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LOTIS Committee
Mr. Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the LOTIS Committee. [51667]
Ms Hewitt: The LOTIS Committee is part of International Financial Service, London, an independent private sector trade association (formerly known as British Invisibles) representing business interests in the City of London. Government officials are invited to attend the Committee's meetings as observers, as they are with many other trade associations and non- governmental organisations.
Chemical Weapons Act
Mr. Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement about the operation of the Chemical Weapons Act 1996. [53193]
Ms Hewitt: In accordance with the Act, I have laid a report on its implementation during 2001 before the House.
Correspondence
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she expects to reply to the letter dated 4 March from the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan regarding Mr. R. Roxburgh. [50073]
Ms Hewitt [holding answer 17 April 2002]: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 16 April 2002.
TRANSPORT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND
THE REGIONS
Public Services (Access)
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what information he collates on the accessibility of residents of wards in England to (a) higher education, (b) further education, (c) general hospitals, (d) specialist hospitals, (e) nearest towns and cities and (f) other services. [52446]
Ms Keeble: Information on access to services by residents of wards is not generally collected. The exception is that access to some (f) "other services" (post office, food shops, GP, primary school) has been assembled at ward level as the "Geographic Access to Services" Domain of the Index of Deprivation 2000. My Department is undertaking a major new project this year to develop methods for local authorities to measure accessibility to key services at ward level.
Elected Mayors
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many towns and
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cities have elected mayors; what the turnout was in each election; and if he will make a statement on the powers of elected mayors. [52152]
Dr. Whitehead: To date, only London has a directly elected mayor, first elected in May 2000 with a turnout of 34.4 per cent. The mayor has wide powers with regard to setting the strategic direction for London and in particular with regards to transport, economic development and regeneration.
Referendum results have supported the introduction of directly elected executive mayors in eight English local authorities and on 2 May 2002 there will be a further five mayoral referendums. Of those eight local authorities, seven are holding their first mayoral election on 2 May 2002 and one on 17 October 2002. These executive mayors will lead their councils and, to the extent each local authority's constitution provides, will be in charge of their council's services.
National Insurance Costs
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his estimate is of the cost in the next 12 months of the Budget changes to employers' national insurance contributions to (a) his Department, (b) agencies of his Department and (c) local government carrying out functions within the responsibility of his Department. [52075]
Dr. Whitehead: The changes to both employee and employers' national insurance contributions, announced in the Budget, will come into effect in April 2003. There will be no additional costs in the present financial year.
Devolution
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions for what reason no devolved Administration Minister attended the 2420 European Union Council of Ministers (Transport) meeting on 26 March; which suggestions and matters of concern from the Scottish Executive were raised in their absence by the UK Government delegation; and what information and evidence was provided by his Department to enable effective post-council scrutiny by the European Committee of the Scottish Parliament. [51731]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 22 April 2002]: The UK, as the member state, is represented by a member of the UK Government. It is not normal practice for a Minister from a devolved Administration to join the delegation, nor were there any from any other EU country on this occasion. The devolved Administrations are involved before Council meetings in developing the UK position, which will as necessary reflect matters of particular concern to one or all of the devolved Administrations.
I reported on the outcome of the Council to the Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee and to the Chairman of the Select Committee on the European Union in the House of Lords. A written report prepared by the UK Permanent Representation in Brussels was given wide distribution among officials.
Arrangements for post-Council scrutiny in Scotland are a matter for the European Committee of the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Executive. My Department provides information to Scottish Executive officials as part of that process.
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Council Tax
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the levels of Band D council tax were in each local authority in (a) London, (b) England, (c) Wales and (d) Scotland, in (i) 1993–94, (ii) 1997–98, and (iii) will be in 2002–03. [52065]
Mr. Byers: Tables giving the equivalent figures for the financial years 1993–94, 1997–98 and 2002–03 are available in "Regional Trends 29", Table 15.2; Department of the Environment Information Bulletin on "Council Taxes in England in 1997–98" (Bulletin 164, 20 March 1997); and the DTLR News Release on "Council Taxes in England—2002/03" (2002–0124, 21 March 2002) respectively. Copies are available in the Libraries of the House.
The tables provide information on the Band D council tax in each local authority area. The figures are based on two adults and include amounts funded by council tax benefit and transitional relief.
In practice, only a minority of properties in each local authority area are in Band D, with the percentage in Bands A to C varying widely between authorities, from 10.7 per cent. to 96.8 per cent. The average Band D council tax does not therefore allow a comparison to be made of the average amounts of council tax payable by people in different areas.
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In contrast, the average council tax per dwelling reflects the wide variation between authorities in the distribution of properties across bands. It is therefore a helpful measure to use when comparing the amounts payable in different areas.
Information on Wales and Scotland is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government and the Scottish Executive respectively.
Mobile Home Parks
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he plans to publish his report on the economics of running a mobile home park. [52357]
Ms Keeble: The researchers' work on the study into the economics of the park homes industry is nearing completion. We anticipate publication of the final report in early summer.
Investment (Islington)
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list, by project, the total Government support for regeneration projects in the Borough of Islington (a) for each of the last five years and (b) expected for 2002–03. [52273]
Ms Keeble: The information requested is shown in the table.
| Type | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03(1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community Empowerment Fund | — | — | — | — | 150,261 | 150,261 |
| Community Chest Fund | — | — | — | — | 137,956 | 206,934 |
| Community Learning Chest | — | — | — | — | — | 55,182 |
| Neighbourhood Renewal Fund | — | — | — | — | 3,136,000 | 4,703,000 |
| Single Regeneration Budget | — | — | 410,000 | 11,203,000 | 13,519,000 | — |
| New Deal for Communities | — | — | 10,000 | 575,660 | 483,000 | — |
(1) Allocations
Notes:
1. Grants under Community Empowerment Fund, Community Chest Fund, Community Learning Chest and Neighbourhood Renewal Fund only commenced in 2001.
2. The London Development Agency is unable to provide a breakdown of SRB expenditure by London borough in 1997–98, 1998–99 and 2002–03.
3. The allocation for new deal for communities for 2002–03 is not yet decided.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list, by project, the total investment in housing capital improvements in Islington (a) for each of the past five years and (b) expected for 2002–03. [52272]
Ms Keeble: Since May 1997, the London borough of Islington has been allocated the following amounts of funding for specific housing capital improvement projects:
The following has also been allocated to the borough. However, it is a matter for the local authority to decide how this funding is allocated between their priorities.
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| 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Housing Investment Programme | 9.255 | 7.468 | 9.075 | 28.415 | 12.651 | 14.970 |
| Major Repairs Allowance | — | — | — | — | 25.434 | 25.030 |
| Capital Receipts Initiative | 2.848 | 9.168 | 8.334 | — | — | — |
| Disabled Facilities Grant | 0.136 | 0.124 | 0.131 | 0.142 | 0.212 | 0.237 |
| Cash Incentive Scheme | 2.240 | 1.524 | — | — | — | — |
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