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Housing (North-East Lincolnshire)

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was allowed to north east Lincolnshire for housing in the SSA for each year from 1995; and how much was spent on it by the local authority. [126419]

Mr. Raynsford: The majority of resources for housing are provided through the Housing Revenue Account. Formula Spending Shares (formerly Standard Spending Assessments) cover rent officer functions and certain homelessness and housing renewal functions, though we do not make allocations for specific services.

North East Lincolnshire's expenditure on these non-HRA housing services from 1996–97 to 2001–02 was £443,000; £785,000, £795,000, £850,000, £743,000 and £836,000 respectively.

Correspondence

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister on how many occasions since May 2002 Ministers in his Department have passed (a) hon. Members' letters and (b) hon. Members' questions to agencies for response; and what percentage of the total number of letters and questions received this represents. [121821]

Yvette Cooper: Between the period of 29 May 2002 to 27 June 2003, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister received (a) 10,060 letters from hon. Members of which 89 were transferred to executive agencies for response; and (b) 3,692 parliamentary questions of which 11 were transferred to executive agencies. In both cases this represents less than 1 per cent. of all correspondence and parliamentary questions received.

Small Retailers (Deprived Areas)

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on programmes under the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas initiative funded by the Government Office for the North West. [124387]

Yvette Cooper: Government Office for the North West was allocated £2,355,088 of funding for small retail businesses in deprived areas for the three years,

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2001–04. It was used on a range of interventions to individual shops or groups of shops, such as better locks and toughened glass or by making improvements to their immediate environment, such as better lighting.

It is expected that a minimum of 955 shops in the North West will benefit from this year's allocation.

Social Housing

Mr. Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 20 March, Official Report, column 937W, on social housing grant, what estimate he has made of the number of social housing schemes which will not proceed as a result of the abolition of Local Authority Social Housing Grant; and how many social housing units will be lost in consequence. [125727]

Keith Hill: On 17 June, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced a further extension of transitional arrangements for with debt local authorities. The period for submission of bids to the Housing Corporation by those authorities has been extended to 31 July and further resources have been made available of £30 million in 2004–05 and £40 million in 2005–06. The number of affordable houses to be built in 2003–04 from the funding for transitional arrangements will not be known until after that date.

Sport

Mr. Reed: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) assessment he has made of and (b) research he has commissioned into the potential impact of sport on regeneration; and if he will make a statement. [125260]

Yvette Cooper: The potential impact of sports facilities in contributing to regeneration is recognised in the Urban White Paper "Our Towns and our Cities: the Future" published in November 2000. It covers the role of cultural, leisure and sporting activities in promoting social and economic well-being in towns and cities.

The impact of such activities on regeneration has been demonstrated by assessments carried out to select Beacon Councils for the "Regenerating through Culture, Sport and Tourism" theme in Round Two of the Beacon Council Scheme. Councils awarded Beacon Status have worked with the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) to share their best practice with councils all over the country.

Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) Note 17: Planning for Open Space, Sport and Recreation, revised in July 2002, recognises that high quality and well managed and maintained open spaces, sport and recreation facilities can support an urban renaissance and improve peoples' sense of well being in the place they live. "Assessing Needs and Opportunities: A Companion Guide to PPG 17" advises on how local assessments of need and audits of provision for such facilities can be carried out.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not carried out research specifically into the impact of sporting activities on regeneration. Within Government, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) takes the lead on sports policy. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is, however, working closely with other Government Departments (including DCMS), the Regional Development Agencies and the Core Cities

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Group of local authorities to consider ways of increasing the competitiveness and prosperity of major regional cities. This has included looking at the role that large-scale sporting and cultural investments can play in creating successful cities.

The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, is working closely with Sport England to improve the design quality of new sports buildings and spaces by adopting best practice. Their joint report "Better Places for Sport," published in May 2003, acknowledges the role of high quality sports facilities in helping to revitalise deprived neighbourhoods.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has also been involved along with other stakeholders, such as DCMS, in analysing the consultants report commissioned to assess the costs and benefits of bidding for and hosting the Olympic Games in London in 2012. This examined the potential regeneration benefits offered by the Games for regenerating the Lower Lea Valley and other proposed sites.

Local Government Finance

Mrs. Brooke: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much the average Standard Spending Assessment was per head of population in (a) England, (b) the South West, (c) Dorset and (d) Poole in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [126442]

Mr. Raynsford: Standard Spending Assessments (SSAs) were replaced by Formula Spending Shares (FSSs) in 2003–04. These are not directly comparable since the total amount of FSS was much larger than the total for SSA would have been as a result of increasing the Resource Equalisation.

The population data used for 2003–04 (the mid-2001 population estimates) was based on the 2001 Census; the population data for the other years was based on the 1991 Census. These data are therefore also not directly comparable.

The following table provides SSA per head for the period 1997–98 and FSS per head for 2003–04 as requested.

	England	South West	Dorset	Poole
1997–98	829.45	736.59	560.95	653.65
1998–99	869.19	768.63	585.49	681.09
1999–2000	907.66	803.66	615.17	711.94
2000–01	943.33	836.69	645.79	735.73
2001–02	980.69	866.93	670.32	764.00
2002–03	995.30	876.47	665.64	759.72
2003–04	1,177.45	1,045.84	778.36	903.15

The figures are not comparable year-on-year as the services funded through SSA and FSS have changed over this period.

The figures for England and the South West also include police services. Police services are provided by Dorset police in the Dorset and Poole area and are not therefore included in the Dorset and Poole figures.

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Telecommunications Masts

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many planning applications have been made to site mobile telecommunications masts on land owned by the Department. [124806]

Keith Hill: Since 29 May 2002, when the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was established, there have been no planning applications for prior approval to site mobile telecommunications masts on land owned by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Fair Trade

Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what EU policy is on removing (a) tariff and (b) non-tariff barriers to trade between the EU and the developing world. [125745]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The EU is committed to improvements in market access for all members of the WTO, with a particular emphasis on developing country priorities. In agriculture the EU has already proposed average reductions in tariffs of 36 per cent. In non agricultural goods, the EU has proposed that all tariffs should be reduced to a maximum of 15 per cent. The EU is also committed to the reduction and whenever possible elimination of non-tariff barriers ensuring that these do not replace tariffs as an obstacle to trade.

In addition, to assist the integration of developing countries into the world trading system, the EU's preferential access schemes allow many products from developing countries to enter the EU either duty free or with low tariffs. Under the Everything But Arms initiative, least developed countries have duty and quota-free access to the EU. African, Caribbean and Pacific countries also have preferential access to the EU market under the Cotonou Agreement under which most of their exports enter the EU duty free. Other developing countries enjoy preferential access under the generalised system of preferences.

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