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8 Jun 2009 : Column 748W—continued
Departmental Training
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the title is of each course run by the National School of Government that members of her Department have attended in the last 18 months. [277131]
Mr. Khan: The information has been deposited in the Library of the House.
Economic and Monetary Union
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what activities have been undertaken by her Department’s Euro Minister in that capacity. [277175]
Mr. Khan: Euro Ministers are responsible for euro preparations in their department and attend Euro Ministers Steering Group meetings. Meetings are held only when necessary to discuss practical preparations to ensure a smooth changeover.
Eco-Towns: Publicity
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) of 8 May 2009, Official Report, columns 442-43W, on eco-towns: publicity, what the cost to the public purse was of work undertaken by each of the four marketing agencies; and what work each such agency undertook in relation to eco-towns for her Department. [276918]
Mr. Khan: The cost and work of the four agencies referred to by the hon. Member is as follows:
| Company | Work commissioned | Cost (£) |
Fires
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many domestic fires involving (a) pushchairs and (b) car seats suitable for infants from birth to six months old have been reported in each year since 1980. [277785]
Mr. Khan: The item first ignited is recorded in the statistical reporting of fire incidents. Pushchairs and infant car seats would both be recorded in the category ‘other’. Consequently statistics on the incidence of such fires cannot be derived.
HomeBuy Scheme
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether her Department owns the (a) trademark, (b) copyright and (c) patent for the HomeBuy brand. [278347]
John Healey: The Department commissioned the design of the current HomeBuy brand logo mark through the Central Office of Information, who assigned the advertising agency Chick Smith Trott under standard COI terms and conditions. Under these terms the intellectual property and copyright in the design transfers to the Crown.
Housing: Energy
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes classified as energy-efficient have been built in (a) West Chelmsford constituency, (b) Essex and (c) England in the last five years. [278398]
John Healey: All new homes built in England in the last five years have been required to meet the energy efficiency standards set out in part L of the Building Regulations. Part L standard for new homes was raised by 25 per cent. in 2002 and by a further 20 per cent. in 2006. This requirement will progressively increase leading up to the target for all new homes to be zero carbon from 2016.
Housing: Expenditure
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent from the public purse on additional housing stock in each year since 1980. [277452]
John Healey: Information on public expenditure on housing and community amenities, including on housing development, is available in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis 2008 (PESA)
published by HM Treasury. Spending by my Department on housing in England is also set out in the Department’s published annual reports. Further analysis to disaggregate the element to support the construction of new housing stock, could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Within Communities and Local Government, the Affordable Housing programme is the primary route for funding the construction of new affordable housing in England; this is now delivered by the Homes and Communities Agency. Figures for allocations made through the Affordable Housing programme specifically for new affordable housing provision, are only readily available from 1999-2000 and are shown in the table: figures further back than that could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| Total (£ million) | |
Housing: Floods
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities provide home improvement grants and loans for flood resistance and resilience products. [277403]
John Healey: This information is not held centrally. The Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance) (England and Wales) Order 2002 gives local authorities wide powers to provide assistance for repairs, improvements, adaptations and to demolish and re-construct homes. Local authorities must have policies in place setting out how they will use these powers and they must make summaries of their policy available. If they wish to use the funding attached to this for flood resilience measures they can do so without specific instruction.
DEFRA has provided funding for LAs to assist home owners to protect their homes from flooding through the property level flood protection grant scheme.
Housing: Low Incomes
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new tenancies were initiated under the Rent to Homebuy scheme in 2008-09; and how many have been initiated in 2009-10 to date. [277453]
John Healey: Data on the number of new tenancies initiated under the Rent to HomeBuy scheme are not held centrally.
Under Rent to HomeBuy prospective purchasers rent a home for up to five years with the opportunity to buy on shared ownership terms during or at the end of this period.
When the tenant subsequently buys an initial share in due course, this information will be recorded on CORE (continuous recording) sales returns from registered social landlords to the Tenant Services Authority.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding (a) her Department, (b) the Homes and Communities Agency and its predecessor bodies and (c) the Tenant Services Authority has provided in respect of the Rent to Homebuy scheme since its inception. [278281]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answers my right hon. Friend the Member for Derby, South (Margaret Beckett) gave to him on 6 May 2009, Official Report, column 244W, 19 May 2009, Official Report, column 1357W, and 21 May 2009, Official Report, columns 1540W and 1546W respectively.
The Tenants Services Authority has not provided any funding to the Rent to HomeBuy scheme. All investment in this scheme by Communities and Local Government has been directed through the Homes and Communities Agency.
Housing: Regeneration
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 19 May 2009, Official Report, columns 1357-58W, on housing: regeneration, what the (a) date and (b) venue of each event was; how many participants there were at each; and what costs were incurred in each budgetary category in respect of each event. [277343]
John Healey: The date, venue and number of attendees for each event are set out in the table.
| Region | Location | Attendees | |
In addition, there were a further 54 attendees who came to events without having advised their attendance in advance. While a record of the number of these attendees exists, there is no record of which particular events they attended. Taken with those in the table above, this gives a total of 1,533 attendees.
The total cost for all 10 of the above events was £141,923.15. This included venue hire, audio-visual equipment, catering, branding and display materials, and support from an event management company. It is not possible to disaggregate these items into each budgetary category in respect of each event other than at disproportionate cost, as some items were based on a fee for all 10 events.
Local Government: Official Cars
Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make it her policy to encourage local authorities to buy British-made cars for official use. [278052]
Mr. Khan: Subject to their legal duties, including European procurement law and the duty of best value, local authorities are responsible for taking their own procurement decisions.
Mortgages: Government Assistance
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many information leaflets have been produced for the (a) Homeowners Mortgage Support and (b) Mortgage Rescue Scheme; and how much has been spent on producing such leaflets. [277352]
John Healey:
Consumer information leaflets for the Mortgage Rescue Scheme and Homeowners Mortgage
Support have been designed and produced at a cost of £9,000 for both leaflets. Hard copies are provided in response to requests from delivery partners and the Homeowners Mortgage Support leaflet is available to interested households and delivery partners electronically.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when her Department plans to begin its publication of statistics on take-up of the Homeowners Mortgage Support scheme. [278280]
John Healey: Official figures on numbers of households entering the Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme will be published later this year.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when (a) HSBC, (b) Barclays, (c) Alliance and Leicester, (d) Abbey and (e) Nationwide began to offer comparable arrangements to the Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme to their customers. [278282]
John Healey: HSBC, Barclays, Alliance and Leicester, Abbey and Nationwide have been offering their customers comparable arrangements to the Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme, while opting not to take up the Government guarantee, since their commitment to do so in the press notice published by Communities and Local Government on 21 April 2009.
The press notice is available at:
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when (a) the Bank of Ireland, (b) GE Money, (c) GMAC, (d) Kensington Mortgages, (e) the Post Office and (f) Standard Life Bank began to offer customers assistance under the Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme. [278283]
John Healey: Standard Life Bank formally joined the Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme on Wednesday 20 May 2009. The Government continue to work closely with the Bank of Ireland, GE Money, GMAC, Kensington Mortgages and the Post Office, all of whom are committed to join the scheme, to ensure that they are in a position to offer the Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme as soon as possible.
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