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6 Jan 2010 : Column 363W—continued
Council Housing: Rents
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) of 23 June 2009, Official Report, columns 831-2W, on council housing: rents, if he will publish figures for (a) the cumulative arrears of rent, (b) former tenants' cumulative arrears of rent and (c) total cumulative arrears as a percentage of rent roll for each local authority in each of the last five years. [308390]
Mr. Ian Austin: A table containing this information, as reported to Communities and Local Government by local authorities, has been placed in the Library of the House.
The information is that submitted by local authorities in their second advance housing revenue account subsidy claim forms for the relevant year. It is un-audited and unchecked data that is not used within housing revenue account subsidy calculations. The information is in some cases incomplete.
Council Tax
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs Spelman) of19 October 2009, Official Report, column 1297W, on council tax: energy, if he will place in the Library a copy of each representation the Energy Saving Trust has made to his Department. [308803]
John Healey: I have placed a copy of the representations that the Energy Saving Trust made to this Department on council tax: energy, in the Library of the House.
Demolition
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many dwellings have been demolished in each Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder area since 2002-03; and at what cost. [307835]
Mr. Ian Austin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, Central (Jim Cousins) on 21 October 2009, Official Report, column 1503-04W.
HMR Pathfinders have been allocated more than £2 billion since 2002-03 although the programme focuses much more on the refurbishment and renewal of existing stock than demolition. Allocations to HMR Pathfinders are made for whole programmes, and not for individual elements, on the basis of strategies set out in their business plans. It is for individual Pathfinders to judge how much should be spent on particular activities such as demolitions, taking into account the stage of the regeneration process in their area and local market conditions.
Departmental Consultants
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost to his Department of engaging each individual consultant was in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10 to date. [308248]
Barbara Follett: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) on 2 December 2009, Official Report, column 777W.
Emergency Calls: East Sussex
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) genuine and (b) bogus (i) fire, (ii) ambulance, (iii) police and (iv) coastguard emergency calls have been received in East Sussex in each year since 2003. [309200]
Mr. Malik: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Empty Dwelling Management Orders
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) whether his Department has provided guidance to local authorities on the circumstances in which empty dwelling management orders may be issued in respect of an empty dwelling which is being marketed for sale; [308425]
(2) with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) of 15 July 2009, Official Report, column 488W, on empty dwelling management orders, which local authorities have received individual guidance provided by his officials in the last 12 months. [308710]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Department has not issued separate guidance on empty dwellings which are being marketed for sale but supports the guidance on empty dwelling management orders which was launched by the independent Empty Homes Agency on 10 March 2009.
The Department hosted an empty homes seminar for a number of local authorities on 23 April 2009 to provide an opportunity to discuss the obstacles facing authorities in dealing with empty homes, share examples of best practice, and encourage them to take action to tackle empty homes in their area. The following individual local authorities were represented at the meeting:
Birmingham City Council
East Cambridgeshire District Council
Exeter City Council
Gloucester City Council
Great Yarmouth Borough Council
Kent County Council
Manchester City Council
Mansfield District Council
Reading Borough Council
Sheffield District Council
Warwick Borough Council
West Lindsey District Council,
as well as the West London Housing Partnership, representing seven London boroughs, and the Herts, Beds, Bucks Empty Homes Forum, representing 24 local authorities. A further eight local authorities were invited but were unable to attend. Local authorities contact my officials on an ad hoc basis for which we do not keep records and they can also access information about empty homes on the Department's website.
English Partnerships Millennium Communities Advisory Panel
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of each meeting of the English Partnerships Millennium Communities Advisory Panel. [308533]
Mr. Ian Austin: English Partnerships did not set up an advisory panel to manage the Millennium Communities programme.
European Regional Development Fund
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department holds copies of the European Commission audit reports relating to his Department's administration of the European Regional Development Fund. [308421]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Yes. Auditors from the European Court of Auditors and the European Commission carry out audits on English ERDF programmes. This is to ensure that they are managed in compliance with the financial control requirements of the European Commission Regulations and Directives. Their audit reports are sent to this Department, as Managing Authority for the programmes.
European Regional Development Fund
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many individuals were engaged by his Department from consultant firms to work on the European Regional Development Fund closure programme for English regions; and on what matters each is working. [308247]
Ms Rosie Winterton: My Department has engaged 13 individuals from consultancy firms to work on the closure of the 2000-06 programmes. Nine of them are setting up and implementing a Programme Management Office to oversee the work on closure. The nine individuals are employed by my Department on a part-time basis and their work is interchangeable, so they do not have individual tasks allocated to them. A further four individuals, qualified accountants and forensic accountants, are engaged by my Department through another consultancy firm, to advise on finance issues related to the closure process.
Fire Services: Manpower
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many co-responding firefighters there are in each fire authority area in England. [308232]
Mr. Malik: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Flats: Construction
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of new dwellings completed in 2008-09 were flats. [308592]
Mr. Ian Austin: Information on the proportion of new build dwellings completed in 2008-09 that were flats is published in live table 254 on the Communities and Local Government website at the following link:
The figures are shown as proportions and not numbers since the estimates are based on incomplete coverage of new build completions.
Floods: Gloucestershire
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much the Government has spent in total across Government Departments to support recovery in (a) Gloucester City and (b) Gloucestershire since the 2007 floods; [308138]
(2) what resources his Department has made available to Gloucester City to support flood recovery since the 2007 floods; [308135]
(3) what resources his Department has made available to Gloucestershire to support flood recovery since the 2007 floods; [308136]
(4) what resources his Department has co-ordinated across Government to support flood recovery in Gloucestershire since the 2007 floods. [308137]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Following the flooding of summer 2007, the Government made available a comprehensive package of support for those communities most badly affected. This included Flood Recovery Grant, funding from the Bellwin Scheme, the Restoration Fund and funding for council tax relief, all of which were administered by Communities and Local Government (CLG). The Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) provided funding for schools and children's services and the Department of Transport (DFT) provided funding for repairs to highways and transport infrastructure. Details of the support given to local authorities within Gloucestershire are shown in the following table.
The total package of support to all local authorities in Gloucestershire was £29,137,517.
| Local authority | Support | Amount(£) |
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