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30 Mar 2009 : Column 974W—continued
Non-Domestic Rates: Business
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the percentage change in business rates for (a) small and (b) medium-sized and large firms which will take effect in April 2009 in (i) the London Borough of Sutton and (ii) nationwide; and if she will make a statement. [266441]
John Healey: The percentage change in business rates for (a) small and (b) medium-sized and large firms which will take effect in April 2009 in (i) the London borough of Sutton and (ii) England are the same. I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) on 12 March 2009, Official Report, column 750W.
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will adjust the small business rate multiplier for 2009-10 to ensure that it is not increased above the rate of inflation. [267783]
John Healey: The small business rate multiplier for forthcoming financial years is capped by the retail price index for September of the financial year preceding.
Planning Obligations
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent estimate her Department has made of the proportion of affordable housing made available under section 106 agreements in each of the last three years; and what proportion of affordable housing she expects to be made available under section 106 agreements in (a) financial year 2008-09 and (b) financial year 2009-10. [266501]
Mr. Iain Wright: The following table shows the proportion of affordable homes that were provided with a section 106 agreement in England.
| Total section 106 agreements | Total affordable homes provided | Proportion (percentage) | |
Information on numbers of new affordable homes provided through section 106 agreements for 2008-09 will be made available as part of CLG affordable housing statistics due to be released in December 2010. Estimates on the levels of section 106 agreements in 2009-10 are not available.
Planning Permission
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether planning policy statement 6 relating to sequential tests applies to new NHS facilities. [267705]
Mr. Khan: The sequential approach set out in Planning Policy Statement 6 does not apply to new NHS facilities (except offices).
However, Planning Policy Guidance note 13: Transport (2001) requires new health facilities to be planned so as to maximise accessibility by means of transport other than the car while at the same time providing good access arrangements for emergency vehicles. New intermediate health care facilities should, where possible, be located in town, district or local centres where they will be highly accessible by non-car modes of transport and can reinforce the range of services provided by these centres.
Planning: Horticulture
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her policy is on the development of urban horticulture as a contribution towards climate change mitigation; and if she will make a statement. [265897]
Mr. Iain Wright: Although our policy for promoting urban horticulture is not directly linked to climate change objectives, it can have a small-scale positive benefit, for example through local sourcing of food, promotion of biodiversity, and promotion of urban green space.
We have recently provided grants of £l million to local authorities to contribute towards the costs of training and employment for the first year of 60 additional horticulture apprenticeships. Those apprentices will play a vital role in ensuring that the quality of our urban parks and green spaces continues to improve.
Regional Planning and Development: South East
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many responses have been received to the South East Plan Consultation (a) in total and (b) from people in Guildford. [267691]
Mr. Khan: A full summary of responses will accompany the final regional spatial strategy when it is published.
(a) To date, 7,000 responses have generated 13,500 individual comments, and
(b) 55 per cent. of responses were received from people in Guildford.
Social Rented Housing
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent steps she has taken to support financially-sound small and medium-sized housing associations to obtain bank credit in order to purchase homes to meet social housing need. [266355]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Government have taken a number of steps to help ensure that appropriate credit is available to individuals and businesses, including housing associations.
The Government have agreed lending commitments with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds Banking Group and Northern Rock. RBS has committed to increasing lending by £25 billion above its baseline budget in 2009 including £16 billion for business lending and £9 billion for mortgage lending. Lloyds have committed to increase lending by £11 billion, including £8 billion for business lending and £3 billion for mortgage lending. Northern Rock has also agreed to provide £5 billion for new mortgages in 2009 and £9 billion in 2010.
My 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.
The Government have also provided grant funding to help housing associations purchase homes to meet social housing need. In May 2009, we announced that funding would be made available for housing associations to purchase suitable properties from developers for use as affordable housing. £236 million has now been allocated to deliver around 6,700 homes, the majority for social rent.
The Government are bringing forward from 2010-11 £550 million to provide around 7,500 social rented homes 18 months earlier than they would otherwise have been delivered. We have also given the Homes and Communities Agency increased flexibility in its use of social housing grant as part of a wider approach to stimulate new development.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties financed through social housing grants have been sold by each local authority in each of the last five years. [266491]
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many registered social landlords there were in each of the last five years; and how many properties were owned by registered social landlords in each of those years; [266514]
(2) how many registered social landlords let (a) supported housing and (b) housing for older people in each of the last five years. [266478]
Mr. Iain Wright: Information from registered social landlords (RSL) on the number of properties they own and the number of RSLs providing lets to supported housing and housing for older people is collected through the Regulatory and Statistical Return (RSR) by the Tenant Services Authority.
Information on the number of RSLs and the number of properties owned by RSLs in each year from 2004 to 2008 is presented in table 1.
| Table 1: Number of registered social landlords (RSLs) and the properties they owned, 2004-08 | ||
| RSLs( 1) | Properties owned by RSLs( 2, 3) | |
| (1) Based on active RSLs submitting data in the RSR. (2) Includes general needs, supported housing, housing for older people, social leased housing and non-social housing. Some properties outside England are also included. Includes self-contained units and bed spaces. (3) Since 2006, RSLs owning/managing less than 250 units/bed spaces have not supplied information on non-social stock. From 2007, this threshold was raised to 1,000 units/bed spaces. Source: Tenant Services Authority Regulatory Statistical Return, as at 31 March. | ||
These figures are based on active RSLs submitting data in the RSR and include non-social housing, social leased housing and social rented properties. Some properties outside England are also included.
It is not possible to identify RSLs providing lettings to supported housing and housing older people separately. Due to a change in definitions, it is not possible to provide figures prior to 2003-04 on a consistent basis. Information on the number of RSLs providing lettings to supported housing and housing for older people in each year from 2004-05 to 2007-08 is presented in table 2.
| Table 2: Number of RSLs providing lettings to supported housing and housing for older people, 2004-05 to 2007-08 | |
| Number | |
| Note: Figures cover the period 1 April to 31 March. Source: Tenant Services Authority Regulatory Statistical Return, as at 31 March. | |
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effects on rates of (a) homelessness and (b) overcrowding in social rented stock. [267146]
Mr. Iain Wright: Between 2003 and 2008, the number of homelessness acceptances fell by 58 per cent. and the rate of acceptances from 6.5 to 2.7 per thousand households. The latest statistics show that there were 12,070 homelessness acceptances during the period October to December 2008—21 per cent. lower than the same period last year. The proportion of homelessness acceptances due to mortgage repossessions has remained at 4 per cent. since the end of 2007.
In addition, the number of households in temporary accommodation has fallen for 13 consecutive quarters and is now one third lower than the peak in 2004 (where figures had remained static at around 101,000). There were 67,480 households in temporary accommodation on 31 December 2008—15 per cent. lower than the
same date last year. This represents a rate of 3.1 households in temporary accommodation per thousand households, which has fallen from 4.8 at the time of the peak. 50 per cent. of local authorities have already met the target to halve the number of households in temporary accommodation by 2010.
This success is largely due to the effective and positive work local authorities and voluntary agencies have undertaken on prevention measures. We have allocated £200 million to local authorities and voluntary organisations over three years 2008-09 to 2010-11 to support their strategies for preventing and tackling homelessness in their areas.
We also recently announced a £200 million Mortgage Rescue Scheme to help vulnerable home owners. This scheme is available to all local authorities and will aim to help up to 6,000 of the most vulnerable households avoid the trauma of repossession over the next two years. This scheme is now operational.
Levels of overcrowding are measured through the Survey of English Housing and assessed against the ‘bedroom standard’, based on the composition of all households and the age and gender of all household members. Based on a three-year rolling average from 2005-06 to 2007-08, we estimate that there are 234,000 overcrowded households in the social sector. These figures will next be updated using results from the new English Housing Survey, probably in January 2010.
Tenant Services Authority
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the Tenant Services Authority’s expenditure on its National Conversation. [267149]
Mr. Iain Wright: To date, the TSA have spent £103,000 on the campaign for the National Conversation.
Justice
Bail Accommodation and Support Service
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of residents of ClearSprings properties have breached their residency obligations since the scheme was introduced; how many have been removed from their property as a result; and if he will make a statement. [264757]
Mr. Hanson: As at 24 March 832 service users placed in ClearSprings’ properties available to the bail accommodation and support service have been in breach and their residency terminated, since the commencement of the scheme in June 2007.
The scheme is designed to support those who due to their lack of suitable accommodation would otherwise be in prison rather than on bail or home detention curfew. The breach rate shows that, if defendants or offenders abuse the accommodation provided by the scheme, they will be returned swiftly to court or prison as appropriate.
Civil Service
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2009, Official Report, column 774, whether proposals on the constitutional position of the Civil Service will be included in the Constitutional Renewal Bill. [265651]
Mr. Straw: The Governance of Britain Green Paper set out the Government’s commitment to bring forward legislation to enshrine the core principles and values of the civil service in law. The draft Constitutional Renewal Bill contained provisions in respect of the civil service. As I said, it remains my intention that the necessary legislation will be brought forward. The Bill is in the final stages of drafting.
Courts: Finance
Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the budget of (a) HM Courts Service in each area and (b) the Royal Courts of Justice group is for (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2008-09 and (iii) 2009-10. [263845]
Mr. Straw: The gross budgets for (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2008-09 and (iii) 2009-10 are shown in the following table by the main areas of business within HMCS and also the Royal Courts of Justice.
| Total delegation | |||
| £ 000 | |||
| 2007- 08 | 2008- 09 | 2009- 10 | |
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