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Fires: Grasslands

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many grassland and heathland fires there were in each (a) fire authority and (b) region in each of the last three years. [266239]

Mr. Khan [holding answer 24 March 2009]: Information on the number of grassland and heathland fires attended by Fire and Rescue Services from 2005-07 is available as follows:

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All grassland fires( 1,2) , England, 2005-07
FRS area		2005	2006	2007( 3)
England		50,893	66,162	37,043
North West	Cheshire	991	1,657	690
	Cumbria	457	502	360
	Lancashire	1,345	1,895	1,322
	Greater Manchester	1,863	3,104	1,365
	Merseyside	2,763	3,683	1.963
North East	Cleveland	1,171	1,706	1,066
	Durham	934	1,537	866
	Northumberland	332	481	372
	Tyne and Wear	1,565	2,914	1,569
Yorks and Humberside	Humberside	929	1,136	712
	North Yorkshire	360	476	316
	South Yorkshire	2,111	2,552	1,675
	West Yorkshire	2,282	2,945	1,521
West Midlands	Hereford and Worcester	521	803	422
	Shropshire	483	837	359
	Staffordshire	1,412	2,012	1,020
	Warwickshire	371	444	336
	West Midlands	4,244	6,751	2,851
East Midlands	Derbyshire	1,038	1,004	878
	Leicestershire	701	769	502
	Lincolnshire	458	617	482
	Northamptonshire	511	686	308
	Nottinghamshire	2,359	2,913	1,882
East	Bedfordshire	461	453	267
	Cambridgeshire	530	659	331
	Essex	2,218	2,518	1,432
	Hertfordshire	700	838	468
	Norfolk	444	1,016	452
	Suffolk	484	754	434
South West	Avon	1,474	1,485	1,042
	Cornwall	424	621	398
	Devon	554	857	532
	Dorset	879	737	491
	Gloucestershire	322	360	160
	Somerset	169	292	165
	Wiltshire	198	253	179
	Isles of Scilly	3	8	5
South East	Berkshire	698	824	386
	Buckinghamshire	262	341	182
	East Sussex	224	391	172
	Hampshire	1,654	2,268	1,384
	Isle of Wight	59	83	47
	Kent	1,472	1,470	698
	Oxfordshire	299	330	225
	Surrey	901	942	542
	West Sussex	400	447	334
London	Greater London	6,863	6,794	3,880
(1) Figures are partially based on sampled weighted data in 2006 and 2007. (2) Includes primary and secondary fires. (3) Data for 2007 are provisional and subject to change.

Housing

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when her Department expects to publish figures on the net supply of housing for 2008-09. [268578]

Mr. Iain Wright: The net supply of housing release is an official statistic, and its publication is announced in advance on the UK statistics website.

At this stage we expect “Net Supply of Housing: 2008-09, England” to be published in February 2010.

Housing: Low Incomes

Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of affordable homes in Redbridge. [264793]

Mr. Iain Wright: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Reading, East (Mr. Wilson) on 18 March 2009, Official Report, column 1177W, on steps we are taking nationally to support the delivery of affordable housing.

Planning for affordable housing provision in Redbridge is primarily a matter for the borough and Mayor of London, who assess the housing requirements and potential of their areas. These studies provide evidence to inform both housing supply and affordable housing targets, for inclusion in their regional and local development plans.

The Mayor's London Plan published in 2008 sets an annual monitoring target to provide a minimum of 905 homes per year in Redbridge, and a strategic target that 50 per cent. of all additional housing in London should be affordable. Redbridge, through its core strategy, aspires to a target of 50 per cent. affordable housing on all sites over 10 dwellings or larger than 0.5 hectares.

As required by Government, the Mayor is currently up-dating the London-wide evidence base on housing requirements and potential, to inform both new housing
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supply targets, and longer-term affordable housing targets for London boroughs, for inclusion in a revised London Plan by 2012 at the latest.

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