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Planning Policy Guidance 22

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the level of protection for neighbouring residents against noise and visual intrusion provided by the safeguards in paragraph 47 of Planning Policy Guidance 22. [109834]

Mr. McNulty: The annex on Wind Energy—including paragraph 47—in Policy Planning Guidance Note 22 contains guidelines about various factors which should be taken into consideration in relation to wind turbine location, including noise and visual intrusion. Where protection for residents against any such factors is considered necessary, assessments will be made on a case by case basis and, where appropriate, planning conditions can be attached to the planning permission.

Private Finance Initiative

Helen Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many council homes have been refurbished under PFI schemes since such schemes were introduced. [115263]

Mr. McNulty: The first two council housing Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) contracts were signed in March this year by Manchester city council and the London borough of Islington which will see a total of 2,500 council homes refurbished. It is too early to expect any of these to have been refurbished at this point in time. Manchester let a small preliminary contract in advance of the main agreement which has resulted in 21 homes being improved.

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Helen Jones: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which local authorities have signed contracts for the refurbishment of homes under PFI schemes. [115264]

Mr. McNulty: Derby city council signed a contract in July 2000 for the purchase and refurbishment of non-council properties in its inner city area. Manchester city council and the London borough of Islington both signed contracts in March this year for the refurbishment of council properties and other pathfinder authorities are expected to sign later in the year.

Property Portfolio

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the estimated value is of the property portfolio held by his Department. [108366]

Mr. Leslie: The estimated value of The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's property portfolio excluding non-departmental Public Bodies and Agencies is £3,744,297.

Public Buildings (Disabled Access)

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of buildings owned by (a) the Audit Commission and (b) local authorities in England are suitable for and accessible by disabled people. [115505]

Mr. Leslie: Of the properties currently leased by the Audit Commission, 75 per cent. are accessible by people with disabilities. The average percentage of local authority buildings open to the public in which all public areas are suitable for the accessible to people with disabilities was 30 per cent. in 2001–02.

Regional Government

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what safeguards will be introduced to ensure that infrastructure is compatible with development in the Regional Spatial Strategy and local development scheme and plans. [114393]

Mr. McNulty: Regional Spatial Strategies and Development Plan Documents will be prepared in consultation with infrastructure providers and will be subject to independent examination at which the soundness of these plans will be assessed. These two types of plans will collectively constitute the development plan. Applications for planning permission for infrastructure development will be determined in accordance with the development plan unless other material considerations indicate otherwise.

Resilience Projects

Mr. Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what additional expenditure over and above that identified prior to 1 April 2002 (a) was spent in 2002–03 and (b) will be spent in 2003–04 on national and regional resilience work in the fields of (i) central response, (ii) local responses, (iii) essential services, (iv) mass evacuation, (v) warning, (vi) site clearance and (vii) threat assessment; whether arrangements exist to release expenditure during the current financial year for resilience projects currently under consideration in these fields which may be identified as requiring urgent implementation; and if he will make a statement. [113925]

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Mr. Leslie: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is fully engaged in the Cabinet Office-led capabilities programme, and all resilience work is co-ordinated within that programme. The central response capability focuses on mechanisms such as business continuity planning which assure that Government departments can function and respond effectively to a no-notice crisis. The local response capability focuses on mechanisms which allow local authorities and emergency services to plan and respond to serious disruption, while the site clearance capability aims to create an action plan for the handling of rabble and site clearance. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has specific responsibilities as lead Government Department for the regional response and site clearance capabilities, and contributes to the development of other capabilities as necessary. Under the central response capability, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister did not incur any specific additional spend during 2002–03, and has budgeted for £1 million in 2003–04. On the local responses and site clearance capabilities, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister spent £2,072,412 during 2002–03, and has budgeted for £4.5 million in 2003–04. With regard to the other areas the hon. Member has raised, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is either not directly involved in those workstreams or has incurred no spend.

The capabilities that we are working to deliver have been developed to allow the Government to deal with the widest range of scenarios. Should a specific additional urgent operational need arise, at any point of the spending cycle, action would be taken to meet it. The public expenditure framework the Government have put in place provides the flexibility to deal with unexpected pressures.

Sefton Metropolitan Authority

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of buildings owned by Sefton Metropolitan authority are accessible by people with physical disabilities. [116619]

Mr. McNulty: 43 out of 52 (83 per cent.) of public buildings owned by Sefton Metropolitan borough council are accessible by people with physical disabilities.

Sickness Absence

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many working days were lost to sickness in (a) the Audit Commission and (b) the average local authority in England in the last year for which figures are available. [115494]

Mr. Leslie: During the year to 31 October 2002 (the end of the Audit Commission's last complete financial year) an average of five days per member of staff were lost through sickness. The average number of days lost between 1 April 2001 and 31 March 2002 through sickness per member of staff of English local authorities was 10.2.

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Social Housing

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people are on the waiting list to be housed in Shrewsbury and Atcham. [115026]

Mr. McNulty: Local authorities in England report the numbers of households on their housing register (excluding tenants awaiting a transfer) as at 1 April in their annual Housing Investment programme return. As at 1 April 2002 the latest reported figures are 1,335.

South West Regional Assembly

Mr. Chope: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 22 May 2003, Official Report, column 986W, what criteria will apply in determining whether the South-West Regional Assembly will receive the full £600,000 or a lesser sum. [116809]

Mr. Raynsford: As part of the funding agreement, the South West Regional Assembly has produced a business plan, covering general operating costs and specific projects. It makes quarterly claims, assessed and processed by the Government Office for the South-West, for expenditure against that plan. Should projects originally envisaged in the plan not be pursued, for whatever reason, the grant paid may be less than the £600,000 ceiling.

Starter Homes

Mr. Lepper: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what categories of workers will be eligible for consideration for starter homes in the next round of the Starter Homes initiative. [114699]

Mr. McNulty: From 2004–05, funding for the provision of key worker housing will be integrated into the Housing Corporation's affordable housing programme and will target key public sector workers. The Housing Corporation expects to invite bids for key worker housing schemes at the same time as bids for other affordable housing schemes, in the autumn 2003. It will be made clear at that stage which key worker groups will qualify for assistance, taking into account the advice of Regional Housing Boards.

Waste Management

Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what the total area of land for which planning permission for waste management purposes was granted in the years 1999 to 2003 was; and if he will make a statement; [115776]

(2) if he will list the (a) incinerations, (b) composting plants and (c) material recovery plants that received planning approval in the years 1999 to 2002; and what their capacities were. [115766]

Mr. McNulty: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Details of planning applications, and the statutory registers of decisions on them, are held by individual local planning authorities.

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