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2 Mar 2010 : Column 1156W—continued
Regional European Offices
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2010, Official Report, column 1128W, on regional European offices, whether the Audit Commission has a role in auditing the finances of the (a) regional leaders boards and regional assemblies in England outside London and (b) regional European offices in Brussels. [319011]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 2 March 2010:
Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply.
The Audit Commission has been appointed by 4NW (the North West Regional Assembly) to audit its accounts. The necessary consent of the Secretary of State was received under section 29 of the Audit Commission Act 1998.
We previously audited the accounts of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Assembly up to, and including, 2008/09. Again the necessary consent was obtained.
In both instances the Commission was approached by the relevant Regional Assembly, as the financial management of the bodies was carried out by local authorities, to which the Commission is required to make an auditor appointment under the Audit Commission Act 1998.
The Commission does not audit the finances of Regional Leaders Boards or Regional European Offices in Brussels.
A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.
Regional Planning and Development: Thames Gateway
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much the Homes and Communities Agency spent on the Thames Gateway project in each of the last three years; [318716]
(2) which public bodies received funding from the Thames Gateway Fund in each of the last three years; and how much was paid to each organisation in each of those years; [318721]
(3) how much was paid to (a) the South East England Development Agency and (b) the East of England Development Agency by the Thames Gateway Fund in each of the last three years; [318724]
(4) how much was paid to local authorities by the Thames Gateway Fund in each of the last three years; [318725]
(5) how much was received by the Homes and Communities Agency from the Thames Gateway Fund in each of the last three years. [318727]
Mr. Malik: The Thames Gateway programme is set out in the Thames Gateway delivery plan published in November 2007. Until 30 November 2008 the programme was administered by the Thames Gateway Executive in Communities and Local Government. From 1 December 2008, the programme was transferred to the Homes and Communities Agency, although grant in aid for the two Thames Gateway urban development corporations continues to be paid out by Communities and Local Government.
The development corporations, local authorities, regional development agencies and other public bodies that have received Thames Gateway funding in the three years 2007-08, 2008-09, and 2009-10, together with the amounts, are:
Rented Housing: Empty Property
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) local authority-owned, (b) registered social landlord-managed and (c) privately-owned homes were empty for more than six months in each of the last 10 years; how many and what proportion of privately-owned homes in each local authority area were empty in each of the last 10 years; how many privately-owned homes were returned to habitation in each of the last 10 years; how many Empty Homes Management orders have been (i) applied for and (ii) completed since such orders were introduced; what discussions he has had with the Empty Homes Agency on its proposals for a homesteading scheme; what assessment he has made of the likely effectiveness of the introduction of such a scheme in reducing the number of empty homes; what estimate he has made of the cost of such a scheme in its first 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [318527]
Mr. Ian Austin:
Information on the number of (a) local authority-owned homes that were empty for more than six months and (c) privately-owned homes that were empty for more than six months in each of the last 10 years can be found in the tables published on the Local Authority Housing Strategy and Business Plan Data page of the Communities and Local Government website at the following link. These tables present data collected in the annual Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) and Business Planning Statistical
Appendix (BPSA). Figures for some years, including 2009, may be unavailable due to changes in the format and detail of the forms used to collect these data.
Information on the number and proportion of privately-owned homes in each local authority area that were empty in each of the last 10 years can also be found in the HSSA-based tables at the same link. Figures for some years, including 2009, may be unavailable due to changes in the format and detail of the forms used to collect these data.
These data can only be collated and presented in a single set of tables and provided in the answer to this parliamentary question at disproportionate cost.
Information on (b) the number of registered social landlord-managed homes that were empty for more than six months in each of the last 10 years, and homes that were empty for more than six months in each of the last 10 years and on the number of privately-owned homes that were returned to habitation in each of the last 10 years is not held centrally.
To date, 29 Interim Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs) have been approved by the Residential Property Tribunal Service (RPTS) since the legislation came into effect in April 2006. Information on the number of Empty Dwelling Management Orders applied for is not held centrally.
My right hon. Friend the Minister for Housing met with the Empty Homes Agency on 2 September 2009 and discussed a range of issues including homesteading but no formal proposals have been submitted.
Sleeping Rough
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what methodology his Department has approved for conducting rough sleeping counts. [319236]
Mr. Ian Austin: Local authorities evaluate the extent of rough sleeping within their area in accordance with the methodology on street counts set out in the Department's "Guidance on Evaluating the Extent of Rough Sleeping-2007 Revision," which was developed in conjunction with the voluntary sector. This guidance gives the following definition of rough sleepers:
"People sleeping, or bedded down, in the open air (such as on the streets, or in doorways, parks or bus shelters); people in buildings or other places not designed for habitation (such as barns, sheds, car parks, cars, derelict boats, stations, or "bashes").
In 1998 there were estimated to be 1,850 rough sleepers in England. 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.
Social Rented Housing: Registration
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes are recorded on the National Register of Social Housing; what proportion of (a) council housing and (b) housing association housing is on the register; and what targets the Tenant Services Authority has to increase the quantity of data held on the register. [319299]
Mr. Ian Austin: The total number of dwellings recorded on the National Register of Social Housing (NROSH) is 4.2 million.
The proportion of council (local authority) housing recorded on NROSH is 95 per cent. The proportion of housing association (registered social landlord) housing recorded on NROSH is 96 per cent.
The Tenants Services Authority's target, inherited from the Housing Corporation, is for all NROSH priority data fields to be populated by 31 March 2010.
Social Rented Housing: Rents
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for the implementation of his Department's policy of rents convergence between local authority and housing association tenants. [319234]
John Healey: There is no fixed date established for convergence.
Social Rented Housing: Tenure
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what research on social housing tenure has been commissioned by his Department and its agencies in the last 36 months; and what such research has been completed; [319042]
(2) what research (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have conducted in relation to social housing rents since 2005; [319325]
(3) what research (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have conducted on social housing tenure, tenure eligibility and tenure security since 2005. [319326]
Mr. Ian Austin: Details of research projects commissioned by Communities and Local Government and its predecessors are available from our research database (RD) at
The database provides information on projects going back to 30 November 2001. This includes the subject, contractor and cost and publication date of each research commission.
Social Rented Housing: Waiting Lists
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) individuals and (b) households were on social housing waiting lists in England in (i) April 1997 and (ii) the latest period for which figures are available. [319228]
John Healey: Information is available on numbers of households rather than people or families. The number of households registered on social housing waiting lists in each local authority, each region, and in England, as at 1 April each year from 1997 to 2009, is published on the Communities and Local Government website in Table 600. The link for this table is given as follows:
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