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23 Apr 2009 : Column 878W—continued

Council Housing: Rents

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether changes in levels of local authority rents in 2010-11 will be linked to retail price index (RPI) inflation if RPI inflation is negative. [269882]

Mr. Iain Wright: No decisions have yet been taken concerning the calculation of local authority guideline rents for 2010-11.

Council Tax

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the Band D council tax fire precept was in the last year for which figures are available. [268925]

John Healey: Details of the Band D council tax fire precept for each fire authority in England for 2009-10 can be found in the statistical release “Levels of council tax set by local authorities England 2009-10” that was published on the Communities and Local Government website on 26 March 2009. It can be found at:

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many
23 Apr 2009 : Column 879W
homes were revalued for council tax purposes at the point of sale in each region in each year since 1997; and how many such homes were revalued to (a) a higher band, (b) a lower band and (c) the same council tax band. [270362]

John Healey: The Valuation Office Agency is only required to review council tax bands at the point of sale when a property has previously been improved.

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what changes to a property would count as a material increase for the purposes of council tax re-banding. [270411]

John Healey: A “material increase” is defined in law as


23 Apr 2009 : Column 880W

However, any increase in value will not affect the council tax band unless there has been a subsequent “relevant transaction” which is defined as

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been raised by each type of precepting authority in council tax revenue in England in each year since 1997. [270412]

John Healey: Details of the council tax requirement set by each type of precepting authority in England for the period 1997-98 to 2005-06 are given in the following table. Corresponding data for the period 2006-07 to 2009-10 are available in the statistical releases ‘Levels of council tax set by local authorities in England’ that can be found on the Communities and Local Government website at:

Council tax set by precepting authorities 1 997-98 to 2005-06
£000
Class of authority 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06

Combined fire authorities

415,455

434,671

Combined police authorities

172,954

173,653

191,565

211,208

227,355

276,053

373,335

422,894

447,419

Metropolitan fire authorities

81,492

86,790

95,595

101,807

107,926

117,755

137,823

147’861

155,951

Metropolitan police authorities

178,704

178,253

188,843

200,104

210,879

237,470

283,579

313,884

333,149

Shire police authorities

365,897

404,250

446,970

465,404

552,790

652,402

827,645

932,239

986,916

Shire county councils

4,566,702

4,267,182

4,666,977

5,425,945

5,831,319

6,427,485

7,355,064

7,505,589

7,950,454

The Metropolitan Police Authority

181,828

222,264

241,317

London fire brigade

65,994

68,992

74,803

Greater London authority

335,706

412,189

481.351

626,054

683,741

727,400

Total

5,613,571

5,401,384

5,906,070

6,740,174

7,342,458

8,192,516

9,603,500

10,421,663

11,035,960


The data are taken from the budget requirement forms that were submitted annually to Communities and Local Government, and its predecessor departments by all billing and precepting authorities in England.

Due to reorganisation and changes in local authority responsibilities, comparisons across years may not be valid.

Empty Dwelling Management Orders

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brent, East of 5 November 2008, Official Report, column 547W, on empty property, if she will place in the Library a copy of the updated guidance to local authorities on Empty Dwelling Management Orders. [262154]

Mr. Iain Wright: The guidance on Empty Dwelling Management Orders was launched by the Empty Homes Agency on 10 March. It is not a published document so it will not be possible to place a copy in the Library. Rather it is interactive internet-based guidance which can be accessed at:

There is also a link to the guidance from the Communities and Local Government website at:

Fires: Domestic Waste

Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many refuse container fires were reported in each of the last five years in (a) England and (b) Northamptonshire; [270531]


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(2) how many fires involving (a) plastic wheelie bins, (b) other plastic refuse containers, (c) metal refuse containers and (d) other forms of refuse container took place in the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [270535]

Mr. Khan: Information regarding the number of fires solely in refuse containers is not held centrally.


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Information regarding all refuse fires, attended by Fire and Rescue Services in England, including those in refuse containers is available in the table.

Total refuse and refuse container fires( 1) , England, 2003-07( 2)
FRS area 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007( 2)

England

152,461

119,430

114,307

107,677

108,335

Avon

3,583

2,587

2,136

1,613

1,489

Bedfordshire

1,332

1,074

980

863

911

Berkshire

1,323

986

869

796

831

Buckinghamshire

1,821

1,385

1,349

1,307

1,181

Cambridgeshire

1,233

1,065

1,056

1,134

941

Cheshire

3,865

3,366

3,494

3,160

2,881

Cleveland

4,776

3,569

3,787

4,001

3,853

Cornwall

414

386

375

412

320

Cumbria

1,519

1,234

1,441

1,400

1,305

Derbyshire

1,586

1,297

1,161

1,351

1,230

Devon

1,794

1,617

1,419

1,597

1,459

Dorset

674

585

569

540

525

Durham

2,674

2,185

2,332

2,325

2,419

East Sussex

1,312

1,175

966

905

862

Gloucestershire

1,022

781

777

661

618

Greater London

18,883

14,275

14,007

12,055

12,478

Greater Manchester

14,237

10,847

11,058

10,543

10,451

Hampshire

3,405

3,025

2,646

2,728

2,512

Hereford and Worcester

1,024

721

667

721

621

Hertfordshire

1,981

1,427

1,469

1,311

1,197

Humberside

5,460

4,217

3,824

3,515

3,459

Isle of Wight

120

142

130

131

130

Isles of Scilly

6

1

0

5

0

Kent

3,836

3,199

2,978

2,481

2,326

Lancashire

6,349

4,574

4,324

2,360

4,362

Leicestershire

1,772

1,550

1,392

1,455

1,429

Lincolnshire

874

726

662

836

965

Merseyside

12,913

8,854

7,310

7,086

6,493

Norfolk

1,045

941

914

1,032

861

North Yorkshire

1,255

973

985

1,026

940

Northamptonshire

2,056

1,651

1,634

1,361

1,409

Northumberland

1,199

901

856

888

949

Nottinghamshire

2,746

2,111

2,128

2,080

1,983

Oxfordshire

678

602

575

483

553

Shropshire

1,037

827

854

787

784

Somerset

729

556

490

507

541

South Yorkshire

5,850

4,670

4,965

4,958

5,563

Staffordshire

2,704

2,335

2,355

2,272

2,327

Suffolk

844

787

689

782

713

Surrey

1,185

951

945

940

916

Tyne and Wear

7,869

6,104

5,488

6,035

6,050

Warwickshire

1,088

936

831

887

816

West Midlands

9,514

7,733

7,570

7,067

7,029

West Sussex

1,212

972

838

727

728

West Yorkshire

10,949

9,030

8,455

8,000

8,407

Wiltshire

713

500

557

553

518

(1 )Secondary fire figures are based on monthly FDR3 aggregated returns. (2 )Provisional data for 2007 are provisional and subject to change.
Note:
Figures are based on sampled data weighted to true brigade totals. Source: CLG.

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