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9 July 2009 : Column 954W—continued

Council Housing: Rents

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether primary legislation will be required to give effect to his proposal to allow local authorities to retain rent receipts from new-build council houses. [284798]

Mr. Ian Austin: Section 313 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 inserted a new section 80B into the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, which permits the Secretary of State to enter into agreements with local authorities to hold certain properties outside the HRA subsidy system. This measure enables authorities to retain rent receipts from excluded properties.

Council Housing: Sales

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of allowing local authorities to retain capital receipts from (a) Right to Buy and (b) other housing sales in 2010-11. [284122]

Mr. Ian Austin: The outcome of the review of council housing finance announced on 30 June 2009 included proposals to allow authorities to retain their housing receipts. Further details on this proposal, including possible implementation dates and the effect on the Exchequer, will be given in the forthcoming consultation paper.


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Council Housing: Standards

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the proportion of council houses in each local authority which will meet the Decent Homes standard by 2010; and what steps he plans to take to assist local authorities to maintain that standard after 2010. [284760]

Mr. Ian Austin: The following table provides information as reported by local authorities in 2008 on dwellings that meet the Decent Homes standard. In his written statement on 30 June 2009, Official Report, column 7WS, my hon. Friend, the Minister for Housing stated that our aim in setting up the self financing system for council housing is to ensure that it delivers the investment needed to sustain and maintain decency.

Council Housing: Stroud

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions the Government Office for the South West has had with Stroud District Council on transfer of its housing stock; whether the Government Office requested those discussions; what proposals the Government Office made to the council about stock transfer in those discussions; and if he will make a statement. [284979]

Mr. Ian Austin: There have been no recent discussions about transfer of its housing stock.

Council Tax

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities allow (a) an exemption from payment of council tax on a property for six months after probate has been granted and (b) an exemption from or discount on payment of council tax on a property for six months or more following a bereavement; and what exemptions or discounts apply in each case. [285508]

Ms Rosie Winterton: Under Class F of the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) Order 1992, dwellings left empty by the death of the owner or tenant are exempt from council tax from the date of death until up to six months after the date of a grant of probate or letters of administration have been made. Local authorities have no discretion about granting this exemption.

Where a dwelling is not left empty by the bereavement, the normal rules for council tax would continue to apply to the surviving occupier(s). Local authorities have a general power under section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 to grant discretionary discounts. We know of no authority which has used that power to grant discounts on the occasion of a bereavement.

Eco-Towns

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what timetable has been set for the 10 planned eco-towns to be constructed. [284568]


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John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) on 8 July 2009, Official Report, column 902W.

Energy Performance Certificates: Fees and Charges

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he plans next to review the fees charged for adding an entry to the register of energy display certificates. [284473]

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my right hon. Friend the Member for Derby, South (Margaret Beckett) on 19 May 2009, Official Report, column 1342W.

Homes and Communities Agency

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 14 May 2009, Official Report, column 1001W, on Homes and Communities Agency: expenditure, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Homes and Communities Agency's (a) brand induction flyer for staff, (b) brand guidelines and (c) stationery design guidance. [284482]

John Healey: I have placed in the House Library a copy of the Homes and Communities Agency brand induction flyer for staff and brand guidelines. The statutory design guidance was a significant piece of work undertaken to develop a set of templates for printed items including letterheads, compliment slips and business cards for the HCA and is therefore not available as a document.

Housing Revenue Accounts

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities have a deficit on their housing revenue account. [283629]

Mr. Ian Austin: Local authorities have a statutory duty to prevent a debit balance on their housing revenue account.

LB Lambeth informed the Department that they ended the last financial year with a deficit on their housing revenue account and are taking remedial action this year. No other local authorities have currently reported a deficit.

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 30 June 2009, Official Report, columns 7-10WS, on housing, whether the proposed changes to housing revenue accounts will require changes to primary legislation. [284910]

Mr. Ian Austin: We believe that the changes proposed in my right hon. Friend the Minister for Housing’s statement will require primary legislation. This is because the provisions relating to the housing revenue account (“HRA”) and HRA subsidy contained in part VI of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 will not be wide enough to provide for the proposals set out in the statement. Section 80B of the Housing Act 1985, inserted
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by section 313 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008, enables the Secretary of State and a local authority to agree that specified houses owned by the authority will not be subject to the HRA subsidy provisions. However, the provision only allows for individually negotiated terms agreed individually by the authority. This cannot provide for the changes proposed in the ministerial statement.

We cannot be certain of what will be required until the outcome of the consultation exercise is known.

Housing: Finance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much of the £1.5 billion expenditure on housing announced on pages 37 and 38 of Building Britain's Future, Cm. 7654, will be (a) new money, (b) money reallocated from other budgets and (c) expenditure brought forward from future years. [284497]

John Healey: The £1.5 billion for the Housing Pledge is additional expenditure on new affordable housing and related housing market provision as set out in ‘Building Britain's Future’. It is funded through contributions from other Government Departments and reprioritisation of Communities and Local Government (CLG) programmes.

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties were sold under the (a) HomeBuy Direct, (b) OwnHome, (c) OpenMarket HomeBuy, (d) First-time Buyers Initiative, (e) MyChoice HomeBuy, (f) New Build HomeBuy, (g) Social HomeBuy and (h) Rent to HomeBuy scheme in May 2009; and how many had been sold under each such scheme at the latest date for which figures are available. [283428]

John Healey: The following table shows the number of completions under each HomeBuy scheme for 2008-09:

Scheme Number

HomeBuy Direct

0

OwnHome

800

OpenMarket HomeBuy

6,120

First-time Buyers Initiative

1,030

MyChoice HomeBuy

3,120

New Build HomeBuy

10,650

Social HomeBuy

100

Rent to HomeBuy

1,170

Source: Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).


The figures show the number of affordable housing completions, not the number of sales. The figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.

Figures showing the number of affordable homes completions in May 2009 by type of scheme are not available.

Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many armed forces personnel resident in (a) Hemel Hempstead, (b) Dacorum, (c) Hertfordshire and (d) the South East
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have applied for assistance to (i) purchase a home under the New Build HomeBuy scheme and (ii) rent a home under the intermediate rent scheme in each month since 2006. [284427]

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink) on 2 July, Official Report, column 369W.

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what plans he has to commission evaluations of the performance of each of his Department's HomeBuy schemes; [284474]

(2) what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the operation of the (a) HomeBuy Direct, (b) OwnHome, (c) OpenMarket HomeBuy, (d) the First-Time Buyers' Initiative, (e) MyChoice HomeBuy, (f) New Build HomeBuy, (g) Social HomeBuy and (h) Rent to HomeBuy scheme. [284499]

John Healey: The HCA keeps the Affordable Housing Programme under review and makes regular reports to the Department.

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions the Homes and Communities Agency has had with each bank in which the Government has a shareholding on providing mortgage finance for (a) HomeBuy Direct, (b) OwnHome, (c) OpenMarket HomeBuy, (d) the First time Buyers' Initiative, (e) MyChoice HomeBuy, (f) New Build HomeBuy, (g) Social HomeBuy and (h) Rent to HomeBuy. [284475]

John Healey: The Department and the Homes and Communities Agency are working with all major mortgage lenders, both directly and through the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Building Societies Association, in order to encourage increased availability of mortgages for shared ownership purchasers.

Infrastructure Planning Commission: Finance

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Infrastructure Planning Commission has budgeted for legal costs in its first full year of operation. [284441]

John Healey: The IPC budget for its first full year will be agreed by winter 2009.

Local Government: Bank Services

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2009, Official Report, column 199W, on Chorley borough council: bank services, what steps he has taken to assist local authorities in the recovery of deposits held by them in Icelandic banks. [284589]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Government has been doing everything it can to help local authorities, along with other creditors, get their money back. HM Treasury has been working with the Icelandic authorities to ensure fair treatment for UK creditors.


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Local Government: Equality

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what requirements there are upon local authorities to complete an equality impact assessment. [284479]

Michael Jabez Foster: I have been asked to reply.

Local authorities, like all public authorities, are required to assess the impact of relevant policies and practices on gender, race and disability equality in line with the requirements of the gender, race and disability equality duties.

Local Government: Public Consultation

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what timetable has been set for the forthcoming consultation exercise on local democratic renewal. [284071]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The consultation exercise on local democratic renewal will be published shortly.

Local Government: Redundancy

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of redundancies in the local government sector in 2009-10. [285509]

Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not held by Communities and Local Government.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 8 June 2009, Official Report, column 753W, on mortgages: Government assistance, whether (a) the Bank of Ireland, (b) GMAC, (c) Kensington Mortgages, (d) GE Money and (e) the Post Office has joined the Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme; and if he will make a statement. [284477]

John Healey: GE Money, GMAC, Kensington Mortgages and the Bank of Ireland (which services operates its residential mortgage lending through four brands in the UK - Bristol and West Mortgages, Bank of Ireland Mortgages, Giraffe and Post Office Mortgages), are all committed to offer the Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme.


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