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3 Jul 2003 : Column 461W—continued

Housing Revenue Account

Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will take steps to prevent councils from using housing revenue account money to fund the administration of anti-social behaviour orders. [123286]

Keith Hill: The Government have no plans to prevent councils from using Housing Revenue Account (HRA) money to fund the administration of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs).

Local authorities use HRA money for the management and maintenance of council housing in accordance with guidance issued by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

When local authority landlords use Anti-Social Behaviour Orders to tackle anti-social behaviour relating to local authority housing, then they are right to use HRA money to do so.

Tackling anti-social tenants is a housing management function, and local authority landlords, because of their long-term commitment to their tenants and improving communities, are usually amongst the first agencies to know of problems. They must be responsive to the issues that local communities face and to ensure that properties do not become hard to let, as a result of crime and disorder problems. ASBOs have made an important contribution to reducing anti-social behaviour and enabling communities to get on with their daily lives.

Regional Assemblies

David Davis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what criteria he will use in distributing funding for each side of the campaign in the regional assembly referendums; and what funding will be distributed to each side in each referendum. [123270]

Phil Hope: Section 108 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) provides that the Electoral Commission may designate permitted participants as organisations to whom assistance is available as representing those campaigning for the outcomes in question. It must designate organisations on each side or none.

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If it designates organisations, the Electoral Commission will be able to provide a grant of the same amount to each. The maximum grant under PPERA is £600,000 for each designated organisation. Each designated organisation will also be entitled to receive other assistance: mailing of a referendum address free to every household or elector; the use of public rooms free of charge for holding public meetings; and referendum campaign broadcasts.

The Electoral Commission is considering what the level of grant should be for regional referendums.

David Davis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) over what period each regional assembly referendum will be held; [123271]

Phil Hope: The referendum period will be determined by an order under section five of the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Act 2003.

The provisions of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) set a standard referendum period of 10 weeks. This consists of three separate stages: 28 days for permitted participants to apply to be designated as the "yes" or "no" campaign; 14 days for the Electoral Commission to determine applications; and 28 days for the poll.

David Davis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he will designate the referendum period for regional assemblies. [123272]

Phil Hope: The Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Act 2003 provides that my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister may make an order to cause a referendum to be held in a region at any time during the period of two years starting with the date on which the Boundary Committee is directed to carry out a local government review in that region. On 16 June 2003 he directed the Boundary Committee to conduct local government reviews in the north-east, the north-west and Yorkshire and the Humber regions. The Boundary Committee will report its recommendations by 25 May 2004.

Then at least six weeks must elapse before the Order is laid. An order therefore cannot be laid before 3 July 2004.

David Davis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether it is his policy to permit postal ballots in the regional assembly referendums; and if he will make a statement on the use of alternative voting methods in the referendums. [123273]

Phil Hope: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not yet decided what the method of voting will be for the first regional referendums. The referendums may be held either by all-postal voting or by a traditional ballot, and using electronic counting of votes. The Government intend that the same method of voting should be used throughout a region and in all regions holding referendums on the same day. But over time, the method of voting may change.

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David Davis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what plans the Government has to limit announcements (a) during the regional assembly referendum period and (b) in the period immediately before the regional assembly referendum period; [123276]

Phil Hope: Regional assembly referendums are governed by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) and the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Act 2003.

Section 125 of PPERA provides that in the final 28 days before the assembly referendum, the Government will not be able to publish material relating to issues in the referendum. These controls apply equally to local authorities and to any other publicly funded body.

There are no statutory restrictions on publications or announcements before the 28 day period.

David Davis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the powers and responsibilities to be held by regional assemblies; and if he will make a statement. [123278]

Phil Hope: The Government's proposals on the functions of elected regional assemblies are principally set out in chapter 4 in the White Paper "Your Region, Your Choice" (Cm 5511) which was published in May 2002.

The White Paper also said that we would build into policy development the new opportunities offered by the creation of elected regional assemblies. On this basis my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister announced on 30 June proposals for the future organisation of the fire service, set out in the White Paper "Our Fire and Rescue Service" (Cm 5808). These proposals include a more coherent regional approach to fire and rescue in accordance with the recommendations of the independent review of the fire service, the report of which was published in December 2002. As my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister said on 30 June 2003, Official Report, column 22, where directly elected regional assemblies are established, we envisage there being regional fire and rescue authorities that are democratically accountable to those assemblies.

Waste Strategy

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the targets for his Department's waste minimisation strategy are. [121808]

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Greening Operations Policy Statement requires that we recover or recycle at least 70 per cent. of its waste in 2003–04, while reducing paper use by 10 per cent. compared with the base year of 1999–2000.

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CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Departmental Ministers

Mr. Horam: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs, on behalf of the Lord President of the Privy Council, if he will list the number of Ministers in his Department in each year since 1996. [120990]

Mr. Leslie : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley, South (Mr. Alexander) on 24 June 2003, Official Report, column 661W.

Public Appointments

Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will list the appointees to (a) the Imperial College Govening Body, (b) the Court of UMIST, (c) the Court of University of Hull, (d) the Court of University of Sussex, (e) the Court of University of Ulster, (f) the Court of the University of Manchester, (g) the Council for the Professions Supplementary to Medicine, (h) the General Medical Council, (i) the Royal Council of Veterinary Surgeons, (j) the Registered Homes Tribunals Panel of Experts and (k) the Royal College of Court; and which of the appointees to each body are from ethnic minorities. [122994]

Mr. Leslie: The Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine no longer exists, and the Privy Council no longer makes appointments to the Registered Homes Tribunal Panel of Experts. Privy Council appointees for the other bodies mentioned are set out as follows:

Imperial College


























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The other information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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