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2 Apr 2009 : Column 1499W—continued
| (b) RIDDOR( 1) reportable injuries to firefighters, East Sussex | |||
| Number of 'over 3 day' injuries( 2) | Number of major injuries | Number of fatal injuries | |
| (1 )Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) (2 )Injuries which are not classified as ‘major’ but as a result of which an individual was off work or unable to do their full range of normal duties for more than three days (3 )Reportable major injuries include fracture other than to fingers, thumbs or toes, and dislocation of the shoulder, hip, knee or spine. Source: East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. | |||
Gardens
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects
the review of the brownfield designation of garden land to be completed; and if she will make a statement. [267227]
Margaret Beckett: During the progress of the Planning Act 2008, the Government committed to review the evidence on the extent and impact of housing development on garden land in order to establish whether there was a genuine problem. This commitment was undertaken in the absence of firm evidence that a problem existed.
We propose to establish the amount of housing development on garden land, which at present cannot be distinguished from other land classified as “previously-residential” in the Land Use Change Statistics, such as estate regeneration or conversions.
The review will take place in two stages. The first stage will involve obtaining data directly from local planning authorities and the Planning Inspectorate. My Department will write to local planning authorities in England requesting data on the number of planning permissions granted or refused (including the outcomes of any associated appeals), from 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2008, for housing development within the curtilage of an existing dwelling house—but only where these permissions have, or will, result in a net increase in dwellings within the existing curtilage.
We have worked with the Planning Officers' Society and the Central Local Information Partnership in designing the process of data collection for the review to ensure it as straightforward for local authorities as possible.
We will exclude from the review details of regeneration or renewal schemes, as these could seriously distort the data. We will also exclude extensions to properties, as these do not lead to an increase in dwellings, and conversions, as these do not generally lead to a loss of land.
Authorities will also be asked to provide a commentary on the development plan policies they rely on to determine these type of applications, and information on whether they have identified gardens (either individually or through the identification of a broad location), through the plan led system, for future development.
Local authorities will also be given the opportunity to say whether garden development is or is not an issue for them in their area and why.
As part of the first stage we will also ask the Planning Inspectorate to provide information on the appeal decisions highlighted by planning authorities, to help establish the principal reasons why the decisions were granted.
For the second stage of the review, we will seek external analysis of the data collected from the first stage to determine the impact of the development. This will probably focus on a subset of authorities which will need to include authorities from each region, and an even mix of large and small authorities in both urban and rural areas. We will publish further details of the second stage of the review at the time. Subject to the response rate we receive to stage one of the review, our aim is to conclude the second stage by the summer.
The purpose of the review is to ascertain if there is clear and genuine problem with the extent of development on gardens. We are committed to considering action if the evidence discloses a problem, provided that any changes should not have the effect of undermining our objectives on housing.
We shall also be writing separately to Opposition spokespersons and hon. Members in England to bring the details of the review to their attention.
Homes and Communities Agency
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor bodies spent on (a) renovation and (b) decoration in each of the last three years. [266189]
Margaret Beckett: The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has existed since 1 December 2008, and is responsible to Parliament for ensuring public funds are properly used. They are also subject to scrutiny by the National Audit Office and every year their annual report and accounts will be laid before Parliament.
Final audited information for the HCA for the year ending 31 March 2009 will be available after the end of the financial year.
The predecessor bodies for the HCA were English Partnerships, the investment arm of the Housing Corporation, and the Academy for Sustainable Communities. A range of programmes previously delivered by Communities and Local Government (CLG) also transferred to the agency.
Spend by predecessor bodies for the Housing Corporation and English Partnership on renovation and decoration is shown in the following table.
| £000 | |||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
The Academy for Sustainable Communities did not incur any expenditure on these items. The spend that related to CLG programmes that transferred to the agency cannot be disaggregated.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much the (a) Homes and Communities Agency and (b) Tenants Service Authority have spent on (i) signage and (ii) stationery since their inception; [266190]
(2) how much (a) the Homes and Communities Agency and (b) the Tenants Service Authority have spent on media monitoring since their inception; [266195]
(3) how much the Homes and Communities Agency has spent on branding since its inception; and which companies were contracted to provide branding services. [266200]
Margaret Beckett: The following table shows the HCA and TSA's spend on signage and stationery, media monitoring and branding since their inception.
| £000 | ||
| HCA | TSA | |
| (1) For TSA branding costs I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 29 January 2009, Official Report, column 784W. | ||
The development of the HCA brand was delivered through the Central Office of Information.
The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), and Tenants Service Authority (TSA) are responsible to Parliament for ensuring public funds are properly used. They are also subject to scrutiny by the National Audit Office and every year their annual report and accounts will be laid before Parliament.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the (a) Tenants Service Authority and (b) Homes and Communities Agency have spent on public affairs consultancy since their establishment. [266192]
Margaret Beckett: Since their establishment the TSA, to date, have been invoiced for approximately £68,000 and the HCA nil. The HCA and TSA are responsible to Parliament for ensuring public funds are properly used. They are also subject to scrutiny by the National Audit Office and every year their Annual Report and Accounts will be laid before Parliament.
Housing Revenue Accounts
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of the Housing Revenue Account's annual income was derived from rent (a) from dwellings and (b) sources other than dwellings in each year since 1997. [268601]
Mr. Iain Wright: The proportion of income since 1997 in England from rents and other sources is given in the following table:
| Percentage | |||
| Financial year | Rent from dwellings | Income from land and non-dwelling buildings etc. | Income from services provided by authority |
This information is drawn from information provided by local authorities in year for Housing Revenue Account subsidy purposes.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what expenditure under what main budget headings was incurred on the spending on supervision and management out of the Housing Revenue Account for the last financial year for which figures are available. [268602]
Mr. Iain Wright: Details for 2007-08 (the latest year for which we have figures) are shown in the following table.
This information is drawn from information provided by local authorities in year for Housing Revenue Account subsidy purposes.
Housing: Construction
Mr. Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the Government is on target to meet its aspiration of building three million new homes by 2020; and if she will make a statement. [267979]
Margaret Beckett: The Housing Green Paper, “Homes for the Future: more affordable, more sustainable”, published in July 2007, set out the Government’s ambition to increase housing supply.
The Government recognise that the current financial and economic conditions will make the achievement of their housing supply targets extremely challenging. But despite the difficult economic and financial conditions, long-term pressures on housing supply and affordability remain. We therefore remain committed to doing all we can to meet long-term demand and need for housing.
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