Results 1-20 of 3,807 for speaker:Baroness Andrews

Written Answers — House of Lords: Housing: Property Purchase (9 Jun 2009)

Baroness Andrews: There are broadly three stages to the MyChoice HomeBuy application process. At the first stage, the applicant's eligibility for MyChoice HomeBuy is assessed. At the second stage, eligible applicants are given approval to look for a property. Funding has been made available for all applicants who have reached the third and final stage of the application process. These applicants have been...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Public Bodies (9 Jun 2009)

Baroness Andrews: The Government welcome the report by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission report Simple Solutions for Living Together. The commission's findings reinforce the Government's view that, where there is evidence of need for Gypsy and Traveller sites, local authorities should press ahead with identifying appropriate locations where they could be sited. The provision of authorised sites will...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Government Departments: Relocation (4 Jun 2009)

Baroness Andrews: On 1 May my right honourable friend the Minister for the North West announced a feasibility study into plans for a civil service campus on public land near Piccadilly Station in Manchester.

Written Answers — House of Lords: Equality Bill (1 Jun 2009)

Baroness Andrews: Caste has not been included within the scope of the Equality Bill because there is insufficient evidence that caste discrimination is a significant problem in Great Britain in the specific fields that discrimination law covers: namely, in employment; vocational training; the provision of goods, facilities and services; private clubs; the management or disposal of premises; education; and the...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Equal Pay (21 May 2009)

Baroness Andrews: An analysis of all Fire Service College Civil Service staff salaries by grade as at 1 June 2008 indicates that no material gender pay gap exists within junior grades at the college. At higher and senior levels, the gap is between 3 per cent and 10 per cent. This is as a direct result of two out of four male staff transferring in from other government departments with salaries at the top of...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Equal Pay: Government: Departments (21 May 2009)

Baroness Andrews: In relation to gender pay gaps, I refer the noble Baroness to Table 27 of the Civil Service Statistics which sets out the percentage difference in median salaries between different genders in all government departments: www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/CivilService_ta bles_2008.xls. Although a recent analysis of basic pay has identified differences between key...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Audit Commission (20 May 2009)

Baroness Andrews: In 2008-09, publications by the Audit Commission for distribution outside the commission cost £212,570 to design and print (these costs include proofreading, language and Braille translation). The commission has 60,000 entries on its database for the distribution of reports and distribution lists are adjusted and reviewed for each publication. The average distribution for a national...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Connecting Communities Plus (20 May 2009)

Baroness Andrews: From April 2006 to March 2009 a total of 393 organisations were funded through the Connecting Communities Grants programme. Three different types of grants were paid. Strategic partners: paid to national level voluntary organisations. In all, 11 organisations were funded for three years. A total of £4,306,816.00 was paid to the strategic partners from 2006-2009. Project grants: paid to...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Energy: Light Bulbs (20 May 2009)

Baroness Andrews: Guidance in the Building Regulations Approved Document for Part L (Conservation of Fuel and Power) for new homes calls for a proportion of fixed light fittings that can only take low-energy lamps to be installed as reasonable provision. No particular make or style of light fitting is specified. It is also a requirement under Part L that the owner of a building should be provided with...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Government Departments: Bottled Water (20 May 2009)

Baroness Andrews: The Department for Communities and Local Government and its predecessors incurred the following expenditure on the purchase of bottled water in each of the past five financial years: 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 £12,735 £12,735 £14,150 £4,716 £0

Written Answers — House of Lords: Housing: Mortgage Support Scheme (20 May 2009)

Baroness Andrews: Under the homeowners mortgage support scheme, the Government give a guarantee to lenders which would allow them to recover some of the interest payments that they would otherwise have to write off. This could be considered to give an economic advantage to lenders entering the scheme and strengthen the position of these lenders compared to that of competitors in other member states. The...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Housing: Mortgage Support Scheme (20 May 2009)

Baroness Andrews: The Government's intention to introduce homeowners mortgage support was announced by the Prime Minister on 3 December 2008. It required a change in legislation which was made in the Banking Acts 2009. This department then worked with the lenders and money advice agencies to agree the detailed scheme design and to put in place training for advice agency staff. At the same time the Government...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Muslim Organisations (20 May 2009)

Baroness Andrews: The British Muslim Forum has received the following funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government in each of the past five years: 2004-05—£0; 2005-06—£0; 2006-07—£115,100; 2007-08—£194,200; and 2008-09—£0. Dudley Muslim Association has received the following funding from the Department for Communities and Local...

Housing: Repossession — Question (18 May 2009)

Baroness Andrews: My Lords, I share the concern of the noble Baroness about the problem of tenants who are evicted at very short notice when, through no fault of their own, their landlord is repossessed. We announced on 13 May that we intend to legislate to provide additional protection for tenants caught in this situation and we will shortly be consulting on the details.

Housing: Repossession — Question (18 May 2009)

Baroness Andrews: My Lords, I have certainly seen the Shelter report, which has many of the same sort of stories about people who return home to find that the locks have been changed or who are given very little notice to find alternative accommodation. We think that this involves a small minority—about 2,000 people—but that does not make it any less unjust. The problem is that the landlord has not...

Housing: Repossession — Question (18 May 2009)

Baroness Andrews: My Lords, I am very interested to hear what the noble Lord has said about American practice; I did not know that. The context for this is the Rugg review, which last week published its report on the private rented sector. It recommended among other things the idea of a lighter-touch national register of every private landlord in the country. That would increase protection both for vulnerable...

Housing: Repossession — Question (18 May 2009)

Baroness Andrews: My Lords, I am not properly briefed on that, but my sense is that their housing benefit would be protected. This would happen through no fault of their own. If the noble Lord will forgive me, I will write to him.

Housing: Repossession — Question (18 May 2009)

Baroness Andrews: My Lords, I cannot pre-empt any legislative vehicle, for the reasons that the noble Baroness gave, but we will certainly find the first relevant legislation that we can. We have to consult properly because this is a complicated situation, as she will know, given her experience. Tenancy agreements are very complicated indeed. We have to work—and we are working—closely with lenders,...

Housing: Repossession — Question (18 May 2009)

Baroness Andrews: My Lords, I am learning a lot in the course of this Question. I am grateful to the noble Baroness for that interesting information, which should go into the consultative process. If there is some way of solving this, we need all the help that we can get.

Housing: Repossession — Question (18 May 2009)

Baroness Andrews: My Lords, my best advice is that it applies to England only, but I will write to the noble Lord if I am wrong.