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17 Dec 2008 : Column 784W—continued
Roads: Accidents
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many reported deaths there were in (a) the East Riding of Yorkshire, (b) South Yorkshire, (c) North Yorkshire and (d) West Yorkshire as a result of traffic accidents in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [244778]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The numbers of fatalities resulting from reported personal injury road accidents for the each of the last 10 years in (a) the East Riding of Yorkshire, (b) South Yorkshire, (c) North Yorkshire and (d) West Yorkshire are given in the following table:
| Number of fatalities | ||||
| East Riding of Yorkshire | South Yorkshire | North Yorkshire | West Yorkshire | |
Southeastern: Ticketing
Dr. Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to enable the roll-out of a smart card ticketing scheme on the Southeastern rail network capable of operating alongside Transport for London’s Oyster card system; and if he will make a statement. [243709]
Paul Clark: The Department for Transport, Transport for London and train operators are working together on the acceptance of Oyster Pay as You Go on rail services in the London Travelcard Zones and the acceptance of ITSO Smartcards on Oyster equipment. Commercial and contractual negotiations are taking place.
West Coast Railway Line
Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of the planned west coast main line improvements. [243223]
Paul Clark: The estimated full cost for the upgrade of the west coast main line remains £9.9 billion as set in the 2003 Government Strategy for the route. £8.8 billion has been spent to date and £1 billion is being provided for the 2009 to 2014 period for power supplies, Stafford and Bletchley works.
Communities and Local Government
Boilers: Safety
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what steps she is taking to ensure that boilers (a) are being fitted to the specifications of building regulations and (b) checked regularly to prevent deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning; [244511]
(2) if she will consider bringing forward legislative proposals to make the installation of carbon monoxide alarms a legal requirement (a) in publicly-owned housing and (b) in the construction of all new homes. [244517]
Mr. Iain Wright: Our priority is to prevent exposure to carbon monoxide in the first place. Building regulations are in place to ensure appliances are safely installed and properly ventilated. Carbon monoxide detectors and alarms will never be a substitute for proper installation and maintenance of combustion appliances.
Part J of the Building Regulations 2000 (Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems) sets requirements for an adequate supply of air for combustion and for adequate provision for the discharge of the products of combustion to the outside air. The regulations in England and Wales are inspected and enforced by building control bodies. My Department has also authorised a number of competent person self-certification schemes which help ensure that installers are aware of the standards applicable to boiler installation and are competent to install boilers to those standards. Competent person scheme operators monitor the work of their members to make sure it complies with the requirements.
Private landlords are responsible for maintaining their properties, including the safety of gas and electrical appliances and the fire safety of furniture and furnishings provided under the tenancy. All private landlords are required by the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 to ensure that all gas appliances are maintained in good order and that an annual gas safety check is carried out by a registered tradesman. This requirement is enforced by the local authority.
We expect to let a research contract early in the new year to look at the changes and developments that have taken place in relation to carbon monoxide detectors since our last review in 2002. The findings of this work will feed into a formal consultation on Part J which we intend to publish in mid-2009.
Council Tax: Arrears
Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether local authorities may take steps to recover council tax arrears without using private companies. [244149]
John Healey: The Local Authorities (Contracting Out of Tax Billing, Collection and Enforcement Functions) Order 1996 allows local authorities to contract out the collection and enforcement of council tax. However, it is a matter for each individual local authority whether they do so.
Departmental Correspondence
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) letters and (b) e-mails received by her Department had not been responded to as at 15 December 2008. [244700]
Mr. Khan: This information is not held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental ICT
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 5 November 2008, Official Report, columns 545-6W, on Departmental ICT, what the (a) expected completion date and (b) expected cost was at the outset of each project. [242151]
Mr. Khan: The required information for the relevant projects is as follows:
Paul Holmes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many civil servants in her Department have been (a) investigated, (b) suspended and (c) dismissed for (i) losing and (ii)
deliberately disclosing (A) data stored on departmental equipment and (B) confidential information in each year since its inception. [242924]
Mr. Khan: The Department for Communities and Local Government has not investigated, suspended or dismissed any civil servants for losing or deliberately disclosing either confidential information or data stored on departmental equipment since its inception.
Departmental Official Hospitality
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department spent on Ministerial hospitality in (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06, (c) 2006-07 and (d) 2007-08, expressed in current prices. [241248]
Mr. Khan: All spending on official entertainment is made in accordance with the principles set out in “Managing Public Money”. However, obtaining the information required by the hon. Member would incur disproportionate cost.
Fire Services: Floods
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to implement the recommendations of the Pitt review on a statutory obligation for fire services to respond to flooding incidents. [243881]
Mr. Khan: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 17 December 2008. A copy of the full Government response has been placed in the Library of the House.
Green belt: Castle Point
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will meet the hon. Member for Castle Point and a delegation of borough councillors to discuss green belt preservation in Castle Point borough. [243084]
Mr. Iain Wright: If the hon. Member writes to me setting out the specific issues he would like to discuss, I will be happy to consider whether such a meeting would be appropriate in light of the Secretary of State's formal role in the planning system. The Government's policy on green belt is set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 2.
Homelessness: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homeless (a) children and (b) adults in each local authority in Essex are currently placed in temporary accommodation outside their borough; and if she will make a statement. [240418]
Mr. Iain Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 9 December 2008, Official Report, columns 58-60W.
Homelessness: Reading Berkshire
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people were recorded as (a) homeless and (b) rough sleepers in the Reading borough council area during the month of December in each of the last 10 years. [244435]
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. 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 ensure 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.
The question asks for figures for the month of December. The total number of households accepted as owed a main homelessness duty (‘acceptances') are collected on a quarterly basis and not broken down to a monthly level, and therefore our figures cover the period October to December. Numbers in temporary accommodation are as of 31 December for each year.
The following table lists the number of acceptances and number of households in temporary accommodation for Reading local authority, in quarter four 1998 to 2008;
| Number of acceptances October-December | Households in temporary accommodation on 31 December | |
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