---

19 Nov 2002 : Column 90W—continued

Parking Fines

Clive Efford: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the income was for each local authority in London in each of the last five years from (a) parking meters, (b) car park charges, and (c) parking enforcement notices. [81008]

Mr. Leslie: It is not possible to separately identify the income from parking meters, car park charges and parking enforcement notices. The total income reported by local authorities in the years 1996–97 to 2000–01 is presented in the table.

Income from parking for the London authorities#000

	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01
City of London	10,948	11,082	12,702	12,815	12,213
Inner London boroughs
Camden	16,975	18,647	21,286	24,535	25,742
Greenwich	3,029	4,706	5,570	4,797	5,066
Hackney	3,643	4,790	3,473	4,617	4,946
Hammersmith and Fulham	9,313	11,043	13,194	14,633	21,815
Islington	4,170	4,584	5,793	5,812	7,234
Kensington and Chelsea	22,756	24,820	25,946	30,434	30,836
Lambeth	2,676	2,983	5,476	10,663	9,817
Lewisham	1,145	1,149	1,338	1,616	2,563
Southwark	2,801	3,815	4,749	6,209	6,303
Tower Hamlets	3,708	6,455	7,469	11,847	9,825
Wandsworth	4,900	5,452	6,160	8,731	11,938
Westminster	91,572	101,919	76,794	88,020	89,397
Total inner London boroughs	166,688	190,363	177,248	211,914	225,482
Outer London boroughs
Barking and Degenham	863	932	935	1,010	990
Barnet	2,528	2,421	3,060	3,893	3,815
Bexley	2,293	2,541	2,618	2,721	2,874
Brent	2,515	3,658	4,052	5,269	5,859
Bromley	4,554	5,026	5,404	5,945	6,074
Croydon	9,053	9,883	10,148	13,297	14,115
Ealing	2,552	3,042	3,120	4,268	5,619
Enfield	3,468	3,606	3,777	3,682	4,666
Haringey	2,039	2,679	4,129	4,228	5,438
Harrow	2,481	3,104	3,408	4,363	5,051
Havering	3,207	3,535	3,478	3,729	3,687
Hillingdon	2,530	2,676	3,192	3,504	4,442
Hounslow	2,621	2,879	3,339	3,407	4,676
Kingston upon Thames	4,450	4,398	4,775	5,295	6,193
Merton	1,900	2,258	2,365	2,714	3,104
Newham	1,934	2,168	2,542	3,093	3,930
Redbridge	2,147	1,852	2,312	2,857	3,346
Richmond upon Thames	5,039	5,963	5,561	6,330	7,076
Sutton	2,877	3,102	3,484	3,746	3,865
Waltham Forest	2,573	2,908	3,173	3,677	3,975
Total outer London boroughs	61,624	68,631	74,872	87,028	98,795
Total London	239,260	270,076	264,822	311,757	336,490

Source:

Revenue Summary Returns

19 Nov 2002 : Column 91W

Public Service Agreements (Chesham and Amersham)

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many public service agreements have been entered into with local authorities covering the Chesham and Amersham constituency; and if he will make a statement. [81176]

19 Nov 2002 : Column 92W

Mr. Leslie: The Government have entered into one local public service agreement covering the Chesham and Amersham constituency. This agreement is with Buckinghamshire county council, with the four district councils in Buckinghamshire being joint signatories to the agreement. The text of this agreement can be found at http://www.local-regions.odpm.gov.uk/lpsa/2001/full.htm

19 Nov 2002 : Column 93W

CABINET OFFICE

Congestion Charging

Mr. Chope: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many car parking spaces are available to (a) employees of his Department and (b) visitors to his Department within the proposed Central London Road User Charging Zone. [81864]

Mr. Alexander: There are 46 allocated parking spaces available for use by employees of the Cabinet Office.

In addition there are currently 18 parking spaces which are for the use of visitors to the Department, for the parking of ministerial cars and for operational purposes.

Mr. Chope: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the estimated cost is to his Department of the Central London Road User Charging Scheme for (a) 17 February 2003 to 31 March 2003, and 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004. [81883]

Mr. Alexander: Any additional costs to my Department as a result of the congestion charging scheme will be just one element within wider costs which have to be met from budgets for official travelling and other costs.

Mr. Chope: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the policy is of his Department in relation to the reimbursement of Central London road user charges incurred by its employees. [81844]

Mr. Alexander: All civil servants are responsible for payment of their own every day home to office travel costs. The introduction of a Central London Road User charge will not affect this basic condition of service.

PRIME MINISTER

Lord Chancellor (Pension Schemes)

Mr. Heald: To ask the Prime Minister whether the Lord Chancellor is entitled to be a member of (a) the Judicial Pensions Scheme and (b) the Ministerial Pensions Scheme; and if he will make a statement as to how the two schemes inter-relate in respect of the Lord Chancellor. [81896]

The Prime Minister: The Judicial Pensions Act 1981 provides lump sum benefits for the Lord Chancellor on leaving office or in the event of the Lord Chancellor's death in service, and also provides for pensions for his dependants.

There is no Ministerial Pension Scheme. The Parliamentary Pension Scheme provides pension benefits to Members of Parliament, Ministers and Officeholders. The Lord Chancellor is not entitled to membership of this scheme.

Provision for the Lord Chancellor's pension is made in the Lord Chancellor's Pension Act 1832 and the Parliamentary and Other Pensions Act 1972 as amended.

19 Nov 2002 : Column 94W

Official Definitions

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Prime Minister whether Her Majesty's Government has a uniform definition of rural and urban. [81894]

The Prime Minister: There is no unique approach to defining urban or rural areas. Indeed many areas exhibit characteristics of both.

However, definitions are needed to target programmes for urban and rural areas and for statistical purposes. In these cases, urban is defined as 'built-up settlements with a minimum population of 1,000 and a minimum land area of 20 hectares'. And the Countryside Agency has an existing methodology for defining rural areas; work is currently under way across Departments to refine that methodology.

SCOTLAND

Congestion Charging

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many car parking spaces are available to (a) employees of her Department and (b) visitors to her Department within the proposed entral London road user charging zone. [81865]

Mrs. Liddell: My department has no employee or visitors car parking spaces within the proposed central London charging zone. Scotland Office ministerial drivers have access to Whitehall parking permits as do any employees requiring these for essential business use.

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the policy is of her Department in relation to the reimbursement of central London road user charges incurred by its employees. [81845]

Mrs. Liddell: All civil servants are responsible for payment of their own everyday home to office travel costs. The introduction of a central London road user charge will not affect this basic condition of service.

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the estimated cost is to her Department of the central London road user charging scheme for (a) 17 February 2003 to 31 March 2003, and (b) 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004. [81884]

Mrs. Liddell: My Department has made no estimate of any additional costs resulting from the congestion charging scheme in central London since any that do arise will, necessarily, be very limited.

LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT

Congestion Charging

Mr. Chope: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, how many car parking spaces are available to (a) employees of her Department and (b) visitors to her Department within the proposed Central London Road User Charging Zone. [81852]

19 Nov 2002 : Column 95W

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor's Department has (a) a total of 48 bays available to its employees, and (b) one space permanently allocated to visitors within the Central London Road User Charging Zone.

Mr. Chope: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what the estimated cost is to her Department of the Central London Road User Charging Scheme for (a) 17 February 2003 to 31 March 2003, and (b) 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004. [81870]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor's Department estimates, based on average usage of departmental pool cars, that the figures for (a) 17 February 2003 to 31 March 2002 will be #620 and (b) 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 would be #4,800.

Mr. Chope: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what the policy is of her Department in relation to the reimbursement of Central London road user charges incurred by its employees. [81892]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor's Department is currently formulating a policy on congestion charging.

---