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24 Jun 2009 : Column 960W—continued
Local Government Finance: South West
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make an estimate of the expenditure from the public purse incurred by (a) local authorities and (b) other public sector organisations for which his Department is responsible in the South West in the last 12 months. [281268]
Mr. Malik: Financial information in this form is only available by financial year (April to March). Estimates of expenditure from the public purse incurred by local authorities in the South West can be extrapolated from local authority returns. Total budgeted revenue expenditure for 2008-09 is estimated to be £8,517 million. For the same period, provisional outturn capital expenditure was reported to be £1,376 million. For other public sector organisations for which this Department is responsible the best estimate of expenditure from the public purse in the South West is £523 million.
Local Government: Public Relations
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department issues to local authorities on the allocation by them of resources for the purposes of communications and public relations. [281271]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity, to which statute requires all local authorities to have regard, contains specific advice on the costs of local authority publicity, reminding local authorities that they are accountable to the public for their expenditure and should aim to achieve the greatest possible cost-effectiveness.
Local Government: Young People
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to increase levels of involvement of young people in the work of local authorities and other local public bodies for which his Department is responsible. [281272]
Ms Rosie Winterton: My Department is facilitating a series of programmes to increase levels of involvement of young people in the work of local authorities and other public bodies.
Communities and Local Government (CLG) established ‘young advisors’ in 2005, with the aim of creating a pool of young people aged 15 to 21 to help local authorities and public bodies in their policy making and delivery of services. There are now 41 schemes operating across the country at a local level with around 400 trained young advisors.
We have also announced £2 million for a pilot programme to look at the way that young mayors can empower young people to take part in the local democratic process.
Finally, Communities and Local Government is supporting a programme of internships with local councillors. This programme will take place over a two year period and will provide young people with 25 hours of shadowing opportunities to help develop their understanding of local democracy.
Mortgages: Government Assistance
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of people who will be assisted by the Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme in (a) Tamworth constituency and (b) England in the next 12 months. [281692]
John Healey: The aim of Homeowners Mortgage Support is to prevent repossessions, where households suffer a temporary income shock. After taking money advice, homeowners apply to their lenders to join the scheme, which allows them to defer up to 70 per cent. of the interest due. The Government have published an impact assessment, which estimates how many borrowers, at UK level, could be eligible. Official figures on the number of households entering the scheme will be published later this year.
Homeowners Mortgage Support is only one form of help available to householders facing repossessions. Government have taken other steps to support households including:
the enhanced Support for Mortgage Interest scheme to help out of work householders with interest payments;
the Mortgage Rescue Scheme, where local authorities step in to help vulnerable households stay in their homes;
expanding free legal advice service by increasing court desk coverage;
new pre-action protocol in place on lenders;
£20 million funding for local authorities to provide direct support to householder and;
over £18 million additional funding for debt advice services.
Non-domestic Rates: Ports
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent representations the Prime Minister has received on the effect of the application of retrospective business rates on firms located in ports. [281927]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Secretary of State has received recent correspondence as set out in the table from some port businesses and their representatives on the issue of retrospective business rates.
| Date r eceived | Correspondent |
Social Rented Housing
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of (a) single occupancy households, (b) two person households and (c) three person households housed in social sector homes with (i) one, (ii) two, (iii) three and (iv) four or more bedrooms in the latest period for which figures are available. [282051]
Mr. Ian Austin: The requested estimates are provided in the following table. These estimates are based on data from the 2007-08 Survey of English Housing.
| Number of people in social sector households by number of bedrooms, England, 2007-08 | |||||
| Number of bedrooms | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 or more | Total | |
| Source: Communities and Local Government, Survey of English Housing | |||||
Social Rented Housing: Construction
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many applications for funding from the £100 million fund for local authorities to build social rented housing have been received from applicants in each region. [281208]
Mr. Ian Austin: None. We expect to receive the first bids in early July.
Temporary Accommodation: Costs
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the average cost to local authorities of providing temporary accommodation for (a) single occupancy households and (b) families in (i) each of the last three years and (ii) the latest period for which figures are available. [282029]
Mr. Ian Austin: This information is not collected centrally.
Temporary Accommodation: Peterborough
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households were in temporary accommodation in Peterborough in each of the last five years; and how long on average such households spent in such accommodation in each such year. [281955]
Mr. Ian Austin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) on 23 June 2009, Official Report, column 843W.
Thurrock Thameside Urban Development Corporation
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what occasions the Housing Minister and his predecessor (a) visited Thurrock constituency and (b) met the Thurrock Thameside Urban Development Corporation in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [279631]
Mr. Malik: I was appointed Minister for the Thames Gateway and Olympics legacy on 9 June 2009. I visited Thurrock on 16 June 2009, to mark the start of works on the new Royal Opera House production park facility in Purfleet. During my visit, I met members and officers of the Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation, members and officers of the council and people from the local community, as well as my hon. Friend.
My predecessors have met members and officers of the Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation informally at a range of meetings including the Thames Gateway Strategic Partnership.
Urban Areas: Regeneration
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what support his Department provides to the retail sector for the encouragement of innovative town centre redevelopment. [281410]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Government are committed to helping local authorities and the retail sector encourage innovative town centre redevelopment through planning, town centre partnerships, town centre management and other town centre initiatives. These all help to provide solid foundations on which to build strong and attractive town centres.
We have put in place strong policies in Planning Policy Statement 6: “Planning for Town Centres” (PPS6) (published 2005), to allow local authorities to sustain and enhance their town centres. PPS6 asks local planning authorities to plan positively and proactively for their town centres with growth focused in existing centres in order to strengthen them and, where appropriate, regenerate them.
On 14 April 2009 we published “Looking after our town centres”, a document setting out the range of powers, guidance and approaches that can help local authorities and their partners promote the vitality and viability of town centres, and explains additional steps that the Government are taking to enable further positive action to be taken, particularly through the temporary use of empty shops.
On 5 May 2009 we also published a consultation draft Planning Policy Statement 4 (PPS4): “Planning for Prosperous Economies” which will replace PPS6. This maintains a strong town centres first policy. Draft PPS4 reinforces the existing policy requirement for local authorities to plan proactively for their areas in partnership with business and local communities. We want authorities to identify suitable opportunities for new development, expand town centres where necessary, and address the needs of deprived areas.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Afghanistan: Detainees
Mr. Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the US administration notified his Department that it had agreed to transfer four former detainees from Guantánamo Bay to Bermuda before the transfer occurred; and if he will make a statement. [280866]
David Miliband: The former detainees arrived in Bermuda early on 11 June 2009. The US Administration notified our embassy in Washington of the transfer a few hours earlier.
China: British Nationality
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British nationals are living in the People’s Republic of China. [282295]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is not able to record the total number of British nationals resident in China. Based on figures held by the Public Security Bureaux in China where resident British nationals need to register, we estimate there are approximately 15,000 British nationals living in mainland China and 265,000 in Hong Kong.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions arising from air travel by staff in his Department in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff. [281042]
Chris Bryant: In 2006-07 total carbon emissions from air travel originating in the UK by Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff were 14,727 tonnes of CO2 emissions (CO2e) equating to 3.8 tonnes of CO2e per full-time equivalent (FTE) member of staff. In 2007-08 emissions from air travel originating in the UK by FCO staff were 12,874 tonnes CO2e equating to 3.4 tonnes per FTE.
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