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4 Feb 2009 : Column 1296W—continued

http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingresearch/housingstatistics/housingstatisticsby/housebuilding/livetables/

High flood risk areas account for about 10 per cent. of land in England.

Planning policy on development and flood risk was strengthened in 2006 with the publication of Planning Policy Statement 25 (PPS25), reflecting the importance of avoiding and managing flood risk in the location of new development. The Government’s policy is to avoid inappropriate development in areas of risk of flooding, and to direct development away from areas at highest risk. However it is not always possible to find a location at low flood risk. In parts of the country where virtually all land is within high flood risk areas and there are few, if any, low risk sites for development PPS25 imposes new requirements on planners to show that the need for development outweighs the flood risk, and to ensure that homes that have to be built in higher risk areas are safe and less susceptible to flood damage.

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4 Feb 2009 : Column 1298W

Number of dwellings built in flood risk areas, 1997-2007
	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	1997-2007
North East	200	100	100	0	100	100	200	100	100	100	200	1,500
North West	1,000	1,200	800	1,100	1,400	1,100	1,400	1,000	900	1,200	1,100	12,100
Yorkshire and the Humber	1,700	800	1,300	1,700	1,500	1,400	2,000	1,300	1,800	2,300	3,200	19,100
East Midlands	1,600	800	1,200	1,500	1,500	2,100	1,900	1,700	1,700	2,300	2,400	18,700
West Midlands	600	800	800	400	500	900	400	700	600	800	500	6,900
East of England	1,500	1,100	1,300	1,100	900	1,300	1,400	1,400	1,900	2,100	1,700	15,800
London	3,400	3,500	3,200	3,000	2,900	3,200	4,700	6,600	3,100	3,600	4,100	41,300
South East	1,800	1,900	2,000	1,900	1,800	1,600	2,100	1,800	1,900	2,300	1,800	21,100
South West	1,700	1,000	1,400	1,300	1,500	1,700	1,500	1,300	1,400	1,600	1,200	15,500
England	13,500	11,400	12,300	12,000	12,100	13,400	15,600	15,900	13,300	16,400	16,200	151,900
Notes: 1. There is an inevitable time-lag between land use change occurring and it being recorded, therefore data are constantly being updated. 2. The data in the table are based on records received from Ordnance Survey up to June 2008, consistent with the October 2008 update of LUCS. 3. Figures may not add up due to rounding. 4. The definition of high flood risk areas used by Communities and Local Government is the high risk zone mapped by the Environment Agency as being at a probability of flooding, excluding the presence of flood defences, of at least one in one hundred each year for river flooding and at least one in 200 for coastal flooding. High flood risk areas account for about 10 per cent. of land in England, including parts of major cities such as London.

Public Buildings: Fire Prevention

Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her most recent estimate is of the proportion of public buildings, schools and social housing which have been equipped with a fire safety water sprinkler system; and if she will make a statement. [253746]

Mr. Khan: This information is not currently held centrally and thus could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Regeneration: North West

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which wards and programmes within Sefton have received funding from the Government Office for the North West programmes for (a) capital investment in housing, (b) major repairs allowance, (c) disabled facilities grants, (d) the Working Neighbourhoods Fund Community Empowerment Fund, (e) Community Learning Chest, (f) the Objective 1 Programme, (g) the Community Champions Fund, (h) UK Online, (i) Connexions, (j) Children and Young People, (k) drug and alcohol training, (l) Lifelong Learning Partnerships, (m) renewable energy, (n) Mersey Basin Campaign, (o) building safer communities, (p) Wardens Scheme, (q) small retailer in deprived areas, (r) Partnership Support Development, (s) CCTV, (t) Partnership Support Programme, (u) Target Policing Initiative, (v) prostitution and (w) violence against women. [253342]

Mr. Khan: Where Government funding is paid to the local authority decisions on how this funding is, or has been distributed within the authority in the past, are made locally. Information on expenditure at ward level is therefore not readily available. Some of the information requested relates to funding programmes which no longer exist, and for which information cannot readily be obtained.

A number of funding streams as follows now form part of the area based grant which has been paid to local authorities since April 2008. Local areas have discretion to use this funding as they see fit to support delivery of local, regional and national priorities in their area, including the achievement of LAA targets. Sefton has received the following funding in 2008-09:

(a) Capital investment in housing—£4,455,000.

(b) Major Repairs Allowance— nil.

(c) Disabled Facilities Grant—£964,000.

(d ) Working Neighbourhoods Fund—£6,225,786—included within the area based grant. The Community Empowerment Fund is now discontinued.

(e) The Community Learning Chest is now discontinued.

(f) Information is not held on levels of European funding at ward level. As the objective 1 programme is Merseyside-wide in scope, a substantial amount of programme-funded activity will be delivered by organisations that have a pan-Merseyside remit. A project based on one particular area will therefore draw beneficiaries and spend money outside its immediate locality. However Sefton will benefit from the £920 million which has been invested through objective 1 since the programme’s outset.

(g) The Community Champions Fund is now discontinued,

(h) UK Online is now discontinued.

(i) Connexions—£2,883,000—included within the area based grant.

(j) The Department for Children, Schools and Families administers a number of grants which are now paid as part of the area based grant as follows:

4 Feb 2009 : Column 1299W

Grants administered by Department for Children, Schools and Families	£
School Development Grant	2,430,237
Extended Schools Start-Up Grants	523,887
Primary National Strategy—Central Co-ordination	138,565
Secondary National Strategy—Central Co-ordination	182,536
Secondary National Strategy—Behaviour and Attendance	68,300
School Improvement Partners	126,280
Educational Health Partnerships	93,065
School Travel Advisors	35,000
Choice Advisors	33,418
School Intervention Grant	78,600
14-19 Flexible Funding Pot	88,694
Sustainable Travel—General Duty	21,402
Extended Rights to Free Transport	25,115
Childrens Fund	789,660
Childrens Trust Fund	4,883
Positive Activities for Young People	289,101
Teenage Pregnancy	130,000
Childrens Social Care Workforce	94,528
Care Matters White Paper	180,652
Child Death Review Processes	37,425
Young People’s Substance Misuse	38,896
Preventing Violence and Extremism Toolkit	8,000

(k) The Drug and Alcohol Training Programme is now amalgamated within the Connexions Programme.

(1) Lifelong Learning Partnerships is now administered by the Learning and Skills Council.

(m) The Government office for the north-west administers no funding for renewable energy.

(n) Details on funding for Sefton are not held by the Mersey Basin Campaign.

(o) The Building Safer Communities Programme has now been amalgamated within the Safer Stronger Communities Fund for which Sefton has been allocated £681,316 as part of the area based grant.

(p) The Wardens Scheme is now discontinued.

(q) The Small Retailer in Deprived Areas Programme is now discontinued.

(r) Partnership Support Development is now discontinued.

(s) The CCTV Initiative is now discontinued.

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