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1 Sep 2009 : Column 1841W—continued
Local Government: Debt Collection
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on how many occasions each local authority in England (a) issued a court order and (b) authorised bailiff action in respect of rent arrears in each of the last three years. [288538]
Mr. Malik: Data are not yet available on possession or eviction orders granted by the courts to local authority landlords in respect of rent arrears.
Local Government: East of England
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his plans are for the parliamentary timetable for secondary legislation in relation to local government restructuring in Norfolk, Suffolk and Devon. [288300]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Following the High Court judgment in the case of Forest Heath District Council and Others v. the Boundary Committee for England, the Boundary Committee informed us that it was not able to provide the requested advice on unitary local government in Devon, Norfolk and Suffolk by 15 July. We agreed that the deadline for providing advice should be extended. Once it is clear when any appeal against the court's judgment may be determined a new date by which the Boundary Committee is requested to advise will be specified.
The statute provides that the Secretary of State may not make a decision about any unitary proposals put to him within six weeks of the date the Committee has been requested to provide advice.
Any Orders to implement unitary proposals in Norfolk, Suffolk or Devon would be laid before Parliament as soon as practicable after statutory decisions are taken.
Local Government: Pay
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assumptions his Department makes of the level of local government pay inflation in determining the local government finance settlement; and what measure of pay inflation is used. [288983]
Ms Rosie Winterton: No assumption on the level of local government pay inflation is made in determining the local government finance settlement. Cost pressures are considered as part of Spending Reviews. Differences in labour costs between areas are reflected in the Area Cost Adjustment.
Migration Impacts Fund
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which 200 projects will be funded under the Migration Impacts Fund; where each is based; what the purpose of each is; what the name of the recipient of funding in respect of each is; and how much each will receive. [288831]
Mr. Malik: On 9 July 2009 we announced the successful proposals for England to receive a share of the Migration Impacts Fund. The Fund is financed by a levy on migrants and provides £35 million across the UK for 2009-10 and, subject to a review in the autumn, a similar amount in 2010-11. This money will be used to reduce local pressure on public services and tackle illegal working practices. Councils and other frontline services have identified projects in their area that will make the biggest contribution to insulating them and local people against the impact of migration.
A list of funding allocations for 2009-10 has been deposited in the Library of the House. This does not cover payments to voluntary sector bodies, or to enforcement agencies to protect existing workers in local areas as amounts are subject to funding agreements. Details of these payments will be published shortly.
Mortgages: Government Assistance
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 9 July 2009, Official Report, column 959W, on mortgages: Government assistance, on what date (a) the Bank of Ireland, (b) GMAC, (c) Kensington Mortgages, (d) GE Money and (e) the Post Office joined the Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme. [287604]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 15 July 2009, Official Report, column 498W.
Non-Domestic Rates: Appeals
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many business rate appeals the Valuation Tribunal Service has considered in each of the last five years. [288825]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The following table sets out the number of national non-domestic rate appeals, considered by the 56 valuation tribunals in England, in each of the last five years.
| Total VT decisions on NNDR appeal types | |
| Number | |
Opencast Mining: Planning Permission
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will bring forward proposals to reduce the size of buffer zones between proposed opencast mining planning developments and residential housing in England to the size they are in Scotland. [287011]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Under-Secretary of State my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Wright) on 3 February 2009, Official Report, column 1156W. There is no current intention to review existing planning policy on opencast mining and introduce buffer zones in England.
Residential Property Tribunal Service
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many full-time equivalent employees the Residential Property Tribunal Service employs; what its budget for 2009-10 is; and how much it will receive in support from his Department in 2009-10. [288476]
Mr. Malik: The Residential Property Tribunal Service (RPTS) is an umbrella organisation for five regional panels which draw on a pool of tribunal members, including nine full-time equivalent (FTE) paid presidents and vice presidents. Although they receive funding for expenses and pay from the Department, members of tribunals are not Communities and Local Government staff. They are supported by 92.5 FTE administrative staff who are civil servants employed by Communities and Local Government. The total budget for the RPTS for 2009-10 is £11 million.
Scotland
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department plans to make a submission to the Scottish Executive's National Conversation consultation on Scotland's constitutional future. [288960]
Mr. Malik: Communities and Local Government has not submitted evidence to the Scottish Executive's National Conversation and does not plan to do so.
Social Rented Housing
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of social housing dwellings have received new tenants in each of the last five years. [288100]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Under-Secretary of State my hon. Friend the hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Wright) on 18 May 2009, Official Report, column 1198W.
Social Rented Housing: Foreigners
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households of non-UK nationals have received new social housing tenancies in each of the last five years. [288098]
John Healey: Information on the number of foreign national households receiving social housing is collected through the continuous recording of letting form (CORE). Historically CORE has only collected information from registered social landlords. An increasing number of local authorities are now providing information through this process as well, but there are still some gaps in the data.
A question on nationality was first introduced to the form for the 2006-07 data collection period. It was estimated that around 6 per cent. (equivalent to around 11,000) general needs lettings to new social housing tenants were made to foreign nationals in 2006-07. This estimate was adjusted for the missing local authority data, and included lets made to nationals from EEA countries.
It is estimated that around 12,000 general needs lettings to new social housing tenants were made to foreign nationals in 2007-08 (equating to 6.6 per cent.). Figures for 2007-08 are based on an improved imputation method to adjust for missing local authority data. 2007-08 figures are published on the Communities and Local Government website at:
Social Rented Housing: Low Incomes
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding will be provided from (a) the National Affordable Housing Programme and (b) other funding streams to meet regional affordable housing targets in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11. [287847]
John Healey: Through Building Britain's Future we are investing, via the Homes and Communities Agency, over £7.5 billion in 2009-10 and 2010-11 from the National Affordable Housing Programme and other HCA programmes.
With regard to regional targets, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Under-Secretary of State my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley, North (Mr. Austin) on 8 July, Official Report, column 905W.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what proportion of funding allocated to the National Affordable Housing Programme for (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11 is expected to be spent; [287848]
(2) what proportion of funding allocated to the National Affordable Housing Programme for (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11 was expected to be spent prior to the agreement of the new regional targets for affordable housing. [287849]
John Healey: I expect all of the national Affordable Housing Programme budget for 2009-10 and 2010-11 will be spent.
Social Rented Housing: Service Charges
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average annual service charges were for social housing run by (a) local authorities, (b) arms length management organisations and (c) housing associations in each region in England in the latest period for which figures are available. [287510]
John Healey: Information on average service charges is available for housing associations through the Regulatory and Statistical Return, collected by the Tenant Services Authority. Most service charges are eligible for housing benefit, with the exception of heating and hot water charges.
Table 1 gives average service charges eligible for housing benefit as at 31 March 2008 and is based on only general needs dwellings that have an eligible service charge.
| Table 1: Average service charges by region for general needs stock owned by large registered social landlords, as at 31 March 2008 | |||
| Benefit-eligible service charge | |||
| Total stock (Units/beds paces) | Stock with service charge | Average for stock with service charge (£ per week) | |
| Notes: 1. Figures include data from all housing associations that completed the long version of the RSR and made a valid return (in general those HAs that own or manage 1,000 or more dwellings and/or bedspaces, including shared ownership dwellings). 2. The data cover general needs housing, including Estate Renewal Challenge Fund stock, but exclude all supported housing and housing for older people. Source: Tenant Services Authority's Regulatory and Statistical Return (RSR), part Ia, 2008. | |||
The average service charge ineligible for housing benefit in England, as at 31 March 2008, was £5.11 per week, based on 113,985 dwellings with an ineligible service charge.
Comparable information is not available for local authorities and arms length management organisations.
Social Rented Housing: Standards
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding his Department has allocated in respect of the Decent Homes programme in 2009-10; and what funding he intends to allocate in 2010-11. [286602]
John Healey: The Department for Communities and Local Government investment in the Decent Homes programme will be provided through the housing revenue account (HRA) subsidy system in the form of local authorities' supported capital expenditure (SCE), arms length management organisations' supported borrowing allocations and major repairs allowance (MRA). The level of spending is reducing as landlords come to the end of the decent homes investment programmes.
We have also reprioritised funding from the ALMO programme. On 17 July, I announced £150 million in 2010-11 would be reprioritised from this programme, to enable investment of a further £1.5 billion to build an extra 20,000 new affordable homes for rent and low cost sale. This includes a new role for local authorities in the delivery of housing, enabling them to build 3,000 additional council homes over the next two years, which is a four-fold expansion of the scheme announced at the Budget. 12 ALMOs that have not yet met the Audit Commission's two-star standard to be eligible for support are more likely to receive funding in 2011-12. We remain fully committed to complete the Decent Homes programme, and once completed, to seeing this standard maintained in the future. The reforms to the council housing finance system set out in the consultation document I published on 21 July will safeguard our commitment to future decent homes.
| £ million | ||
| 2009-10 | 2010-11 | |
| (1) Not yet known. | ||
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