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4 Feb 2009 : Column 1280W—continued
Energy Performance Certificates
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether additional funding will be provided to local authorities under the new burdens principle to meet the new statutory requirements to provide (a) energy performance certificates and (b) display energy certificates. [252786]
John Healey: Additional funding is being provided to local authorities under the new burdens principle to meet the new statutory requirements to provide energy performance certificates for their social housing only. No funding is provided for energy performance certificates for their other properties or for display of energy certificates since the new statutory requirement impacts on all sectors of the economy.
Equality: Finance
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding (a) her Department and (b) the Government Offices for the Regions have allocated to regional equality and diversity partnerships in 2008-09 to date. [252460]
Mr. Khan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Wentworth (John Healey) on 28 October 2008, Official Report, column 969W.
Fire Services: Safety
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions she has had with representatives of the Fire Brigades Union on the safety of firefighters. [253557]
Mr. Khan: My right hon. Friend the Member for Lientworth (John Healey) and I met with the FBU Parliamentary Group on 17 December 2008 and firefighter safety was discussed with FBU representatives. Since then I have written to the FBU General Secretary following up the publication of their report 'In the Line of Duty', which focused on this issue.
Furthermore, my officials have held positive discussions with the FBU on this issue and I will discuss the matter further with the FBU when we next routinely meet.
Geographical Information Systems
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 13 January 2009, Official Report, column 603W, on geographical information systems, what the timetableis for a decision on implementation of a national geo-portal; and whether cadastral information will be included on it. [252742]
Huw Irranca-Davies: I have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 13 January 2009, Official Report, column 603W, that a national geo-portal is being considered among the implementation options for the INSPIRE Directive. Decisions on implementation will be taken through the governance arrangements that are being established to oversee implementation of INSPIRE and the closely related UK Location Strategy(1) i.e. the Location Council. As ‘cadastral parcels or equivalent’ is one of the data themes in scope of INSPIRE, we are obliged to include it in the preferred option for INSPIRE implementation.
(1) Place Matters: The Location Strategy for the United Kingdom was published by Communities and Location Government on the 25 November 2008. (http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1072942)
HomeBuy Scheme
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the Answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) of 30 October 2008, Official Report, column 1271W, on housing: low incomes, how much of the funding for the Homebuy Direct programme will be allocated to each region of England. [252739]
Mr. Iain Wright: HomeBuy Direct is a shared equity scheme that is offered on specific new build properties bought forward by developers. These properties were selected through a competitive bidding process that concluded in December 2008. On 15 December, we announced the outcomes of this competition, including the number of properties selected for the scheme in each region and the maximum Government investment that these properties represent.
The following table sets out the maximum Government investment figures for each region. These figures are based on the Homes and Communities Agency providing a 15 per cent. equity loan on every HomeBuy Direct property in each region (not all purchasers will necessarily qualify for the maximum equity loan—this will depend on what they are able to afford). The figures are also based on current estimated open market property values.
| Region | Maximum government investment (£ million) |
The division of funding shown in the table reflects the pattern of approved bids bought forward by developers. It is important to note that the actual level of Government investment in each region will depend on take-up by first time buyers, and that Government investment will be matched ‘pound for pound’ by the participating developers.
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes were sold under the social HomeBuy scheme in (a) each region and (b) each London borough in (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2007-08 and (iii) 2008-09. [253569]
Mr. Iain Wright: The following tables show the number of social HomeBuy sales broken down by regions and London boroughs for each year from 2006-07 to 2008-09.
| Social HomeBuy sales by London boroughs in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 | ||||
| Sales | ||||
| London borough | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09( 1) | Total to date |
| (1) To the end of December 2008. (2) Croydon sales figure in 2008-09 include two sales by the local authority. (3) Southwark sales figures include five sales by the authority, three in 2007-08 and two in 2008-09. | ||||
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