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9 Feb 2010 : Column 874W—continued
"Waste Management: Guidance for Improving Services: Learning from Inspection, 2001"
Current Audit Commission internal guidance for staff
Waste management quick guide August 2007
Draft letter to local authorities on controlled waste regulations guidance
Empty Property
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties in each local authority area have been empty for over a year; and how many empty dwelling management orders have been (a) issued and (b) concluded in respect of such properties. [316492]
Mr. Ian Austin: Estimates of the total number of homes empty for more than six months in each local authority will be made available in the House Libraries.
Empty dwelling management orders should only be considered as a last resort, where all other measures of investigation and negotiation have been exhausted and the local authority has been unable to persuade the owner to bring the property back into use. To date, 27 interim empty dwelling management orders have been approved by the Residential Property Tribunal Service since the legislation came into effect in April 2006. Local authorities do not need any further approval to make final empty dwelling management orders. However, local authorities claim that in many cases the threat of an EDMO has been sufficient to make owners take action to bring long-term empty homes back into use.
Empty Property: South East
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many empty properties there were in each local authority area in the South East of England in each year since 2004. [316057]
Barbara Follett: A table giving details of the total number of empty residential properties in each authority in all billing authorities in England, in each year since 2004, has been placed in the Library of the House.
Data on the number of empty residential properties are as reported on the Council Tax Base (CTB) and CTB (Supplementary) forms completed by all the billing authorities in England as at a specified date in October each year (November 1 for 2004).
The data include both long-term and short term empty properties. Data across years and across authorities are not strictly comparable as the rules governing the definition of a short term empty property can vary between authority and year.
The Department is planning to publish Experimental Official Statistics in February on the number of hereditaments benefiting from Small Business Rate Relief and the number of empty hereditaments. This statistical release will provide a national estimate for the number of empty non-domestic properties in England.
Fire Service College: Empty Property
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) book value and (b) estimated annual rental value is of vacant residential properties owned by the Fire Service college. [315969]
Mr. Malik: The book value of Fire Service college residential properties currently vacant is £1,362,256 based on open market valuations as of March 2009. The estimated total annual rental value for those properties is £67,872.
Fire Service Independent Review
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which recommendations of the Bain Report on the future of the fire service (a) have and (b) have not been implemented. [312039]
Mr. Malik: All the recommendations of the Bain Review of the fire and rescue service which were the responsibility of the Government have been implemented, either fully or substantively. The details are set out in a table which has been deposited in the Library of the House.
Fire Services
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many fire stations were in operation in each local authority area in (a) 1997 and (b) the latest period for which figures are available. [312037]
Mr. Malik: The number of fire stations that were in operation in each local authority in (a) 1997 and (b) the latest period for which figures are available (2009) are illustrated in the following table.
Please note that figures for 1997 were reported for the calendar year, while the latest available figures refer to the 2008-09 financial year.
Fire Services: Finance
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his most recent estimate is of the transition cost of the FiReControl project. [316627]
Mr. Malik: The Department is meeting the full cost of the transition to FiReControl. The estimated full cost is £420 million.
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the financial consequences for individual fire and rescue services in transferring control capabilities to regional fire control centres. [316631]
Mr. Malik: No Fire and Rescue Authority will bear any additional cost as a result of FiReControl implementation. Once the new network is established, 21 Fire and Rescue Authorities are expected to make savings, which can be reinvested in local priorities and frontline services. National government will support those Fire and Rescue Authorities which do not make a saving directly through FiReControl payments totalling £8.2 million annually once the network is up and running.
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the total cost is of the FiReControl project (a) nationally and (b) in the West Midlands. [316632]
Mr. Malik: The estimated total cost of the FiReControl project is (a) £420 million and (b) I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 10 December 2009, Official Report, columns 585-86W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell).
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