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9 Dec 2008 : Column 57W—continued
Fire Services: Manpower
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) full-time and (b) retained fire officers there were in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [241430]
Mr. Khan: The number of whole-time and retained firefighters in England since 1997, as at 31 March each year, is shown as follows.
| Whole - time and retained duty system firefighters in England | |||
| Whole - time | Retained | Total | |
| Source: Annual Returns to Communities and Local Government | |||
Fire Services: Training
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many weeks intensive training is required to be undertaken by fire service recruits in each of the fire authority areas in each of the last six years. [241431]
Mr. Khan: The information requested is not held centrally.
Fire Services: Urban Areas
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of lives saved through the Urban Search and Rescue programme since its inception in February 2008. [240808]
Mr. Khan: Different elements of the urban search and rescue capability are used routinely by Fire and Rescue Services at the local level. The Department does not hold statistics on the number of lives saved through deployment of the urban search and rescue capability.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how the welfare of dogs involved in the Fire Service’s Urban Search and Rescue programme is monitored; and with whom responsibility for such monitoring lies. [240809]
Mr. Khan: As part of the New Dimension programme, CLG has provided funding for 20 Urban Search and Rescue teams, hosted by Fire and Rescue Services across the country. As part of each of these teams, the Department has made provision for a search and rescue dog and a handler. Responsibility for the welfare of the dogs lies with the host brigades.
Home Information Packs
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research her Department has carried out on the effect of home information packs on the housing market; and if she will make a statement. [241212]
Mr. Iain Wright: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Kettering (Mr. Hollobone) on 14 October 2008, Official Report, column 1089W.
Homelessness: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homeless (a) children and (b) adults are in temporary accommodation in each local authority area in Essex. [240295]
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, about households rather than individuals.
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 housed in temporary accommodation is reported quarterly by local authorities as at the last day of each quarter. The figures include: those households which have been accepted as owed the main homelessness duty; those for which inquiries are pending; those being accommodated for a limited period because they have been found intentionally homeless and in priority need; those being accommodated pending possible referral to another authority, and those being accommodated pending the outcome of a local authority review or county court appeal.
The number of dependent children (or expected children) in these households is also collected, but data on the number of adults is not. The latest (end June 2008) figures for total households and total children reported by the Essex authorities are shown in Table 1.
| Table 1: Households in temporary accommodation, and number of children within these households (as at 30 June 2008) | ||
| Local authority | Total households in TA arranged by authority | Total children (and expected children) within these households |
Authorities also report the number of households in temporary accommodation arranged by each authority, who have been housed outside the borough. Latest figures reported by the Essex authorities are shown in Table 2. Data specifically on the number of children and adults housed outside the borough are not held centrally.
Housing Revenue Accounts
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what figures were included within the formula to account for provision for debt servicing for those authorities that received positive subsidy under the Housing Revenue Account subsidy system for 2008-09. [241485]
Mr. Iain Wright: Out of 204 local authorities with a Housing Revenue Account, 178 have the servicing of a notional level of debt, the Subsidy Capital Financing Requirement (SCFR) supported by the HRA subsidy system. The remaining 26 are considered to be debt free and have a zero or negative SCFR. Of the 178 local authorities that have a level of debt supported by the HRA subsidy system 43 are in positive subsidy. In addition those authorities in Rounds 1 and 2 of the ALMO (Arms Length Management Organisation) programme receive an ALMO allowance to support the associated borrowing. For all other ALMOs the support for the associated borrowing is included within the SCFR. The support for debt servicing is then offset against other elements of the subsidy system to determine net subsidy entitlement.
The following table lists the SCFR and ALMO allowance for authorities likely to be in receipt of subsidy for 2008-09.
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