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9 Feb 2010 : Column 877W—continued
Fire Services: West Midlands
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he expects the FiReControl project in the West Midlands to be operational. [316587]
Mr. Malik: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) on 14 December 2009, Official Report, columns 899W.
Hamas: Internet
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the effects of Hamas's al-Fatah website for children on levels of community cohesion in the UK. [309798]
Mr. Malik: The Department of Communities and Local Government has made no assessment of the effects of Hamas's al Fatah website for children on levels of community cohesion in the UK.
On a wider note, last year Government launched the cross-government Hate Crime Action Plan (HCAP) which includes our Internet Hate Crime Action Plan. This will make it easier to report incitement to hatred that happens over the internet and improve our responses by updating systems and policies. That said, any criminal content, including incitement to hatred under the Public Order Act, should be reported to the local police who would be able to gather evidence of any offences and where appropriate, provide this to the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration of any proceedings.
Home Information Packs
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his most recent estimate is of the average price of a home information pack; and if he will make a statement. [316029]
John Healey: The cost of a home information pack (HIP) is set by the market and the Government have no role in this. However, industry reports indicate that the average cost of a HIP is currently between £200 and £300 (excluding VAT).
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of home information packs produced in (a) November 2009, (b) December 2009 and (c) January 2010. [316030]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Department does not have a record of the number of HIPs produced.
Homes and Communities Agency
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the main responsibilities are of the (a) Decent Homes and Mixed Communities, (b) Growth, (c) Gypsy and Traveller Site Grant, (d) Housing Market Renewal, (e) Thames Gateway Delivery, (f) Place of Change and (g) Vulnerable People division of the Homes and Communities Agency; and if he will make a statement. [316482]
John Healey: The items listed in the question equate to HCA programmes. Divisions do not directly match these titles.
For items (a) to (f), Annex 1 of HCA's Corporate plan describes the individual programmes being run by the HCA, together with an indication of the resources allocated to them and what the delivery priorities are. The Corporate plan is available at:
In respect of Vulnerable People, the Place of Change and Gypsy and Traveller Site Grant programmes, these are specifically targeted at vulnerable people. The HCA also seeks to support vulnerable and older people through its more general programmes such as the National Affordable Housing programme, which covers both general needs and specialised and supported housing, and the Property and Regeneration programme.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the salary was of each of the Homes and Communities Agency's regional directors in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10. [316483]
John Healey: The salaries for each regional director for 2008-09 can be found in the agency's 2008-09 annual report. The salaries for 2009-10 will be detailed in the 2009-10 annual report.
Housing
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Government has provided for the First Time Buyers' Initiative to date; and how much will be provided in each of the next three years. [315662]
John Healey: Total spend on the First Time Buyers Initiative to the end of January 2010 was £224 million. Information on future spend will be available in due course.
Housing: Construction
Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many housing starts for housing of each type of tenure there were in (a) the City of Manchester and (b) Manchester Central constituency in the latest period for which figures are available. [316655]
Mr. Ian Austin: There were 409 housing starts in the City of Manchester in the 12 months up to September 2009. Data is not available for tenure types or for parliamentary constituencies.
Housing: Energy
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what percentage of properties entered onto the domestic Energy Performance Certificate database to date have had an energy rating of more than 450. [315661]
John Healey: Domestic Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) provide a rating for the energy performance of a building in the form of a rating from A to G using a scale of 1-100. It is not possible for a dwelling to have a rating of more than 100 and therefore, none of the properties that have had an EPC lodged on the Domestic EPC Register have been given an EPC rating of more than 450.
Housing: Fire Safety
Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2009, Official Report, column 782W, on fires: elderly, what plans his Department has (a) to increase the use of suppression systems to enhance fire safety in domestic dwellings, (b) to measure the effectiveness of smoke alarms for people with limited mobility and (c) to assess the merits of fire suppression systems in increasing fire safety in domestic dwellings for people with limited mobility. [315514]
Mr. Malik: The Government are committed to reducing fire deaths. The installation of properly maintained smoke alarms in every household has been the centrepiece of our efforts to reduce fire deaths as they provide the vital early warning of fire and help people to escape. Smoke alarms can help save lives regardless of age or mobility.
Our view is that sprinklers can be an effective risk mitigation measure, particularly where their provision is targeted at buildings where the occupants are most at risk from fire. However, they are not a panacea and it is important they are considered as part of a package of measures, both active (e.g. smoke alarms) and passive (fire resistant construction materials and compartmentation) and effective building management.
The latest edition of Approved Document B, which gives guidance on compliance with the fire safety aspects of Building Regulations, came into effect in April 2007. The extensive review that preceded the development of this new guidance considered a four year research project looking at the issue of residential and domestic sprinklers from both an effectiveness and cost benefit perspective. The review, which included public consultation, concluded that it would not be cost effective to provide sprinklers in all new homes. We do not intend revisiting Part B of the Building Regulations again until 2013 at the earliest.
A major barrier to the wider use of sprinklers in the domestic market is that they are expensive. The Government are therefore trialling a lower-cost sprinkler system in new build and existing housing in four fire and rescue authority areas to resolve any technical issues and test cost assumptions. If these pilots are successful, we will have demonstrated that a lower-cost system could have a crucial role to play in helping to protect the most vulnerable from fire, including for people with limited mobility.
Housing: Owner Occupation
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many owner-occupiers owned their home (a) outright and (b) with a mortgage in each of the last 30 years. [315041]
Mr. Ian Austin: Estimates of the number of owner occupiers that owned their home outright and that were buying with a mortgage are provided in table S1O1 Trends in Tenure on the CLG website at:
The table contains estimates for 1981, 1984, and 1988 and for each year from 1991 to 2008; estimates for other years are not available. The 1981 to 1991 estimates are based on data from the DOE Labour Force Survey Housing trailer, and estimates from 1992 to 2008 on data from the ONS Labour Force Survey.
Housing: Standards
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many arm's length management organisations received funding from the Decent Homes scheme in each of the last three years; and how many such organisations he expects to receive such funding in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11. [315779]
Mr. Ian Austin: The following table sets out the number of local authorities that have received funding for their ALMOs in the four financial years 2006-07 to 2009-10 and the number of local authorities that will receive funding in 2010-11:
| Number of LAs | |
Local Government: Birmingham
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions he has had with representatives of Birmingham city council on the effects of trends in Government funding on (a) the provision of services by and (b) employment within the Council; and if he will make a statement. [314732]
Ms Rosie Winterton: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no recent discussions with representatives of Birmingham city council on the effects of trends in Government funding. We have recently confirmed our commitment to the first ever three year settlement for local government. This has provided the city council with the increased predictability and stability of funding necessary to continue to improve local services. We have provided councils overall with significant additional Government investment since taking office, with a 39 per cent. real terms increase in funding in the first 10 years and an additional £8.6 billion over the period covered by the current spending review.
The following table sets out the Formula Grant(1) increases that Birmingham city council have received under this Government:
(1) Formula Grant comprises Revenue Support Grant, redistributed business rates, principal formula Police Grant, SSA Reduction Grant (SSA Review), SSA Reduction Grant (Police Funding Review) and Central Support Protection Grant where appropriate.
| Prior year's adjusted formula grant (£ million) | Formula Grant (£ million) | C hange (£ million) | Change( 1) (percentage) | |
| (1) The prior year's formula grant is adjusted for changes in function and funding to enable a like-for-like comparison. (2) Prior to 2006-07 support for schools was paid through formula grant. In 2006-07 funding for schools transferred to the Dedicated Schools Grant. | ||||
A written statement on the level of funding for local authorities for 2010-11 was made to the House on 26 November 2009. This was then followed by a consultation period which ended on 6 January 2010, during which local authorities were invited to submit their representations about the Government's proposals. During this consultation period, no representation on the provision of funding for services was received from Birmingham city council.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has however, previously written to the chair of Birmingham's Local Strategic Partnership regarding his concerns over the pace of the delivery of Birmingham's Working Neighbourhood Fund (WNF) programmes. I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 4 February 2010, Official Report, column 531W.
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