| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
14 July 2009 : Column 309W—continued
Teachers: Yorkshire and The Humber
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many full-time equivalent (a) teachers, (b) teaching assistants and (c) support staff there were in local education authority schools in (i) Yorkshire and the Humber and (ii) City of York in (A) 1997 and (B) the latest period for which figures are available. [285702]
Mr. Coaker: The number of full-time equivalent teachers, teaching assistants and support staff in each year since 1997 have been published in the Statistical First Release, "School Workforce in England (including Local Authority level Figures), January 2008 (Revised)". They are located in tables 19, 26 and 25 respectively in the following location:
Communities and Local Government
62 South Eaton Place
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government at what sale price his Department's property at 62 South Eaton Place was marketed; for how long it was marketed; and whether the property has now been sold. [284478]
Mr. Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
62 South Eaton Place was placed on the market in September 2008 at an indicated guide price of £4 million. The property remains for sale and viewings are continuing.
Aerials: Planning Permission
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance he issues to planning authorities on their consideration of potential health effects arising from the operation of proposed mobile telephone masts; what account he takes of the guidelines for protection from such radiation established by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection in establishing such guidance; and if he will make a statement. [285240]
Mr. Ian Austin: Planning policy guidance note 8: Telecommunications (PPG8) states that health considerations can be a material consideration in determining applications for planning permission and prior approval. Whether such matters are material in a particular case is ultimately a matter for the courts. It is for the decision maker to determine what weight to attach to such considerations in any particular case.
PPG8 goes on to say that if a proposed mobile phone mast base station meets the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines for public health it should not be necessary for a local planning authority to consider further the health aspects and concerns about them.
Airports: Planning Permission
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department issues on the permitted development rights which apply in respect of airports. [286531]
Mr. Ian Austin:
No specific guidance has been issued concerning the permitted development rights at airports. However, general guidance on publicity for statutory undertakers, including airport operators, has been issued
in DOE circulars 15/92 and 9/95. This makes it clear that although statutory undertakers are not required to submit a planning application when carrying out permitted development, they should inform the local planning authority and the public if they consider that their proposal is likely to have a significant effect on amenity and environment before the proposals are finalised.
Allotments
Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what applications each Government Office has (a) received, (b) approved and (c) not approved from each local authority in its region for disposal of statutory allotments between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2009; what the proposed alternative use of the allotments was in each case; and what the reason for (i) approval and (ii) refusal was in each case. [285487]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Secretary of State's consent will only be given if he is satisfied that:
the allotment in question is not necessary and is surplus to requirement;
adequate provision will be made for displaced plot holders, or that such provision is not necessary or is impracticable;
the number of people on the waiting list has been effectively taken into account;
the authority has actively promoted and publicised the availability of allotment sites and has consulted the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners: and
the implications of disposal for other relevant policies, in particular development plan policies, have been taken into account.
During the period 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2009 98 applications for consent to dispose of statutory allotment have been determined. This includes 56 applications which were approved, two applications which were refused, five applications which were withdrawn and for 35 applications consent was not required or the applications were taken no further. In addition to these 98 determined applications there remained four still under consideration.
Those applications that were approved or refused were judged by the Government offices, on behalf of the Secretary of State, as either satisfying or not satisfying the criteria on the basis of which the Secretary of State is to grant consent for the disposal of statutory allotment sites.
Since April 2008 Government office west midlands have been responsible for determining all statutory allotment consent to dispose applications, on behalf of Secretary of State.
Coastal Areas: Economic Situation
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make an assessment of the economic performance of seaside resorts in England. [285209]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
"England's Seaside Towns-A Benchmarking Study", published by the Department in November 2008 presents findings on the socio-economic performance of England's 37 principal seaside resorts
(over 10,000 population) and compares the figures with regional and national averages. The report is available on line at:
The Department is about to commission a benchmarking study of smaller seaside towns (below 10,000 population) in England. This will complement the earlier benchmarking study and provide a range of data on socio-economic performance. It is being jointly funded with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Commission for Rural Communities. The final report will be published in the autumn.
Councillors
Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance he provides to local authorities on declarations by councillors who are freemasons; and whether that guidance has been amended since 1997. [285566]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Standards Board for England frequently issues guidance to local authorities about members' conduct. The last guidance that included freemasonry was issued in 2007. Prior to this in 2004 the Standards Board produced guidance about what councillors who are freemasons have to register and declare.
Eco-Towns: Public Consultation
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many responses were received to his Department's consultation on the planning policy statement on eco-towns; and what the timetable is for publication of the Government response to the consultation. [286706]
John Healey: The consultation on the eco-towns programme, including the draft Planning Policy Statement closed on 30 April 2009. I intend to publish a Government response together with a consultation summary report of responses received, information requested, before the summer recess.
Home Information Packs
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to his answer on 24 June 2009, Official Report, column 958W, on home information packs, if he will assess performance of local authority weights and measures authorities in enforcing home information pack duties under the Housing Act 2004. [286621]
John Healey: It is for individual trading standards offices to decide on how to exercise their enforcement duties, including those that apply to home information packs, in the light of local priorities.
Housing: Armed Forces
Bob Spink:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 2 July 2009, Official Report, column 369W, on housing: armed forces, for what reasons data on
applications for assistance under the New Build HomeBuy and intermediate rent schemes are not held centrally. [285532]
John Healey: The Homes and Communities Agency does not collect data on the number of applications for each of the homebuy products. Households make applications for the scheme through their local homebuy agent. When applying for the homebuy scheme, applicants are not required to choose between the products at the application stage and often select a number of options. This information therefore does not give a reliable indication of the number of applications for a particular product.
Housing: Low Incomes
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many transactions have been completed under the HomeBuy Direct scheme to date; [283972]
(2) how many completed transactions there have been under the (a) Social HomeBuy and (b) HomeBuy Direct scheme. [284168]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the Member for Derby South (Margaret Beckett) to the hon. Member for Buckingham (John Bercow) on 7 May 2009, Official Repor t , columns 390-92W.
As at the end of June, 194 properties had been sold through HomeBuy Direct.
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much funding has been (a) allocated to and (b) spent in the East of England under the MyChoice HomeBuy scheme in 2009-10; [285111]
(2) how much funding was allocated to the East of England under the MyChoice HomeBuy scheme in (a) 2006-07, (b) 2007-08 and (c) 2008-09. [285112]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Member for Derby South (Margaret Beckett) gave to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 21 May 2009, Official Report, columns 1540-42W, regarding funding for the MyChoice HomeBuy scheme in 2008-09.
In the first quarter of 2009-10 the Homes and Communities Agency spent approximately £7 million on the MyChoice HomeBuy scheme in the East of England.
The MyChoice HomeBuy scheme was launched in April 2008 and therefore no data are available for the 2006-07 or 2007-08 financial years.
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent estimate he has made of the number of apprenticeship places which have been created or safeguarded by social house-building projects to date. [286767]
Mr. Ian Austin: Communities and Local Government's biggest lever in terms of supporting apprenticeships in the home building sector is to maintain investment in and delivery of programmes for regeneration, new social housing and decent homes.
Since December 2008, these programmes have been delivered by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). The HCA supports the Prime Minister's commitment to increase the number of apprenticeships by 35,000 by 2010. However, the HCA is now undertaking work to identify the baseline for what is currently being achieved, to set realistic targets for future funding and to monitor and measure improvement over time.
Industrial Estates: Planning Permission
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many planning applications for the development of business sites in (a) Vale of York constituency, (b) North Yorkshire and (c) England were (i) made and (ii) approved in each year since 1997. [286301]
Mr. Ian Austin: This information is not available for constituency areas. Statistics are, however, available for the county of North Yorkshire. The following table shows the numbers of applications decided and granted by local planning authorities in North Yorkshire and in England
The figures shown are the totals of applications for commercial, retail and industrial developments.
Further information for individual local planning authorities is available Table 1.6 in the Annual Development Control Statistics publication at the following web link:
| Planning decisions on business sites in North Yorkshire and England | ||||
| Business sites( 1) | ||||
| North Yorkshire | England | |||
| Decisions | Granted | Decisions | Granted | |
| (1) Includes offices, research and development, light industry, general industry, storage, warehousing, retail distribution and servicing. (2) Provisional. Source: Communities and Local Government General Development Control Returns, PS2/PSF | ||||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |