ICT
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department are working on G Cloud. [199418]
Mr Hurd: A full-time team of 25 supports the existing G-Cloud and Digital Services frameworks and the new Digital Marketplace, working with and giving advice to Departments to help them get the best from the frameworks.
Museums and Galleries
Helen Goodman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office with reference to the answer of 23 January 2014, Official Report, column 316W, on museums and galleries, what the financial contribution required from each institution in the museums and galleries sector is from the transfer in employers' contributions following the Cabinet Office review of the Civil Service Pension Scheme. [199321]
Mr Maude: Such details would be finalised before any potential transfer of liabilities.
Prostate Cancer
Mr Sheerman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many men have been diagnosed with prostate cancer in each of the last five years. [199035]
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Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Caron Walker, dated June 2014:
On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Health how many men have been diagnosed with prostate cancer in each of the last five years [199035].
The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the year 2011. Table 1 provides the number of newly diagnosed cases of prostate cancer in England, for each year from 2007 to 2011.
Please note that these numbers may not be the same as the number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer, because a man may be diagnosed with more than one primary prostate cancer over time, although this is rare.
The latest published figures on cancer incidence in England are available on the National Statistics website at:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/cancer-statistics-registrations--england--series-mb1-/index.html
| Table 1: Registrations of newly diagnosed cases of prostate cancer,1 England, 2007-112, 3 | |
| Incidence of prostrate cancer | |
| 1 Cancer of the prostate is coded as C61 according to the International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision (ICD-10). 2 Cancer incidence figures are based on newly diagnosed cases registered in each calendar year. 3 Based on geographic boundaries as of May 2014. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS). | |
Oliver Colvile: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people died from prostate cancer in (a) Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport constituency and (b) England in each of the last five years. [199306]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Caron Walker, dated June 2014:
On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many people in (a) Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport constituency and (b) England died from prostate cancer in each of the last five years. (199306)
Table 1 provides the number of deaths where prostate cancer was the underlying cause of death, in (a) Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport parliamentary constituency and (b) England, for deaths registered between 2008 and 2012 (the latest year available).
The number of deaths registered in England and Wales each year by sex, age and underlying cause, are published annually on the ONS website at:
www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition=tcm%3A77-27475
| Table 1: Number of deaths where the underlying cause was prostate cancer in Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport parliamentary constituency and England, deaths registered between 2008 and 20121, 2, 3 | |||||
| Deaths (males) | |||||
| Area of usual residence | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
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| 1 Underlying cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C61 (Malignant neoplasm of prostate). 2 Figures are based on boundaries correct as at May 2014 and exclude non-residents. 3 Figures are based on deaths registered rather than deaths occurring in a calendar year. Further information on registration delays for a range of causes including prostate cancer can be found on the ONS website at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/user-guidance/health-and-life-events/impact-of-registration-delays-on-mortality-statistics/index.html | |||||
Public Sector: Mutual Societies
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will list the mutuals which provide public services. [198921]
Mr Hurd: Information on known operational public service mutuals in England is publically available on the Mutuals Information Service at:
http://www.mutuals.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/interactive-map-public-service-mutuals
Public Sector: Procurement
Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many full-time equivalent staff (a) were employed by, (b) left and (c) joined the Government Procurement Services Commissioning Academy in each quarter since its introduction; how many students passed through the Commissioning Academy in each quarter; and what the average length was of courses taken by those students. [199431]
Mr Hurd: A core Cabinet Office team of 3.5 FTE staff supports the Commissioning Academy.
In total, 231 participants have so far benefited from the programme, comprising:
21 in the first pilot course (June to December 2012);
26 in the second pilot course (November 2012 to April 2013);
67 in wave 1 (June to December 2013);
87 in wave 2 (commencing January 2014 and due to finish in July 2014).
30 participants in the Norfolk Local Commissioning Academy (commencing November 2013 and due to finish in June 2014).
Temporary Employment
Ian Austin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of people on (a) temporary and (b) fixed-term contracts in each of the last four years. [198617]
Mr Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Peter Fullerton, dated June 2014:
On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and
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Skills, asking what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of people on (a) temporary and (b) fixed-term contracts in each of the last four years. (198617)
Estimates of the number of temporary employees by type of job are available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and are published quarterly in a supplementary table associated with the regular Labour Market Statistical Bulletin. Annual averages consistent with the quarterly estimates in the published table are provided for this answer along with the requested proportions. The categorisation used in the table is based on how the survey respondents describe the kind of temporary job they are in and may be subject to a degree of reporting error. It is therefore recommended that the data be viewed in the context of all the available categories.
On the LFS, information about fixed term contracts is only collected for those people who report that their job is temporary. There may be some people on fixed-term contracts who regard their position as permanent. However, no estimates for this are available.
A link to the latest release of the published table is provided as follows:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/may-2014/table-emp07.xls
As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. These are indicated by the guide to quality in the table.
| Temporary employees by type of contract, UK, annual averages | |||||||
| Temporary employees1 | |||||||
| All2 | Fixed period contract | Agency temping | Casual work | Seasonal work | Other | Total employees | |
| 1 Temporary employees are those who say that their main job is non-permanent in one of the ways described in the column headings. 2 Includes a small number of people who did not state their type of temporary work. Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5% we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220 Key: * 0 = CV<5%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered precise ** 5 = CV <10%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 = CV <20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV = 20%—Statistical Robustness: Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes CV = Coefficient of Variation Source: Labour Force Survey, ONS | |||||||
Work and Pensions
Disadvantaged: EU Grants and Loans
Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of a Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived on deprived communities in the UK. [199263]
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Esther McVey: The Government are currently considering the best use of the money. It is therefore too early to assess what impact it might have.
Housing Benefit
Mr Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on housing benefit in (a) Bury St Edmunds, (b) Suffolk and (c) England and Wales in each of the last five years. [198592]
Steve Webb: The information is shown in the following table. Housing benefit expenditure by parliamentary constituency is not available prior to 2011-12.
| Housing benefit spending between 2008-09 and 2012-13 | |||||
| £ million, nominal | |||||
| 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | |
| Note: The figure for England and Wales in 2012-13 is slightly different from that previously published due to inclusion of updated information from some local authorities. Source: Mid-year statistical data and local authority subsidy returns. | |||||
ICT
Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the useful life of IT assets listed in his Department’s annual report and accounts; and whether these will be amortised over a five year period. [199310]
Mike Penning: The following link shows the DWP annual reports and accounts for the financial year 2012-13, which is the latest published information available.
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/264555/dwp-annual-report-accounts-2012-2013.pdf
Jobseeker’s Allowance
Mr Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many claimants who received a benefits sanction are eligible for the 80 per cent hardship payment of their jobseeker's allowance personal entitlement allowance; [198688]
(2) how many claimants who had their benefits sanctioned and received 80 per cent of their jobseeker's allowance personal entitlement allowance (a) appealed and (b) did not appeal against the decision. [198689]
Esther McVey: The information requested is not available.
Pension Credit: Bolton
Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people resident in (a) Bolton North East constituency and (b) Bolton have received pension credit since 2010. [199150]
Steve Webb: Statistics on pension credit are available from 100% data and are published on the Department's website at:
http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/pc/tabtool_pc.html
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Guidance for users is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance
Personal Independence Payment
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions have been held with HM Treasury about changes in costs of administering the personal independence payment assessment process; what the outcomes of those discussions have been; and how they affect the current Spending Review benefits savings target and the proposed cap on benefit expenditure. [199317]
Mike Penning: The costs of administering the PIP assessment process were published in the NAO report in February 2014 and quote the current PIP business case (2013-14):
http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Personal-independence-payment-early-progress.pdf
Forecast expenditure on PIP will be updated at autumn statement. The most recent forecasts were published by the Office for Budget Responsibility following Budget 2014:
http://cdn.budgetresponsibility.org.uk/37839-OBR-Cm-8820-accessible-web-v2.pdf
The Department meets regularly with HM Treasury to discuss progress on all programmes.
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the review of personal independence payment operational systems and problems recommended by the National Audit Office in February 2014 was undertaken; what the outcome of the review was; and when it will be published. [199316]
Mike Penning: We are committed to driving up PIP performance and we are taking action to improve this by working with providers and reviewing DWP internal processes.
We continuously review the initiatives that link to the NAO actions.
Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of current performance towards achieving the target of assessing all current disability living allowance claimants for personal independence payment by 2018; and if he will estimate the potential additional costs in (a) the amount of benefit claimed and (b) the cost of processing claims if the current rate of assessments were to be maintained. [199318]
Mike Penning: We continue to monitor performance in the current phase of reassessment and along with our performance on new claims, this will inform further roll-out plans for natural reassessment.
Our plan is to complete reassessment within our original time scales and budget.
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Separated People: Finance
Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what funding has been paid from the Help and Support for Separated Families (HSSF) Innovation Fund to each of the HSSF projects which signed contracts for delivery in April 2013. [199449]
Steve Webb: All Innovation Fund projects deliver different services and have different timescales. Their agreed payment schedules are considered commercially sensitive and cannot be shared at this time.
Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many organisations hold the Help and Support for Separated Families Mark; and what the total cost to his Department has been of developing, awarding and promoting the mark. [199451]
Steve Webb: 35 organisations currently hold the Help and Support for Separated Families Mark. The total cost for developing, awarding and promoting the Help and Support for Separated Families mark is £136,500.
Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the cost to his Department has been of implementing and evaluating the Help and Support for Separated Families Co-ordinated Telephone Network to date; and what estimate he has made of the future costs of that initiative; [199452]
(2) when the Help and Support for Separated Families Co-ordinated Telephone Network started full operation; and which organisations are taking part. [199450]
Steve Webb: The Help and Support for Separated Families telephone network began full operation in March 2014 and the participating organisations are:
Family Lives;
Relate;
Wikivorce; and
The National Youth Advocacy Service.
£344,000 of awards have been made for the co-ordinated telephony network. £344,000 is the maximum amount payable under the terms of the grant for the period to 31 May 2014. This covers both actual invoices paid to date and amounts not yet billed by suppliers. The evaluation of the telephony network will be carried out in-house.
State Retirement Pensions
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the (a) net and (b) gross administration charges for the national insurance pension scheme were in each of the last 10 years. [199014]
Steve Webb: The Department for Work and Pensions administers the national insurance pension scheme (state retirement pension) and fully recovers its administrative costs from the National Insurance Fund operated by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The net cost to the Department of administering the national insurance pension scheme is therefore zero.
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At the start of each financial year, costs are calculated on the basis of latest work load forecasts and the most recent audited unit costs. The amount to be recovered is then agreed with HMRC.
Costs recovered from the National Insurance Fund in relation to administration costs for the national insurance pension scheme were as follows:
| £ million | |
Prior to 2007, the charge was not calculated on a benefit by benefit basis and therefore we do not hold any details of costs recovered from the National Insurance Fund relating specifically to the national insurance pension scheme.
Unemployed People: Travel
Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will review his Department's policy on issuing travel warrants to rural residents for (a) fortnightly signing-on and (b) other interviews and advisory meetings to take account of the need for such residents to travel further than average to jobcentres. [198988]
Esther McVey: Jobcentre Plus has flexibility to meet the particular needs of claimants living in rural areas.
For example postal signing can be offered and claimants attending interviews on days outside their normal day of attendance can have their travelling expenses reimbursed.
Work Coaches are also able to use the Flexible Support Fund and issue Travel Discount Cards to help claimants with travel expenses.
Universal Credit
Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the value of universal credit assets is; and what changes there were to this value. [199313]
Esther McVey: The value of the universal credit assets is set out in the Department for Work and Pensions annual report and accounts 2012-13. Ref HC20, published in December 2013.
Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many couple claims have been made for universal credit. [199315]
Esther McVey: New claims for universal credit will be made available for couples for the first time, from this summer.
Universal Credit: Warrington
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Warrington North constituency received universal credit at any time since the start of the Warrington pilot; and how many were in receipt of it on 1 April 2014. [199162]
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Esther McVey: The Department published the latest set of experimental Official Statistics on UC on the 14 May 2014 which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics
Statistics covering the periods to the end of March and April 2014 will be published on the 11 June and 16 July 2014 respectively.
Work Programme
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people gaining work through the Work programme have entered self-employment since the inception of that programme. [199396]
Esther McVey: The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Women and Equalities
Business: Females
Helen Goodman: To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities pursuant to the Government Equalities Office press release of 13 May 2014 entitled £1 million to help women start or grow their own business, whether that sum will be drawn from the budget of the Super Connected Cities programme. [199322]
Mr Vaizey: The £1 million Woman and Broadband Challenge Fund is additional to the Super Connected Cities programme. It will support local activity to help women take advantage of the Government’s investment in superfast broadband to set-up or grow their business. The 40 broadband projects in England already delivering the Superfast Broadband programme are invited to submit bids to the fund.
Prime Minister
British Irish Council
Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Prime Minister when he last attended a British-Irish Council summit; and how many such summits he has attended since becoming Prime Minister. [199388]
The Prime Minister: A list of attendees at all British-Irish Council Summits is available on the British-Irish Council website. I have placed a list of UK Government delegates since May 2010 in the Library of the House.
UK Government Delegates at British–Irish Council Summits since May 2010:
Fourteenth Summit–Guernsey–25 June 2010
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland–The Right Honourable Owen Paterson MP
Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change–Mr Charles Hendry MP
Fifteenth Summit–Isle of Man—13 December 2010
Deputy Prime Minister—The Right Honourable Nick Clegg MP
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland—The Right Honourable Owen Paterson MP
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Sixteenth Summit—London—20 June 2011
Deputy Prime Minister—The Right Honourable Nick Clegg MP
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland—The Right Honourable Owen Paterson MP
Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change—Mr Charles Hendry MP
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury—Mr David Gauke MP
Seventeenth Summit—Dublin—13 January 2012
Deputy Prime Minister—The Right Honourable Nick Clegg MP
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland—The Right Honourable Owen Paterson MP
Eighteenth Summit—Scotland—22 June 2012
Secretary of State fro Scotland—The Right Honourable Michael Moore MP
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change—The Right Honourable Edward Davey MP
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland—The Right Honourable Owen Paterson MP
Nineteenth Summit—Cardiff—26 November 2012
Secretary of State for Wales—The Right Honourable David Jones MP
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland—The Right Honourable Theresa Villiers MP
Twentieth Summit—Derry-Londonderry—21 June 2013
Deputy Prime Minister—The Right Honourable Nick Clegg MP
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland—The Right Honourable Theresa Villiers MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department for Energy and Climate Change—Baroness Sandip Verma
Twenty First Summit—Jersey—15 November 2013
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland—The Right Honourable Theresa Villiers MP
Minister of Justice—The Right Honourable Lord McNally
Attorney-General
Offences Against Children
Gareth Johnson: To ask the Attorney-General how many reported cases of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl aged 13 to 16 under section 6 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 were not prosecuted because of the 12 month statute of limitations for that offence in the last (a) year, (b) five years and (c) 10 years. [199041]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold records of the number of cases reported to the police or of the number the police decide not to proceed with. A record is held of the number of cases where the CPS has been asked to make a charging decision and the decision made; either to charge or take no further action.
However, no central records of the alleged offence(s) considered at the pre-charge decision are held by the CPS. To obtain details of the number of allegations of unlawful sexual intercourse offences considered and those which do not proceed, either by way of decision to take no further action or discontinuance following charge, due to the 12-month Statute of Limitations would require a manual exercise of reviewing individual case files to be undertaken at a disproportionate cost.
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Communities and Local Government
Accommodation Agencies
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what estimate he has made of the costs to local authorities of proposals to extend fines on letting agents who fail to publish their fees tariff in full; [199070]
(2) what representations he has received from local authorities about the extension of fines to letting agents who fail to publish their fees tariff in full; [199071]
(3) what consultation he has had with local authorities about the extension of fines to letting agents who fail to publish their fees tariff in full. [199072]
Kris Hopkins: Requiring letting agents to be transparent about their fees will prevent the small minority of rogue agents from imposing unreasonable, hidden charges. This common sense approach avoids excessive state regulation which would just push up rents for tenants. This and mandatory membership of redress schemes will give local authorities the tools they need to weed out the cowboys that give agents a bad name; and drive up standards.
We have not received particular representations from local authorities on this issue. We will undertake a New Burdens assessment in due course in the usual way.
Housing: Construction
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what account he takes of local referendums on the desirability of specific sites being allocated to new housing. [198539]
Nick Boles: This coalition Government have given communities radical new rights to plan for their areas, deliver the development they want and control their future. Over 1,000 communities have applied for a neighbourhood planning area to be designated, and neighbourhood plans are receiving overwhelming support through local referendums. So far, we have had 17 successful referendums on neighbourhood plans.
A neighbourhood plan (including any specific sites within it) which has been supported by the majority of those voting in a referendum can form the basis for decisions on development in the local area.
A neighbourhood development order, if endorsed by a local referendum, can also grant permission for specified developments in a neighbourhood area.
Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if his Department will provide incentives to developers to ensure that new homes planned for construction in 2014-15 will be (a) wheelchair accessible and (b) built to lifetime homes standards. [199265]
Stephen Williams:
Part M of the Building Regulations set minimum access standards for new homes. The Government plans to introduce an optional level of accessibility above these minimum access standards which will set out criteria for age friendly, accessible and
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adaptable standards. The Government also plan to set out within Part M an optional standard which will set out criteria related to the specific needs of wheelchair adaptable and accessible housing.
Furthermore, the National Planning Policy Framework already sets out that Local Plans should take into account the current and future needs of range of households including older and disabled people.
This combination of Building Regulations and national planning policy sets a robust framework to promote adaptable and accessible housing.
Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many houses built in each of the last five years are (a) wheelchair accessible and (b) built to lifetime homes standards. [199276]
Stephen Williams: DCLG does not collect information on the number of wheelchair-accessible or lifetime homes standard properties built each year.
Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent estimate he has made of the demand for (a) homes built to lifetime home standards and (b) wheelchair accessible homes. [199278]
Stephen Williams: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not hold information on the overall demand for lifetime homes or wheelchair-accessible properties in the UK.
While the Department’s English Housing Survey does ask respondents whether their current accommodation requires adaptations given their disability or long standing illness, these questions do not ask specifically about wheelchair accessibility. It is therefore not possible to estimate demand for wheelchair accessible properties in England using this data source.
Estimates using the English Housing Survey show there to be around 1.1 million wheelchair-accessible homes in England, equating to 5% of the dwelling stock. Data reported by social landlords, in England, shows that around 1% (2,700 of 240,000 general needs lettings) of tenants taking up a social letting in 2011-12 identified their household as needing wheelchair accessible housing (source: The Continuous Recording of Lettings and Sales of Social Housing in England).
Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans his Department has to ensure accessible housing, meeting internationally recognised visitability standards, for people who become disabled in 2014-15; and if he will make a statement. [199287]
Stephen Williams: The Approved Document to Part M (Access to and use of buildings) of the Building Regulations already includes key criteria for visitability including requiring reasonable provision for level or gently sloping entrances, level thresholds, minimum entrance door widths and circulation in the entrance storey, and provision of an entrance level WC.
Mr Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many houses not compliant with Part M building regulations were built (a) in the last two years and (b) since 2010. [199291]
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Stephen Williams: My Department does not hold the information requested.
Building control bodies (local authorities or private sector approved inspectors) assess new dwellings for compliance with the requirements of the Building Regulations, including Part M, at both plans stage and throughout the course of building work on site. If at any stage the building control body considers that a new dwelling would not be compliant on completion it will give the person carrying out the work advice and guidance on what is needed to make the dwelling compliant and a warning that a failure to comply might result in formal enforcement action. In almost all cases this is sufficient to achieve compliance. At the completion of work, if the work complies, the building control body will give a compliance certificate.
Housing: Prices
Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average house price was in (a) Liverpool, (b) the North West and (c) England in each year since 1994. [198912]
Kris Hopkins: Statistics on average house price in Liverpool and England are published in the Department’s live tables 581 (mean, quarterly), 582 (median, quarterly), 585 (mean, annually) and 586 (median, annually) which are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-housing-market-and-house-prices
As outlined in the written ministerial statement of 18 September 2012, Official Report, column 32WS, my Department no longer publishes statistics by government office region.
Housing: Sales
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what criteria his Department uses to assess the saleability of new houses when determining the potential for five-year housing supply. [198538]
Nick Boles: The National Planning Policy Framework requires local authorities to identify and update annually a supply of specific, deliverable sites sufficient to provide five years worth of housing against their housing requirements with an additional buffer of 5% (moved forward from later in the plan period) to ensure choice and competition in the market for land.
Footnote 11 of the framework sets out that, to be considered deliverable, sites should be available now, offer a suitable location for development now, and be
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achievable with a realistic prospect that housing will be delivered on the site within five years and in particular that development of the site is viable. Further guidance on viability is available at:
http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/viability-guidance/
Housing: Warrington
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average rent is for (a) privately rented homes and (b) new homes built under the Affordable Homes Programme in (i) Warrington and (ii) Warrington North constituency. [199161]
Kris Hopkins: The information is not held centrally.
Tenancy Deposit Schemes
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding each tenancy deposit protection scheme has received from the Government in each of the last 10 years. [199073]
Kris Hopkins: The tenancy deposit protection schemes are operated by private companies under service concession agreements with my Department. All the schemes are designed to be self-financing.
The service concession agreement that was agreed by the previous Administration with the custodial tenancy deposit protection scheme contained a guarantee that the Government would meet any shortfall arising if approved fees were not covered by the interest on deposits held.
As a result of the low interest rates that emerged due to the financial turmoil in 2008 and 2009, this agreement left the Government—i.e. taxpayers—liable for a shortfall under that guarantee which was estimated to reach over £30 million by the end of the contract in 2012.
In May 2010, the coalition Government inherited this unacceptable situation and looming liabilities. As outlined by the Minister without Portfolio, my right hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps), on 19 July 2011, Official Report, column 828W, following extensive negotiations in summer 2010, the guarantee and all associated liabilities were removed as part of a revised agreement which also incorporated a payment of £12.7 million and a four-year extension of the original agreement.
This is the only payment which has been made by Government to any of the tenancy deposit protection schemes.