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19 Oct 2009 : Column 1316W—continued
Non-Domestic Rates: Valuation
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what reasons a privacy impact assessment has not been undertaken in relation to the 2010 business rates revaluation. [293026]
Barbara Follett: A privacy impact assessment has not been undertaken for revaluation 2010. This is because the business rates revaluation applies only to non-domestic properties and does not represent a genuine risk to the privacy of the individual.
North East Economic Forum
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) the North East Regional Assembly and its successor body has provided to the North East Economic Forum. [292812]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has provided no direct funding to the North East Economic Forum. We can confirm that neither the North East Assembly nor its successor body have made any payments to the North East Economic Forum.
Since its establishment in 2005, the North East Economic Forum has received £155,190.44 from One North East to support its activities. This funding has supported costs associated with three major regional conferences and a number of associated events.
Planning Permission
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department plans to make further revisions to Planning Policy Statement PPS1. [292578]
John Healey: No review of Planning Policy Statement 1, 'Delivering Sustainable Development' has yet been programmed.
Property Codes Compliance Board
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding from the public purse has been given to the (a) Property Codes Compliance Board and (b) Property Ombudsman in the last 12 months. [292732]
Regional Planning and Development
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the name and address is of each regional planning body in England; and what the timetable is for regional development agencies to become the regional planning bodies. [292544]
Mr. Ian Austin: The current name and address for each regional planning body in England is given in the following table. There are no proposals for regional development agencies to become regional planning bodies.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which areas are receiving reductions in their Growth Point funding compared to original anticipated allocations in the latest period for which allocations have been determined. [293347]
John Healey: The Government published a consultation paper on 2 October which seeks views on its proposed approach to making changes to the Growth Fund capital funding allocations in 2010-11. This includes options for consideration which might alter the Government's proposed approach for reducing allocations. I aim to publish our response to the consultation and revised funding allocations for 2010-11 within four weeks of the close of the consultation. The deadline for submitting comments is 13 November.
Regional Planning and Development: Green Belt
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in which local authorities proposals have been made for green belt reviews in each of the most recent regional spatial strategies. [292595]
Mr. Ian Austin: Regional spatial strategies (RSS) do not express any planning policies which refer to specific sites (local authority areas); they identify broad locations, which may be located in a local authority area or cross a number of local authority boundaries.
Current RSS are recommending green belt reviews as follows:
Policy RDF4 allows for potential green belt changes associated with expansion of Manchester and Liverpool airports and a multi-modal freight proposal at Newton le Willows.
Policy YH9 confirms that the extent of green belt should not change, but that green belt round York needs defining. Specific mention is also made of a potential need for strategic review of the West Yorkshire green belt, which extends into Leeds, Wakefield, Calderdale and Kirklees.
The Secretary of State is currently considering the recommendations of the independent panel report.
The principle of the Nottingham-Derby and Burton-Swadlincote green belts will be retained. However a comprehensive review of the most sustainable locations for growth within Nottingham Core Housing Market Area and Hucknall will be required urgently to consider how to accommodate future growth requirements over at least the next 25 years. As this may include considering locations within the green belt, when implementing this review through their local development documents.
Local review of green belt in Broxbourne, and that strategic reviews of green belt boundaries to meet regional development needs are needed in:
Stevenge, including land in North Hertfordshire;
Harlow, including land in East Hertfordshire and Epping Forest; and
Luton/Dunstanble/Houghton Regis and Leighton Linslade.
Policy SP5 the existing broad extent of green belts in the region is appropriate however, in order to meet regional development needs in the most sustainable locations, selective reviews of green belt boundaries are required:
in metropolitan green belt to the north east of Guildford, and possibly to the south of Woking, and
in the Oxford green belt to the south of the city.
In addition, a boundary review will be required in the area of the former DERA site at Chertsey.
Smaller scale local reviews are likely to be required in other locations, including around Redhill-Reigate, and these should be pursued through the Local Development Framework process.
Following consideration of the recommendations of the independent panel that considered the draft RSS, the Secretary of State published her proposed changes to the RSS in July 2008. These include proposals to revise the general extent of the Bristol and Bath, Gloucester and Cheltenham and South East Dorset green belts to accommodate urban extensions as part of the most sustainable solution for delivering housing and other development. Changes are also proposed to the general extent of the Bristol and Bath green belt to provide for regionally significant development at Bristol International airport and the port of Bristol, and to the South East Dorset green belt to provide for development at Bournemouth airport.
The published London plan, February 2008 (consolidated with alterations since 2004) do not propose any changes to the London green belt.
Shelter: Eco-Towns
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which Minister in his Department approved payments from his Department to Shelter for the production of publications about the housing situation in and around potential eco-town locations. [292868]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Wright) to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 20 November 2008, Official Report, column 761W.
Shelter: Finance
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding his Department is making available to Shelter as part of the money advice partnership scheme. [292895]
John Healey: Communities and Local Government has provided up to £1.4 million of funding to Shelter for money advice services in 2009-10 to support delivery of Homeowners Mortgage Support and the Mortgage Rescue Scheme. In addition, we have provided £1.77 million to fund the National Homelessness Advice Service (NHAS) in 2009-10, a partnership between Shelter and the Citizens Advice Bureaux which provides specialist advice on homelessness prevention.
Social Rented Housing: Rents
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his most recent estimate is of the increase in rents in (a) council housing and (b) housing association social housing predicted over each of the next three years as part of his Department's Target Rent Scheme. [292892]
Mr. Ian Austin: Social rents are expected to rise in accordance with the rent restructuring formula, which allows for an average annual increase of RPI plus 0.5 per cent., with RPI set at the end of September in the year preceding. We do not have specific estimates for increases over the next three years.
The Tenant Services Authority (TSA) regulates registered social landlords (RSLs) in England to ensure that they provide decent homes and services for tenants. To protect tenants, TSA regulation places a limit on the maximum amount by which rents can rise each year. Rent can be increased by a maximum of RPI plus 0.5 per cent., plus £2 per week for individual rents that are below target levels.
In July, as part of a consultation on draft directions to the Tenant Services Authority, the Government published proposals relating to the regulation of rents set by registered social landlords after 1 April 2010. These proposals are based on a continuation of the rent restructuring policy set out in the document 'Guide to Social Rent Reforms' which was published by the
Government in March 2001. The consultation paper is available via the Communities and Local Government website:
The Department intends to publish the final directions shortly.
Social Rented Housing: Sustainable Development
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authorities are not eligible to apply for funding from the Local Authority Challenge Fund. [293111]
John Healey: All English local authorities with a housing function are able to bid, and apply for funding to build new council homes. County councils are therefore the only local authorities who cannot bid for funding under this programme. Bidders need to pre-qualify as investment partners with the Homes and Communities Agency before grant can be awarded.
Standards Board for England
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost of the Standards Board for England was for the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available. [292594]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The 2008-09 annual report and accounts for the Standards Board for England, available on the Standards Board's website at:
shows the Standards Board for England cost the Government, through grant in aid, £8,285,000 for that year.
Standards Board for England: Finance
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the budget of (a) the Standards Board for England and (b) the Adjudication Panel was in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2010-11. [292725]
Ms Rosie Winterton: As stated in table 2 of the Standards Board for England's corporate plan for 2009-12, 'The changing role of the Standards Board for England', available on their website at:
the planned budget for the Standards Board is £7,420,000 in 2009-10 and £7,372,000 in 2010-11.
Responsibility for the Adjudication Panel for England rests with the Ministry of Justice.
Standards for England
Mrs. Spelman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost to the public purse has been of the re-branding of the
Standards Board for England as Standards for England. [292897]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The rebranding, which the Standards Board for England decided to undertake and to find from within its budgets of £8,285,000 for 2008-09 and £7,420,000 for 2009-10, cost £43,000.
These costs arise from a branding and identity review which the board considered necessary given its changed remit, as recommended by the Committee for Standards in Public Life, to become the strategic regulator for council standards committees and from subsequent development of the brand.
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