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Fire Officers (Long-service Award)
Mr. Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) what the estimated cost is per medal of providing a 30 year long-service award for fire officers; [15174]
- (2) how many serving fire officers have 30 years or more service. [15240]
Dr. Whitehead: In September 2000 it was estimated that there were 400 firefighters and fire officers with over 30 years service, with an average of 275 reaching the 30-year mark each year. The estimated cost of an award would be £20.00 per medal or £1.00 for a bar to the existing long service and good conduct medal.
Rail Improvements (Wycombe)
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the revisions to the timetable for planned improvements to the (a) track and (b) stations in the Wycombe constituency in the last six months. [14879]
Mr. Jamieson: Details of revisions to the timetable from April 2001 to 29 November on the route through High Wycombe have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
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Local Government Funding (Buckinghamshire)
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the allocation of central Government funds to (a) Wycombe district council and (b) Buckinghamshire county council in each of the last four years. [14870]
Dr. Whitehead: The table lists the general grants (Revenue Support Grant, National Non-Domestic Rates and damping grants) and ring-fenced grants to these authorities in the last four years.
| 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buckinghamshire | 21.229 | 229.344 | 235.763 | 267.265 |
| Wycombe | 8.196 | 8.264 | 8.555 | 9.144 |
The information is taken from the returns which local authorities have provided to the Department. The figures in the table are on an unadjusted basis and do not reflect changes in financing or functions which may have occurred in that time.
Local Government Funding (Hackney)
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what changes have taken place in Government support for the London borough of Hackney, using 1994–95 as the base year, to 2000–01, including the Government general revenue support, revenue support grant, redistributed business rates and damping grants and specific Government grants but excluding housing subsidy, benefits subsidy and mandatory awards; and if he will make a statement. [15020]
Dr. Whitehead: The table lists the general grants (Revenue Support Grant, National Non-Domestic Rates and damping grants) and ring-fenced grants to the London borough of Hackney since 1994–95.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1994–95 | 262.216 |
| 1995–96 | 243.744 |
| 1996–97 | 242.301 |
| 1997–98 | 245.175 |
| 1998–99 | 246.385 |
| 1999–2000 | 259.081 |
| 2000–01 | 272.945 |
| 2001–02 | 288.119 |
The information is taken from returns which the authority has provided to the Department. The figures in the table are on an unadjusted basis and do not reflect changes in financing or functions which may have occurred in that time. Information on ring-fenced grants in 2001–02 is based on budgets and may be different from outturn figures when available.
East London Line
Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what progress has been made by the Strategic Rail Authority in their investigation into the possibility of a third extension of the East London Line to Clapham Junction. [14952]
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Mr. Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority and Transport for London are continuing to assess the options for the further extension of the East London Line, including a possible extension to Clapham Junction. A decision will not be taken until their studies are completed and considered next year.
Social Housing
Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the number of registered social landlord homes (a) built and (b) approved for building by London boroughs between April 2000 and April 2001. [14950]
Ms Keeble: Numbers of dwellings completed by registered social landlords, as reported by local authorities on their monthly housebuilding returns to the Department, and numbers of homes approved for building, as reported by the Housing Corporation, for the year 2000–01 by London borough are given in the table.
| London borough | Reported RSL completions | Approvals |
|---|---|---|
| Barking and Dagenham | (15)— | 318 |
| Barnet | 168 | 199 |
| Bexley | 98 | 199 |
| Brent | 251 | 355 |
| Bromley | (15)— | 235 |
| Camden | 256 | 170 |
| City of London | 0 | 0 |
| Croydon | 77 | 412 |
| Ealing | (16)53 | 303 |
| Enfield | 344 | 590 |
| Greenwich | 147 | 409 |
| Hackney | 112 | 640 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 0 | 189 |
| Haringey | (17)59 | 317 |
| Harrow | 0 | 147 |
| Havering | 28 | 130 |
| Hillingdon | (17)286 | 260 |
| Hounslow | 24 | 170 |
| Islington | (17)44 | 354 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | (17)55 | 237 |
| Kingston upon Thames | (17)41 | 61 |
| Lambeth | (15)— | 260 |
| Lewisham | 150 | 347 |
| Merton | 51 | 146 |
| Newham | 138 | 419 |
| Redbridge | 39 | 125 |
| Richmond upon Thames | 20 | 106 |
| Southwark | 26 | 371 |
| Sutton | 161 | 347 |
| Tower Hamlets | (15)— | 489 |
| Waltham Forest | 257 | 979 |
| Wandsworth | 3 | 255 |
| Westminster | (17)358 | 172 |
(15) Data not available because the local authority has reported for less than nine months.
(16) The local authority has reported for only nine months.
(17) The local authority has reported for only 11 months.
Electoral Review
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to establish an independent review of local government electoral arrangements in England. [15312]
Dr. Whitehead: On 14 November we laid before the House a draft of an Order, under section 18 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, that,
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subject to parliamentary approval, will transfer the functions of the Local Government Commission for England to the independent Electoral Commission from 1 April 2002. From that date the Electoral Commission will be entirely responsible for the revision and updating of electoral arrangements in local government.
Manchester—Leeds Freight
Mr. Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to encourage freight traffic on the Manchester to Leeds trans-Pennine rail links. [15333]
Mr. Jamieson: Our policy is to help establish an integrated, sustainable freight distribution system throughout the country to support economic growth and to bring social and environmental benefits. We set out our long term strategy in our 10-year plan and have established the Strategic Rail Authority with a duty to promote rail freight. The SRA's Strategic Agenda and Freight Strategy, published earlier this year, set out its plans for freight, and include proposals for delivering growth on trans-Pennine routes. The SRA will describe further how its freight objectives will be achieved in its soon to be published Strategic Plan.
Planning
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to give objectors more rights in the planning process; and which of those arise from the Human Rights Act 1998. [15593]
Ms Keeble: Local people already have the opportunity to comment on development proposals before the local planning authority decides whether or not to grant planning permission. Our forthcoming planning Green Paper will look at ways of improving community engagement in the planning process.
We assessed the implications of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) for planning legislation and procedures before the Act came into force. We do not consider that there is any need on HRA grounds for changes to the system generally or specifically in relation to third party objectors.
EU-financed Projects (Greater London)
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what European Union financed projects are under way in the Greater London area. [15303]
Ms Keeble: There is a wide range of European funded projects running in the Greater London area, some of which are funded through the UK Government and some directly from the European Commission. These include the European Union Framework Programme, Eureka, and LEONARDO.
The largest sources of funding available in London through the UK Government are the Structural Funds—the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund. These are worth £570 million to London over the period 2000–06.
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