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5 Feb 2009 : Column 1431W—continued
Housing: Mortgages
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of people who have (a) a mortgage on a domestic property and (b) own a property outright. [255215]
Mr. Iain Wright: It is estimated that there were 8 million households buying with a mortgage and 6.7 million households who were outright owners in England in 2008. These estimates are based on data from the ONS Labour Force Survey.
Housing: Planning Permission
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether section 106 agreements may be attached to household extensions in cases where the proposed extension (a) does and (b) does not have permitted development rights. [252303]
Mr. Iain Wright: Planning obligations (also known as section 106 agreements) can be attached to a planning permission to make acceptable development which would otherwise be unacceptable in planning terms.
Research commissioned by the Department shows that in 2005-06 only 6.4 per cent. of planning permissions had an obligation attached to them and that the majority of these obligations were attached to large development.
New revisions to planning regulations for General Permitted Development Orders, announced by the Government on 10 September 2008, meant that from 1( )October 2008 the majority of homeowners will no longer need to get planning permission when extending their existing homes.
Therefore, for the majority of household extensions with permitted development rights planning permission would not be required and they would therefore not be liable for planning obligations. For those developments which do not have permitted development rights, planning permission may be required and therefore a section 106 obligation could be attached to the permission.
Housing: Regeneration
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding her Department has allocated to each housing market renewal pathfinder for each of the next three years. [254851]
Mr. Iain Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my noble Friend Baroness Andrews to Lord Greaves on 23 January 2009, Official Report, column WA239.
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the average cost of a (a) new build, (b) refurbishment, (c) acquisition and (d) demolition in a housing market renewal pathfinder in the latest year for which figures are available. [254852]
Mr. Iain Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 17 December 2008, Official Report, columns 791-92W.
Housing: Sustainable Development
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 29 October 2008, Official Report, column 1146W, on housing: sustainable development, if she will place in the Library a copy of BS 5906:2005. [252861]
Mr. Iain Wright: BS 5906:2005 waste management in buildings is one of the many standards that are produced and published by BSI—British Standards, a division of the BSI Group. BSI Group is non profit making and all profits are reinvested to create new standards. The documents are not published by my Department and as such I am unable to place a copy in the Library. All BS standards are available to view in the British Library or in the BSI Library in Chiswick (for a nominal fee). They are also available on the BSI website at:
Local Government Finance
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her estimate is of the average change in per capita Government funding in (a) district councils, (b) county councils, (c) London boroughs, (d) metropolitan councils, (e) existing unitary councils and (f) new unitary councils between 2008-09 and 2009-10. [253869]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 19 January 2009, Official Report, column 1074W.
Local Government Services: Public Participation
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department has issued to local community groups on accepting community transfer of libraries and other facilities. [253739]
Mr. Khan: There has been no specific guidance issued on the transfer of library facilities. General guidance was published by the Department in July 2008 on Managing Risks in Asset Transfer. The Asset Transfer Unit, which is hosted by the Development Trusts Association and funded by the Department, opened for business in January 2009 to raise the profile and importance of transferring assets to communities, and will respond to requests from community groups and public bodies for information and advice.
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on the transfer of facilities to community groups. [253741]
Mr. Khan: The findings of the Quirk review of Community Management and Ownership of Public Assets was published in May 2007 and made available to every local authority in England. In July 2008 every council leader and chief executive in England was sent a copy of ‘Managing Risks in Asset Transfer: A Guide’ which is a practical guide on managing and minimising risk. Additionally the Department has funded the Advancing Assets demonstration programme where 50 local authorities and community partnerships have been supported to facilitate community asset transfer and 60 more will be supported between 2009 and 2011.
Local Government: EU Grants and Loans
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations her Department received from (a) regional development agencies, (b) Government offices of the regions, (c) local authorities and (d) Objective 1 and 2 convergence partnerships on the extension to the deadline offered to all EU countries to spend unused 2000-2006 European regional development funds; and if she will make a statement. [254623]
John Healey: The Government took into account views from the regions, including on the extent to which any additional resources resulting from programme extension could be used given the lack of flexibility in the EC's offer of extension and decided that there was insufficient benefit to justify changing existing spending plans.
Local Government: Publicity
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for the revision of the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Government Publicity. [253885]
Mr. Khan: Our current consultation on proposals to revise the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Government Publicity ends on 12 March 2009. We intend that any revisions we make following consultation should come into force by April 2010, in parallel with any guidance issued on the proposed new duty on councils to promote democracy, for which the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill makes provision.
Local Government: Repairs and Maintenance
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make it her policy to fund the floor damping system from central Government funds. [253139]
John Healey: Floor damping is already met from central Government funds. It ensures that every authority in England will receive at least a minimum increase in formula grant year-on-year on a like-for-like basis i.e. after adjusting for changes in funding and function. The cost of the floor is paid for by scaling back grant increases above the floor. This provides stability, while allowing some of the underlying change in grant to come through.
We consulted in 2005 on the mechanism for floor damping. The overwhelming majority of responses to the consultation preferred the existing system for funding the floor, by scaling back grant increases above the floor, and we accepted this as the way forward.
Local Government: Suffolk
Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will review the processes employed by the Boundary Committee to reach a decision on the options of local government structure in Suffolk. [253123]
John Healey: The Boundary Committee is a statutory committee of the Electoral Commission which reports to Parliament and not Government, and its review processes are a matter for the Committee itself. The Secretary of State will have regard to all relevant matters when considering any advice provided by the Boundary Committee in response to the Secretary of State’s request for advice of 6 February 2008.
Local Government: Waste Disposal
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authorities include measures on waste in their local area agreement 35 local improvement targets. [253078]
John Healey: 126 out of 150 local areas have at least one designated target in their local area agreement, covering measures on waste. All LAAs are publicly available on the IDeA website at:
and contain details of the partner agencies that are signed up to targets.
Local Spending Reports
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the reason is for the time taken by her Department to publish a consultation document on local spending reports. [253889]
Mr. Khan: The Sustainable Communities Act 2007 requires the Secretary of State to make arrangements for the production of local spending reports; to make the first arrangements before 23 April 2009; and to consult affected persons before doing so. This is a complex task and we have been working across Government to map available information. We aim to consult shortly.
National Policy Statements
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for the publication of national policy statements (NPSs); and what subject topics each NPS will cover. [253898]
Mr. Iain Wright:
The Department for Communities and Local Government published a Route Map for implementation of the Infrastructure Planning Commission regime, including the current timetable for preparation
of national policy statements, on its website on 27 January. Copies are also in the House Library.
The Government are planning initially to produce 12 NPSs covering the following infrastructure sectors:
Overarching Energy (setting the context for the other five energy NPSs) as follows:
Renewables
Fossil Fuel
Electricity Networks (i.e. power lines etc.)
Oil and Gas Infrastructure (e.g. pipelines and storage)
Nuclear Power
Ports
National Networks (i.e. strategic roads and railways, including strategic rail and freight interchanges)
Airports
Waste Water (e.g. sewage treatment infrastructure)
Water Supply (e.g. reservoirs)
Hazardous Waste (e.g. high temperature incineration).
The first tranche—the NPSs on Non-Nuclear Energy and Ports—are currently scheduled for publication for consultation in the summer and then designation in early 2010.
Our current plans for the later NPSs are as follows:
We plan to start the consultation on the Nuclear NPS in 2009 following on from the package of non-nuclear energy NPSs, and aim to designate this NPS in the spring of 2010.
The National Networks NPS is scheduled for consultation and parliamentary scrutiny in autumn 2009 with designation later in 2010.
We expect consultation on the Waste Water NPS late in 2009, with the Hazardous Waste NPS published for consultation in spring 2010, the Water Supply NPS later in 2010, and the Airports NPS planned for public consultation by 2011.
Ordnance Survey: Visits Abroad
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 Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 29 October 2008, Official Report, columns 1150-1W, on Ordnance Survey: visits abroad, what the purpose was of each visit. [252789]
Mr. Iain Wright: A table showing the countries and cities visited by Ordnance Survey in the time period specified along with the purpose for each visit has been deposited in the Library. In some cases the location listed was an intermediate business stop during a longer journey to other listed destinations.
Partnerships UK
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what remuneration Baroness Ford has received for her work for Partnerships UK on surplus public sector land in 2008-09. [252459]
Mr. Iain Wright: This Department has not provided any direct remuneration to Baroness Ford.
Partnerships UK is a dedicated centre of expertise available to the public sector to provide strategic support for delivering successful projects and programmes and
has an established framework agreement with Communities and Local Government. Communities and Local Government contracted with Partnerships UK, using its framework agreement, to provide work required by the Government to increase the pace of change in the surplus public sector land programme. The maximum fee payable to Partnerships UK for this work is £75,000 plus VAT. Partnerships UK in turn contracted with the Royal Bank of Canada Europe Limited to provide specialist advice in relation to that commission. Baroness Ford is employed by the Bank as its director of social infrastructure and has specialist knowledge of housing and regeneration. The contractual relationship that Communities and Local Government entered into was with Partnerships UK and this Department is not a party to their contractual arrangements with the Royal Bank of Canada, nor to the Bank’s contractual arrangements with Baroness Ford.
Plain English
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department has taken to adopt Plain English standards in its publications. [253884]
Mr. Khan: The Department is a corporate member of the Plain English Campaign, which allows us to seek advice or request Crystal Mark status for our publications on a case by case basis.
For information on the publications which the Department has submitted for Crystal Mark status since 2005 I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Monmouth (David T.C. Davies) on 30 October 2008, Official Report, column 1286W.
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