multiple occupation in seaside towns. [238656]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Department collects from local authorities (LAs) and holds centrally property level information on licensed houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) but currently only produces statistics on these at local authority level. The latest LA level statistics on licensed HMOs were published on 18 November 2008, Official Report, column 393W. There are currently no plans to produce statistics on licensed HMOs in seaside towns, although this is something the Department will continue to review.
The Department also collects from LAs and holds centrally LA estimates of the total numbers of HMOs.
Non-domestic Rates
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what information she holds on the number of local authorities in England which have exercised their discretion to award hardship relief in respect of unpaid business rates; and if she will make a statement. [239212]
John Healey: 80 local authorities in England reported that they had exercised their discretion to award hardship relief in respect of unpaid business rates in 2007-08. The total value of the relief awarded by these authorities was £989,000.
Non-domestic Rates: Ports
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the level of non-payment of retrospective business rates on UK port occupiers in respect of 2005 will have an effect on her Department’s budget for 2008-09. [238313]
John Healey: The level of non-payment will have no impact on the budget for this Department in 2008-09.
Non-domestic Rates: Small Businesses
Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many small businesses have claimed small business rates relief in Bolton, South-East constituency in the last 12 months; and how much relief they have claimed. [239280]
John Healey: Information on small business rate relief in the Bolton, South-East constituency is not available.
For the financial year 2007-08, Bolton council awarded £1.9 million in small business rate relief, but the number of businesses claiming is not available.
Ordnance Survey
Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Ordnance Survey has received in respect of use of its mapping data covering the Greater London area for the purpose of promoting information from (a) Government agencies, (b) the Crown Estate, (c) Greater London Authority, (d) the London Development Agency, (e) Visit London, (f) Transport for London, (g) each London borough and (h) each business improvement district, broken down by category of income. [236051]
Mr. Iain Wright: Ordnance Survey licenses data to a large number of public and statutory bodies whose work in whole or part includes the Greater London area, including Government Agencies, the Crown Estate, Greater London Authority, the London Development Agency, Transport for London and each London borough.
A significant number of these bodies acquire their Ordnance Survey data through collective purchasing agreements which are paid centrally. Licensees are not required to indicate the nature of the internal business use to which they apply their data or the specific areas in which these business uses are undertaken.
Ordnance Survey does not, therefore, hold specific information on the revenue received from the use of mapping of the Greater London area from public and statutory bodies for the purpose stated.
Visit London is a company which does not currently licence data directly from Ordnance Survey, though may have access to Ordnance Survey data through contract work for Ordnance Survey licensees.
The Greater London Authority, Transport for London and the London Development Agency have access to Ordnance Survey's data through the Greater London Agreement.
Ordnance Survey does not collect information on how data licensed through these collective agreements are used by individual bodies.
Ordnance Survey is in the process of undertaking a strategic review of its operations. Two of the issues that are being addressed are first, the perceived and actual complexities in licensing arrangements and secondly, the accounting treatment for revenue raised via different products.
Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Ordnance Survey has received in respect of use of mapping data covering the Greater London area for the purpose of providing information from public and statutory bodies in each of the last five years, broken down by category of income. [236053]
Mr. Iain Wright: Ordnance Survey licenses data to a large number of public and statutory bodies whose work in whole or part includes the Greater London area. A significant proportion of these bodies acquire their Ordnance Survey data through collective purchasing agreements which are paid centrally. Licensees are not required to indicate the nature of the internal business use to which they apply their data or the specific areas in which these business uses are undertaken.
Ordnance Survey does not, therefore, hold specific information on the revenue received from use of mapping of the Greater London area for the purpose stated. Ordnance Survey is in the process of undertaking a strategic review of its operations.
Two of the issues that are being addressed are first, the perceived and actual complexities in licensing arrangements and secondly, the accounting treatment for revenue raised via different products.
Redundancy
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff in her Department left under (a) involuntary and (b) voluntary staff exit schemes in each year since 2005-06; how many of them in each case were paid (i) up to £25,000, (ii) £25,001 to £50,000, (iii) £50,001 to £75,000, (iv) £75,001 to £100,000 and (v) over £100,000 in the year before they left; and how much (A) was spent in each of those years and (B) is planned to be spent on such schemes in (1) 2008-09 and (2) 2009-10 by (Y) her Department and (Z) each of her Department's agencies. [237354]
Mr. Khan: Details of salaries paid to staff in Communities and Local Government who left the Department in each year since 2005-06 under involuntary or voluntary staff exit schemes have not been retained centrally. As a consequence there would be a disproportionate cost in providing that information.
The following table shows the number of staff who involuntarily left Communities and Local Government, having received notice of compulsory redundancy in each year since 2005-06:
| Total | |
The following table shows the number of staff who voluntarily left Communities and Local Government and its Agencies under early retirement or early severance schemes in each year:
| Main department | Planning inspectorate | Fire service college | Total | |
Compensation for early departure is paid from the Civil Service Compensation Scheme. Communities and Local Government meets the cost of early departures, and this includes the cost of lump sum severance payments and the additional costs of benefits beyond the normal Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) benefits in respect of employees who retire early.
The following table shows expenditure on early departures by Communities and Local Government, or its predecessor, and Agencies in each year since 2005-06.
| £000 | |||||
| Central department | Planning inspectorate | QEII conference centre | Fire service college | Total | |
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