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19 May 2009 : Column 1363W—continued
Pay
Grant Shapps:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was
spent by (a) the Tenant Services Authority and (b) the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor bodies on reimbursable staff expenses in each of the last three years. [275562]
Margaret Beckett: Please refer to the following table for expenditure incurred by the Tenant Services Authority and the Homes and Communities Agency (and its predecessor bodies) in relation to reimbursable staff expenses.
The figures contained in the table relate to staff and board members expenses for each of the last three years.
| £ | |||||
| Tenant Services Authority | Homes and Communities Agency | English Partnerships | Academy of Sustainable Communities | Housing Corporation( 1) | |
| (1) Housing Corporation expenditure cannot be disaggregated between personnel who transferred to the TSA and those to the HCA. As a result, these are quoted in total. | |||||
Prisons: Planning Permission
Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what role the Thames Gateway Development Corporation will have in respect of any planning application to build a prison on the Beam Park West site. [275961]
Margaret Beckett: Assuming the proposed prison at Beam Park West has a volume of 2,500 square metres or more or covers a site area of more than one hectare, then the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation will have responsibility as planning authority for determining the planning application.
Rent to Homebuy Scheme
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which registered social landlords took part in the Rent to Homebuy pilot; and what contribution was made by each of them. [276141]
Margaret Beckett: All Homes and Communities Agency investment partners are able to bid for grant funding to provide Rent to HomeBuy. Those whose bids have been successful are set out in the following list.
List of RSLs participating in rent to Homebuy
Newlon
Hastoe
Notting Hill
Riverside
Moat Homes
Leicester Housing
Islington and Shoreditch
Octavia Housing
Metropolitan Housing Trust
Devon and Cornwall
Manchester Methodist
Tees Valley
Hightown
Home Group Limited
Estuary
Orbit Housing Group
Chevin Housing
West Mercia
Amicus Group
Spectrum Housing Group
Places For People
Town and Country Housing
Gallions
Longhurst Group
Catalyst Housing Group Ltd.
Plus Housing Group Ltd.
Aster
Sovereign Housing Group Ltd.
Isos
Midland Heart
One Housing Group Ltd.
London and Quadrant Housing Trust
Hyde
Adactus
Aldwyck
East Midlands
Bedfordshire Pilgrim
Yorkshire Housing
Southern Housing Group Ltd.
Circle Anglia
Sentinel Hal
Eastern Shires
A2 South
Somer Community
East Thames Group
Accent Corporate Services
Knowsley Housing Trust
Bellway
Bovis
Gilliford
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households participating in the Rent to Homebuy scheme have subsequently bought the property; and of those how many used each Homebuy scheme to make their purchase. [276142]
Margaret Beckett: The rent to homebuy scheme was introduced in July 2008 to help eligible households benefit from an affordable rent while they save for a deposit for a pre-specified period (up to five years). No households had yet purchased through the scheme.
Right to Buy Scheme
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the size of right to buy discounts as a percentage of average social property prices in each year since 1997. [274959]
Margaret Beckett: The following table shows the average discount as a percentage of the average market value for all local authority properties sold through the Right to Buy scheme.
| Average discount on sales (percentage) | |
| Source: Quarterly P1B returns from local authorities to CLG | |
CLG do not hold figures on average social property prices, so the figures are taken from the average market value of local authority properties sold through the RTB scheme. Around 80 per cent. of RTB sales in 2007-08 were local authority properties, while 20 per cent. are of properties owned by registered social landlords.
Shelter: Eco-Towns
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Mid Worcestershire of 25 November 2008, Official Report, column 1284W, on Shelter: Eco Towns, if she will place in the Library (a) a copy of the agreement between Shelter and her Department to produce the literature on eco-towns and (b) the proposal from Shelter received by her Department. [273460]
Margaret Beckett: I have placed in the Library a copy of the formal bid for funding that Shelter submitted in July 2008, together with a copy of the updated funding agreement made between Shelter and my Department. This agreement covers the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2010 and relates to the production of publications to provide factual information to local people about the housing situation in and around potential eco-town locations.
Social Rented Housing
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 5 May 2009, Official Report, column 133W, on housing: low incomes, how many applications for section 9 consent the Tenant Services Authority has received from registered social landlords since its establishment; and how many applications were granted. [274887]
Margaret Beckett: Since establishment to 31 March 2009, the TSA issued 1,124 Section 9 consents; of those 371 were private finance consents and 753 were consents to dispose of land/properties or an interest in land/property and in the same period three applications for Section 9 consent were rejected. In April 2009 the TSA issued 95 Private Finance Section 9 consents and 224 consents for disposal. No applications were rejected in April.
Treasury
Child Benefit
Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the Exchequer of child benefit payments in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11. [275140]
Mr. Timms: The estimated cost to the Exchequer of child benefit payments is given in the following table:
| Estimated cost of child benefit | |
| £ billion | |
The projections are based on indexation of the current first and subsequent child rates of child benefit and projections of the number of children in the UK from the Office for National Statistics.
Child Trust Fund: Plymouth
Linda Gilroy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many child trust funds have been established for children resident in Plymouth, Sutton constituency. [276357]
Ian Pearson: The most recent constituency level statistics on child trust fund accounts were published on 6 November 2008 and can be viewed on the HM Revenue and Customs’ website at:
Crown Estate Commissioners
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 12 March 2009, Official Report, column 717W, on the Crown Estate Commissioners, for what reasons the Crown Estate has not purchased any voluntary home condition reports. [275774]
Angela Eagle: The Crown Estate has not purchased any voluntary home condition reports in respect of residential sales to date because they have received no specific requests for them from would be buyers.
Economic Situation
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of the recession on (a) blue and (b) white collar workers. [275769]
Angela Eagle: The UK labour market has weakened as the economy turned down through 2008. The Workforce Jobs Survey points to manufacturing, distribution and business services as the sectors where the number of jobs has fallen the most. Although the Office for National Statistics does produce estimates of claimant count unemployment by occupational category these do not provide specific estimates of employment of, “blue collar” and “white collar” workers.
Equity Release
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what (a) research and (b) investigations the Financial Services Authority has conducted into local authority home appreciation loans. [275759]
Ian Pearson: None. Local authority loans do not fall within the FSA's remit. Where a local authority equity loan is combined with a conventional loan from a lender, the FSA would regulate only the lender part, not the local authority part.
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