| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
14 Dec 2009 : Column 894W—continued
Community Assets Programme
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many community asset transfers have taken place since the publication of the Quirk review. [306397]
Barbara Follett: In relation to the implementation of the Quirk Review, the Advancing Assets for Communities demonstration programme supported 50 local authority and community partnerships between 2007 and 2009 and over one-third of the 80 pilot projects supported are expected to complete successful transfer before 31 March 2010. The programme is supporting 22 partnerships in 2009-10 and will continue until 2011. Nationally there are no data for exactly how many community asset transfers have taken place but a recent survey by SQW consultants found that from a sample of 119 local authorities, 350 asset transfer projects are currently under way.
Community Infrastructure Levy
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the yearly revenue to be generated by the Community Infrastructure Levy once operational; and whether such revenue will be classified as tax revenue for the purposes of the national accounting rules. [305931]
Mr. Ian Austin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 28 October 2009, Official Report, columns 456-57W.
Community Relations: Elderly
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to reduce social isolation amongst elderly people. [305988]
Mr. Ian Austin: Communities and Local Government has various programmes and policies which contribute towards reducing social isolation among older people.
The Supporting People (SP) programme provides housing-related support which can help older people to maintain health and well-being, and take part in their communities. Between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009, SP outcomes data show 9,212 older people receiving long-term housing-related support services were supported to establish contact with external services, family or friends, and 6,757 were supported to participate in leisure, cultural, faith or learning activities.
Our work to create more cohesive, active and empowered communities includes strengthening third sector and voluntary organisations that will provide important support to local groups who are in a position to work actively in local communities. We are supporting a £5.5 million cross-Government scheme to promote intergenerational volunteering and encourage meaningful interaction between young and old generations.
Communities and Local Government encourages the adoption of Lifetime Neighbourhoods principles, and will shortly commission a report to provide advice to local authorities in making a reality of Lifetime Neighbourhoods.
Digital technology can also be extremely valuable in helping people to stay in regular contact with their families and friends. Communities and Local Government is working with the Department for Work and Pensions and other partners to deliver a commitment to run digital inclusion projects targeted at giving people in sheltered housing access to new technology.
Council Housing
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) of 22 June 2009, Official Report, column 642W, on council housing, if he will place in the Library a copy of the research reports on (a) rent analysis and (b) debt analysis. [305818]
Mr. Ian Austin: The documents have been placed in the Library. They have been available on the Communities and Local Government website since 21 July.
Council Housing: Rents
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities with council housing have not applied for financial support for reduced rent increases for council tenants. [305933]
Mr. Ian Austin: Harlow and North Kesteven district councils have not taken up the Government's offer of compensation to enable them to reduce their rent increases in 2009-10 to an average of 3.1 per cent.
Council Tax: Empty Property
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 16 October 2008, Official Report, column 1109W, on council housing: finance, whether local authorities which reduced their council tax discount on empty homes will be permitted to retain the additional revenue raised under the recalculation of the council tax base for the 2011-12 settlement. [306723]
Barbara Follett: All council tax revenue is retained by local authorities.
For the purposes of formula grant distribution, the council tax base for each authority is the number of Band D equivalent properties in their authority. The number of dwellings in each band is calculated by taking the number of dwellings on the valuation list and adjusting for various exemptions and discounts. This includes the number of dwellings that receive a discount because they are classed as long-term empty dwellings.
Departmental Conferences
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which conferences held overseas have been attended by civil servants based in his Department in the last three years; and what the cost to the public purse was of such attendance at each conference. [305872]
Barbara Follett: Records on overseas visits held in Communities and Local Government (CLG) do not identify separately the number made to attend foreign conferences or information on/or cost of what conferences were attended. This information can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
All ministerial travel and travel by CLG staff is undertaken in accordance with the 'Civil Service Management Code' and the 'Ministerial Code'.
Departmental Internet
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what redesigns of websites operated by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies there have been since 27 June 2007; and what the (i) cost to the public purse and (ii) date of completion of each such redesign was. [306170]
Barbara Follett: For information relating to the redesign of the Department's corporate website in August 2007, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Mr. Dhanda) on 20 May 2008, Official Report, column 264W.
The Department does not hold information on the website redesign of its agencies' sites centrally and so this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff of his Department were in its redeployment pool on 1 (a) January, (b) April, (c) July and (d) October 2009. [306707]
Barbara Follett: The number of staff in the Communities and Local Government redeployment pool-known as the Career Transition Centre (CTC)-were as follows:
| Number | |
As of 1 December 2009 the number of staff in the CTC had fallen to 33. Staff in the CTC undertake meaningful temporary roles while awaiting a permanent post, to widen their experience and alleviate pressure points in the business.
Departmental Publicity
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has spent on (a) ministerial photoshoots and (b) production of videos in which Ministers appear in the last three years for which figures are available. [305512]
Barbara Follett: The communication directorate of the Department for Communities and Local Government has commissioned:
| £ | ||
| Photography | Video | |
Empty Dwelling Management Orders
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how he evaluates the effectiveness of empty dwelling management orders. [304642]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Department is making a continuous assessment of the success of EDMOs through its regular contact with local authorities and the Empty Homes Agency.
Empty Property
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many long-term empty private homes there were in each Government office region in each year since 2003. [306399]
Mr. Ian Austin: Information on the number of privately-owned homes that are long-term vacant is not held centrally.
Empty Property: Leeds
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many long-term empty properties there were in Leeds in each year since 1990; [306588]
(2) how many long-term empty properties there were in Leeds, West constituency in each year since 1990. [306601]
Barbara Follett: The number of long-term empty domestic dwellings in Leeds since 2004 are shown in the following table. Data prior to 2004 are not available and data are not available at constituency level.
| Long-term empty dwellings | |
The data are taken from the Council Tax Base (CTB) form completed annually in the autumn by all billing authorities in England and returned to Communities and Local Government.
Details of the number of empty non-domestic hereditaments are not currently available.
Equality Bill 2008-09 then 2009-10
Mrs. Spelman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) of 13 May 2009, Official Report, column
838W, on the Equality Bill, whether local authorities will be compensated under the new burdens principle for the costs to them of implementing the provisions of the Equality Bill. [305819]
Barbara Follett: The Government are committed to ensuring that all new burdens falling on local authorities are fully and properly funded so that there is no upward pressure on council tax bills. Where appropriate, funding is provided through the formula grant system or through specific grants.
Fire Services
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his most recent estimate is of the date upon which each regional fire control room will become operational. [303477]
Mr. Malik: Under current planning assumptions the first regional fire control rooms are expected to become operational in spring 2011 and the last fire and rescue service will switch over by the end of 2012:
| Regional control centre | Go live date |
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to publish updated national and regional business plans for the FiReControl project. [303479]
Mr. Malik: At present we have no plans to publish an updated FiReControl Business Case.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations his Department has received on the FiReControl project from (a) fire and rescue and (b) local authorities in the last 12 months. [303481]
Mr. Malik: FiReControl is being delivered in close partnership with local government. Over the last 12 months, representations have been received on a regular and ongoing basis.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what date he expects the regional fire control centre in (a) the South West, (b) the South East, (c) the East of England, (d) the East Midlands, (e) the West Midlands, (f) Yorkshire and the Humber, (g) the North West and (h) the North East to become operational. [303806]
Mr. Malik: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) today (UIN 303477).
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |