§ David WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many development schemes have been funded by English Partnerships and have secured redevelopment on sites formerly occupied by sub-standard housing in each of the last five years; and at what locations. [26747]
§ Ms KeebleDuring the five years to 31 March 2001:
- (a) the CNT (Commission for the New Towns) side of English Partnerships funded no such schemes.
- (b) the URA (Urban Regeneration Agency) side of English Partnerships does not record "sub-standard" housing in the form requested.
§ David WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the progress being made in(a) house clearance and (b) redevelopment through the Housing Corporation pilot grant scheme. [27115]
§ Ms KeebleThe Housing Corporation's "New Tools" pilot is currently operating in six areas across the north-west and north-east. The pilot programme is investigating housing associations' contribution to the redevelopment of low demand areas.
Progress on funding the pilot acquisition and demolitions in 1999–2000, 2000–01 and 2001–02 are as follows:
North-west North-east 1999–2000 0 £2,107,000 — 130 units cleared 2000–01 £610,000 £156,000 27 units cleared 11 units cleared 2001–02 £820,000 0 to clear 40 units — The 2002–03 allocation is currently being finalised and will include allocations in three additional pilot areas in Merseyside.
The programme is being evaluated by the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of Birmingham, and the final report is due this summer.
§ David WrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many English Partnerships funded projects have involved housing development in the last five years in(a) Telford and (b) the west midlands. [26749]
§ Ms KeebleDuring the five years to 31 March 2001:
(a) the CNT side of English Partnerships spent £12.3 million on site infrastructure in Telford, predominantly to promote housing development. In the same five year period, 125 hectares of land in Telford was sold to the private sector for housing development. In the wider west midlands area, CNT spent around £1 million on site infrastructure, some of which went towards promoting housing development. 7.4 hectares of land was sold for this purpose.
(b) the URA side of English Partnerships approved no projects in Telford during these five years. In the wider west midlands, 12 projects were approved under the Partnership Investment Programme, committing £16.6 million towards 341W projects facilitating the provision of housing. (Since 1999–2000, such projects were approved in conjunction with Advantage West Midlands).
§ Sir Sydney ChapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what policy was adopted in publicising and disseminating the consultation document: "Change to the Decent Home Definition"; what agencies other than local authorities were invited to comment; from which of these agencies responses have been received; and if he will make a statement. [26129]
§ Ms KeebleThe consultation document was disseminated widely using the usual mechanisms—through placement on the Department's website and through direct mailing. All English and Welsh local authority chief executives and housing directors received copies directly, as did chief executives of Registered Social Landlords with more than 250 units of housing stock. Copies were also sent to a number of national organisations such as umbrella housing organisations and academic organisations. Bodies with a specific interest in energy efficiency issues were alerted to the consultation.
We received 140 responses to the consultation. The table shows the number of responses received from the different types of organisations:
Organisation Number of responses Local authorities 82 Registered Social Landlords 34 Housing Umbrella organisations 8 Building surveyors 4 Energy efficiency organisations 9 Other 3 Total 140 An announcement regarding the outcome of the consultation will be made later this month.
London Underground-Numbers of trains scheduled in the busiest quarter hour in the morning peak, by line Line Number of trains per quarter hour Bakerloo (measured at Oxford Circus) Sevenin each direction Central Line (measured at Liverpool Street) Eight westbound and six eastbound (from 13 October 2000) District and Circle (measured at South Kensington) Eight in each direction East London Line (measured at Rotherhithe) Three in each direction Jubilee (measured at Waterloo) Five westbound and six eastbound Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City and Circle (measured at King's Cross) Eight in each direction Metropolitan (measured at Finchley Road) Seven in each direction Northern (measured at Charing Cross) Five in each direction Northern (measured at Moorgate) Five in each direction Piccadilly (measured at Hyde Park Corner) Seven in each direction Victoria (measured at Oxford Circus) Seven in each direction Waterloo & City (measured at Waterloo) Five in each direction
§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the latest date is by which he estimates that the Modernisation investment programme for London Underground will have begun. [26294]
§ Mr. JamiesonLondon Underground is responsible for managing the competition for the contracts to Modernise