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23 Jan 2009 : Column WA237
23 Jan 2009 : Column WA237
23 Jan 2009 : Column WA237
Friday 23 January 2009
Elections: Local Government
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many seats there were in England on principal councils in each of the past 10 years; and how many there will be after the local elections in June. [HL610]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): The information requested is as follows:
| Election Date | Number of principal local councils | Total number of councillors on English Principal Local Authorities |
The 2008 figure includes 81 and 72 seats for the shadow councils of Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester respectively.
The June 2009 figure reflects the expectation that, following reviews by the Electoral Commission, the 2009 local elections for Shropshire and Wiltshire Councils will be on the basis of 74 and 98 seats respectively.
While the Electoral Commission is currently consulting on its proposal of 123 seats for the new Cornwall Council, the 2009 figure in the table reflects the current 82 seats for Cornwall County Council. We are taking soundings of those affected in Cornwall as to when and on what basis the 2009 local elections in Cornwall should be held.
The 2009 figure also include the 37 seats for Bedford Borough and the 66 seats for Central Bedfordshire, on which basis the June elections will take place as provided for in the Bedfordshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008—SI 2008/907.
23 Jan 2009 : Column WA238
Flooding
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government following the flooding in July 2007, how much was paid from the Pitt fund and from other budgets to (a) local authorities; (b) individual property owners; and (c) various organisations, as set out in the Government's response to Sir Michael Pitt's review, published in December 2008. [HL612]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): Following the 2007 summer floods the Government made available a comprehensive package of over £136 million to assist the affected regions and help those in greatest need, including funding for schools, transport and businesses.
As set out in the Government's response to Sir Michael Pitt's review, published in December 2008, the Government set aside £34.5 million of the £2.15 billion total for flood and coastal erosion in this year and the following two years to implement Sir Michael Pitt's review. Other budgets available for flood risk management activity bring a total investment of over £60 million for delivering the recommendations.
Annexe B of the Government's response to Sir Michael Pitt's review of the summer 2007 floods contains a complete breakdown of funding. The document can be viewed at www.defra.gov.uk/environ/fcd/floods07/Govtresptopitt.pdf.
Housing
Question
Asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Andrews on 18 December 2008 (WA 67), what is the economic case for selling existing social housing units at market value less discount and replacing them with units built at current market cost. [HL629]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): The value of the discount offered on sales of social dwellings is less than the cost of continuing to let those units at sub-market rents for the lifetime of the tenancies. Proceeds from sales are reinvested to supply new affordable housing units sooner than they would otherwise have become available. This reduces the cost of supporting households that would otherwise have been housed in temporary accommodation and the private rented sector (where rents and housing benefit payments are typically higher).
Housing: Market Renewal Pathfinders
Questions
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much has been allocated to each housing market renewal pathfinder project in each year since its introduction; and what provisional allocations have been made for future years. [HL607]
23 Jan 2009 : Column WA239
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): HMR pathfinder allocations are given in the table below to 2008-09. For 2009-11, a new HMR programme will be set up by the Homes
23 Jan 2009 : Column WA240
| Total pathfinder funding 2002-09 (£m) | ||||||||
| Preparation | Early actions | First implementation agreements | Announced allocations | |||||
| Pathfinder | 2002-04 | 2003-04 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
- ** The three wider lower demand areas. For 2008-11 the allocation for South Yorkshire includes an allocation of £12 million over the three years for HMR activity in the SE Wakefield housing market area of West Yorkshire.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much has been allocated and spent under the housing market renewal pathfinder project in each of the local authority areas included in each pathfinder area. [HL608]
Baroness Andrews: Financial information for individual local authority areas within HMR pathfinders is not collected centrally.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they still plan the housing market renewal pathfinders to be carried out over 15 years. [HL609]
Baroness Andrews: Beyond the indicative allocations announced by the Government in February 2008, it is too early to comment on future levels of funding for the HMR programme. In general terms, the Government are encouraging pathfinders to work with other regional partners towards eradicating low-demand problems in their areas by 2020.
Housing: Recession
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government in how many cases development sites for housing in England have had development halted since the onset of the current economic situation; and how many housing units are so affected. [HL695]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Andrews): Information on the number of housing development sites halted is not held centrally. However, CLG data for the September quarter 2008 (released in November 2008) showed that starts were down 33 per cent on the previous quarter and 48 per cent lower than the September quarter 2007.
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