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7 May 2003 : Column 768W—continued
Park Homes
Margaret Moran: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what measures he intends to take to increase protection of park home owners against site owners. [110667]
Mr. McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently considering how best to take forward the agenda for reform following the undertakings given by the Government in its response to the Park Homes Working Party report.
Margaret Moran: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many park home site owners have been prosecuted for overcharging park home owners for utility services in the last 12 months. [110668]
Mr. McNulty: This information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Part-time Workers
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the impact of the Part-time Workers Directive on staff in his Department. [109275]
Mr. Leslie: Part-time working is one of several ways in which the Office of the Deputy Minister offers staff flexibility in their working patterns. The percentage of staff within the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister who work part time is 9 per cent. For the Executive Agencies of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister the percentage of staff who work part-time is as follows: the Rent Service 8 per cent., PINS 15 per cent., Fire Service College 10 per cent. and the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre 4 per cent..
Performance Indicators
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) best value performance indicators and (b) Social Service Inspectorate performance indicators there are for which local authorities must provide information to central Government. [111079]
Mr. Leslie: The Government require local authorities to provide information on a range of best value performance indicators. Details of the number which were set from 2000–01 to 2003–04 are set out in the table, together with the overall change in the number of Audit Commission and best value performance indicators since 2000–01.
| National BVPIs and ACPIs 2000–01(29) | National BVPIs 2001–02 | National BVPIs 2002–03 | National BVPIs 2003–04 | Percentage decrease from 2000–01 to 2003–04 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unitaries/metropolitan boroughs | 189 | 123 | 97 | 98 | 48% |
| London boroughs | 189 | 121 | 94 | 95 | 50% |
| County councils (including Fire) | 134 | 105 | 86 | 85 | 37% |
| District councils | 91 | 65 | 51 | 53 | 42% |
| Fire authorities | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | n/a |
(29) Includes Audit Commission performance indicators which were replaced entirely in 2001–02 by best value performance indicators.
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My right hon. Friend the member for Darlington (Mr. Milburn) asked the 150 local authorities with responsibility for social services to provide information on 50 high-level social services performance assessment framework indicators in 2002–03 and will do so for 50 indicators in 2003–04. A total of 13 of the social services performance assessment framework indicators are also included in the best value set for 2003–04.
The Social Services Inspectorate does not set performance indicators but instead uses them along with other information to inform assessments of local authorities' performance on delivering social services.
Planning Guidance
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to revise PPG21; and if he will make a statement. [111653]
Mr. McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published a consultation paper on 26 February which proposed the cancellation of PPG21 (Tourism) and its replacement with good practice guidance. The consultation period closes on 23 May. After that date all responses received will be fully considered before any decision is taken on the future of PPG21.
Public Land (Re-use)
Llew Smith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to paragraph 3.126 of Budget 2003, HC500, by what means the Government will consider how surplus central and local government landholdings can contribute to the delivery of corporate government objectives on recycling public owned land for productive re-use. [110112]
Mr. McNulty: English Partnerships is currently developing a register of surplus public sector land in England, and hopes to complete an initial version of the register by the end of May. The information in the register will help us explore how surplus central government sites can best be used to contribute to the delivery of corporate Government objectives. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will also clarify the scope for encouraging local authorities to take account of these wider policy objectives in their land disposals.
Regional Government
Mr. Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many responses were received from the North West of England on the consultation on regional government; and how many (a) were in favour of regional government, (b) were opposed to regional government and (c) expressed mixed views. [111159]
Mr. Raynsford: By 1 May 2003, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister received 2086 replies from individuals and organisations in the North West 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
7 May 2003 : Column 770W
further responses by 16 May. We asked for views about the level of interest in holding a referendum, not about interest in regional government itself, and most respondents confined their responses to the former.
Sickness Absence
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list for (a) his Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997 the daily average number of staff absent on sick leave, and what the numbers represent as a percentage of the relevant total work force. [106816]
Mr. Leslie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for St. Ives (Andrew George) on 27 February 2003, Official Report, column 726W.
Executive non-departmental public bodies are not staffed by civil servants. Sickness absence rates for these staff are not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate costs
Tourism
Mr. Swayne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations regarding his proposals to revise PPG21 he has received from the tourist industry. [111652]
Mr. McNulty: To date the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has received 44 responses of which 20 are from the tourism industry. The consultation period closes on 23 May 2003. After that date all responses received will be fully considered before any decision is taken on the proposals put forward in the consultation paper. Responses will also be made publicly available at the close of the consultation exercise.
Welfare Services
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received about the Local Authorities (Charges for Specified Welfare Services) (England) Regulations. [111749]
Mr. McNulty: To the best of my knowledge the office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not received any representations in relation to these regulations.
Wind Turbines
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his policy is on the liability of onshore wind turbines for non-domestic rates. [109828]
Mr. Leslie: The policy of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is that the turbines should be liable for rates in the same way as the generality of non-domestic property.
The rateable values of the turbines are currently calculated by rules prescribed by the Secretary of State in the Electricity Supply Industry (Rateable Values) (England) Order 2000. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister aims to end in 2005 the prescribed rating of turbines. Rateable values would then be set in the same way as they are currently set for most properties, that is by valuation officers not by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister.
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LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Civil Service (People with Disabilities)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what progress has been made in meeting targets for the proportion of people with disabilities in senior posts in the Department. [110526]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In May 2000 my Department set targets to increase the number of staff with disabilities in the Senior Civil Service (SCS) to 3 per cent. by 1 April 2002; and to 4.5 per cent. by 1 April 2005. As at 31 March 2003 3.6 per cent. of the SCS had declared a disability taking us beyond the target for the date.
My Department uses open competition in selection which provides a wide pool of diverse applicants, and advertisements are placed in the disability media. A comprehensive outreach pack giving practical guidance on widening our appeal as an employer is currently being finalised. An annual report incorporating employment statistics by disability is produced and published to all staff. A mandatory Diversity Awareness Training course for all staff and a staff-run Disability Network assists in creating an environment in which individuals with a disability are encouraged to declare their disability. A team of Disabled Persons' Liaison Officers works with the Disability Service Teams at Job
7 May 2003 : Column 772W
Centre Plus to provide advice and assistance. My Department promotes actively the Bursary Scheme for civil servants with a disability and provides mentors from the SCS to support the Scheme. The Department nominates a group of delegates annually to attend the Civil Service College "Personal Development for Disabled People" course. To promote the European Year of Disabled People, a series of articles is being published on particular disabilities in our internal departmental journal and comprehensive guidance is being prepared for individuals with disabilities and their managers on how to obtain reasonable adjustments, in the field of employment.
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