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28 Apr 2003 : Column 240W—continued
Official Residences
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister on how many occasions since his appointment he has made use of each of his official residences for official purposes. [103229]
Mr. Leslie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (David Davis) on 28 March 2003, Official Report, columns 485–86W.
Parish Councils
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what requirement there is for parish councils to appoint independent internal auditors; what advice the Audit Commission gives to parish councils on this matter; and if he will make a statement. [109713]
Mr. Leslie : A statutory requirement for parish councils and other local authorities to maintain an adequate and effective system of internal audit, in accordance with proper internal audit practices, is set out in Regulation 6 of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003. There has been a legal requirement for local councils to maintain a system of internal audit for many years. Guidance on good practice in carrying out internal audit is available in "Governance and Accountability in Local Councils in England and Wales. A Practitioners' Guide". This publication is issued by the National Association of Local Councils and the Society of Local Council Clerks, in consultation with an advisory group including local council representatives, relevant Government Departments and the Audit Commission. The Guide is currently being updated.
28 Apr 2003 : Column 241W
Post Offices
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost is of subsidy proposals to keep (a) rural and (b) urban post offices in areas of deprivation open. [108327]
Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.
The Government regards it as most important that all communities have good access to postal and Government services and we are committed to doing all we can to support the management of the company to ensure a viable Post Office network for the future. We are investing very substantial sums in supporting this transformation of the network—some £2 billion in total over the next five years, including £450 million funding to support the rural network as a whole until 2006.
A number of measures are already in place to maintain the network of rural post offices. These include the formal requirement placed on the Post Office in November 2000 to prevent any avoidable closures and the establishment of a £2 million capital start up fund to support volunteer and community initiatives to maintain or re-establish a post office facility where the traditional post office is under threat of closure or has recently closed. Under this scheme, grants of up to £20,000 are available to support the costs of relocating or refurbishing alternative premises. Of the £2 million fund to support community post office initiatives 165 grants have been approved, totalling £1,231,454, and payments totalling £931,478 paid as at end of March 2003.
On the urban network, the Government have provided £210 million for the urban reinvention programme, and provided £15 million for a scheme to support offices in deprived urban areas throughout England, through grants for capital investment. Similar schemes have been launched in Scotland and Wales.
Public Service Agreement
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many and what grades of officials are responsible for the monitoring of progress towards the public service agreement targets of the Department. [109467]
Mr. Leslie: Monitoring progress towards the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Public Service Agreement targets is undertaken by a wide variety of staff at all levels throughout the organisation.
Regional Assembly (Referendum)
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his assessment of the level of interest in holding a referendum on establishing an elected regional assembly will be determined by the assessment of the responses to the Soundings Process; how it will take into account the number and range of individuals and organisations within the region; what public opinion surveys will be (a) commissioned and (b) considered in making the decision; and how local authorities will be consulted. [110402]
Mr. Raynsford: The results of the soundings exercise will be a major factor in ascertaining the level of interest in each English region in holding a referendum about establishing an elected regional assembly.
28 Apr 2003 : Column 242W
My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister will consider all relevant views, information and evidence drawn to his attention by the soundings exercise when he decides in which region(s) to conduct a local government review. Ultimately, the decision is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister's judgment, for which he will be accountable to Parliament.
No public opinion surveys have been commissioned by the Government about the level of interest in a referendum about an elected assembly. However, we made it clear that the responses of organisations would be strengthened if they could show that they had consulted widely. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has received a number of surveys and opinion polls in response to our soundings exercise. We will consider them alongside other relevant responses and published material, taking into account how robust, reliable and representative they are.
The Government wrote to all principal local authorities on 2 December 2002 inviting them to respond to the soundings exercise. Local authorities were written to again on 8 April 2003 to inform them of amendments made to the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Bill in the House of Lords and giving them the opportunity to add to or change their response to the exercise if they so wished.
Regions White Paper
Joyce Quin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made towards the aim in the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice", of encouraging applicants to public bodies from all parts of England; what change there has been in the geographical diversity of appointees to NDPBs and public bodies sponsored by ODPM since the publication of the White Paper; and what the outcome was of the regional seminars held by the Cabinet Office for women interested in serving on a public body. [108563]
Mr. Raynsford: All vacancies on NDPBs sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are advertised:
- on our own website
on the Cabinet Office Public Appointments new vacancies website
on the "Just Do Something" website
on the "Research Research" website and the publication Research Fortnight
It would be premature to try to establish a meaningful trend in the nature of appointments since May 2002, but the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is committed to a policy of encouraging diversity in the race, gender and location of appointees.
28 Apr 2003 : Column 243W
Before the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was set up, as part of DTLR, officials attended all of the regional seminars organised by the then Cabinet Office's Women and Equality Unit during that period.
The breakdown of new appointments to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's NDPBs by region between 14 May 2002 and 31 March 2003 is as follows:
| Region | New appointees |
|---|---|
| London | 9 |
| South East | 3 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 2 |
| North West | 1 |
| Wales | 1 |
| South West | 1 |
| West Midlands | 1 |
| East Midlands | 1 |
Joyce Quin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made towards the aim in the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice", of encouraging Whitehall Departments to consider the balance of their staff between the centre and the regions in terms of effective policy design and implementation; and what examples there have been since the publication of the White Paper of Departments deciding between locating new streams of work (a) in and (b) outside London and the South East. [108576]
Mr. Raynsford: As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer said in his Budget statement, the Government sees a strong case for relocating more civil service and wider public sector jobs away from London and the South East. Sir Michael Lyons has been asked to review departmental strategies in this regard and make recommendations for relocation across Government as a whole. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, as one that already has a strong regional presence, will be happy to give evidence.
Right-to-buy Scheme
Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the level of discounts paid under the right-to-buy scheme was in the financial year 2002–03. [108625]
Mr. McNulty: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Ludlow (Matthew Green) on 17 March 2003, Official Report, columns 614–15W.
At present, information on the value of discount allowed is only available for the first two quarters of 2002–03.
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