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10 Nov 2009 : Column 274W—continued
Travel undertaken by Ministers and officials is not routinely separated. However, of the data above, CLG recorded that its Ministers travelled 65,173 miles by car in 2007-08 and 76,638 miles in 2008-09.
Domestic Violence: Refuges
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether people accommodated in domestic violence refuges are assessed as statutorily homeless; and whether such people are included in his Department's homelessness statistics. [298264]
Mr. Ian Austin: Under the homelessness legislation (part 7 of the Housing Act 1996), local housing authorities in England must consider all applications for accommodation or assistance in obtaining accommodation, including any applications made by people accommodated in refuges for people who have suffered domestic violence. The local authority must consider whether there is reason to believe the applicant may be homeless or likely to become homeless within 28 days, and, if there is such reason, must make inquiries to determine whether any duty is owed under the legislation. Earlier this year, the House of Lords ruled that, in most cases, a woman who has left her home because of domestic (or other) violence within it remains homeless even if she has found a temporary haven in a women's refuge.
Information about English local housing authorities' actions under the homelessness legislation is collected quarterly at local authority level. This includes the number of applicants accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and
in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty ("homeless acceptances") and, of these, the number accommodated temporarily in a women's refuge, at the end of each quarter.
Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what recent guidance his Department has issued on the design of waste collection services and facilities in new housing; [292622]
(2) with reference to his Department's publication, Code for Sustainable Homes: a step-change in sustainable home building practice, what guidelines his Department has issued on the minimum volume of space required for (a) residential waste storage and (b) recycling; and what assumptions are made in the guidelines on the size and number of household wheeled refuse containers that could fit into that space. [292870]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Government provide a requirement and guidance for the design of waste collection services and facilities in new housing, such as waste bins, in Part H6 of Schedule 1 of the Building Regulations 2000, and in Category 5-Waste, of the Code for Sustainable Homes (the Code.)
The requirement set out in Part H6 will be met if the solid waste storage is:
designed and sited so as not to be prejudicial to health;
of sufficient area having regard to the requirements of the waste collection authority for the number and size of receptacles under Sections 46 and 47 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990;
sited so as to be accessible for use by people in the building and of ready access for removal to the collection point specified by the waste collection authority under Sections 4 and 47 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
The Waste Category of the Code for Sustainable Homes (the Code) provides a mandatory requirement and guidance for the provision of storage space for residential waste and for recycling waste.
The mandatory requirements within the Code Waste Category, is based around British Standard 5906 2005 (l00 litres for the first bedroom and then a further 70 1itres for each additional bedroom). The requirements in the Code will be met if:
space is provided for storage of containers for separated waste, with a combined capacity of 0.25m(3) or in agreement with the waste collection authority;
adequate external space is provided to accommodate a local authority recycling scheme offering containers equal to or greater than the above volume;
all the containers are accessible to disabled people.
Empty Property: Council Tax
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what level of council tax discount is applied to an empty dwelling which is (a) furnished and (b) unfurnished. [298447]
Barbara Follett:
Local authorities have discretion to set the council tax discount (a) on substantially furnished dwellings which are the not the taxpayer's sole or main residence at any point between 50 and 10 per cent. and
(b) on substantially unfurnished and unoccupied dwellings at any point between 50 and zero per cent., following a statutory period of exemption.
Fire Services: Industrial Health and Safety
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will introduce a national regime for the enforcement of safe working procedures in the fire service. [295741]
Jonathan Shaw: I have been asked to reply.
There is already a regime for the enforcement of safe working procedures in the fire services.
The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 requires fire and rescue services, as with all employers, to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable the health and safety of their employees and others who may be affected by their work activities. This Act is enforced by the Health and Safety Executive who inspect fire and rescue services proactively and investigate significant incidents. Their inspections include examination of health and safety policies and procedures, provision of equipment and training of firefighters.
Homes and Communities Agency: Consultants
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on which projects the Homes and Communities Agency has employed external consultants since its inception. [297818]
John Healey: The HCA are involved, both directly and indirectly, in numerous projects. The use of consultants by the HCA therefore on each individual project cannot be disaggregated except at disproportionate cost.
Housing Ombudsman
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many complaints the Housing Ombudsman received from leaseholders in each of the last three years. [298263]
Mr. Ian Austin: The number of complaints received by the housing ombudsman from leaseholders in each of the last three years is set out in the following table:
| Leaseholder | Number |
The figures provided refer to the complaints received from leaseholders, they do not relate specifically to leasehold issues.
Housing Revenue Accounts
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will estimate the net balance of the housing revenue account subsidy system in each year to 2019-20. [299161]
Mr. Ian Austin: The calculation of housing revenue account (HRA) subsidy relies on a number of factors which change from year to year, including stock disposals, and the level at which we set the local authority average guideline rent increase. Communities and Local Government has yet to go out to consultation on the guideline rent increase for 2010-11. We have not made, and currently could not make, any reliable long term estimates of HRA subsidy up to 2019-20.
Following consultation, we are currently working on proposals for radical reform of local authority housing finance. Our intention is to dismantle the HRA subsidy system and replace it with a devolved system of responsibility and funding.
Housing: Prices
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the mean (a) income and (b) house price in each local authority area in each of the last three years. [299160]
Mr. Ian Austin: Data on mean income by local authority for each of the last three years can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mean house prices by local authority area are available on the Communities and Local Government website at:
Housing: Sustainable Development
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many housing units have been fully assessed by his Department under the Code for Sustainable Homes. [292471]
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes have been accredited to Level 6 under the Code for Sustainable Homes to date. [294133]
Mr. Ian Austin: Code level 6 is a zero carbon home with very high sustainability standards and is an incredibly high standard to build to. However, we now have a growing number of homes been built to this higher level of code.
It takes between 18 months and two years to design and build a code home. The code came into operation in April 2007, but we did not start seeing homes built to the code standard until late 2008. The numbers of code homes are increasing every month. There are a total of 1,018 homes with code certificates spread across all code levels at post-construction stage (i.e. completed code homes), 5,630 at design stage and over 300,000 registered homes on over 3000 developments. Most of these homes are built to code level 3-which represents for energy a 25 per cent. improvement on the current Building Regulations and is a demanding building standard. Homes are funded to this level by the Homes and Communities Agency.
There are two stages in the assessment process for the Code for Sustainable Homes (the Code). At design stage there have been 12 homes accredited at code level 6 and at post-construction stage there have been six homes accredited.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the average cost incurred in addition to the cost of meeting the requirement of Building Regulations in meeting the requirements of each level of the Code of Sustainable Homes Code in respect of (a) detached housing, (b) end-of-terrace housing, (c) low-rise flats and (d) high-rise flats. [294877]
Mr. Ian Austin: Costs were published 21 July 2008 in Cost Analysis of the Code for Sustainable Homes: Final Report. No differentiation between high rise and low rise flats is available. The costs are estimates and are not definitive.
Housingmoves: Internet
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) unique visitors and (b) page impressions were received by the housingmoves.org website in each of the last 12 months. [296866]
Mr. Ian Austin: The information is as follows:
| Website Statistics: 'housingmoves' | |||
| From | To | (a) Unique visitors | (b) Page impressions |
| (1) The housingmoves website went on-line in July 2007. (2) Data for October 2009 are current up to and including 27 October 2009. | |||
Each move results in a net saving to Treasury of about £12,000 (or £2.4 million for 200 moves each year-based on a 2004 Departmental economic study) based on savings: in the cost of temporary accommodation; in the cost of managing empty properties; and the costs of housing benefit payments.
To enable these high value and high demand moves the staff provide:
A brokering service to match registered applicants with suitable homes as they become available
a 'drop-in' service for older and often vulnerable applicants where they can meet with an adviser face to face to assist with enquiries, housing options and applications
a telephone helpline for applicants to advise on housing options; the progress of applications; and the availability of alternative accommodation
marketing for the scheme to increase landlord and tenant participation including the identification and use of hard to let social stock (such as sheltered housing).
In addition the staff provide the housing brokerage service for vulnerable British Nationals returning under the Zimbabwe Resettlement Programme.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding his Department has provided for the housingmoves.org website in each of the last three years; what other sources of funding the service has; and how much has been allocated by his Department to the website for (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11. [296867]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Department has provided funding for the housingmoves.org website as detailed as follows. There are no other sources of funding.
| £ | ||
| From | To | Website development |
| (1) The housingmoves website went on-line in July 2007. (2) Data for October 2009 are current up to and including 27 October 2009. | ||
The Department has also allocated funding for the website in 2009-10 of £5,000 and funding for 2010-11 has yet to be allocated.
To enable these high value and high demand moves the staff provided:
A brokering service to match registered applicants with suitable homes as they become available
a 'drop-in' service for older and often vulnerable applicants where they can meet with an adviser face to face to assist with enquiries, housing options and applications
a telephone helpline for applicants to advise on housing options; the progress of applications; and the availability of alternative accommodation
marketing for the scheme to increase landlord and tenant participation including the identification and use of hard to let social stock (such as sheltered housing).
In addition the staff provide the housing brokerage service for vulnerable British Nationals returning under the Zimbabwe Resettlement Programme.
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