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11 Nov 2009 : Column 524W—continued
Departmental Official Cars
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost of provision of Government cars to special advisers in his Department was in the last 12 months. [299583]
Barbara Follett: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Tooting (Mr. Khan) on 26 November 2008, Official Report, column 1492W.
Departmental Postal Services
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what percentage of postal services for his Department and its agencies were provided by (a) Royal Mail and (b) other postal service providers (i) in 2007, (ii) in 2008, (iii) between 1 January 2009 and 1 July 2009 and (iv) after 1 July 2009. [298804]
Barbara Follett: The percentage of postal services for the Department for Communities and Local Government provided by (a) Royal Mail and (b) other postal service providers (i) in 2007, (ii) in 2008, (iii) between 1 January 2009 and 1 July 2009 and (iv) after 1 July 2009 is:
| Percentage | ||||
| January to December 2007 | January to December 2008 | 1 January to 30 June 2009 | 1 July to 31 October 2009 | |
Departmental Recruitment
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) of 1 September 2009, Official Report, column 1834W, on departmental recruitment (1) what additional expertise and capacity was required for the two policy adviser roles that could not be delivered through (a) offering the job to existing departmental staff and (b) advertising the job publicly; [292843]
(2) whether the two policy adviser roles were open to applications from existing civil servants. [292844]
Barbara Follett: The role of policy adviser, local government restructuring, was offered to existing departmental staff before being filled by a fixed-term appointee. The appointee was selected as the strongest candidate from a group of people sifted by a recruitment agency and interviewed by departmental managers.
The role of policy adviser, strategy and performance, was filled by a fixed-term appointee in order to provide additional policy advice and flexible support to Ministers across the range of departmental business. The appointment was made upon appraisal of the individual's skills and experience which was viewed as meeting the job criteria.
There is no automatic requirement to advertise fixed-term appointments publicly. This is in line with the civil service recruitment principles, which allow for staff to be brought in temporarily as an exception to 'fair and open competition' in order to supplement the skills and experience available to the Department.
Homes and Communities Agency: Security
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) on security for (a) undeveloped, (b) unsold and (c) other HCA-owned sites in each region in each of the last six months for which figures are available. [298204]
John Healey: The following table sets out net expenditure incurred for security by the HCA for each region for the six months from April to September. These are the latest figures that are available. All land owned by the HCA is unsold and undeveloped so it is not possible to provide a breakdown of costs in the way asked.
| £ | ||||||
| Region | April | May | June | July | August | September |
| (1) July's figure represents a recharge to the HCA as a result of HCA's delivery partner taking over the existing contract for security provision (2) These figures represent expenditure on security which cannot be broken down to a regional level. Note: Figures rounded up or down as appropriate to the nearest £. | ||||||
Housing
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many first-time house buyers there have been in each year since 1996. [292745]
Mr. Ian Austin: The number of first-time buyers purchasing a home with a mortgage in the UK in each year since 1996 are presented as follows.
| Number of first- time buyers purchasing with a mortgage, UK | |
| Number | |
| Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders | |
We are ensuring support is in place to help first-time buyers through our HomeBuy schemes operated through the Homes and Communities Agency's Affordable Housing Programme.
We have helped more than 110,000 households into home ownership since 1997 through our shared ownership and shared equity schemes.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department have responsibility for (a) the mortgage rescue scheme, (b) the homeowner mortgage support scheme, (c) the low cost home ownership scheme, (d) homelessness and (e) home information packs. [299193]
John Healey: The Department has three full-time equivalent employees working on the mortgage rescue scheme, 4.6 working on homeowners mortgage support and lender forbearance, nine working on low-cost home ownership policy including delivery of the HomeBuy scheme, seven working on homelessness and three working on home information packs.
Housing: Building Regulations
Mr. Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many inspections of domestic oil tanks were undertaken to determine whether they had been installed in conformity with the building regulations in the latest 12 month period for which figures are available; and how many notices were issued to correct inappropriate installations. [298254]
Mr. Malik: Enforcement of compliance with the building regulations is undertaken by local authorities. There is no central register of enforcement notices served or prosecutions brought. In the main, local authorities aim to resolve issues that arise through inspection of and advice to those undertaking work. Enforcement notices and prosecution are only used as a last resort.
Housing: Complaints
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many complaints relating to (a) shared home ownership, (b) antisocial behaviour, (c) repairs, (d) social housing allocations, (e) occupancy rights and (f) estate services were received by the Housing Ombudsman in each of the last three years. [298318]
Mr. Ian Austin [holding answer 9 November 2009]: The number of complaints relating to antisocial behaviour, repairs, social housing allocations, occupancy rights and estate services received by the Housing Ombudsman in each of the last three years was as follows:
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
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