| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
5 May 2009 : Column 127W—continued
Where local authorities build or acquire homes with funding from the HCA they will be expected to meet the relevant conditions of the grant, and compliance with development standards is one of these.
Derelict Land: Gardens
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 2 April 2009, Official Report, columns 1503-05W, on gardens, (1) how long she expects the (a) first and (b) second stage of her Department’s review into the effect of development on gardens to take; and if she will make a statement; [272200]
(2) on what date her Department wrote to local planning authorities in England to request data on the number of planning permissions granted or refused for
housing development within the cortilage of an existing house; and if she will place in the Library a copy of the letter. [272201]
Margaret Beckett: I refer the hon. Member to the letter my Department wrote to all local planning authorities in England to request data for the review of evidence on 3 April 2009. A copy of the letter was placed in the library (reference DEP2009-1135) on 17 April 2009.
Eco-Towns
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in respect of how many of the potential eco-towns sites which appeared on her Department's shortlist in April 2008 construction has commenced. [271580]
Margaret Beckett: No construction work related to eco-towns has commenced in those locations shortlisted as part of our programmes of consultation, which began in April 2008, and was pursued in more detail in November 2008. The consultation ended on 30 April and following consideration of all the responses we will publish the final Eco-towns Planning Policy Statement and list of locations with potential to be an eco-town. However, before any construction work related to eco-towns can commence individual schemes will need to submit planning applications, which will be for local authorities to determine through the local planning process.
Energy Performance Certificates
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what penalties may be imposed on (a) social and (b) private rented sector landlords who do not supply prospective tenants with an energy performance certificate for a property; and if she will make a statement. [270603]
Margaret Beckett: A fixed penalty of £200 is applicable to landlords that do not provide prospective tenants in either the social or private rented sectors with a valid Energy Performance Certificate.
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of roll-out of energy performance certificates; and if she will make a statement. [271569]
Margaret Beckett: We have commissioned research to evaluate the implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which will include an assessment of the effectiveness of the roll-out of Energy Performance Certificates. The research is due to be completed in October 2009.
Fire Services
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effect of costs of business rates on fire stations on the level of service provided by fire and rescue services; and if she will make a statement. [272563]
John Healey: No assessment has been made regarding the impact of business rates on fire stations and the level of service they provide.
Fire Services: Taunton
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost of maintaining the Regional Fire Control Centre in Taunton was in each month since April 2008. [272562]
Mr. Khan: The cost of maintaining the regional Fire Control Centre in Taunton from April 2008 to December 2008 has been approximately £140,000 per month. We would expect up to final cut-over in the South West in October 2011, costs would remain at approximately the same level.
Fire Services: Warrington
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the FiReControl centre in Warrington (a) has cost to date and (b) is expected to cost in each of the next five years; and if she will make a statement. [272370]
Mr. Khan: The running costs of the FiReControl centre in Warrington from practical completion on 1 July 2008 to the end of March 2009 is approximately £710,000. The expected running cost for the current financial year (April 2009 to March 2010) is £1,850,000. For each of the following four years the running cost of the building is expected to be approximately £2,000,000 per year.
Home Information Packs
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the changes in average cost of a home information pack as a result of the changes to the regulations which became effective on 6 April 2009. [272112]
Margaret Beckett: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 24 April 2009, Official Report, column 911W.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the average price of a home information pack in each year since the packs were introduced. [272209]
Margaret Beckett: The cost of a home information pack (HIP) is set by the market and the Government have no role in this. However, industry feedback indicates that the average cost of a HIP has fallen from £300-£350 (excluding VAT) following their introduction in 2007 to £200-£300 (excluding VAT).
Homes and Communities Agency: Finance
Grant Shapps:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) gifts, (b) losses and (c) special payments were reported to her Department as having been received by the (i)
Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor bodies and (ii) Tenant Services Authority in each of the last three years. [270576]
Mr. Iain Wright: In the last three years, it has not been a requirement under the terms of the management statements or framework documents of the Homes and Communities Agency, the Tenant Services Authority or their predecessors (English Partnerships, the Housing Corporation and the Academy for Sustainable Communities) to report to the Department gifts received. Instead the bodies have been required to maintain their own registers of gifts received.
It is unclear as to how an organisation might receive a loss, so it has not been possible to provide information on this issue.
The Housing Corporation received the following special payments in the last three years:
Termination payment to contractor
Termination payment to administrator of Elonex plc
No special payments.
Audited information for 2008-09 is not yet available, but will be made available in the respective organisations annual reports and accounts, all of which will be laid before Parliament.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what losses were incurred by the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor bodies as a result of legal claims being (a) waived and (b) abandoned in each of the last five years; [270609]
(2) what losses attributable to constructive losses the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor bodies incurred in each of the last five years; [270610]
(3) what losses attributable to the writing off of accountable stores the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor bodies incurred in each of the last five years; [270611]
(4) what losses attributable to overpayments of (a) salaries, (b) wages, (c) pensions and (d) allowances the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor bodies incurred in each of the last five years. [270612]
Margaret Beckett: The predecessor bodies for the Homes and Communities Agency were English Partnerships, the (investment arm of the) Housing Corporation, and the Academy for Sustainable Communities. A range of departmental programmes also transferred to the agency from Communities and Local Government.
It is not possible to disaggregate losses for the investment arm of the Housing Corporation without incurring disproportionate costs.
For the Homes and Communities Agency, English Partnerships, and the Academy for Sustainable Communities the answers are:
There were no losses incurred as a result of legal claims being waived and abandoned in each of the last five years.
There were no losses incurred due to constructive losses in each of the last five years.
There were no losses incurred due to the writing off of accountable stores in each of the last five years.
There have been no losses as a result of overpayment of salaries, wages or allowances during the period stated. Since 1 April 2004 there have been unrecovered pensions to the value of £843.28 as a result of death of pensioners. This loss is met by the EP/HCA Pension Scheme and not the employer.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many contracts were let by the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor bodies in which competitive tendering was not employed in each of the last three years; and what the monetary value of each such contract was. [270618]
Margaret Beckett: Since the Homes and Communities Agency’s inception on 1 December 2008, it has let six contracts by single tender to a total value of £102,190. These were valued at £25,000, £24,950, £25,000, £19,500 and £7,740 and £8,156.
The predecessor bodies for the Homes and Communities Agency were English Partnerships, the (investment arm of the) Housing Corporation, and the Academy for Sustainable Communities. A range of departmental programmes also transferred to the Agency from Communities and Local Government.
The Academy for Sustainable Communities entered into five contracts by single tender between 2006-07 and 2008-09 as follows:
One contract valued at £45,000
Two contracts valued at £66,304.60 and £4,261.60
2008-09 (to inception of HCA on 1 December 2008):
Two contracts valued at £74,000 and £94,400.
I am unable to provide details of single tender contracts awarded by English Partnerships as no central record was held. Similarly, I am unable to provide details of single tender actions undertaken by the investment arm of the Housing Corporation as it is not possible to differentiate between Housing Corporation spend on the basis of whether it related to that organisation's investment or regulation activities, the latter of which are now the responsibility of the Tenants Services Authority.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 27 April 2009, Official Report, columns 1111-12W, on Homes and Communities Agency: finance, how much of the additional funding for the Homes and Communities Agency will be brought forward from funding allocations for future years. [272479]
Margaret Beckett: None of the additional funding for the Homes and Communities Agency will be brought forward from funding allocations for future years.
Housing Revenue Accounts
Mrs. Spelman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the draft housing revenue account subsidy determination 2009-10 amending determination for
2009, what recent assessment her Department has made of the net cash loss to participating local authorities as a result of compensation based on guideline rents rather than actual average rent per property. [272416]
Mr. Iain Wright: No detailed assessment has been made: the exact details will depend both on rents in 2008-09 and what authorities had originally planned for in 2009-10. The latter data are not available. We expect to respond shortly to the consultation on the amending determination.
Housing: Rent Back
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department is taking to provide advice on buy and let back schemes to those home owners experiencing financial difficulties. [269994]
Margaret Beckett: We are a taking a range of actions to provide advice to homeowners who may be considering entering private sale and rent back (SRB) arrangements.
Last year we published a consumer advice leaflet with the National Homelessness Advice Service (NHAS), “Are you worried about your mortgage? Get advice now”. The leaflet highlighted the risks associated with signing up to SRB schemes ‘that appear too good to be true’ and was widely disseminated throughout England via MPs’ offices, local authorities and advice agencies. As part of the Mortgage Pre-Action Protocol the NHAS leaflet must be sent to homeowners threatened with repossession.
A revised leaflet was issued in January 2009 highlighting the Government's Mortgage Rescue scheme (MRS), which offers households a ‘Government Mortgage to Rent’ option. This provides greater protection to “vulnerable” households (families with dependent children, or those containing elderly, ill or disabled people, who can no longer afford their repayments and who would be legally entitled to homelessness assistance if repossessed) targeted by SRB companies by allowing households to sell their property at market value to a housing association and becoming tenants of the housing association—initially on a three-year assured shorthold tenancy—paying an intermediate rent.
We have worked closely with stakeholders to raise awareness among local authority officers of the need to ensure the risks associated with SRBs are well understood by all parties.
We have also published information about the need for households at risk of repossession to be aware of SRB schemes and seek advice from an independent adviser on the Direct Gov website as part of the Government's ‘Real help now’ campaign.
Housing: HomeBuy
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average income has been of a (a) first-time buyer, (b) social tenant and (c) key worker taking part in the (i) MyChoiceHomeBuy, (ii) HomeBuy Direct and (iii) OwnHome initiative, since the inception of each initiative. [270620]
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |