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Written Answers to Questions

Thursday 26 June 2003

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

The following questions should have been printed on 3 June 2003

Audit Commission

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many research projects the Audit Commission commissioned in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2002–03; and what the criteria for selection of each project were. [113555]

Mr. Leslie: The number of research projects commissioned by the Audit Commission during the period is as follows:

	Research projects commissioned
1 November 2001 to 31 October 2002	24
1 November 2002 to 31 March 2004	26

Note:

The Commission's research programme is set by financial year. Until October 2002, its financial year ran from 1 November to 31 October. The current plans cover a 17-month period from 1 November 2002 to 31 March 2004 because, subject to parliamentary approval, from 2004 its financial year will run from 1 April to 31 March to coincide with that of central and local government.

The subject areas covered by these projects include local government, housing, health and criminal justice. The criteria for selecting each project were tailored to the needs of each particular subject area, including the need for the work to be relevant to policy needs and provide good value for money; the likelihood of improvement resulting from the project; and the need to make best use of local knowledge at the national level.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Audit Commission has reached the level of the Commission for Racial Equality Standard for Racial Equality; and what percentage of local authorities in England have reached this level. [115490]

Mr. Leslie: The CRE Standard for Racial Equality is specific to the functions of local authorities and has not therefore been adopted by the Audit Commission. The policy of the Commission is to ensure that neither employees nor applicants for employment are discriminated against on the grounds of race, gender or disability.

For 2001–02 the percentages of English authorities reaching levels 0 to 5 of the Commission for Racial Equality's Standard for local government were: 0–32 per cent.; 1–41 per cent.; 2–21 per cent.; 3–6 per cent.; 4–0.3 per cent.; 5–0 per cent.

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Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many complaints his Department has received in the last year relating to (a) the Audit Commission and (b) the average local authority in England. [115491]

Mr. Leslie: Between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2003 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister received about 130 letters (not all of which were complaints) relating to the work of the Audit Commission, the auditors or inspectors it appoints, or the bodies audited or inspected. Information on the volume of correspondence received by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister about individual local authorities is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many subscriptions to (a) digital terrestrial, (b) digital satellite and (c) digital cable television are held by the Audit Commission; and what the (i) cost and (ii) purpose is of each subscription. [115502]

Mr. Leslie: The Audit Commission holds four subscriptions to digital satellite television at a cost of £1,128 per year per subscription. Each subscription ensures that the commission is kept in touch with developments in news, business and parliamentary affairs relevant to the commission's work. The commission holds no subscriptions to digital terrestrial or digital cable television.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many voluntary leavers there were as a percentage of staff in (a) the Audit Commission and (b) the average local authority in England in the last year for which figures are available. [115495]

Mr. Leslie: During the year to 31 October 2002 (the end of the Audit Commission's last complete financial year), the percentage of voluntary leavers from the commission was 9.2 per cent. of staff employed. Between 1 April 2001 and 31 March 2002 the average percentage of voluntary leavers from English local authorities was 10.9 per cent. of staff employed.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of waste was recycled and how many kilogrammes of waste were generated per staff member by (a) the Audit Commission and (b) the average local authority in England in each year since 1997. [115504]

Mr. Leslie: The Audit Commission's arrangements for managing and recycling their waste is organised locally. The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The commission has adopted a number of approaches to reduce the impact it makes on the environment, including the recycling of waste and the use of stationery from recycled sources.

Information on the amount of waste recycled and generated by local authority staff is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Business Co-ordination Unit

Mr. Wray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the responsibilities are of the Business Co-ordination Unit; and if he will make a statement on its (a) aims and (b) performance since 1997. [115133]

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Mr. Leslie: The Business Co-Ordination Unit's primary responsibility is to match ministerial visit requests from the business and wider stakeholder community with suitable Ministers. Its aims are to increase ministerial interaction with key stakeholders and customers, including business, local government, national bodies with regional interests and the voluntary and community sectors. The unit was launched in 2000 and received a Charter Mark Award for excellence last December. It achieved more than 300 ministerial visits between 2000 and 2002 that otherwise would not have taken place.

Care Homes

Janet Anderson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what council tax business rates relief is available to homes providing residential or nursing care for the elderly. [116128]

Mr. Leslie: There is no business rates relief available specifically for homes that provide residential or nursing care for the elderly. However, there are existing mandatory and discretionary rate relief available to ratepayers under the rating system and under certain circumstances homes that provide residential and nursing care for the elderly can qualify for these reliefs.

To qualify for mandatory rate relief, the ratepayer must be a charity or a non-profit making body operating as a charity and use the property they occupy wholly or mainly for charitable purposes. Mandatory relief is available at 80 per cent. of the full rates bill, is fully centrally funded and can be topped up to 100 per cent. at the discretion of the local authority. The discretionary top-up is 25 per cent. centrally funded, and local authorities are required to meet 75 per cent. of any such top-up.

Where the property does not qualify for mandatory relief, local authorities can consider the award of discretionary rate relief. To be eligible for consideration, the ratepayer must be a non-profit making body and the property used for social, philanthropic, educational or religious purposes. Local authorities have the discretionary power to grant up to 100 per cent. rate relief to certain non-profit making bodies. 75 per cent. of the cost of all discretionary reliefs is met centrally, with the local authority, and through them, the council taxpayer meeting the remaining 25 per cent.. However, whether or not a particular ratepayer would qualify for this rate relief would depend on whether it meets the qualifying criteria set by the local authority.

There are no council tax discounts or exemptions available for care homes that provide residential or nursing care for the elderly. However, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister included provisions in the Local Government Bill currently before Parliament giving local authorities the power to grant their own discounts and exemptions. This could include care homes if the local authority wished.

Coalfield Regeneration Trust

Mr. Cummings: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the future funding of the Coalfield Regeneration Trust. [114658]

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Mr. McNulty: The Coal Field Regeneration Trust's current funding agreement for England continues until March 2005. Decisions on funding beyond that date will be taken in the light of it's continued good performance and evidence of the beneficial impact of the Trust on the coalfield communities.

Council Housing

Helen Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many council homes have been subject to stock transfer in each year since 1997. [115262]

Mr. McNulty: Numbers of council dwellings transferring annually under large scale voluntary transfer since 1997 have been as follows.

	Number of dwellings transferred
1997–98	32,982
1998–99	73,900
1999–2000	97,385
2000–01	134,219
2001–02	35,390
2002–03	167,290

Helen Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average weekly rent for (a) council homes and (b) housing association properties is in each region of England. [115265]

Mr. McNulty: Annual average weekly rent data by region can be found on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website.

Rent data for local authorities, from 1991 to 2001, are in Table 701, which is available in the Library of the House and located at www.housing.odpm.gov.uk/statistics/live/rents/rentl-ukr-cy.xls .

The vast majority of housing associations are Registered Social Landlords (RSLs). Rent data for RSLs, from 1994 to 2002, are in Table 703, rent data for local authorities, from 1991 to 2001, are in Table 701, which is available in the Library of the House and located at www.housing.odpm.gov.uk/statistics/live/rents/rent3-r-cy.xls.

There are no data available from housing associations that are not registered social landlords.

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