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Racist Incidents
Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) how many local authorities in England (1) have established schemes for co-operation with (a) the police and (b) other agencies for the purposes of sharing information concerning racist incidents; [111289]
- (2) how many local authorities in England have adopted the definition of racist incident given in the Stephen Lawrence inquiry report. [111290]
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many local authorities in England (a) are and (b) are not participating in multi-agency panels to tackle racial harassment. [110297]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many local authorities in England (a) provide and (b) support the provision of facilities for the reporting of racist incidents. [110367]
Ms Beverley Hughes: This information is not held centrally. However, following my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary's Action Plan, my right hon. Friend will be announcing tomorrow the publication of the first annual report. It will set out the details of progress made and identify action still to be taken across public services.
In addition, for 2000-01 the Audit Commission has required that local authorities publish annually the number of racial incidents recorded by the authority per 100,000 population and the percentage of such incidents that result in further action by the authority. For this purpose, racial incidents are
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Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans the Government have to (a) require and (b) request councils to sell off council housing. [111114]
Mr. Mullin:
We have no plans to force local authorities to sell off their council housing. Housing transfers to registered social landlords will remain voluntary and require the approval of tenants before they can take place. However, we are keen for local authorities to pursue transfer where it is clearly part of their housing strategy and will improve the living conditions of tenants and the service which they receive.
Mr. Livsey:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was the cost of running the (a) Llandrindod Wells-Powys, (b) Newtown-Powys, (c) Brecon-Powys, (d) Kington- Herefordshire and (e) Hereford driving test centres for each of the last three years, indicating the total property rental costs in each case. [111101]
Mr. Hill:
The Driving Standards Agency does not have a driving test centre in Kington, Herefordshire. The annual property costs, including rates, service charges, maintenance and utilities, for the other four locations are shown, with the rental shown separately.
which reflects the definition given in the Stephen Lawrence inquiry report. The indicators cover all an authority's services.
| 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | Rent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Llandrindod Wells | 2,895 | 3,256 | 1,458 | 379 |
| Newtown | 5,530 | 6,342 | 5,687 | 3,408 |
| Brecon | 11,107 | 4,234 | 4,582 | 1,000 |
| Hereford | 9,563 | 5,530 | 4,258 | 2,450 |
Land Use (Tyne and Wear)
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will estimate on the basis of the provisional national land use database the area of (a) vacant and (b) derelict land in each local authority in Tyne and Wear together with the area available for (i) conversion, (ii) reuse and (iii) redevelopment. [111358]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
The available information for the local authority districts is in "Government Statistics Supplementary Table" on the NLUD website (www.nlud.org.uk); the table provides an extract for Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland and Gateshead. It shows the total amounts of previously developed vacant land, derelict land and land occupied by vacant buildings reported by each local authority. It is important to note that not all of this land will be available for redevelopment. The table shows the portions allocated
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for housing use in the local plan or with planning permission for housing. The table additionally shows amounts of land in use with allocation for redevelopment
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or with planning permission for housing. The figures refer to the time of the survey in 1998, and have not been adjusted for some cases where the coverage was partial.
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| Previously developed vacant land | Derelict land and buildings | Land occupied by vacant buildings | Land currently in use with planning allocation for any use or planning permission for housing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Government Office Region (31)/ Planning Authority and National Parks | Area | Of which proposed for housing | Area | Of which proposed for housing | Area | Of which proposed for housing | Area | Of which proposed for housing |
| North East | ||||||||
| Gateshead | 93 | 2 | 93 | (32)1 | 4 | (32)2 | 68 | 14 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 73 | (33)6 | 91 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 51 | 9 |
| North Tyneside | 44 | 34 | 50 | 16 | 2 | (34)-- | 3 | 3 |
| South Tyneside | 30 | (33)10 | 29 | (40)(31)-- | (34)-- | (34)-- | 7 | 2 |
| Sunderland | 97 | 28 | 148 | 7 | 40 | (32)9 | 66 | 19 |
(30) Ungrossed totals as reported by the authority. Comprises previously developed vacant and derelict land: vacant buildings (excluding single dwellings except where they could be developed into 10 or more dwellings); land or buildings currently in use, which are allocated in the local plan for any developed use or have planning permission for housing.
(31) Excludes National Parks, which are given at the end of the table.
(32) Completion is less than 85 per cent.
(33) Figures have been revised against the May 1999 Supplementary Table because of duplicate sites; amendments made by the Local Authority; data resubmitted by the Local Authority after the May 1999 Supplementary Table; changes to assumptions used by the DETR.
(34) Nil or less than half the final digit shown.
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Press Officers
Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many press officers were employed in his Department; and what was the total expenditure on press officers by his Department, at (a) May 1997, (b) January 1998, (c) January 1999 and (d) January 2000. [111620]
Ms Beverley Hughes: Detailed information on the numbers of permanent civil servants employed in Departmental Press Offices during the financial year 1997-98 were provided in a memorandum dated 16 June 1998 to the Select Committee on Public Administration and published in its report on the Government Information and Communication Service (HC 770) in July 1998. A copy is in the Library of the House. The number of press officers in post and their cost in January 1999 was 34.3 staff costing £109,000 and in January 2000 was 40.8 staff costing £131,000.
Macpherson Report
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the local authorities in England which have adopted action plans for tackling institutional racism following the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry report. [110296]
Ms Beverley Hughes: This information is not held centrally. However the "Local Authorities Race Relations Information Exchange" (LARRIE) is preparing a report for publication next month which will set out this information.
Taxis
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what proposals he has to allow licensed private hire vehicles to be
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driven by the spouses of licensed private hire vehicle drivers for non-hire purposes; and if he will make a statement. [110830]
Mr. Hill:
I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham, East and Saddleworth (Mr. Woolas) on 21 December 1999, Official Report, column 521W.
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