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16 May 2003 : Column 488W—continued
ADVOCATE-GENERAL
Departmental Catering Services
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Advocate General what the cost was of (a) the in-house canteen and (b) other catering services provided by the Department in 2002. [104260]
The Advocate-General for Scotland: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, Official Report, column 486W.
Departmental Invoices
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Advocate General if she will list the occasions on which her Department failed to pay valid invoices within 30 days or after the agreed credit period in the financial year 2001–02. [104308]
The Advocate-General for Scotland: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by my right. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, Official Report, column 486W.
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Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Advocate General what her estimate is of the expenditure of her Department on newspapers, magazines and periodicals in 2002. [106306]
The Advocate-General for Scotland: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by my right. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, Official Report, column 486W.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Advocate General what the running costs in 2002 were of (a) her private offices, separately identifying expenditure on staff, and (b) her Department. [106002]
The Advocate-General for Scotland: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, Official Report, column 486W.
Market Research
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Advocate General what expenditure has been incurred by her (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non-departmental bodies in 2002 on (i) opinion polling, (ii) focus groups and (iii) other forms of market research; and if she will list the surveys commissioned and the purpose of each. [106268]
The Advocate-General for Scotland: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today by my right. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, Official Report, column 486W.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Fire Service College
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Department has received the report of the task group established to consider the future of the Fire Service College. [114013]
Mr. Raynsford: Yes. It is under active consideration and I hope to comment shortly.
Former Council Houses
Linda Perham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what measures are in place regarding companies buying homes from former council tenants and then letting or selling them at market prices. [112536]
Mr. McNulty: There is nothing to prevent former council tenants from selling the homes that they purchased under the Right to Buy scheme to whomever they wish. They must repay all or part of the discount they received if they resell within three years of buying. The Government's draft Housing Bill, published on 31 March 2003, proposes to extend this period to five years and to change the basis on which discount is to be repaid from the current flat rate to a percentage of the resale value of the property. This will act as a further disincentive to companies that are profiteering from the Right to Buy scheme.
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Home Improvement Agencies (North-east)
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which home improvement agencies he supports in the north-east region. [113062]
Mr. McNulty: Within the area covered by the Government Office for the north-east region, the following Home Improvement Agencies are supported:
- North Tyneside
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Gateshead
Derwentside
Easington
Sedgefield
Hartlepool
Darlington
Middlesbrough
Housing
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he will withdraw the recommendation of his Planning Inspectors that Cambridgeshire County Council's Structure Plan should consider the development of up to 1,000 houses on land west of Trumpington Road. [113923]
Mr. McNulty: The Panel of Inspectors who considered the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Structure Plan, although appointed by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister, is independent and makes recommendations to the strategic planning authorities as promoters of the plan. It is for the strategic planning authorities to consider the panel's report and to give reasons if they do not propose to modify their plan in accordance with the panel's recommendations. They must then publish modifications to the plan offering stakeholders the opportunity to comment upon the modifications. GO-East will be responding to the consultation on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister and I would urge anyone with an interest to make their views on the proposed modifications known to the strategic planning authorities by 17 June.
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment is made when assessing capital housing allowances to Islington of the council's income from the sale of buildings that could be used for housing purposes; and if he will make a statement. [113520]
Mr. McNulty: The framework for allocation of capital resources to English local authorities no longer includes specific adjustments to reflect differences in authorities' capacity to fund capital expenditure from receipts arising from sales of housing and other assets. New arrangements are being introduced for allocation of resources for housing investment by local authorities and housing associations. These will increasingly be directed at regionally identified strategic housing priorities; decisions on allocations will reflect how the available resources can be best used to complement housing investment funded from authorities' own resources, including housing capital receipts, and from other funding streams.
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Planning
Tony Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidelines he issues on independent scrutiny of local planning authorities in the area of conditions attached to planning applications. [114089]
Mr. McNulty: None. Conditions are imposed at the discretion of local planning authorities to enable planning permission to be granted. The applicant has a right of appeal to my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister where a local planning authority grants permission subject to conditions.
Andrew Bennett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of recent trends in the length of public planning inquiries. [112357]
Mr. McNulty : A recent analysis of inquiries held in the last five years revealed that 88 per cent. were scheduled to last for up to one week, 8 per cent. between one and two weeks, 2 per cent. between two and three weeks. The remaining 2 per cent. were scheduled to last four weeks or more. The analysis covered all planning inquiries (ie both delegated appeals and Secretary of State cases).
Figures for actual sitting days are not available but would be unlikely to vary significantly from the estimate.
There has been no significant change in trends relating to the duration of inquiries during this period. Despite increasing appeal numbers the proportion proceeding by the inquiry method has actually fallen in the last four years.
Social Exclusion and Urban Policy Units
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many research projects the (a) Social Exclusion Unit and (b) Urban Policy Unit commissioned (i) in 2003–04 and (ii) 2002–03; and what the criteria for selection of each project were. [113558]
Mrs. Roche: The numbers of research projects commissioned is as follows:
| 2002–03 | 2003–04(11) | |
|---|---|---|
| Social Exclusion Unit | 13 | 3 |
| Urban Policy | 26 | 1 |
(11) to date
The criteria for selecting projects for inclusion in the Office's research programmes is that they meet policy requirements. All of the Office's programmes of research are agreed by Ministers.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when the (a) Social Exclusion Unit and (b) Urban Policy Unit were formally established. [113561]
Mrs. Roche: The Social Exclusion Unit was formally established in December 1997. The Urban Policy Unit was formally established in January 2001.
Travellers
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the (a) number and (b) location are of sites for travelling people in each county; and if he will make a statement. [113562]
16 May 2003 : Column 492W
Mr. McNulty: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister publishes an annual count of local authority authorised sites in England, which is broken down into each local authority area. Privately run sites are not included in the list.
A copy of the latest local authority Gypsy sites list is available in the Libraries of the House.
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