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13 July 2009 : Column 133Wcontinued
The Valuation Office Agency continues to update the rating list to reflect new information and physical changes since 1 April 2005 in accordance with its statutory functions to maintain the rating lists.
Mr. David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to provide security of tenure to tenants resident in properties subject to repossession proceedings. [286245]
Mr. Ian Austin: We announced on 13 May 2009 our intention to legislate at the earliest opportunity to fill a gap in legal protection for private tenants whose landlords are repossessed to ensure that those tenants get adequate notice to vacate the property, regardless of whether their tenancy has been authorised by the landlord's lender.
We will consult on our proposals over the summer 2009 with a view to legislate at the next opportunity.
Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many shared ownership purchases were made in (a) Hemel Hempstead, (b) Hertfordshire and (c) England by people registered on housing waiting lists in each year since 2000; and what proportion of all such sales this represented in each such year. [285134]
Mr. Ian Austin: Information on shared ownership purchases is not available below the spatial level of local authority.
The following table shows the number of shared ownership completions made in Dacorum local authority, Hertfordshire and England by people on housing waiting lists, and as a percentage of total shared ownership sales.
Dacorum | Hertfordshire | England | ||||
Number of sales | Percentage of sales | Number of sales | Percentage of sales | Number of sales | Percentage of sales | |
(1) Not available due to small sample size of less than five. Source: CORE (Continuous Recording) returns to the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) from Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) |
CORE data only record data from RSLs with at least 250 units or bedspaces, so the figures above may be underestimates if not all RSLs are included. Also not all CORE data are compulsory for RSLs to complete, and details on whether sales were made to people on LA waiting lists was missing in approximately 20 per cent. of returns.
Details on whether shared ownership sales were made to people on LA waiting lists was removed from the CORE form in 2007-08, so the figures are only available up to 2006-07.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people aged (a) over 65 and (b) under 18-years-old have been placed in temporary accommodation in each year since 2004. [283438]
Mr. Ian Austin: Information about English local housing authorities' actions under the homelessness legislation (Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected quarterly at local authority level.
Data collected include the number of households accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty (to secure that suitable accommodation is available). If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority must secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes so.
The number of households housed in temporary accommodation by local authorities as at the last day of each quarter, is also recorded. This figure consists of those households which have been accepted as owed the main homelessness duty; those for which inquiries are pending; those being accommodated for a limited period because they have been found intentionally homeless and in priority need; those being accommodated pending possible referral to another authority; and those being accommodated pending the outcome of a local authority review or county court appeal.
The temporary accommodation figures are for households, not individuals, and therefore data are not collected centrally by age bands.
However, figures are collected for the number of dependent children (and expected children) that are included within the households in temporary accommodation. Dependent children comprise all children under 16, and children aged 16 to 18 years old who are in, or about to begin, full-time education or training or for other reasons are unable to support themselves and who live at home. These figures are available for 2007-08 and 2008-09, shown in the following table:
Table 1: Number of dependent children (and expected children) in temporary accommodation at the end of each financial year (31 March), from 2007-08 to 2008-09, England | |
Number of children | |
We also collect figures for the number of 16 or 17-year-old applicant households in temporary accommodation-i.e. where a 16 or 17-year-old applicant is not a dependent child, has applied for assistance themselves, and they (and their household where applicable) are being housed in temporary accommodation. These figures are also available for 2007-08 and 2008-09, shown in the following table:
Table 2: 16 or 17-year-old applicant households in temporary accommodation at the end of each financial year (31 March), from 2007-08 to 2008-09, England | |
Number | |
Note that the two sets of figures should not be added together, as the former covers individuals and the latter households.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Government's policy is on the use of animal experimentation for scientific advancement; and if he will make a statement. [284794]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Government's policy on the use of animal experimentation for scientific advancement is clear and straightforward. We believe that the responsible use of animals for experimental and other scientific purposes continues to be essential if improvements in health care and veterinary treatment are to be developed with the minimum of delay and to make proper provision to protect man and the environment from health risks and other hazards.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with (a) academic departments practising vivisection and (b) anti-vivisection organisations to discuss the Government's policy on vivisection. [284941]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, South and Shoreditch (Meg Hillier) met People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) earlier in 2009 to discuss aspects of the European Commission proposal for a draft directive for the protection of animals used in scientific procedures to replace Directive 86/609/EEC. My hon. Friend also met the All Party Parliamentary Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME) Group to discuss the draft directive. In addition, Home Office officials have met with a wide and representative cross-section of relevant stakeholder groups to discuss its provisions. A public consultation on the proposal closed on 3 July 2009.
Mr. Purchase: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with (i) the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, (ii) other Ministerial colleagues and (iii) the UK Border Agency on grounds for granting asylum to Bahraini nationals. [267974]
Mr. Woolas: Neither I nor my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary have had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs or with other ministerial colleagues about grounds for granting asylum to Bahraini nationals. I frequently discuss matters of asylum and immigration policy with officials across a range of Whitehall Departments including the UK Border Agency. It is the policy of the Home Office not to discuss individual asylum cases with third parties.
Separately, I have engaged directly with the Bahraini Interior Minister to build better understanding on matters of mutual interest, including conveying the fundamental principles of the United Kingdom's international protection obligations.
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions an individual (a) stopped and searched and (b) arrested on the basis of automatic number plate recognition data was released without charge in each year since 2005. [285402]
Mr. Hanson: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Information on the individual circumstances of arrests and stops and searches (including whether automatic number plate recognition was used during the arrest/search) are not reported to the Home Office.
Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many authorisations were given by senior police officers for access to automatic number plate recognition data in each year since 2005; [285403]
(2) how many police officers have authorised access to automatic number plate recognition data in each year since 2005; [285404]
(3) how many instances there have been of senior police officers accessing automatic number plate recognition data which had been retained for more than 90 days in each year since 2005; [285405]
(4) how many automatic number plate recognition records have been permanently deleted in each year since 2005; [285406]
(5) how many automatic number plate recognition records have been created in each year since 2005. [285413]
Mr. Hanson: Information regarding the number of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) records created, accessed to and deleted is not held centrally. ANPR data is collected and stored locally on computer systems that are owned and managed by the individual police force. Chief Police Officers are responsible for the management of this ANPR data, including access to and deletion of records.
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of passenger name record data submitted by airlines to the (a) Semaphore and (b) e-Borders projects included data relating to (i) place of birth and (ii) date of issue of travel document. [282238]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 8 July 2009]: Statistical information on the individual elements of PNR data was not captured under Semaphore, and equally there are no plans to collect these figures as a percentage of the Passenger Name Record (PNR) data collected under e-Borders.
These data elements would only be transmitted to e-Borders if the carrier were to collect these data for its own commercial purposes.
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many intelligence-led checks on people leaving the UK at ports and airports were made by UK Border Agency officers in (a) 2006 and (b) 2008. [282998]
Mr. Woolas: Details on the number of intelligence-led checks made on outbound passengers are not routinely recorded.
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to tackle (a) crime and (b) terrorism. [284602]
Mr. Hanson: I have had no discussions recently on the subject of unmanned aerial vehicles.
James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding has been provided by his Department to each local authority area identified as a youth crime priority area. [284834]
Mr. Hanson: The Youth Crime Action Plan (YCAP), published in July 2008, sets out the Government's plans for tackling offending by young people. It is supported by close to £100 million over the three year period from 2008-09 to 2010-11, in addition to the existing investment in children's and youth services, to support local authorities in making inroads into youth crime locally.
69 local authority areas in England and two in Wales have been identified as "priority areas" under YCAP. In 2008-09, under YCAP, the 69 local authorities in England each received £65,000 to implement an intensive package of activity set out in YCAP.
Each of the 69 local authority areas in England will receive £350,000 this financial year (2009-10) and £350,000 in 2010-11 to deliver the intensive package of activity to help reduce youth crime. In addition, the two Welsh areas will receive £175,000 in each of the two years to fund those aspects of the intensive package that are not devolved.
This year, building on the success of the Home Office enforcement campaign in 2008-09 we will provide funding to the 69 areas to develop a co-ordinated plan of activity to tackle alcohol related youth crime. Areas will be provided with a grant of up to £20,000 (£1.4 million in total) to kick-start activity to begin before the summer and last at least throughout the summer holidays.
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