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3 July 2009 : Column 455W—continued
Housing Revenue Accounts
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what provision for redistribution mechanisms has been made in changes to the Housing Revenue Account system proposed by his Department. [284238]
Mr. Ian Austin: On Tuesday, my right hon. Friend the Minister for Housing announced in the House that he intended to publish a consultation document before summer recess on reform of council housing finance. The document will set out proposals for a devolved system of responsibility and funding which removes the need to redistribute revenue nationally, in exchange for a one-off redistribution of housing debt.
Housing: Low Incomes
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 23 June 2009, Official Report, column 833W, on housing: construction, how many and what proportion of bidders for funding from the Kickstart Housing Delivery programme have applied for support via (a) Affordable Housing Grant, (b) Investment Support and (c) Homebuy Direct; and if he will make a statement. [284128]
John Healey: This data will be published on the HCA website at the end of July:
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes were purchased under (a) OwnHome, (b) MyChoice HomeBuy and (c) Open Market HomeBuy in each of the last three years; and how many have been purchased under each such scheme during 2009-10. [284240]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right Friend the Member for Derby, South (Margaret Beckett) on 8 May 2009, Official Report, column 448W, and the answer I gave him on 19 June 2009, Official Report, column 508W.
Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what reasons the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre has been retained in public ownership. [283873]
Mr. Malik: The assets management and sales strand of HM Treasury's Operational Efficiency Programme (OEP) was established to ensure more efficient and commercial operation of assets held in the public sector. The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre (QEIICC) was one of nine government assets listed for further work in the pre-Budget report 2008 last November. The OEP final report published on 21 April stated:
“Following the statement in the 2008 Pre-Budget Report, further work on the QEIICC has been undertaken. Although, in theory, the QEIICC could be disposed of now, this would be potentially at a significant discount to its underlying value. A more measured approach is required. The conclusions are, therefore, as a first step, to undertake a site development study within three to six months advised by a firm of property professionals. It will explore the opportunity of redeveloping the existing site, in a way that is sympathetic to planning considerations and current business operations. This could entail retaining the existing conference business for the foreseeable future. Marketing and disposal could take place at various stages depending on market evolution and prevailing risk and reward considerations, but at the latest by mid 2012.”
Third Sector
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what terms and conditions are set by his Department in relation to the provision of funding from his Department's budget to (a) charities, (b) voluntary organisations and (c) social enterprises. [284208]
Mr. Malik: The Department provides funding to organisations in a number of different ways, for example as a contract for services, or as a grant for an agreed activity. The terms and conditions that are set will vary depending on the nature and purpose of the funding and the type of contract or agreement between the department and the recipient. There are some that will be common to all agreements, such as that the money should be used for the purposes intended, that it is possible to demonstrate this, and that its use complies with any existing statutory or Treasury regulations, such as Managing Public Money.
In providing funding to Third Sector Organisations such as charities, voluntary organisations, and social enterprises the department seeks to apply, where possible, the principles set out in the Compact. Further details of these principles can be found in the Funding and Procurement Code of Good Practice:
Culture, Media and Sport
Digital Switchover
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the number of jobs to be created through digital radio switchover. [282639]
Mr. Bradshaw: No estimate has yet been made of the number of jobs which might be created through digital radio upgrade. The recently published Digital Britain report sets out our vision for the future of radio, and will help to create the right environment to sustain a strong radio industry.
Israel
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will hold discussions with his Israeli counterpart to seek to improve collaboration between the UK and Israel in (a) theatre, (b) the music industry and (c) sport. [282761]
Mr. Bradshaw: I have no plans to hold such discussions. However, organisations in the UK and Israel regularly form relations within sectors.
National Lottery: South Yorkshire
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of Lottery funding has been allocated to organisations in (a) Barnsley and (b) Doncaster in each of the last five years. [282788]
Mr. Simon: The following table shows the value of lottery grants awarded to organisations in Barnsley and Doncaster in the last five years, together with the total value of lottery grants awarded in those same years.
| £ | |
These statistics have been prepared using the Department's lottery grants database. The database is searchable at:
and uses information on lottery grants supplied by the lottery distributors.
Defence
Armed Forces: Fuels
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on each type of fuel in each zone in which British troops are engaged in military action in each of the last three years. [272800]
Mr. Quentin Davies: Fuel costs, broken down by type and operational theatre from 2006-07 onwards are provided in the following table:
| £ million | ||||||
| Fuels (non utilities) | Aviation f uel | |||||
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09( 1) | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09( 1) | |
| (1) Figures for the financial year 2008-09 are provisional, pending final outturn which will be reflected in the Departmental report and accounts due for publication in July. | ||||||
The figures in the table comprise petroleum-based liquid fuels meeting internationally recognised specifications that are used to power ships and vehicles, plus aviation fuels only. These figures can only be viewed as approximate since other fuels (such as natural gas and heating oil) are accounted for within a broader stock category, and some small local purchases may not be captured within these amounts. Costs relating to overall fuel price variance are recorded separately in terms of total departmental expenditure.
Armed Forces: Health Services
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine is expected to start delivering services in Birmingham. [282933]
Mr. Kevan Jones: The Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) was established at Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham, in April 2001 and has been the principal reception point for military casualties evacuated to the UK since then. A military managed ward was established at Selly Oak in late 2006 and achieved full operating capability in July 2007. The military ward concept, with additional facilities, will be carried over to the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital being built in Edgbaston. We expect that the new ward will start receiving patients in June 2010 and that other elements of the RCDM will be operational in the new hospital by 2011.
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the new (a) staff and patient accommodation block, (b) prosthetic limb workshop and (c) neurological laboratory at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre Headley Court is to be (i) completed and (ii) open for use. [282934]
Mr. Kevan Jones: A new 58-bed staff and patient accommodation block (Wood House), enhancing existing accommodation facilities, was completed in December 2008 and opened for use in January 2009. A programme of refurbishment continues for the remainder of the living accommodation.
There has been a prosthetic limb workshop in use at Headley Court since June 2006; planning for a replacement facility is under consideration.
The new Centre for Mental and Cognitive Health was completed in April and opened for use in May 2009.
Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) financial and (b) other arrangements his Department has put in place to support families visiting patients at (i) the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine's clinical facilities at Selly Oak and (ii) other defence medical facilities in the Midlands. [283344]
Mr. Kevan Jones: We recognise that welfare support for both our Service personnel and their families is one of our key responsibilities and one that is taken very seriously by the MOD. To this end, when Service personnel are hospitalised, depending upon the severity of their condition, their families are provided with travel and accommodation at public expense to allow them to be with their loved one at such a difficult time. Each family is also allocated a Visiting Officer whose main role is to liaise between the family and the military to ensure they receive the most appropriate support from the many specialist welfare providers such as Defence Medical Welfare Service and the single-Service specialist welfare services.
Armed Forces: Housing
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel have received a Certificate of Cessation of Entitlement to Occupy Service Living Accommodation (a) five months, (b) four months, (c) three months, (d) two months and (e) less than one month before discharge in each of the last 24 months; and if he will make a statement. [283498]
Mr. Quentin Davies: A Certificate of Cessation of Entitlement to Occupy Service Accommodation is provided in order to assist personnel and their families in seeking social housing, and is issued on request.
Information relating to the certificates is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Armed Forces: Pensions
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent on (a) the Gurkha Pension Scheme, (b) the Armed Forces Pension Scheme 2005 and (c) the Armed Forces Pension Scheme 1975 in the last year for which information is available; and if he will make a statement. [282126]
Mr. Kevan Jones: For financial year 2008-09 the amount of pensions paid to members and dependants was as follows:
The pensions paid are not allocated to a separate cost code and a fully accurate amount is not therefore available. However for financial year 2008-09 it was estimated to amount to some £48 million, subject to exchange rate fluctuations.
2005: £26 million.
1975: £2.7 billion.
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