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16 Dec 2008 : Column 585W—continued
Empty Property
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many empty properties there were in each local authority area in each of the last 10 years. [242872]
Mr. Iain Wright: I have placed in the Library of the House a table showing the number of long-term empty homes (i.e. domestic properties) reported by each billing authority since 2004 on annual CTB1 and CTB1S forms submitted to Communities and Local Government. Reliable estimates before 2004 are not available.
Information about the number of empty non-domestic properties is not available centrally.
Energy Performance Certificates
John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans her Department has to (a) collect, (b) monitor and (c) publish information gathered from energy performance certificates. [241393]
Mr. Iain Wright: Information used to produce energy performance certificates is collected and lodged on a central register, and monitored by the accreditation schemes responsible for accrediting the energy assessors, who carry out the energy assessments. In accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007, Regulation 37, the keeper of the register may disclose any document or data to an officer of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government provided that no particular property is identifiable from the document disclosed.
Fire Services
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many incidents of spillage and leakage other than those associated with road traffic accidents were attended by fire and rescue services in each year since 1994. [244060]
Mr. Khan: The number of spills and leaks incidents attended by the Fire and Rescue Service other than those associated with road traffic accidents, in England, is set out as follows:
| Number of incidents | |
Fire Services: Death
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department has taken following the Coroner's recommendation in his verdict on the death of Adam Meere. [243035]
Mr. Khan: The Coroner's recommendations were directed to the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. However, an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive following the death of Adam Meere is still ongoing. In line with current procedures, the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser will consider any issues of national significance arising from the investigation.
Fire Services: Finance
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent meetings she has had with representatives of fire and rescue services affected by the current floors and ceilings revenue finding formula; and if she will make a statement. [242779]
Mr. Khan: Meetings were held with local authorities between 6 December 2007 and 8 January 2008, including six fire and rescue authorities, as part of the consultation period on the 2008-09 local government finance settlement. In addition, a meeting was held with one fire and rescue authority to discuss the settlement in March 2008.
We are currently consulting on the 2009-10 settlement and we welcome written representations from fire and rescue authorities by 7 January 2009.
Fire Services: Floods
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent representations she has received on the provision of flood response equipment to firefighters. [243848]
Mr. Khan: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 9 December 2008, Official Report, column 57W.
Fire Services: Procurement
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to respond to the outcomes of the consultation on the fire and rescue services’ National Procurement Strategy; and if she will make a statement. [242780]
Mr. Khan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 11 December 2008, Official Report, column 250W.
Fires: Death
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 10 December 2008, Official Report, columns 136-8W, on fires: death, if she will make it her policy to collect data by type of tenure. [244273]
Mr. Khan: I have asked officials to ensure that practicalities of collecting this information are fully explored as part of the review of the information recorded at incidents attended by fire and rescue services. This is scheduled to take place in the summer and autumn of next year.
Home Information Packs
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the Explanatory Memorandum for the Home Information Pack (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2008, for what reasons her Department is not producing a consolidated version of the amended home information pack regulations. [243758]
Mr. Iain Wright: We have yet to take a decision on consolidating amendments to the Home Information Pack regulations, but we keep this under review.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what advice her Department has given to local authorities on enforcement of the home information pack regulations since they were implemented; [243759]
(2) pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement of 8 December 2008, Official Report, column 24WS, on home buying and selling, what guidance has been given to local authority trading standards on enforcement and tackling non-compliance. [243858]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Department has provided specialist procedural guidance for use by local authority trading standards offices on the HIP duties and their enforcement. There is a copy of this guidance on our website at:
The Department also maintains regular contacts with LACORS (the Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services) on these matters.
Housing: Construction
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will respond to the Office of Fair Trading's report on homebuilding in the UK; what assessment she has made of the extent to which homebuilders have faults in properties they have constructed; and if she will make a statement. [244486]
Mr. Iain Wright: Since 2004, the housebuilding industry has routinely monitored levels of customer satisfaction with its performance, against a range of indicators. These include the response to—and treatment of—defects arising from the construction process reported by new build home purchasers. This issue has further been considered and assessed in a number of recent reports including the “Barker Review of Housing Supply”, the “Callcutt Review of the Homebuilding Industry” and the recent Office of Fair Trading (OFT) market study “Homebuilding in the UK”. This latter study gave particular consideration to the ways in which the fault remedying processes could be improved, and the OFT struck a voluntary agreement with the industry to set up a body to deliver a code of conduct and redress scheme for consumers. This scheme is being implemented according to timetable.
The Government expect to publish its response to the OFT report within the usual timeframe of 90 days from the date of publication.
Housing: Finance
Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much housing and planning delivery grant has been allocated to the London Borough of (a) Waltham Forest and (b) Redbridge for (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10. [244290]
Mr. Iain Wright: In 2008-09 the London borough of Waltham Forest was awarded £155,055 and the London borough of Redbridge £1,391,132 under the Housing and Planning Delivery Grant. Individual local authority allocations for 2009-10 have not yet been announced.
Housing: Heating
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make it her policy to amend Part L of the Building Regulations to make the specification of A-rated circulatory pumps mandatory from 2010. [243109]
Mr. Iain Wright: My Department is proposing to amend Part L of the Building Regulations to include, for the first time, standards for circulatory pumps from 2010. My officials have been working with the British Pump Manufacturers Association (BPMA) (which account for approximately 85 per cent. of the UK market for pumps) to develop agreed proposals. The BPMA have proposed that for 2010 the Regulations should, as a first step, introduce the Europump labelling scheme for circulators in domestic heating systems and variable speed drives for larger water pumps. The eventual proposals will be the subject of formal consultation in 2009.
Housing: Low Incomes
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many applicants are registered on social housing waiting lists in each London borough. [243602]
Mr. Iain Wright: 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. 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.
The number of households on local authorities' waiting lists in each London borough in 2007 is given in the following table.
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