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6 May 2003 : Column 665W—continued

Contaminated Land

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what measures he will introduce to ensure that his Department's objective to ensure all contaminated land is returned to beneficial use by 2030 is achieved. [109000]

Mr. Meacher: I have been asked to reply.

Measures are already in place to address the legacy of contaminated land. From April 2000, Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 has placed local authorities in England under a duty to inspect their areas to identify contaminated land, as defined in the Act, and secure its remediation on the "suitable for use" principle. Further environmental measures include developing proposals to provide a more streamlined system for regulating the carrying out of remediation, and further technical guidance. Planning and building controls help ensure land is remediated as part of the development process, and new guidance in this field is in preparation.

There is no objective of dealing with all contaminated land by 2030. There are Government targets relating to reclamation and re-use of brownfield land, which include cases where the land is affected by contamination. These targets are that 60 per cent. of new housing should by 2008 be provided on previously developed land and through conversion of existing buildings; and that brownfield land will be reclaimed at a rate of over 1,100 hectares per annum by 2004 (reclaiming 5 per cent. of current brownfield land by 2004 and 17 per cent. by 2010).

Council Chief Executives

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many council chief executives have left their positions since the introduction of the Local Government Act 2000; and if he will make a statement. [110985]

Mr. Leslie: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Council Tax

Mr. Barry Gardiner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his Answer of 7 March 2003, Official Report, column 1263W, on council tax, if he will commission a report to assess the advantages and disadvantages of the different tax bands in Scotland, England and Wales, and whether a similar system might be of benefit in London. [111074]

Mr. Leslie: Work will commence in due course on a council tax revaluation in April 2005 coming into effect in April 2007 and the banding structure will be decided nearer to the revaluation. Ahead of revaluation, we will listen to views of taxpayers and local authorities and commission any necessary research.

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Councillors (Surcharging)

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to re-introduce surcharging of councillors in instances where unlawful practice has taken place; and if he will make a statement. [110987]

Mr. Leslie: There are no plans to re-introduce surcharging. Instances of unlawful or unethical conduct can now be effectively dealt with through the regime established by the Local Government Act 2000, centred on the Standards Board for England and the Adjudication Panel.

E-Voting

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps are being taken to minimise fraud in the conduct of e-voting. [110316]

Mr. Leslie: There is a range of electronic, operational and administrative measures in place to guard against fraud in the e-voting pilots in the May 2003 local elections, including all e-voting pilots being subject to pre-election independent security checks. The Electoral Commission's post-election evaluation exercise includes consideration of fraud and security issues, and all pilot authorities are under a legal obligation to report instances of fraud to the police and the Commission.

EU Directives

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the EU Directives and Regulations which have been implemented by his Department since 17 April 2002. [106829]

Mr. Leslie: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister plays a leading role in the UK's EU Policy on planning, housing and local government issues. The Office is currently leading on the implementation of the energy performance of buildings directive as it has responsibility for most of the legislation that can be used to transpose the directive into law.

EC regulations are, in general, directly applicable in the Member States, without the need for further incorporation into national law. Some regulations require UK measures to make them workable and enforceable. Some regulations enact small or technical amendments. Since its creation in May 2002, The Office has transposed Directive 2001/19/EC (the "SLIM Directive" which affects, as far as the Office's policy responsibilities are concerned, the registration of architects) into UK law.

Food Law Enforcement

Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much his Department and its predecessors has spent on food law enforcement for local authorities, by region, in each of the last 10 years. [111101]

Mr. Raynsford: Food law enforcement by local authorities in England is funded through formula grant, distributed by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its predecessor Departments. Formula grant is not ring-fenced or hypothecated so it is not possible to identify a separate sum for a particular purpose.

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Entertainment Costs

Mr. Gray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 14 April 2003 , ref 106392, how many hon. Members he has entertained for any purpose at the public expense in the last 12 months; how many of these were (a) Labour and (b) Conservative; and what the cost was in each case. [110260]

Mr. Leslie: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Local Elections

Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish a report, following elections to parish and town councils in May 2003, on the number of uncontested elections; and if he will make a statement on the implications of an uncontested election upon an application to become a quality parish council. [108115R]

Mr. Leslie: Information about parish council elections is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Whether a parish council election is or is not contested does not affect any application for quality parish council status. Criteria for such status include requirements about the proportion of council members who stood for election whether or not it was contested.

Local Government Performance Order

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received about the Local Government (Best Value) Performance Indicators and Performance Standards Order. [110514]

Mr. Leslie: The Local Government (Best Value) Performance Indicators and Performance Standards Order 2003 specifies the Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs) which apply to Best Value authorities in 2003–04. The Order was made following extensive consultation last Autumn with local government and a wide range of other interested organisations on changes to the 2002–03 suite of BVPIs to be implemented from 1 April 2003. The detailed guidance on the 2003–04 BVPIs to support this Order was published in January this year. There have not been any representations specifically about the Order.

National Minimum Wage

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the extra costs imposed on local authorities in Buckinghamshire in the provision of (a) social services and (b) residential long-term care as a result of the increase in the national minimum wage. [110314]

Alan Johnson: I have been asked to reply.

The independent Low Pay Commission has examined the impact of the national minimum wage in successive reports to the Government. In their third report they estimated that the introduction of the minimum wage had increased the wage bill in residential care by between 1 and 2 per cent. In their fourth and most recent report they estimated that their recommended increase in the minimum wage rate for 1 October 2003 would

6 May 2003 : Column 668W

increase the wage bill in the social care sector by up to 0.5 per cent. No breakdown of these figures is available by area or by public/private sector.

Resources for the social care sector are now set to increase by an average of 6 per cent. per annum in real terms from 2003–04 to 2005–06.

Regional Assemblies

Mr. Richard Spring: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many responses he received from Suffolk to the public consultation on regional assemblies. [111081]

Mr. Raynsford: By 1 May, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister had received 60 replies from individuals and organisations in Suffolk to the Soundings Exercise on the level of interest in a referendum on establishing an elected regional assembly. In the light of changes to the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Bill, we have asked for any further responses by 16 May.

Sheltered Housing

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to review the rent re-structuring formula for residents in sheltered housing. [111123]

Mr. McNulty: My right hon. Friend the Lord Rooker, the Minister for Housing and Planning, announced the launch of the first three-year progress review of the 10-year social rent restructuring in England on 9 April. The review will gather evidence about the effects of rent restructuring and examine whether fine-tuning adjustments to the approach would make sense for tenants and landlords.

The steering group, comprising the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Housing Corporation, Local Government Association, Association of London Government, National Housing Federation, Council of Mortgage Lenders, Department for Work and Pensions and a tenant representative are currently considering the priorities for the review. The aim is to complete the review by April 2004, and following consultation, to implement any changes justified by the evidence from April 2005.

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