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2 Dec 2009 : Column 775W—continued

Estimates of economic inactivity are available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). In accordance with the International Labour Organization (ILO) definition, people are classed as economically inactive if they are neither in employment nor unemployed. All people on sickness leave are classified as in employment and arc therefore not economically inactive. The table provided contains estimates of the number of economically inactive people who report that their main reason for being inactive is that they are a student and also those inactive people who report that they have a long-term sickness or disability.

Estimates of the reasons for inactivity are not available for all people aged 16 and over. Therefore the estimates provided are for working age people only, consistent with the LFS aggregates published in Table 13 of the Labour Market Statistical Bulletin. The historical figures in Table 13 are published in the Labour Market Statistical Bulletin Historical Supplement which is available on the National Statistics website via the following link:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/OnlineProducts/LMS_FR_HS.asp

As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. Indications of the sampling variability of LFS aggregate estimates are provided in the Statistical Bulletin.

2 Dec 2009 : Column 776W

Economically inactive people( 1) of working age( 2) , by main reason for inactivity-three month periods ending September, 1999 to 2009, United Kingdom, seasonally adjusted
	Thousand
	Student	Long-term sickness or disability
1999	1,423	2,174
2000	1,443	2,152
2001	1,525	2,233
2002	1,561	2,172
2003	1,677	2,122
2004	1,739	2,186
2005	1,893	2,109
2006	1,819	2,044
2007	1,930	2,017
2008	1,991	2,050
2009	2,201	2,011
(1) Economically inactive people are neither in employment nor unemployed. (2) Men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59 Note: The above estimates exclude people in most types of communal establishment (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites etc) Source: Labour Force Survey

Communities and Local Government

Building Regulations: Energy

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to include heating system water treatment cleaners and inhibitors in the UK implementation of energy performance standards for technical building systems under the EU Energy Performance of Building Directive. [302113]

Mr. Ian Austin: Articles 3 to 6 of the EPBD that cover requirements for the energy efficiency of buildings have been implemented through part L of the building regulations-conservation of fuel and power.

Building regulations guidance calls for the application of water treatment when heating systems are installed in new and existing dwellings. There are no proposals to extend the guidance to non-domestic buildings, although we will consider any requests to do so as part of the analysis of the responses to the recent building regulations part 2010 consultation.

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to amend the Building Regulations to (a) encourage a reduction in energy consumption through the application of heating system water treatment cleaners and inhibitors and (b) make the application of heating system water treatment cleaners and inhibitors a mandatory element of the Regulations. [302114]

Mr. Ian Austin: Building regulations guidance already calls for the application of water treatment cleaners and inhibitors when heating systems are installed in new and existing dwellings. There are no proposals to extend the guidance to non-domestic buildings, although we will consider any requests to do so as part of the analysis of the responses to the recent building regulations part L 2010 consultation. A summary of the responses will be published on the Department's website in due course.

2 Dec 2009 : Column 777W

Capita

Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on how many occasions Capita Group plc tendered for contracts let by his Department and its predecessors in each of the last five years; how many such tenders were successful; how much his Department and its predecessors paid to Capita Group plc for the execution of contracts in each such year; how many contracts which terminate after 2010 Capita Group plc holds with his Department; and what the monetary value is of all outstanding contracts between his Department and Capita Group plc. [303152]

Barbara Follett: No commercial contracts have been let with Capita Group plc in the last five years. Details of individual tenders could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.

Common Land: Rochdale

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of land in Rochdale constituency is common land. [303660]

Mr. Ian Austin: Registers of common land are held by local authorities. However, data gathered from the registers by the Countryside Agency in 2001 show that, at that time, 24.5 per cent. of land in the Rochdale parliamentary constituency was registered common land.

Community Relations

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make an assessment of the potential effects on community cohesion of trends in the level of geographical mobility. [302032]

Mr. Malik: The Department has made a comprehensive assessment of the drivers of community cohesion at the local level, which includes consideration of the impact of mobility. For detail of this analysis please see James Laurence and Anthony Heath (2008) "Predictors of Community Cohesion: Multi-Level Modelling of the 2005 Citizenship Survey, Communities and Local Government".

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/predictorscohesion

Council Housing: Finance

Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will amend the affordability criteria issued by the Homes and Communities Agency in its consideration of applications for social housing grant to provide that borrowing by local authorities is treated in the same way as that by registered social landlords. [302876]

John Healey: The premise of our current local authority funding programme is that new social housing building by councils on land they already own should represent value for money.

2 Dec 2009 : Column 778W

Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will consider the merits of introducing a floor mechanism in his proposed reform of council housing finance to provide that no local authority will lose from the change. [302877]

Mr. Ian Austin: Our proposals for reforming the council housing finance system include increases in the assumed need to spend on management, maintenance and major repairs which would put all councils in a better financial position than under a continuation of the current system.

Departmental Assets

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assets of his Department are planned to be sold in each year from 2009-10 to 2013-14; what the (a) description and (b) book value of each such asset is; what the expected revenue from each such sale is; and if he will make a statement. [300196]

Barbara Follett: No asset disposals are planned by the Department in either 2009-10 or 2010-11, the last years of the current spending review period. The Government have stated their intention to realise £16 billion in asset disposals over the period 2011-14 and will publish further details of opportunities to commercialise business assets in the coming weeks.

Departmental Consultants

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many external consultants work for his Department. [303231]

Barbara Follett: The Department does record expenditure by category in its financial system but the details of the number of individuals employed under consultancy contracts are not kept centrally and therefore could only be established after an extensive consultation exercise with the business units that commissioned them. This could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Internet

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost was of maintaining his Department's website in the 2008-09 financial year; and what the forecast cost is of maintaining websites within his responsibility in the 2009-10 financial year. [302412]

Barbara Follett: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) on 6 May 2009, Official Report, columns 234-35W.

Regarding costs for 2009-10, the annual running costs for this technology platform are fixed and we are contractually committed to all elements of the budget.

In line with the Public Accounts Committee recommendation and Central Office of Information guidance for Government Departments, we will supply cost data for the financial year 2009-10 in April 2010.

2 Dec 2009 : Column 779W

Fire Service College: Public Relations

Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what payments the Fire Service College has made to Four Communications in the last 12 months; for what purposes; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each of the contracts under which such payments have been made. [302219]

Mr. Malik: The Fire Service College has paid £12,044.36 including VAT to Four Communications in the last 12-months to provide specialist communications advice.

Payments have been made under the College's standard purchase terms and conditions, copies of which will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Fire Services: Floods

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what contingency funding are available to fire and rescue services for the provision of (a) rescue and flood response services, (b) equipment and (c) staff training in respect of flooding. [303019]

Mr. Malik: At the national level, the Department has provided the fire and rescue service with 46 high volume pumps and funding for training. The high volume pumps have been used to great effect during floods.

At the local level, fire and rescue authorities are able to use their local discretion in equipping themselves with the appropriate capabilities to meet the risks, such as flooding, identified through their local risk assessment processes, using the flexible funding arrangements of the revenue support grant.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has made up to £2 million available to March
2 Dec 2009 : Column 780W
2011 to carry out the Flood Rescue National Enhancement Project, which aims to enhance current flood rescue capability. A strategy for how this money will be best used is being developed, and organisations, including the fire and rescue service, could potentially receive some future funding.

Fire Services: Warwickshire

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions he has had following the firefighter fatalities at Atherstone on Stour in November 2007 with (a) Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service, (b) the Warwickshire Fire Authority, (c) HM Government Chief Fire and Rescue Advisor and (d) the Health and Safety Executive on the improvement notice served on Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service in January 2008; and if he will make a statement. [303176]

Mr. Malik: No recent discussions have taken place following the firefighter fatalities at Atherstone on Stour in November 2007. There is an ongoing police and Health and Safety Executive investigation into the incident and it would therefore be inappropriate to make a statement at this time.

Fires: Death

Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average age was of those killed in domestic fires in each Fire and Rescue Authority area in each year since 2000. [303375]

Mr. Malik: The information requested is provided in the following table.

2 Dec 2009 : Column 781W

2 Dec 2009 : Column 782W

Average age of fatalities in dwelling fires by FRS area, England, 2000-08( 1)
FRS area	2000-08( 1)	2000	2001	( 2) 2002	2003( 2)	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008( 1)
England	(3)54.6	55.1	53.8	52.7	51.5	53.0	52.8	57.3	57.8	58.7
Avon	54.2	49.8	44.5	60.5	60.2	54.3	50.0	73.7	60.3	48.0
Bedfordshire	52.5	62.0	40.3	55.3	50.2	55.0	78.0	53.3	-	38.0
Berkshire	54.6	50.9	65.8	19.0	44.7	66.0	84.0	67.5	57.0	53.3
Buckinghamshire	61.3	67.3	61.7	54.0	45.5	59.0	87.5	68.0	55.0	74.0
Cambridgeshire	54.8	60.7	24.5	11.0	50.5	67.7	63.5	37.0	80.5	57.0
Cheshire	58.9	76.8	74.4	38.2	45.3	76.0	52.9	50.8	60.4	60.4
Cleveland	38.6	54.0	41.8	30.5	28.1	22.5	39.5	45.5	72.0	63.5
Cornwall	69.0	78.5	53.0	69.3	59.3	71.7	69.5	-	86.5	79.0
Cumbria	66.1	83.3	67.8	79.0	65.0	63.3	86.0	30.0	63.4	65.2
Derbyshire	43.5	34.3	43.4	47.5	37.5	66.4	47.5	20.0	49.5	41.7
Devon and Somerset	52.1	63.0	51.5	45.7	54.2	61.7	55.3	55.1	48.7	32.5
Dorset	58.2	65.0	70.6	30.2	58.0	36.3	82.0	85.0	39.0	70.9
Durham	54.6	53.0	28.3	54.7	67.9	68.7	53.3	46.8	-	61.0
East Sussex	58.8	63.7	58.3	69.3	33.7	67.5	51.0	84.0	64.5	42.6
Essex	61.6	35.1	74.2	78.9	51.0	57.0	63.6	80.1	62.6	65.8
Gloucestershire	59.3	75.0	87.0	30.5	49.4	77.0	59.0	67.5	57.8	80.0
Greater London	55.7	58.2	50.8	59.6	52.5	55.6	49.7	67.9	59.8	50.8
Greater Manchester	51.2	56.0	60.2	51.5	45.8	54.0	43.1	47.3	53.6	54.9
Hampshire	56.9	70.4	51.3	60.8	48.4	60.6	56.7	53.0	54.0	54.2
Hereford and Worcester	69.7	59.0	79.0	82.3	69.0	53.5	71.5	57.3	78.7	50.0
Hertfordshire	61.3	45.8	78.6	61.4	0.0	-	43.8	84.5	50.0	58.0
Humberside	44.8	58.4	61.9	37.4	17.3	29.9	36.3	79.0	57.7	60.5
Isle of Wight	56.0	-	-	-	-	-	55.0	89.0	24.0	-
Isles of Scilly	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kent	49.9	60.4	46.8	55.9	48.7	56.4	42.6	33.8	43.3	60.2
Lancashire	49.7	33.5	53.1	43.5	52.2	52.1	59.8	47.7	62.7	70.4
Leicestershire	52.8	70.0	57.8	56.4	66.3	33.1	67.3	42.8	58.3	61.2
Lincolnshire	54.4	69.0	66.0	49.8	47.5	45.8	27.5	57.8	62.8	50.0
Merseyside	58.5	52.6	62.1	57.2	64.1	58.5	50.4	70.0	65.9	61.4
Norfolk	62.7	61.6	53.0	79.5	74.3	46.5	59.8	57.0	69.7	74.5
North Yorkshire	59.7	59.0	52.3	78.4	48.6	66.0	54.0	47.0	-	81.0
Northamptonshire	55.4	61.0	45.3	42.3	58.0	22.0	41.3	67.4	62.3	77.0
Northumberland	51.5	78.0	28.2	-	58.7	-	65.0	76.0	58.0	62.0
Nottinghamshire	56.8	65.0	51.3	48.3	48.0	65.2	53.8	55.4	64.0	76.0
Oxfordshire	59.2	24.0	64.7	54.2	55.0	71.5	80.5	60.0	51.7	73.0
Shropshire	51.9	37.1	60.0	56.8	78.0	50.0	68.5	33.8	90.0	67.6
South Yorkshire	54.0	55.7	37.7	57.0	45.1	67.3	61.8	56.3	57.0	61.9
Staffordshire	51.7	42.5	51.4	56.4	57.7	43.8	35.3	46.4	65.4	68.0
Suffolk	55.5	45.3	41.6	56.8	61.5	73.0	22.0	75.8	65.0	59.0
Surrey	61.9	57.1	20.0	52.0	72.0	64.0	74.0	79.8	58.3	58.5
Tyne and Wear	60.5	64.0	66.4	72.8	63.1	73.8	39.2	65.6	45.1	67.2
Warwickshire	56.6	72.2	42.2	0.0	49.0	72.5	53.7	-	-	54.3
West Midlands	54.5	58.2	56.3	44.8	52.0	41.5	62.5	55.0	57.2	59.7
West Sussex	59.8	59.3	79.0	62.8	67.3	48.8	80.0	63.5	54.5	88.0
West Yorkshire	46.9	48.5	54.8	29.4	51.0	40.9	40.1	54.6	51.4	54.8
Wiltshire	54.9	-	41.3	88.5	61.0	47.0	-	53.5	39.0	55.4
(1) Data for 2008 are provisional and subject to change. (2) Excluding incidents not recorded during periods of industrial action in 2002 (total of 18 incidents) and 2003 (total of five incidents) (3) Average age is calculated on the basis of all fatalities in dwelling fires.

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