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19 Oct 2009 : Column 1297W—continued
Councillors
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of local authority councillors who simultaneously hold posts in both tiers of local government in areas where a two-tier system operates. [292997]
Ms Rosie Winterton: My Department has made no such estimate.
The LGA/IDeA 2008 National Census of Local Authority Councillors in England found that 41.3 per cent. of representatives of shire counties were members of another local authority.
Derelict Land
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the policy of the Homes and Communities Agency is on allowing brownfield land it owns or controls to be used for (a) commercial or industrial and (b) mixed used development. [292584]
John Healey: The Homes and Communities Agency is working to release the potential of some of the country's most challenging brownfield sites by levering in private investment and supporting local authorities to develop these sites in a sustainable way. The Government's target is that 60 per cent. of all new housing should be on brownfield land, and all development on previously developed land should be designed to deliver what is needed locally and be in line with local planning requirements. This includes commercial/industrial and mixed used developments, public space and leisure uses, as well as housing.
Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of the recent guidance produced by the Audit Commission for local authorities on the frequency of household waste collections; [292729]
(2) if he will place in the Library a copy of the guidance produced by the Audit Commission for local authorities on the frequency of household waste collections. [293364]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Audit Commission does not issue guidance to local authorities on the frequency of local waste collections.
Eco-Towns
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in which locations proposed eco-town developments are being considered. [292585]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to my written statement of 16 July 2009, Official Report, column 42WS.
Eco-Towns: Finance
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much central government funding will be allocated to support specific developments in the eco-town programme; and over what periods. [293362]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to my written statement of 16 July 2009, Official Report, column 42WS. This sets out the funding that we will be making available over the next two years as part of the eco-towns programme, and the continuing Government support that will be available.
Eco-Towns: Public Relations
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much expenditure his Department has incurred on (a) exhibitions and (b) road shows to promote eco-towns. [292871]
John Healey: The eco-towns programme undertook a consultation road show which included a series of exhibitions as part of these events. For the cost of these events I refer the hon. Member to the information on the Department's website published at the time of the Department's 2008-09 Annual Report at:
Empty Dwelling Management Orders
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many empty dwelling management orders each local authority has issued since their inception. [292810]
Mr. Ian Austin: To date, 27 interim empty dwelling management orders (EDMOs) have been approved by the Residential Property Tribunal Service (RPTS) since the legislation came into effect in April 2006. However, local authorities claim that in many cases the threat of an EDMO has been sufficient to make owners take action to bring long-term empty homes back into use.
We are confident that the legislation is beginning to work well. We always intended that the legislation should be used only as a last resort where other measures have proved unsuccessful. We want to encourage voluntary re-occupation of empty homes but this can only work well where there is realistic compulsion to back them up. EDMOs provide this compulsion and should therefore be a key component of a comprehensive empty property strategy.
| Local authority | Number of interim EDMOs authorised |
Energy Performance Certificates
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans there are to increase access by (a) public sector bodies, (b) delivery bodies and (c) industry groups to the Energy Performance Certificate database; and whether a privacy impact assessment was prepared in relation to extending access to the Energy Saving Trust. [292548]
John Healey: We will consult on a data sharing strategy later this year. It will set out our proposals for increased access by a range of organisations, including public sector bodies, delivery partners and others, to the data collected through energy performance certificates (EPC) and display energy certificates (DEC).
A small-scale privacy impact statement was completed by CLG in relation to the sharing of EPC data with the Energy Savings Trust.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what procedures are used to verify the accuracy of energy performance certificates for existing residential dwellings; and what accreditation schemes are in place. [292742]
John Healey: Accreditation schemes are responsible for conducting quality audits of the energy performance certificates (EPCs) produced by the energy assessors (EAs) they accredit in accordance with CLG requirements as set out in the guidance document which can be viewed online at:
Accreditation schemes that are in place can be viewed online at:
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library a copy of the agreement between his Department and the Energy Saving Trust on the use of Energy Performance Certificate data. [292743]
John Healey: I have placed a copy of the agreement between Communities and Local Government and the Energy Savings Trust governing the sharing of EPC data available in the Library of the House.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department is the lead Government department for policy formulation on commercial (a) energy performance certificates and (b) display energy certificates. [292811]
John Healey: The Department is the lead department for policy formulation on all (a) energy performance certificates and (b) display energy certificates.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to page 41 of his Department's publication on the Recast of the energy performance of buildings directive, by what mechanism his Department verifies that at least two per cent. of all energy performance certificates are checked and verified for accuracy by the accreditation bodies. [292840]
John Healey: Accreditation schemes are responsible for conducting quality audits of the energy performance certificates (EPCs) produced, and reporting the outcome to CLG in their annual reports. In addition to their reporting requirements, accreditation schemes have been subject to an external audit to assess their compliance with the terms of their approval. Annual reports can be viewed online at the following address:
English Partnerships: Homes and Communities Agency
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what financial adjustments were made to the land assets of English Partnerships when they were transferred to the Homes and Communities Agency. [292644]
John Healey: Since its launch on 1 December, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has operated a single accounting policy, which harmonised the policies of its various predecessor bodies, namely: English Partnerships (EP consisting of the Commission for New Towns (CNT) and the Urban Regeneration Agency (URA)), the investment arm of the Housing Corporation, and the Academy for Sustainable Communities.
Since its creation, the HCA carries development assets at market value. Before the creation of HCA, development assets were carried at the lower of cost (at time of purchase/transfer) and estimated market value in CNT, and at the lower of current replacement cost and net realisable value in URA. As a result of this, the following accounting policy valuation adjustments were made at the point of transfer of these assets from EP to the HCA, set out in the following table.
| Land development assets (so excluding other assets such as debtors) | |||
| (£ million) | |||
| English Partnerships | Commission for New Towns | Urban Regeneration Agency | |
Financial Dynamics
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Beckenham of 6 October 2008, Official Report, column 304W, on departmental procurement, what the purpose was of the payments made to Financial Dynamics; and what subsequent payments have been made to the company. [292991]
Barbara Follett: The payments made to Financial Dynamics in the financial year 2007-08 were for advertising and publicity services. A subsequent payment of £5,816 was made in September 2008 for conference set-up costs.
Floods and Water Bill
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether local authorities will receive additional funding to pay for the new responsibilities set out in the Floods and Water Bill if that Bill is enacted. [293361]
Huw Irranca-Davies: I have been asked to reply.
The Government have undertaken to ensure that all net new burdens on local government arising from the implementation of the draft Flood and Water Management Bill are fully funded.
Government Office for London
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much programme expenditure was paid via the Government Office for London in the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available; and what the administrative cost of the Government Office for London was during that period. [292593]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The total programme expenditure for the financial year 2008-09 for the Government Office for London was £148,373,713.
The total administrative costs for the financial year 2008-09 for the Government Office for London was £15,871,409.
Government Offices for the Regions: Finance
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much programme expenditure was managed by the Government Office for each region in the latest 12 months for which figures are available. [292821]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne (Julia Goldsworthy) on 6 March 2008, Official Report, column 2781W.
Government Offices for the Regions: Mass Media
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 6 May 2009, Official Report, columns 249-50W, for what reasons media monitoring services were contracted by or on behalf of each Government Office for the Regions which used them in each of the three years; and which companies provided the services used by each such office in each of the three years. [292990]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In the past, a number of Government offices have taken media monitoring contracts to ensure we can monitor and respond to issues and concerns of residents in the region, and to help inform our role in working with places-both to challenge and support their delivery for their residents, and to monitor and feedback to Whitehall Departments.
Local means of doing this have varied between in-house and use of contracted services, but over the last two years the Government office network has driven efficiency savings by taking out a consistent contract for each GO.
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