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19 Oct 2009 : Column 1307W—continued
Housing: Low Incomes
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties were available for sale under the (a) Rent to HomeBuy, (b) HomeBuy Direct and (c) New Build HomeBuy scheme in each of the last three months. [292479]
John Healey: Information on low cost home ownership completions, April to September 2009, will be released by the Homes and Communities Agency later this year.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent on (a) Rent to HomeBuy, (b) HomeBuy Direct, (c) New Build HomeBuy, (d) MyChoice HomeBuy, (e) OwnHome, (f) the First Time Buyers Initiative and (g) Social HomeBuy in 2009-10. [292483]
John Healey: The Homes and Communities Agency will publish information on expenditure through the Affordable Housing Programme for 2009-10 after the end of that financial year.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) housing associations and (b) local authorities offer Social Homebuy. [292575]
John Healey: 62 housing associations and 10 local authorities currently offer Social Homebuy.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many completed Social Homebuy transactions there have been since the introduction of the scheme. [292576]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to the hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening) on 4 February 2009, Official Report, columns 1282-283W; to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 24 March 2009, Official Report, column 218W; and to the hon. Member on 8 May 2009, Official Report, columns 446-47W.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what reason the Open Market Homebuy scheme has been closed. [292700]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) on 12 October 2009, Official Report, column 326W.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department spent on the (a) advertising, (b) marketing and (c) publicising of Open Market Homebuy since the scheme's inception. [292701]
John Healey: The Department has conducted no such activity for the specific promotion of open market homebuy.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes have been sold via (a) Rent to HomeBuy, (b) HomeBuy Direct, (c) New Build HomeBuy, (d) MyChoice HomeBuy, (e) OwnHome, (f) the First Time Buyers Initiative and (g) Social HomeBuy in 2009-10 to date. [292299]
John Healey [holding answer 12 October 2009]: Information on low cost home ownership completions, April to September 2009, will be released by the Homes and Communities Agency later this year.
Housing: Regeneration
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the objectives are of the Home and Community Agency's Single Conversation process. [292615]
John Healey: The purpose and function of the single conversation is clearly outlined on the Homes and Communities website. The relevant page can be accessed at:
http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/single conversation.htm
Housing: Sales
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research his Department has commissioned into (a) gazundering and (b) gazumping in the last 12 months. [292898]
John Healey: Reliable information on the incidence of gazumping and gazundering was one of the key aims of the research study "Key research on easier home buying and selling, DETR 1998".
Housing: Surveys
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library a copy of the results of the recent survey by the Tenant Services Authority on attitudes to (a) home ownership and (b) renting. [292624]
John Healey: The recent results of the Tenant Services Authority's (TSA) survey on attitudes to (a) home ownership and (b) renting are contained in a document entitled 'Existing Tenants Survey 2: Landlord Services'. This is currently available to view electronically on the TSA website at:
Infrastructure Planning Commission
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to Cabinet Office guidance on the conduct of the Civil Service during general elections, whether the Infrastructure Planning Commission may submit recommendations to the Secretary of State after the dissolution of Parliament. [293222]
John Healey: Once the IPC is able to receive applications for a particular infrastructure sector, the decision making role arising from recommendations from the IPC will become an ongoing function of the Secretary of State.
Constitutionally, Government continue to carry out its ongoing functions throughout a General Election period. Therefore, the IPC may submit recommendations to the Secretary of State during the period in which Parliament is dissolved.
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent guidance his Department has issued to those of its agencies which are subject to section 138 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 in respect of a duty to involve. [292651]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Statutory guidance covering the duty to involve was published by my Department in July 2008, entitled "Creating Strong, Safe and Prosperous Communities." This guidance is available on the Communities and Local Government website at:
My Department has also worked with the Community Development Foundation to produce voluntary guidance on what the duty might look like in practice. This document was published by the Community Development Foundation in April 2009. This guidance is available on the Community Development Foundation website at:
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many of his Department's agencies required to introduce a duty to involve under section 138 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 have established a mechanism for doing so. [292715]
Ms Rosie Winterton: There are no Community and Local Government agencies listed under section 138 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 for the duty to involve.
The Department is using the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill, presently before Parliament, to extend the duty to involve so that it applies to a number of additional public authorities. These additional authorities include the Homes and Communities Agency, an agency of my Department.
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the provisions of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007; and if he will make a statement. [292718]
Ms Rosie Winterton: As part of post legislative scrutiny, Government are required to conduct an impact assessment between three to five years after legislation has come into effect. The Act received Royal Assent on 30 October 2007, so the earliest timeframe for post legislative scrutiny would be 2010.
An initial impact assessment was carried out for the provisions in the Act, and this can be found on the Communities and Local Government website and in the House Library.
Local Government Information Unit
Mrs. Spelman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 6 May 2009, Official Report, columns 246-7W, on the Local Government Information Unit, if he will
place in the Library a copy of the completed project report produced by the Local Government Information Unit for his Department. [292992]
Barbara Follett: The LGIU report on the role of councillors was commissioned by the independent Councillors Commission to help inform their report. It was not, nor was ever intended to be, published. Instead it provided the Commissioners with information to enable them to fully consider relevant issues relating to the councillor role and to publish their final report 'Representing the Future' in December 2007.
Local Government: Consultants
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance has been given to local authorities on the hiring of public affairs consultants; and whether the communications activities of such consultants are covered by the Code of Conduct on Local Authority Publicity. [292555]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The code of recommended practice on local authority publicity, to which councils must have regard, makes provision on the content and style for all publicity funded by the council and about how a council should approach its publicity, including the extent to which expert advice is needed for publicity.
Local Government: Freedom of Information
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether local partnerships will be subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. [292642]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) are voluntary, non-statutory partnerships made up of members from the public, private and third sectors and centred on a local authority area. LSPs are not listed as a public authority in the FoI Act. However, as they are partnerships, local authority members and possibly other public sector members will be public authorities for the purposes of the FoI Act. Accordingly while an FoI request cannot be made to the LSP, it may be possible to make a FoI request for information on an LSP to public sector members of the LSP.
Local Government: Publicity
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the terms of reference are for the Audit Commission's review of council newspaper advertising; what methodology the Commission is using to conduct the review; and under what timetable he expects the review to take place. [293166]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 19 October 2009:
Your Parliamentary Question outlined above has been passed to me for reply.
The Audit Commission is currently considering whether to undertake research on the value for money achieved by council spending on communicating with the public; this could include expenditure on, and income from, information sheets and newsletters.
The Commission is consulting with stakeholders and considering whether a national study would be warranted and feasible. No decision has yet been made about the scope, methodology or timetable of any work.
A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent steps the Audit Commission has taken to inquire into the practice of local authorities taking paid advertising to support information sheets. [294104]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 19 October 2009:
Your Parliamentary Question outlined above has been passed to me for reply.
The Audit Commission is currently considering whether to undertake research on the value for money achieved by council spending on communicating with the public; this could include expenditure on, and income from, information sheets and newsletters.
The Commission is consulting with stakeholders and considering whether a national study would be warranted and feasible. No decision has yet been made about the scope, methodology or timetable of any work.
A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.
Local Government: Redundancy Pay
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which (a) organisations and (b) individuals have submitted responses to the Audit Commission's call for evidence on severance settlements for senior council staff and have not requested that their submissions be treated in confidence. [292820]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission, and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 19 October 2009:
Your Parliamentary question outlined above has been passed to me to reply.
Five individuals have submitted responses to the general Call for Evidence and have not requested that their submissions be treated in confidence:
David Oddie (no organisation given)
Paul Francis, Kent Messenger Group
Maxine Thorne, Links Consultancy
Mike Schofield, Isitfair.co.uk
Melanie Carter, Bates Wells & Braithwaite
One further response was submitted under, we presume, a pseudonym of Jez Ebel.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development have also expressed a wish to contribute to the research in a verbal response.
The following bodies have submitted written responses to a separate letter sent to them by the Audit Commission:
Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE)
Association of Local Authority Chief Executives (ALACE)
Association of Local Authority Treasurer's Societies (ALATS)
Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors (ACSeS)
The responses to the Call for Evidence will be combined with other evidence and summarised in a report to be published early in 2010.
A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.
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