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24 Mar 2009 : Column 214W—continued
Departmental Procurement
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2009, Official Report, column 2064-5W, on departmental procurement, for what purposes beverages were purchased from Oddbins by the Deputy Prime Minister's Office. [264847]
Mr. Khan: Beverages were purchased for the purpose of official hospitality. All expenditure in the Deputy Prime Minister's Office was conducted in accordance with the principles of “Government Accounting” and the Treasury handbook on “Regularity and Propriety.”
Departmental Public Consultation
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many public consultations her Department has carried out in the last 12 months; for how long each consultation was open; how many responses were received to each consultation; and what the cost was of conducting each consultation. [259729]
Mr. Khan: The number of public consultations conducted between 1 February 2008 and 31 January 2009 was 42. 41 consultations were open for at least 12 weeks, in line with the code of practice. One consultation exercise was given ministerial approval for a shorter period. The number of consultation responses ranged from 83 for the “Standing for Office: Time Off Entitlements” consultation to 12,000 responses on the “Eco towns: Living a greener future” consultation. Providing the cost of conducting the consultations could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Temporary Employment
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department’s policy is on the renewal of the contracts of (a) temporary and (b) agency staff. [264305]
Mr. Khan: The Department’s policy on the renewal of the contracts of temporary staff complies with the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Code. Appointments may subsequently be extended for a further period up to a maximum of 24 months for the overall term of the appointment.
Agency staff are only employed when there is a strong business case for doing so, in order to fill short-term vacancies or project specific roles, when it has not proved possible to fill the vacancy using available staff in the Department. Agency staff are not employed directly by the Department and do not have civil service contracts. Their employment is time-limited with the expectation that they remain in a position no longer than is necessary for the Department’s business needs.
Departmental Training
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many training courses were taken by (a) civil servants and (b) Ministers in her Department in each of the last three years; and what the cost of such training was in each year. [265302]
Mr. Khan: Communities and Local Government does not centrally collate information on the training courses taken by civil servants and Ministers within the Department, nor the total cost of training for Ministers.
However, we do centrally hold the total cost of training spent on civil servants within the Department in the last three years and this is as follows.
| £ | |
The information on the training courses taken by civil servants and Ministers within the Department and the cost of training for Ministers could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Equity
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many equity loan completions there were in each region in the last 12 months. [265073]
Mr. Iain Wright: The number of equity loan completions by region from March 2008 to the end of February 2009 is as follows:
| Region | Number |
Fire Services
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people were rescued from their vehicles by the Fire and Rescue Service in (a) each fire authority area and (b) each region in each of the last three years. [266236]
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people were rescued from their vehicles by the Fire and Rescue Service in each (a) fire authority area and (b) region in each of the last three years. [266399]
Mr. Khan: The number of people rescued from their vehicles by fire and rescue services is not reported to the Department under the system in operation for data to 2008-09. This information could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people were rescued from flooding by the Fire and Rescue Service in each of the last five years. [266237]
Mr. Khan: The number of people rescued from flooding by fire and rescue services is not reported to the Department under the system in operation for data to 2008-09. This information could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many incidents involving flooding were attended by the Fire and Rescue Service in each of the last five years. [266238]
Mr. Khan: Under the reporting system in operation for data to 2008-09, flooding incidents are recorded in a category of ‘water removal and provision’. This also includes pumping of drinking water and of other water. Figures for the latest five years are shown in the table.
| Water removal or provision incidents attended by fire and rescue services—England | |
| Number | |
| Source: Annual returns to Communities and Local Government | |
Home Ownership Incentive Schemes
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average monthly interest charged by OwnHome (a) funders and (b) providers has been since the scheme began. [265008]
Mr. Iain Wright: The information requested is not held centrally.
Grant Shapps:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average income has been of a (a) first-time buyer, (b) social
tenant and (c) key worker taking part in the (i) MyChoiceHomeBuy, (ii) HomeBuy Direct and (iii) OwnHome initiative. [265020]
Margaret Beckett: The average income of a (a) first time buyer, (b) social tenant and (c) key worker cannot be provided as these categories are not mutually exclusive. The average household income for individuals taking part in MyChoice HomeBuy is £31,155 and for Own Home is £31,601. We do not have any figures for HomeBuy Direct as no sales have yet been completed under HomeBuy Direct, which was launched in September and under which the first properties are just being released. This scheme is only available to first time buyers.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have applied for assistance via the OwnHome scheme; how many applications have been granted; and what the average level of support has been. [265099]
Mr. Iain Wright: 5,541 applications were made for the Own Home scheme to the end of February 2009, of which 4,285 were approved by the provider for the purchaser to seek a property. Of the 687 applicants that purchased a property up to the end of February 2009, the average level of government funding was £28,772.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have applied for assistance via the First Time Buyers initiative; how many applications have been granted; and what the average level of support has been. [265100]
Mr. Iain Wright: Since the start of the FTBI programme, 32,275 applications have been registered where the applicant has either specifically mentioned FTBI or included it as one of the HomeBuy products that they are considering. Therefore, the number is not exclusively comprised of FTBI applications.
Of the total number of applications, around 85 per cent. (27,659) have been approved as eligible for the HomeBuy products, including FTBI.
To date, around 1,900 homes have been purchased under the FTBI programme, with an average contribution of around £72,000 being made to each purchase.
HomeBuy Scheme
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) on what date she expects the Homebuy Direct scheme to launch; and how many expressions of interest have been received from potential purchasers; [265014]
(2) how much has been spent on the HomeBuy Direct scheme to date; [265016]
(3) how many people have applied for assistance via the HomeBuy Direct scheme; how many applications have been granted; and what the average level of support has been. [265098]
Margaret Beckett: The HomeBuy Direct scheme is already operating and the first buyers are expected to purchase properties over the next few weeks. No expenditure will be incurred until this happens.
The Homes and Communities Agency does not collect data on the number of applications for—or expressions of interest in—the scheme (data are collected at the point of completion). However, a number of participating developers are reporting high levels of pre-registrations for their HomeBuy Direct properties.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much (a) the Government and (b) its partners have provided for the MyChoiceHomeBuy scheme; and how much will be provided in each of the next three years. [265015]
Margaret Beckett: The Government have provided £126.4 million for MyChoice HomeBuy in 2008-09. This was augmented with funding by the equity loan providers. Over the three years 2008-11, we are investing over £8 billion in affordable housing through the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). We have not allocated specific funds for MyChoice HomeBuy for each of the next two years to allow full flexibility within the Affordable Housing Programme operated by the HCA. Future levels of funds beyond 2010-11 will be dependent upon the next spending review.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties have been purchased via Social HomeBuy in each region in each of the last 12 quarters; what the monetary value of the transactions in each such period was; and if she will make a statement. [265265]
Margaret Beckett: The following table shows the number of properties purchased via Social HomeBuy in England, by region. Social HomeBuy was offered as a pilot project by a small number of local authorities and registered social landlords acting on a voluntary basis.
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
Figures showing the number of registered social landlord (RSL) Social HomeBuy sales are from Homes and Communities Agency Investment Management System (IMS). The HCA expenditure records also provide the monetary value of the Social HomeBuy sales, and they increased from £536,000 in 2006-07 to £1,912,000 in 2007-08.
The 2007-08 figures include an additional three local authority Social HomeBuy sales in London, from P1B returns to CLG from local authorities, which are not included in the monetary value.
These figures are only available annually, not quarterly.
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