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3 Dec 2002 : Column 708W—continued
Official Travel
Mr. Chope: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total expenditure of (a) his Department and (b) its agencies was on official travel in 2001–02. [84787]
Mr. Leslie: Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all Minister's visits overseas. Details of travel during the period 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 was published on 24 July 2002, Official Report, columns 1374–75W. Copies of the list are available in the Libraries of the House.
All travel is undertaken fully in accordance with the rules set out in Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister only came into existence in June this year following Machinery of Government changes. The former Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions expenditure on official travel was £6.6 million. For agencies now sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, total expenditure was £4.1 million.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total budget of (a) his Department and (b) its agencies is for official travel in 2002–03. [84927]
Mr. Leslie: The cost of Ministers' visits overseas for 2002–03 will be published as soon as possible after the end of the current financial year.
For 2002–03, the Office's official travel budget is included in the overall administration resource budget. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's agencies budgets for official travel in 2002–03 is £4.4 million.
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Rates
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what reason the proposal in the draft Local Government Bill to merge new domestic rates and rates support grant has been dropped in the published Bill. [84418]
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the proposed merger of the rate support grant and national non-domestic rates. [85226]
Mr. Leslie: The draft Bill proposed the merger of Revenue Support Grant (RSG) and redistributed national non-domestic rates (NNDR) into a single grant stream. The intended purpose was to simplify the grant distribution mechanism by paying the combined total of central government unhypothecated grant support for local authorities and the amount of support raised via business rates using a single basis of distribution. The Government believed that this change would make the grant system more transparent and easier for stakeholders to understand.
A number of local authority responses to the consultation on the draft Bill agreed that the proposed changes would simplify the grant distribution system. However the overwhelming majority of consultation responses argued that the two funding streams should not be merged. The Select Committee also recommend against the proposed merger.
Having considered carefully all the consultation responses and the views of the Select Committee, the Government decided to not to proceed with the merger because it evidently did not achieve the desired objective of improving the clarity of the grant distribution system.
Standards Board
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many complaints have been received about the Standards Board since it was set up; and how many of these were upheld. [84423]
Mr. Leslie: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has received a small number of representations about various aspects of the work done by the Standards Board. Having recently met the chairman of the Standards Board I have full confidence in the board and in the actions it is taking as a wholly independent body to fulfil the role which it was given by the Local Government Act 2000 of promoting high standards of conduct in local authorities.
Starter Home Initiative
Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how the categories and numbers of key workers to be helped in the starter home initiative were set; and if he will make a statement. [83817]
Mr. McNulty: The priorities of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for assistance under the Starter Home Initiative are teachers, police, nurses and other essential health workers. This reflects the importance which the Government attaches to addressing recruitment and retention problems in the key public services of health, education and policing. The number of key workers being helped in each of these groups was informed by the overall number of key workers in each
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group, the scale of shortages and the ability of individuals in each group to access home ownership. A few other groups of key workers are also receiving assistance through the Initiative in the light of bids received.
Thames Gateway
Ms Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average residential density was of housing developments in the London part of the Thames Gateway that received planning permission in the last two years; and what estimate he has made of the average residential density of new housing developments in the London part of the Thames Gateway which will be needed to secure 50,000 new dwelling units within that area over the next 15 years. [83948]
Mr. McNulty: The information requested is not held centrally, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The average density of developments completed between 1997 and 2000 in the boroughs that make up the London part of the Thames Gateway, as defined by RPG9a, are:
| Borough | Dwellings per hectare |
|---|---|
| Greenwich: | 47 |
| Newham: | 54 |
| Barking and Dagenham | 43 |
| Bexley: | 30 |
| Havering: | 34 |
| Tower Hamlets: | 107 |
| Lewisham: | 56 |
These figures are borough wide averages. Not all of the boroughs listed above are entirely within Thames Gateway.
Guidance on future levels of housing provision for these boroughs, up to 2016, is set out in the emerging London Plan (Spatial Development Strategy). The London Plan, once finalised, will provide the strategic planning framework for London.
The draft London Plan also contains policies directed at maximising the potential of sites. The emerging strategic policy framework for residential density is that in urban and central areas, densities of between 50 and 275 units per hectare should be provided. For suburban areas the density range should be between 30 and 65 units per hectare.
PRIME MINISTER
No. 10 Downing Street (Tea Party)
Mr. Christopher Chope: To ask the Prime Minister (1) how many hon. Members have been invited to bring children from their constituencies to a tea party at 10 Downing Street; how many have accepted; and what criteria are applied to choosing invitees; [85124]
- (2) how many hon. Members have been invited to nominate adults from their constituency to tour the main State Rooms and Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street and the State Room at 11 Downing Street; how many have accepted; and what criteria are applied to choosing invitees. [85125]
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The Prime Minister: Hon. Members from all parties are invited on a rolling programme to nominate and accompany a small group of children from their constituencies to have tea at 10 Downing Street and a small group of adults from their constituencies to come for a tour of the House. The criteria applied are that selection is made by the hon. Member in a fair and open way for children and adults with a particular interest in visiting 10 Downing Street. Since 1998 approximately 340 MPs have accepted invitations for children to come for tea and 95 MPs have accepted invitations for tours of the House.
Official Travel
Mr. Christopher Chope: To ask the Prime Minister (1) what the total budget of his Office is for official travel in 2002–2003 [84926]
- (2) what the total expenditure of (a) his Department and (b) its agencies was on official travel in 2001–02. [84788]
The Prime Minister: Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Cabinet Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year. The Government have also published on an annual basis the cost of all Ministers' visits overseas. Details of travel undertaken during the period 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 was published on 24 July 2002, Official Report, columns 1374–75W. The cost of Ministers' visits overseas for 2002–2003 will be published as soon as possible after the end of the current financial year. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House.
All travel is undertaken fully in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.
For information about members of my office, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Chichester (Mr Tyrie) on Thursday 20 June 2002, Official Report, columns 462–3W.
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