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17 Jun 2009 : Column 367W—continued
Work Trials
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many individuals in each region have been on the Work Trial programme more than once since its inception; [268683]
(2) how many individuals in each region took part in the Work Trial programme (a) in each year since its inception and (b) in each of the last eight quarters. [268684]
Jim Knight: The information is not collated centrally.
Communities and Local Government
Cotswolds Conservation Board
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what reasons the (a) Cotswolds Conservation Board and (b) Chilterns Conservation Board is not on the list of statutory consultees for national planning policy statements. [279861]
Mr. Ian Austin: Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty—AONB—Conservation Boards are included within the list of statutory consultees for National Policy Statements. The Cotswolds and Chilterns Conservation Boards, by virtue of being such organisations, are thereby included. The full list is set out within Statutory Instrument No. 2009/1302 which comes into force on 22 June 2009.
Council Housing
Robert Neill:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn, Hatfield of
27 April 2009, Official Report, column 1104W, on council housing, if he will place in the Library a copy of each of the 98 written responses. [279860]
Mr. Ian Austin: Yes. Copies of the responses to the recent consultation on changes to the revenue and capital rules for council housing, will be placed in the Library when we have considered the responses and made final decisions on the exclusions process and criteria.
Council Housing: Finance
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether local authorities may apply for National Affordable Housing Programme grant funding to build local authority housing. [279779]
Mr. Ian Austin: We have made £100 million available in the Budget for local authorities to build social housing. The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) will accept local authority bids under this programme until the bidding has been concluded and the funding allocated after the July and October bidding rounds. Thereafter, local authorities may bid for grant from the main National Affordable Housing Programme.
Council Tax: Statistics
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 29 April 2009, Official Report, column 1340W, on statistics: council tax, for what reasons his Department has not responded to the UK Statistics Authority’s notification of 6 January 2009 that it wished to assess and determine whether the Code of Practice for Official Statistics had been complied with in respect of statistics on council tax levels set by local authorities. [279793]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Following receipt of the UK Statistics Authority’s letter, my officials met the authority and agreed that no response to the letter was necessary until my Department has decided whether or not to seek designation. It was agreed that this decision would be taken later in the year.
Homes and Communities Agency: Internet
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much was spent on the establishment of websites for the (a) Homes and Communities Agency and (b) Tenant Services Authority; [280285]
(2) how many (a) unique visitors and (b) page impressions were registered on the (i) Homes and Communities Agency and (ii) the Tenant Services Authority website in each month since its creation. [280297]
John Healey: The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) spent £47,219 on the establishment of its website.
The number of unique visitors and page impressions registered are listed as follows:
| HCA website usage stats | ||
| Unique visitors | Page views/impressions | |
There were no external costs associated with the development of the TSA website. It was created in-house.
The number of unique visitors and page impressions registered are listed as follows:
| TSA website usage stats | ||
| Unique visitors | Page views/impressions | |
| (1) No figures available | ||
Housing: Low Incomes
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what arrangements there are for (a) audit and (b) evaluation of the customer service given by HomeBuy agents. [279968]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Member for Derby, South (Margaret Beckett) gave on 6 May 2009, Official Report, column 242-3W, to the hon. Member for Welywn Hatfield (Grant Shapps).
Infrastructure Planning Commission: Offices
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of (a) the annual cost of office accommodation for the Infrastructure Planning Commission and (b) the costs incurred in (i) moving and (ii) refurbishment. [279969]
John Healey: The IPC HQ offices will be accommodated within the existing CLG estate in Bristol. This is in line with HMT’s Operating and Efficiency Programme and CLG’s Group Corporate Services Programme. Our current estimate of the costs of the programme including accommodation is in the impact assessment published in November 2007and the annex published in January 2009. Further work is under way to confirm the annual costs and refurbishment costs which are subject to negotiation at this stage and therefore commercial in confidence.
Local Government Finance
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans (a) his Department and (b) the Audit Commission has to review guidance to local authorities on investment policies. [279873]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Officials are working with the Audit Commission, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy—CIPFA—and the local authority associations to assess how the Department’s investment guidance might be fine tuned in light of the report from the CLG Select Committee and the report of the Audit Commission on local authorities and Icelandic banks. The Department’s guidance on local government investments is available at:
The Audit Commission does not issue guidance to authorities on investment policies.
London Development Agency: Consultants
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the London Development Agency spent on consultants in each of the last five years. [279380]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The London Development Agency is primarily accountable to the Mayor of London for the use of its expenditure, and the Government do not collect information on consultants.
London Development Agency: Pay
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was paid in bonuses to (a) directors, (b) senior managers, (c) specialist and delivery managers and (d) executive support and administration staff in the London Development Agency in each of the last five years. [280320]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The London Development Agency is primarily accountable to the Mayor of London for the use of its expenditure, and the Government do not collect information on any bonuses paid to its staff.
Mortgages: Government Assistance
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people in each district of Greater Manchester have (a) received assistance from and (b) been refused assistance under the Mortgage Rescue Scheme because the value of their property exceeds the eligible criteria. [279864]
John Healey: The £285 million Government Mortgage Rescue Scheme has been operational across the country since January 2009. The scheme aims to support “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) in England at risk of repossession over the next two years. The scheme is one part of a comprehensive package of measures to help households at risk of repossession.
The scheme aims to offer help at different stages to vulnerable households facing repossession. Based on figures reported to CLG by local authorities participating in the scheme, 290 households in mortgage difficulties within the Greater Manchester region have so far received free advice and support from their local authority since the launch of the scheme.
Based on the latest published statistics, 45 households in the Greater Manchester area were being assessed for the Government Mortgage to Rent and Shared Equity options of the scheme as at the end of April. A further 10 households in the following local authorities had benefited from action through the scheme in which the lender agreed to halt repossession action and freeze charges.
Bolton—(one household)
Bury—(two households)
Manchester—(five households)
Oldham—(two households)
Additionally, two households in Oldham had received a formal offer of assistance to remain in their home from their housing association provider.
Only one household in the Greater Manchester area has so far been ineligible for the Government Mortgage to Rent and Shared Equity options of the Scheme due to the property price cap. From 1 May, we raised the regional property caps for all regions to allow more households to apply for help.
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many applications have been made to the Homeowner Mortgage Protection Scheme to date; and how many of these have met the eligibility criteria. [280051]
John Healey: The scheme opened with the first group of lenders on 21 April. Borrowers apply to the Homeowners Mortgage Support scheme through their lender. Before being admitted to the scheme, they need to take money advice. We have worked with the participating lenders to produce a proportionate reporting system. Official figures on the number of households entering the scheme will be published later this year.
Parks: Greater Manchester
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many parks in (a) Tameside and (b) Stockport are receiving funding from his Department. [280429]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Public parks and green spaces are primarily funded through revenue support grant provided to local authorities by Communities and Local Government. Central Government do not prescribe how much should be spent by each local authority on their open spaces; this is a matter for them to determine in line with local priorities.
Information is not collected by central Government on the number of parks in a local authority area or region.
Planning Permission
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local planning authorities have completed the process of adopting their local development documents. [279923]
Mr. Ian Austin:
The Local Development Framework is the collective name for a suite of local development documents which includes core strategies and other
development plan documents, supplementary planning documents and statements of community involvement.
The number and type of local development documents will vary between local authorities as will timetables. These are published on each local authority’s website. According to the Department’s database, 97 core strategies or other development plan documents have been adopted by local planning authorities with a further 16 found sound by the Planning Inspectorate and awaiting adoption. The most recent list of documents can be found on the Planning Inspectorate website:
This figure excludes all supplementary planning documents which are a local matter. In addition, all authorities have adopted statements of community involvement.
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