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11 Mar 2009 : Column 492W—continued
Local Government: Pay
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether local authorities are required to report the pay scales of senior council officers in their Statement of Accounts. [262534]
John Healey: Local authorities are currently required to report the number of staff earning over £50,000 per annum in their annual accounts.
Local Government: Pensions
Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of all governance compliance statements and general governance statements requested from Local Government Pension Scheme administration authorities and held by the Workforce Pay and Pensions Division of her Department. [261755]
John Healey: The Department does not at present hold copies of all of the governance statements. Once we have received all of the statements we will be publishing a report on our website. Copies can be obtained from each administering authority who are in any event required to publish them.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the name and address is of each administrator of each individual fund within the Local Government Pension Scheme; and which local authorities are members of each individual fund. [262375]
John Healey: The pension manager of each fund is designated as the relevant administrator of each of the eighty-nine Local Government Pension Scheme funds in England and Wales. Contact details can be found at:
Schedule 4, parts 1 and 2, of the Local Government Pension Scheme (Administration) Regulations 2008 set out the requirements on which individual fund, employers contribute to their respective pension funds. Details of these employers are not held centrally.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) which councillors are members of the Local Government Pension Scheme in their capacities as councillors; [262379]
(2) whether councillor members of joint waste authorities are eligible to join the Local Government Pension Scheme in their capacity as members of such authorities; and what powers such authorities have to admit them to membership. [262606]
John Healey: Only elected members of a district council, county council or London borough council are defined as eligible members for the purpose of access to the Local Government Pension Scheme.
Decisions on access for councillors to the scheme are made by each local authority in the light of recommendations from its independent remuneration panel. There is no requirement to provide details to the Department of who has taken up any subsequent right of access.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations she has received from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy on amendments to the Local Government Pension Scheme rules to allow greater discretion to local authority investment managers; and if she will make a statement. [262684]
John Healey: A copy of CIPFA’s report “Local Government Pension Scheme Investment Regulations: Options for Change” was submitted to the Department on 27 January. The report will be treated as a response to the current statutory consultation exercise on the consolidation of the scheme’s investment regulations, which is due to close on 3 April 2009.
We will consider its recommendations carefully.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations she has received from the Local Government Association on the retirement age for the Local Government Pension Scheme; and if she will make a statement. [262685]
John Healey: The Local Government Association recently expressed its support to see an increase in the scheme’s retirement age from 65, as part of a response made by the Local Government Employers to a statutory consultation exercise on proposals to introduce cost-share arrangements in the Local Government Pension Scheme later this year.
Mortgages
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Oldham West and Royton (Mr. Meacher), of 12 February 2009, Official Report, column 2219W, on mortgages, how many and what proportion of mortgages were in each list house price to income ratio bracket in each year for which data are available. [262616]
Mr. Iain Wright: This information is not collected by Communities and Local Government. However for the UK we have made the following estimates based on data from the Regulated Mortgage Survey and the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
| Number of mortgages for house purchase by price to income ratio, UK | |||||
| House price to income ratio | |||||
| Less than or equal to 6 | Greater than 6 but no more than 8 | Greater than 8 but no more than 10 | Greater than 10 | Total | |
Mortgages: Government Assistance
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of the Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme in each of the next two years. [261506]
Margaret Beckett: We are currently working with lenders to agree the Master Guarantee for the Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme, which we expect to be open for business with the first lenders in April. We will publish a full impact assessment when the Master Guarantee Deed has been finalised.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made on the implementation of the Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme; and if she will make a statement. [261599]
Margaret Beckett: We are making good progress on the implementation of the Homeowner Mortgage Support scheme and expect the scheme to be open for business with the first lenders in April now that the Banking Act, which is the legislative vehicle we have used to enable us to do this, has gained Royal Assent (12 February). We are now working with a wider group of lenders to finalise the scheme implementation plans and agree the draft Master Guarantee.
Multiple Occupation: Fire Prevention
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of enforcement of fire regulations in former guest houses and hotels in seaside towns which are now used as houses of multiple occupation. [263004]
Mr. Khan: The Department has worked closely with LACORS (Local Authority Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services), the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the Chief Fire Officers Association who published guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing, including houses in multiple occupation. This can be found on the LACORS website:
The Department has commissioned an initial evaluation of the effectiveness of fire safety legislation, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. This includes the perspective of the responsible persons, the enforcing authorities and the fire industry. We will publish the outcome of this evaluation shortly and will put a copy in the House of Commons Library.
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