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25 Jun 2003 : Column 855W—continued
Poulton
Geraldine Smith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much Government funding has been allocated via the Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder Scheme to the Poulton ward in Morecambe. [120457]
Yvette Cooper: The Poulton Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder received funding of £134,186 in 2001–02 and of £518,926 in 2002–03. It has authorisation to spend up to a maximum of £614,154 in 2003–04. Under the provisions of SR2002, the Pathfinder has an overall maximum funding level of £2.1million for the period 2002–05. Subject to the provisions of SR 2004 and 2006, the Pathfinder will be eligible to further funding up to a maximum of £1.4 million in the period 2005–09.
Public Service Agreements
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps the Department has taken to publicise its Public Service Agreement targets; and at what cost to public funds. [114457]
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Yvette Cooper: Information on Public Service Agreement targets is published on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website and included in routine publications such as our Annual Report and Autumn Performance Report, which involves no significant extra cost.
Regional Assemblies
Andrew George: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what support he received from respondents to the soundings exercise from or about Cornwall and Scilly (a) in favour of a South West Assembly and (b) in favour of a Cornish Assembly. [121485]
Mr. Raynsford: The soundings exercise was to establish information, evidence and views on interest in a referendum about whether to establish an elected regional assembly on existing Government Office boundaries. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has only recorded information relevant to those questions and so did not record views for or against any assembly.
Andrew George: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister in what circumstances and at what stage he plans to review the boundaries of the current Government-defined regions for the purpose of future discussions about directly elected Regional Assemblies. [121486]
Mr. Raynsford: As made clear in the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice", the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not ruled out in the longer term the possibility of adopting boundaries for regional assemblies that do not follow the existing boundaries. However we have no plans to amend boundaries in the short to medium term. Referendums on elected regional assemblies in the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber regions will be based on Existing Government Office Regions. Any future proposals to change regional boundaries would follow the existing mechanism for changing Regional Development Agency (RDA) boundaries and would be the subject of legislative procedure in the Bill to establish elected assemblies. We will introduce a Bill when at least one region has voted to establish an assembly and parliamentary time allows.
Andrew George: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister with reference to each consultation his Department has had on Government policy to create regional assemblies, how many responses from or about Cornwall and Scilly he has received (a) in total, (b) which support the option of a referendum on a Cornish Assembly, (c) which support a proposition for a Cornish Assembly, (d) which support the option of having a referendum on a South West Assembly, (e) which support a South West Assembly, (f) which oppose any referendum and (g) which oppose the creation of any directly planned assembly. [121487]
Mr. Raynsford: Not all of the information requested is available. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister received 130 written and e-mailed responses to the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice" that expressed an opinion on a Cornish Assembly. Of these, 122 supported either a Cornish Assembly or a referendum for a Cornish Assembly, while eight opposed any form of Cornish Assembly. We also
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received 1,636 postcards in support of the Cornish Constitutional campaign for a referendum on a Cornish Assembly.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister received 187 relevant responses to the soundings exercise to determine the level of interest in a referendum on establishing an elected regional assembly from individuals and organisations that identified themselves as coming from Cornwall or Scilly. Of these, 55 supported a referendum on an elected South West Assembly, and 129 opposed such a referendum. 335 pre-printed responses that called for a referendum on a Cornish Assembly were received.
Regulatory Bodies
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the (a) number of staff employed by and (b) budget of each regulatory body for which his Department is responsible in each year since 1997. [117789]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister sponsors two executive non-departmental public bodies that have regulatory functions—the Audit Commission and the Housing Corporation.
The annual accounts for both the Audit Commission and the Housing Corporation, which include information on the number of staff employed, for each year since 1997 are available in the Library of the House.
Right to Buy
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what criteria were used to decide which local authorities in the South East Region could temporarily suspend the Right to Buy; and which have been granted this power. [120320]
Keith Hill: There has been no suspension of the Right to Buy in any area, but nine local areas in the South East Region were included in the Housing (Right to Buy) (Limits on Discount) (Amendment) Order 2003—Statutory Instrument 2003 No. 498—which came into effect on 27 March 2003. These areas were
- Chiltern;
Epsom and Ewell;
Hart;
Oxford;
Reading;
Reigate and Banstead;
Tonbridge and Malling;
Vale of White Horse; and
West Berkshire.
- homelessness—reflecting high demand for social housing. Using information provided by local authorities themselves in their regular Housing Investment Programme returns, the
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- number of homeless households in temporary accommodation was compared with the number of local authority lettings and nominations to Registered Social Landlord dwellings given to households who were not homeless. A high value for this ratio indicates high homelessness and/or a low number of available lettings; and
house prices—reflecting the demand for private housing and affordability. The Land Registry lower quartile house price for the third quarter of 2002 was used, to indicate likely availability for first time buyers.
Social Exclusion and Urban Policy Units
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, how many conferences have been organised by the (a) Social Exclusion Unit and (b) Urban Policy Unit in each year since each was established; and what the cost of each was. [113552]
Yvette Cooper: The number and cost of conferences organised by the Social Exclusion Unit are as follows:
| Number of events | Cost (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 36 | 154,815 |
| 2001 | 10 | 20,678 |
| 2002 | 1 | 1,000 |
| 2003 | 3 | 17,500 |
The number and cost of conferences organised by the Urban Policy Unit are as follows:
| Number of events | Cost (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 10 | 32,337 |
| 2001 | 10 | 24,604 |
| 2002 | 4 | (22)472,832 |
(22) Includes an estimated £450,000 net cost for Urban Summit—attended by over 1,600 delegates—after taking account of income from ticket sales, sponsorship and exhibition sales. This includes the cost of the contractors, consultants and agency staff recruited to work on Summit organisation. Urban Summit accounts are currently being finalised.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many publications have been issued by the (a) Social Exclusion Unit and (b) Urban Policy Unit in each year since establishment; and what the cost was of each. [113559]
Yvette Cooper: The information requested on the number and cost of publications issued by the Social Exclusion Unit and Urban Policy Units are tabled as follows:
| Number of publications | Cost (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 3 | 55,412 |
| 1999 | 1 | 48,169 |
| 2000 | 10 | 242,512 |
| 2001 | 6 | 243,288 |
| 2002 | 8 | 234,240 |
| 2003 | 3 | 102,562 |
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| Number of publications | Cost (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 9 | 92,307 |
| 2001–02 | 8 | 19,172 |
| 2002–03 | 31 | 105,589 |
| 2003–04 | 2 | 2,915 |
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