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21 Jan 2010 : Column 474W—continued
Warm Front Scheme: Derbyshire
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households in (a) Chesterfield and (b) Derbyshire have received grants under the Warm Front Scheme in each year since the inception of the scheme. [311382]
Mr. Kidney: The following table shows the number of households which have received grants under the Warm Front Scheme in (a) Chesterfield and (b) Derbyshire each year since the beginning of the current phase of the Scheme in 2005. Figures prior to 2005 are unavailable. The current Scheme manager did not manage the Scheme in these areas at this time, as such, the data retained are not sufficient to provide a consolidated response.
| Chesterfield | Derbyshire | |
| (1) Up to 31 December 2009. | ||
Warm Front Scheme: Disabled
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change for what reasons he decided that households with no eligible adults but with children in receipt of disability living allowance would not be eligible for assistance under the Warm Front scheme. [311649]
Mr. Kidney: To be eligible for the Scheme the applicant or their spouse must be a homeowner or tenant in the private sector and in receipt of a qualifying disability or income related benefit.
The current criteria have been selected because they offer a practical way of assessing the likelihood of a household being at risk of fuel poverty. Although this method is by no means perfect, other methods considered were judged to be either less accurate at reaching target vulnerable groups or prohibitively expensive to administer.
Communities and Local Government
Affordable Housing: Lewes
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has to increase the number of dwellings available for low-cost home ownership in Lewes constituency. [311169]
John Healey: Increasing affordable housing is a priority for Government and we have substantially increased funding for this through The National Affordable Housing Programme, delivered through the Homes and Communities Agency. Most recently a substantial part of the extra £1.5 billion Housing Pledge set out in June 2009 is for additional affordable housing.
It is for local authorities and their partners to seek funding for suitable good value-for money-schemes. Registered social landlords working in Lewes have been successful in bids for almost £1.8 million in the current three year period to build 60 low-cost home ownership properties. This is in addition to almost £6 million provided to build new affordable homes for rent.
Air Conditioning
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what assessment he has made of the level of compliance with the requirement for all air conditioning systems over 250kW to be inspected under the terms of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive by 4 January 2009; and if he will make a statement; [310923]
(2) what assessment he has made of the level of compliance in Government buildings with the requirement under the terms of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive for air conditioning systems over 250kW to be inspected by 4 January 2009; and if he will make a statement. [310924]
John Healey: This information is not held centrally.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to require all mandatory air conditioning systems reports to be logged on a central database; and if he will make a statement. [310925]
John Healey: We intend to consult in due course on whether to make it mandatory to lodge air conditioning reports on the National Register.
Community Relations
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what datasets are being collected under his Departmental Strategic Objective Indicator 4.4, on the extent to which domestic communities, particularly Muslim communities, reject and condemn violent extremism; what the methodology is for collecting data for this indicator; what targets have been set for it; and what the baseline is. [311813]
Mr. Malik: The Citizenship Survey already provides data to measure across our DSO 4. We are continuing to explore ways to measure DSO 4.4 in a manner which ensures a robust indicator for which data quality standards are met. No targets or baselines have been set as yet for DSO 4.4.
Community Relations: Finance
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to page 13 of his Department's Resource Accounts 2008-09, HC 449, whether any delays in awarding grants under new Prevent grant programmes came from (a) potential applicants not having satisfied appropriate checks and (b) the time taken to perform appropriate checks; and which body undertook the checks on grant recipients. [311531]
Mr. Malik: Organisations that apply to the Community Leadership Fund (CLF) for funding are subject to an assessment process, which includes evaluation of proposals against published criteria and the suitability of organisations to deliver their proposals through financial and background checks. Agreement to fund organisations is also subject to ministerial approval.
Delays did not arise from potential applicants not having satisfied appropriate checks, but the assessment process took longer than expected due to the volume of applications received-approximately three months, from closing date to obtaining ministerial approval. This resulted in some payments not being made to organisations before the end of the financial year.
Departmental Consultants
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has paid PA Consulting for services relating to the FiReControl project; and whether a proportion of such payments included bonus payments for meeting targets. [312026]
Mr. Malik: Between April 2004 and December 2009 we have paid PA Consulting £37 million for consultancy services in relation to FiReControl. PA Consultancy invoice us for the number of days their consultants work on the project in line with the contract terms and conditions. No bonus payments are made by the Department.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to his Department's press release of 6 January 2010, on new faith advisers, what consideration he gave to appointing a representative of the Roman Catholic Church as an adviser. [311797]
Mr. Malik: The new panel of expert advisers on faith is not a representative body and there is therefore no requirement for it to include representatives of any denomination or faith. The Faith Communities Consultative Council which I jointly chair continues to be the main representative forum for consultation between Government and faith communities. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales is represented on the Council.
Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department has provided guidance to local authorities on the use of stop notice powers in respect of (a) illegal dumping of material from an unauthorised traveller site and (b) the stationing of a caravan which is used as a residence. [312027]
Mr. Malik: Local authorities have powers under the 'Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005' that enables them to remove fly-tipped waste and upon conviction to recover costs from those who deposited the waste, or allowed it to be illegally dumped.
The Government have published guidance setting out the powers available to local authorities when tackling unauthorised developments. The 'Guide to Effective Use of Enforcement Powers-Part 2: Unauthorised Development of Caravan Sites' is available on the Department's website at:
Empty Property: Chelmsford
Mr. Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of empty (a) residential and (b) commercial properties in (i) West Chelmsford constituency and (ii) Chelmsford local authority area in the last five years for which figures are available. [312481]
Barbara Follett: The number of empty residential properties in the Chelmsford local authority area in 2005 to 2009 are shown in the following table:
| Number | |
The data are both short-term and long-term empty dwellings as reported annually by all billing authorities in England in October of the year. Data are not available at a constituency level.
No estimates of empty non-domestic properties have been published.
Fabian Society
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library a copy of the speech given by the Minister for Housing and Planning to the Fabian Society on 9 December 2009. [311547]
John Healey: A copy of my speech is available on the Fabian Society website at:
Fire Prevention: Construction
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 8 December 2009, Official Report, column 302W, on fires, if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of the meetings of (a) 13 October, (b) 1 December and (c) 3 December 2009. [311845]
Mr. Malik: The minutes of the joint meeting with Business and Community Safety Forum and the Practitioners' Forum on 13 October 2009 will be placed in the Library as soon as they have been formally agreed by the respective forums.
Minutes were not taken for either the private meeting between myself and the Chief Fire Officers Association Presidential Team on 1 December 2009, or for the meeting which my officials facilitated with representatives from the fire service, local authority building control bodies, Association of Consultant Approved Inspectors and the Health and Safety Executive on 3 December 2009.
Fire Services
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) original timetable was and (b) the latest timetable is for the (i) Firelink, (ii) FireBuy Integrated Clothing and (iii) FiREControl project. [311626]
Mr. Malik: The ministerial announcement of the Firelink project was made in May 2002 with completion scheduled December 2007. Subsequently the contract was awarded in March 2006 and roll-out to fire service vehicles commenced in November 2008, with completion revised to March 2010.
The original timetable of the Integrated Clothing Project was for FireBuy to let the contract by December 2006. The purchase only part of the contract was signed in November 2007 and the fully managed service option was signed in May 2008.
The original go-live timetable for the FiReControl project was to complete in December 2007 in line with the Firelink project. The current estimated go-live date is May 2011.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library a copy of the intervention protocol prepared by the Secretary of State under section 23 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. [311800]
Mr. Malik: On 19 February 2003 Government and the Local Government Association signed a protocol: 'Central Government Engagement and Intervention in Poorly Performing Authorities'. Pages 10 and 11 of the current Fire and Rescue Services National Framework says this protocol meets the requirement of section 23 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004. I have arranged for a copy of the 2003 protocol to be placed in the Library.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment has been made of the effects on the number of fire (a) stations and (b) appliances at each location of the repeal of section 19 (4) of the Fire Services Act 1947, requiring a fire authority to obtain the prior consent of the Secretary of State for the closure of a fire station and reductions in the number of fire appliances. [312036]
Mr. Malik: The repeal of Section 19 of the Fire Services Act 1947 was an essential element of the move to integrated risk management planning (IRMP), under which local fire and rescue authorities (FRAs) and local communities are able to make appropriate decisions at the local level.
The numbers of fire (a) stations and (b) appliances are provided to the Department in annual data returns by Fire and Rescue Services in England. Figures since 2003-04 are collected and are shown in the following table.
No assessment has been made by this Department of the direct effects on the number of fire stations and fire appliances of the repeal of section 19(4) of the 1947 Act, although the Audit Commission takes account of individual FRAs' IRMP-under which decisions on the number and location of stations and appliances are made-in drawing up annual assessments as part of the comprehensive area assessment.
| Numbers of fire stations and fire appliances, England | |||||||
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | ||
| (1.) Whole time and retained. (2) Includes aerials and special appliances. Source: Annual Returns to Communities and Local Government | |||||||
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