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30 Mar 2009 : Column 964W—continued
Further information on the number of households on the local authority housing waiting lists for England, can be found in the statistical release “Local Authority Housing Statistics England: 2007-08: Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) and Business Plan Statistical Appendix (BPSA)” This was published on 22 January 2009 on the Communities and Local Government website at:
Additionally information on the number of households on local authority housing waiting lists broken down by Government office region and for every local authority, including the percentage of households this represents, is published on the Communities and Local Government website in Table 600 at:
Copies of the statistical release and live table have been deposited in the Library.
Not everyone on the waiting list is necessarily in urgent housing need. The waiting list includes those who consider social housing as their preferred or one of a number of housing options, and those who decide to get onto the waiting list ladder before they need or want to move house—particularly where the priority system is heavily based on waiting time. The size of the waiting
list is not an indicator of absolute need, it is only useful as a broad indicator of housing demand in an area.
Departmental Manpower
Justine Greening:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) permanent, (b) agency and (c) temporary staff on contracts of (i) up to three months, (ii) between three
and six months, (iii) between six and 12 months and (iv) 12 months or more there are in each directorate of her Department. [264306]
Mr. Khan: Communities and Local Government currently has the following number of permanent, agency and temporary staff on contracts up to and over 12 months:
| Sum of FTE | |||||
| Contract period | |||||
| Type of staff | 0-3 months | 3-6 months | 6-12 months | 12+ months | Grand total |
Detailed information on each directorate could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Further details of staff employment are published in the Department’s annual reports.
Departmental Procurement
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 6 October 2008, Official Report, column 304W, on departmental procurement, if she will place in the Library a copy of the invoices for the expenditure at Majestic Wine Warehouse Ltd; and for what purpose the expenditure was incurred. [251955]
Mr. Khan: The expenditure was incurred for the purposes of official hospitality for a number of events. For reasons of commercial confidentiality it is not normal practice to make public copies of invoices.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her latest estimate is of her Department’s capital expenditure in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10, (c) 2010-11 and (d) 2011-12; and if she will make a statement. [268115]
Mr. Khan: The Department’s capital expenditure for the requested years is as follows:
| Departmental expenditure limit | Capital (£ million) |
The budget for 2011-12 will be fixed in the next spending review.
Departmental Publications
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the (a) production and printing and (b) other costs to her Department of producing its most recent (i) departmental annual report and (ii) autumn performance report. [266698]
Mr. Khan: The Department’s annual report 2008 cost £38,652 plus VAT to design and print. Our autumn performance report 2008 was produced as an online document only and cost £2,305 plus VAT.
Departmental Standards
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the cost to her Department of measuring compliance with its targets under its public service agreements in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [266570]
Mr. Khan: Public service agreements cover a wide range of the Department’s business; costs associated with measuring compliance are not separately identified but are incorporated within individual workstreams focusing on delivery. Drawing together this information would be possible only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Training
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2009, Official Report, column 1689W, on departmental training, which Ministers took advice on (a) continuing professional development and (b) speeches; and what the cost was in each case. [265677]
Mr. Khan: The training referred to in my earlier answer of 9 February 2009, Official Report, column 1689W, was: advice on continuing professional development; and advice on speeches; and cost in total £650 and £2,115 respectively. Identifying Ministers who undertake training would, or would be likely to, discourage participation in future training sessions, acting as a disincentive for Ministers to undertake formal professional development.
Fire Services
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) uniformed and (b) non-uniformed fire service personnel there were in each (i) fire brigade and (ii) region in each year since 2000. [267513]
Mr. Khan: These data are published annually in the Fire and Rescue Service Operational Statistics Bulletin and can be found on the Department's website at:
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost has been including value added tax and expenses, of consultants working on the FireLink Project since the start of the project. [267514]
Mr. Khan: For the period August 2002 to February 2009 the cost of consultant services for the FireLink project has been £36.88 million.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetables are for the implementation of the data capture and migration toolkit in each fire brigade in each region; and if she will make a statement. [267515]
Mr. Khan: The first part of the data capture and migration toolkit was rolled out to those Fire and Rescue Services who requested it by the end of February 2009 (some 40 fire brigades in total). The next phase of the data capture toolkit is under development and will be released later this year, in discussion with the Fire and Rescue Services.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the current planned date is for each fire brigade to cut over to each regional control centre; and if she will make a statement. [267516]
Mr. Khan: I refer to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the hon. Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) on 11 December 2008, Official Report, columns 248-50W, setting out the revised cut over schedule.
First Time Buyers
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of first-time home buyers in each year since 1997. [266340]
Mr. Iain Wright: The numbers of first time buyers purchasing a home with a mortgage in the UK in each year since 1997 are presented as follows:
| Number of first time buyers purchasing with a mortgage, UK | |
| Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders | |
CML estimate that around one in five first time buyers are actually returning to owner-occupation after a break.
We are ensuring support is in place to help first-time buyers. We have:
Increased opportunities to buy a home through shared equity and shared ownership—our schemes are now open to anyone earning up to £60,000 who would not otherwise be able to afford to buy.
Now allocated £236 million to purchase nearly 6,000 unsold properties to be used as affordable and social housing.
Helped more than 110,000 households into home ownership since 1997 through our shared ownership and shared equity schemes.
Launched our £400 million HomeBuy Direct scheme, which will help up to 18,000 first time buyers across the country.
Housing Associations: Finance
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of housing associations in need of financial assistance in the most recent period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [266486]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Tenant Services Authority carries out annual reviews of housing associations' financial position and grades each organisation on a scale of 1 to 4 as follows:
1—Satisfactory
2—Satisfactory, but areas of exposure noted
3—Concerns
4—Serious concerns
All but six associations have so far received a grading of 1 or 2. The other six associations are graded at 3 and no organisation is graded 4. The TSA is working closely with all six organisations to resolve their issues and is hopeful of a successful resolution of the issues in each case.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) banks in which the Government has purchased a holding on (i) the level of lending to housing associations and (ii) the interest rates at which those banks lend to housing associations. [266502]
Mr. Iain Wright: Ministers from the Department are meeting regularly with their HM Treasury counterparts to discuss these issues, and officials are also in regular communication with HM Treasury, the Council of Mortgage Lenders, and individual lenders to discuss the issue of lending to housing associations.
Communities and Local Government officials are also engaged in ongoing discussions with HM Treasury on the lending agreements signed by banks participating in the Government's Asset Protection Scheme.
Housing Market
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department spent against its Objective 4 to deliver a better balance between housing supply and demand in each of the last five years; and what each figure represents in 2008-09 prices. [265076]
Mr. Iain Wright: £11,259 billion was spent between 2003-04 and 2007-08 by the Department. The figures for each year in cash terms and in 2008-9 prices are shown in the following table.
| £ billion | ||
| Actuals | 2009-09 prices | |
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