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12 Oct 2009 : Column 308W—continued
Council Housing
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how long on average it took for a local authority to become an approved developer in the latest period for which figures are available. [289762]
John Healey: Under the local authority new build programme it has taken on average eight weeks for a local authority to become a pre-qualified partner. The pre-qualified partner status allows an organisation to bid for investment funding from the Homes and Communities Agency.
The first bid round for the programme opened for four weeks, closing on 31 July 2009. I launched a second bid round on 28 September 2009. From the opening of the bid round local authorities were invited to complete their pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) and the agency commits to giving the local authority a decision on assessment within eight weeks of receipt.
For the bid round 1 all PQQs received from local authorities have been assessed within that time frame.
Council Housing: Construction
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities have built housing for rent in each of the last 10 years. [289761]
Mr. Ian Austin: Figures showing total local authority new build completions by local authority to 2007-08 were released in Live Table 253 on the CLG website in October 2008. These include total house building completions by tenure, including local authority completions:
Some of these completions could be provided for low cost home ownership rather than social rent, but a breakdown of these figures is not available centrally.
Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to chapter 2, paragraph 52, of Building Britain's Future, Cm 7654, when he expects construction to start on the council built and owned social rental homes; and what the proposed locations of the new homes are. [290366]
John Healey: 49 local authorities have now made successful applications to the Homes and Communities Agency for grant funding to build new council homes. Construction is expected on the first sites before the end of this year. A table giving the locations and numbers of the new homes has been placed in the Library of the House.
I launched a second bidding round on 28 September 2009. I am to announce successful schemes in December.
Council Housing: Finance
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities have no housing debt. [289543]
Mr. Ian Austin: Local authorities manage their debt as a whole and no separate record is kept of debts taken out for Housing Revenue Account (HRA) purposes. The calculations for local authorities' annual HRA subsidy entitlements use a notional measure of HRA debt known as the Subsidy Capital Financing Requirement (SCFR). The SCFR calculates the HRA's share of debt financing costs, or if it is assumed there is no debt, interest earned on investments.
The following list gives the stock-owning authorities with a negative SCFR.
Stock-owning authorities with a negative SCFR( 1)
Barking and Dagenham
Cheltenham
Dacorum
Dartford
Epping Forest
Exeter
Gosport
Harlow
Redditch
South Bedfordshire
South Cambridgeshire
Stevenage
Welwyn Hatfield
Wycombe
(1) As in the Housing Revenue Account subsidy determination 2009-10
Council Housing: Property Transfer
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has to revise the guidance provided by his Department to tenants on large-scale voluntary transfer ballots following the introduction of self-financing of housing revenue accounts. [291462]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Department has no plans to revise the guidance to tenants on large-scale voluntary transfer ballots following the introduction of self-financing of housing revenue accounts.
Council Housing: Tenants
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many council tenants there have been in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England in each year since 1997. [291539]
Mr. Ian Austin: Information is available on the number of dwellings rather than tenants. Local authorities in England report information for numbers of local authority owned (council) dwellings as at 1 April in their annual Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) returns. This information is published on the Communities and Local Government website in Table 116:
This information is not available for constituencies.
Departmental Advertising
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department spent on newspaper advertising carried in each newspaper in the most recent year for which figures are available. [289508]
Barbara Follett: The Department publishes details of expenditure on public information campaigns in its annual reports, which includes information on press advertising activity.
The total amount for press advertising in 2008-09 is already in the public domain on the Department's website at:
During this period the Department advertised in all major national newspapers and a broad, representative selection of regional and local newspapers.
Departmental Information and Communications Technology
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what IT systems have been in development for use within his Department in the last five years; what the reason for the development of each system was; how much has been spent on the development of each system; and which systems have been subsequently (a) implemented, (b) terminated prior to implementation and (c) terminated following implementation. [290578]
Barbara Follett:
IT Systems developed specifically for use in Communities and Local Government in the last
five years are set out in the following table. None of such systems were terminated prior to implementation.
Departmental Non-Domestic Rates
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties owned by the Department were liable for payment of (a) business rates and (b) empty property rates in each of the last five years; and what the bill for each was in each such year. [290584]
Barbara Follett: The Department for Communities and Local Government are liable for business rates on the following freehold property:
| Fire Experimental Unit, Moreton in Marsh, Gloucestershire | ||
| £ | ||
| Business rates | Empty rates | |
Departmental Paternity Leave
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff took paternity leave from his Department in each of the last five years; and what the average length of such leave has been. [290582]
Barbara Follett: The Department for Communities and Local Government provides fathers or the mother's husband/civil partner/partner (including unmarried couples and same sex partners) with 10 days paid Maternity Support Leave for each child born. This leave is approved and recorded by individual line managers but no central record is maintained. As a consequence there would be a disproportionate cost in collecting and reporting this information.
Departmental Pay
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to page 25 of his Department's Resource Accounts 2008-09, HC 449, for what reasons the salary ranges relating to Director-General (a) Mike Falvey and (b) Joe Montgomery were increased by £20,000 in 2008-09. [290660]
Mr. Malik [holding answer 9 September 2009]: In the Department's Resource Accounts, the salaries paid to Board members are identified in bands of £5,000. Details are provided for the period covered by the Resource Accounts and for the previous financial year.
In the financial year 2008-09, the salary paid to Director-General Joe Montgomery increased as a result of payment of a non-consolidated sum, under the annual pay arrangements for senior civil servants, together with repositioning of his base salary to reflect an increase in responsibility. With these increases, the total paid in salary to Joe Montgomery in 2008-09 exceeded the previous threshold for the band in which his income had been reported in 2007-08.
The salary paid to Director-General Mike Falvey increased as a result of payment of a non-consolidated sum that formed part of the contractual arrangements
agreed at the time of his appointment. With this increase, the total paid in salary to Mike Falvey in 2008-09 exceeded the previous threshold for the band in which his income had been reported in 2007-08.
Departmental Recycling
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of his Department's waste was recycled in the latest period for which figures are available. [289662]
Barbara Follett: In 2008-09, the Department for Communities and Local Government's recycling rate was 58 per cent.
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