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15 Dec 2009 : Column 999W—continued
| Yorkshire and Humber region | ||||
| Number | ||||
| Yorkshire and Humber region | Third party requests | All referrals | Called-in | Article 14 |
| North West region | ||||
| Number | ||||
| Third party requests | All referrals | Called-in | Article 14 | |
Private Rented Housing: Greater London
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what information his Department holds on the average length of private sector tenancies in each London borough; and what plans he has to improve the security of tenure for private sector tenants. [307251]
Mr. Ian Austin: Communities and Local Government does not hold the information requested. Most tenants in the private sector have assured shorthold tenancies. The legislation governing these is designed to achieve a fair balance between the rights of landlords and tenants and we have no plans to change this.
Regional Planning and Development
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government by what process planning committee members are appointed to each of the development corporations. [305926]
Mr. Malik: There are three Urban Development Corporations (UDCs) in England: London Thames Gateway Development Corporation (LTGDC); Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation (TTGDC); and West Northamptonshire Development Corporation (WNDC). The Planning Committees for the UDCs are appointed in each case by the Board under the terms of the Committee's governing documentation, copies of which are published on the relevant Corporation's website.
Website being upgraded-a copy will be placed in the Library of the House.
In the case of London Thames Gateway and Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporations, the Board may decide to appoint independent members. Where this takes place procedures analogous to those required by the Commissioner for Public Appointments are followed; although such appointments are not OCPA regulated.
Scientists
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on how many occasions he has met (a) the Government chief scientific adviser and (b) his Department's chief scientific adviser in the course of his official duties in the last 12 months. [303966]
Barbara Follett: In the last 12 months the Secretary of State has:
(a) Not met with the Government chief scientific adviser.
(b) Met once with the departmental chief scientific adviser.
Sleeping Rough
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his most recent estimate is of the number of rough sleepers in (a) Leeds and (b) England. [305773]
Mr. Ian Austin: In 1998 there were estimated to be 1,850 rough sleepers in England with eight rough sleepers in Leeds. Since then good progress has been progress has been made in reducing the total number of rough sleepers to 464 in 2009, based on local authority street counts, which includes six rough sleepers who were found on Leeds' count.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the estimated level of rough sleeping in England was in March 2001. [306726]
Mr. Ian Austin: 681 people were estimated to be sleeping rough in England in 2001.
In 1998 there were estimated to be 1,850 rough sleepers in England. Since then good progress has been made in reducing the number of rough sleepers to a total of 464 in 2009 based on local authority street counts.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the proportion and number of rough sleepers aged 25 years or under. [307209]
Mr. Ian Austin: The annual headline figure for rough sleeping based on local authority street counts does not include information on age profile.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of individuals receiving Supporting People grants under the rough sleeper strand were aged (a) under 18, (b) under 25 and (c) under 40 years in each of the last three years. [307222]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Supporting People programme is a locally managed and delivered programme. Local authorities are responsible for making the strategic decisions regarding the programme including deciding what services to commission to meet local needs and priorities. People who are eligible for Supporting People funding tend to use a service, rather than receive a cashable grant.
Social Rented Housing
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make it his policy to ensure that social tenants who move to a different local authority area retain their security of tenure in respect of social housing in their new area. [306877]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Government are committed to ensuring that social tenants, wherever they live in England, continue to have the same statutory protection in respect of their security of tenure and are provided with the most secure form of tenure compatible with the purpose of the housing and the sustainability of the community. We have no intention of bringing forward proposals that would diminish the security which social tenants currently enjoy.
Vacant Land
Mr. Stewart Jackson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Tamworth of 25 November 2009, Official Report, column 184W, on
vacant land: Tamworth, how many acres of green space there are in each local authority in England; and what his Department's definition of green space is. [307214]
Barbara Follett: Data on local authority green space from 2005 are publicly available from the Office for National Statistics. These are not comprehensive as there is no requirement for national collection. More accurate and current data could be supplied by individual local authorities. Communities and Local Government do not define green space, but the Annex to PPG 17 provides examples of the broad range of open spaces that may be of public value, a significant component of which, are related to green spaces.
Solicitor-General
Crown Prosecution Service: Conferences
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Solicitor-General how many (a) away days and (b) conferences that took place outside the Crown Prosecution Service's (CPS) buildings attended by civil servants in the CPS there have been since 2005; and what the cost was of each. [307461]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is a devolved organisation and local managers are responsible for arranging away days and conferences. Information on the number of each that took place outside CPS buildings attended by civil servants is not recorded centrally. To obtain the information requested would require all managers to review records since 2005 and would incur disproportionate cost. The following table provides the total value recorded for conference expenditure in each financial year since 2005.
| CPS conference expenditure | £ million |
The CPS does hold Senior Managers' Conferences each year, which bring 150 of its senior managers from all 42 areas and senior headquarters (HQ) staff together to discuss the most pressing issues facing the Service. In past years this has been held twice a year; a decision was taken in 2009 to reduce the frequency to one per year.
The following table shows the average cost of each conference each year since 2005.
| CPS conference expenditure senior management conferences | Average cost ( £000 ) |
Departmental Conferences
Mr. Graham Stuart:
To ask the Solicitor-General how many (a) away days and (b) conferences that took place outside the Law Officers' buildings
attended by civil servants in the Law Officers' Department there have been since 2005; and what the cost was of each. [307467]
The Solicitor-General: The information requested is outlined in the following tables.
| (a) Departmental away days | ||
| Number of away days | Cost (£) | |
| (1) Whole office. (2) Whole office half day. (3) Senior management team, half day. | ||
| (b) Conferences outside the Law Officers' buildings attended by civil servants | ||
| Number of conferences | Cost (£) | |
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