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4 Jun 2009 : Column 677W—continued
Communities and Local Government
Council Tax
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many council tax payers were resident in each English county in each of the last five years. [278028]
John Healey: This information is not held centrally.
Council Tax: Surrey
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much on average the reduction in council tax liability for Surrey residents will be following the capping of the Surrey police precept for 2009-10. [278027]
John Healey: Subject to the approval of an order by the House of Commons, the reduction in Band D council tax in Surrey as a result of capping will be £3.18.
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the average cost to council tax payers in Surrey of council tax rebilling for 2009-10 arising from the capping of the Surrey police precept. [278097]
John Healey: The Department does not make estimates of rebilling costs arising from capping action. Any rebilling costs are met by capped authorities from within existing budgets.
Housing Corporation: Public Relations
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 24 April 2009, Official Report, columns 911-2W, on the Homes and Communities Agency, which public affairs consultancies were hired by (a) the Housing Corporation and (b) English Partnerships in (i) 2005-06, (ii) 2006-07 and (iii) 2007-08; what the cost to the public purse of such hiring was in each case; and for what purposes public affairs consultancies were hired by the agencies in the period. [277124]
Margaret Beckett: English Partnerships made no payments for public affairs work in the years 2005-06, 2006-07 or 2007-08. It is possible that some spend in relation to community consultation and engagement on specific projects may have involved public affairs firms, but it is not possible to separately identify these other than at disproportionate cost.
The only public affairs firm used by the Housing Corporation was APCO. The Housing Corporation made no payments for public affairs work in the years 2005-06 or 2006-07. In 2007-08 payments totalling £7,801 were made to APCO for the purposes of an article written by the then Chairman of the Housing Corporation, and for consultancy work associated with transition.
Non-domestic Rates
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what meetings her Department has had with business rates software providers to local authorities to discuss the system requirements and costs in relation to implementation of the business rates deferral scheme announced on 31 March 2009; and if she will make a statement. [278083]
John Healey: Communities and Local Government officials have held informal discussions with business rate software providers, convened by the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation, to discuss implementation of the scheme.
Software providers have also been provided with the information we have shared with all English billing authorities via two business rates information letters sent out on 31 March and 12 May. These letters are available publicly at:
Non-Domestic Rates
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the quarterly receipts from business rates in each local authority were in each year since 2005; what the projected receipts are for (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12; and if she will make a statement. [277463]
John Healey: The information is not currently available.
However, details of the amount of national non-domestic rates local authorities expect to collect in 2009-10 were published on Thursday 28 May in a Statistical Release that is available on the Communities and Local Government website at:
Non-domestic Rates: Ports
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many port operators have opted for the fast-track review of their business rate assessment offered by her Department; how many such reviews have been completed to date; and how long on average it has taken to complete such reviews to date. [277773]
John Healey: Following implementation by the Valuation Office Agency, on 24 November 2008, of fast track arrangements for ratepayers with backdated bills who want to question or challenge their assessment, 261 formal proposals, more commonly referred to as appeals, have been received. All have been handled under the “fast track” arrangements. As of 27 May 2009, 57 of these have been fully settled. The average duration between receipt and full settlement of an appeal is 45 days.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make it her policy to publish each quarter a report of (a) the number and percentage of port operators required to pay business rates retrospectively that have made payments, (b) the number of port operators that have not paid retrospective business rates and (c) the number of port operators that have ceased trading in the preceding quarter. [277774]
John Healey: The information requested is not available centrally.
Right to Buy Scheme
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many preserved Right to Buy sales there have been in each local authority area in each year since 1997. [277996]
Margaret Beckett: Figures for preserved right to buy (PRTB) sales are not available at individual local authority area. The following table shows the total number of PRTB sales by registered social landlords from 2000-01.
Social Rented Housing
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2009, Official Report, columns 450-51W, on housing: low incomes, what the net change to the stock of homes for social rent was in each year since 1997. [275658]
Mr. Iain Wright: The following table shows the net change to the dwelling stock of social rented dwellings owned by local authorities and registered social landlords in each year from 1997.
| Net change in social rented dwelling stock (Thousand) | |
| Source: Census 2001; Housing Flows Reconciliation and joint returns by local authorities; Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) submitted to Communities and Local Government by local authorities; Regulatory Statistical Return (RSR) as reported to the Housing Corporation by registered social landlords. | |
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes for social rent were (a) built and (b) acquired in each year since 1980. [277995]
Margaret Beckett: The following table shows the number of homes built and acquired for social rent in each year from 1991-92. Figures for the supply of homes for social rent are not available prior to this time.
| England | New Build | Acquisitions | Other | Total for social rent |
| Source: Homes and Communities Agency Investment Management System (IMS), and local authority returns to CLG. | ||||
Figures from 2005-06 onwards for Recycled Capital Grant Fund, Disposal Proceeds Fund, and remodelled units cannot be broken down into new build and acquisitions.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many registered social landlords requested section 9 consent to dispose in each of the last three years; and how many of those requests were granted. [278023]
Margaret Beckett: The total number of section 9 consents granted in each of the last three years was as follows:
| Total granted | |
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