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Media Training

Mr. Flight: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost was to his Department of media and voice training for ministers and officials in each year since 1997. [123130]

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was created on 29 May 2002. Expenditure on media skills training has been as follows:

	Ministers	Officials (£)
29 May 2002–31 March 2003	nil	9,165.00
1 April 2003–30 June 2003	nil	3,053.62

Mobile Telephone Masts

Jim Dowd: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 10 July 2003, Official Report, column 998W, on mobile telephone masts, what action he plans to ensure greater adherence by network operators to the code of best practice on mobile phone network development. [126556]

Keith Hill : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 10 July 2003, Official Report, column 998W. The Code of Best Practice on Mobile Phone Network Developments, which was produced jointly by representatives of central and. local government and the mobile phone industry, built on Government guidance and the operators' Ten Commitments. The Code has only been in operation since last November.

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On Tuesday 15 July 2003 Deloitte and Touche published their report of the Implementation Review of the Ten Commitments to Best Siting Practice for the UK Mobile Industry. A copy of the report is available in the Library of the House. The opinion of Deloitte & Touche is the evidence they have seen of the operators' processes and procedures during the review fairly reflects the operators' assertion that they have made demonstrable progress in implementing the Ten Commitments. However, given the relatively new nature of some of the Commitments at the time of the review some of the processes were not fully operational and there were some areas where implementation was not comprehensive or thorough. Deloitte and Touche made 46 recommendations for improving procedures and all the mobile network operators have accepted all the recommendations.

The operators are committed to commissioning another review in a year's time and I will be asking them to extend the scope of that review to include observance of the Code. This will enable us to assess how effectively the Code has been put into operation since its introduction and whether any changes need to be made.

Neighbourhood Renewal Fund

Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make it his policy (a) to take into account regional wage differentials in distributing the neighbourhood renewal fund and (b) to apply an area cost adjustment to the calculation. [124746]

Yvette Cooper: The Government's policy for determining eligibility for and distributing Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) resources is based on the Indices of Deprivation 2000 (ID2000). This applies to the £900 million of NRF resources that have been allocated, as part of Spending Review 2000 (SR2000), in 2001–02 to 2003–04, and to the additional £975 million of NRF resources provided for in Spending Review 2002 (SR2002) for 2004–05 and 2005–06.

New Housing

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the Government's target is for new housing to be built on derelict urban land. [126765]

Keith Hill: The national target is that, by 2008, 60 per cent. of new housing should be provided on previously-developed land and through conversions of existing buildings. The definition of previously-developed land is provided in Planning Policy Guidance note 3: "Housing" and includes derelict urban land.

Partnership Agreements

Angela Eagle: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he plans to conclude a partnership agreement with the trade unions representing the staff in his Department. [117462]

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its agencies enjoy a positive and productive relationship with the trade unions working in partnership together to address staffing issues and matters of mutual interest. Given this approach there

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are currently no plans to conclude a partnership agreement but this is kept under review.

Planning Policy Guidance 13

Linda Perham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent representations he has received on the relationship between Planning Policy Guidance 13 and flexible working practices. [127857]

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has received one MP's letter dated 19 June on behalf of a third party on this issue, and has not received any representations on this issue on behalf of anyone else.

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Projects Assistance (Chorley)

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which projects in Chorley have been assisted by the Government Office for the North West in the past three years; and what assistance was provided in each case. [126456]

Yvette Cooper: Government Office for the North West offers guidance and support for a range of initiatives in Chorley. This includes providing, or helping to secure, funding for the following projects in the borough:

Project	Investment (£)	Period
CCTV: Chorley Town Centre/Secured Car Parks	120,223	1999–2002
Communities Against Drugs	162,000	2001–03
Safer Communities Initiative	28,766	2002/03
Partnership Development Fund	91,596	2001–03
Small Retailers in Deprived Areas/Security for Small Retailers	10,000	2002/03
Chorley Interchange	2.6 million	Completed 2003
Barnardo's Chorley Families Project	119,903	2002–04
Chorley and South Ribble Primary Care Trust Health Promotion unit	50,100	2002–04
South Lancashire Arts Partnership: Chorley Rural Sports and Art Project	61,600 (estimated)	2003/04
Chorley Carers Project	750	2000–03
Age Concern Lancashire	1,000	2000–03
Chorley Disability Sports Forum	200	2000–03
St. John Ambulance	200	2000–03
Chorley Village Website	400	2000–03
Creative Minds	500	2000–03
Clayton Brook Community House	1,500	2000–03
Service Improvement for People with Learning Disabilities	250	2000–03
Croston Rural Action Group	200	2000–03
Chorley/South Ribble Disability Forum	500	2000–03
Eccleston Community Environment Trust	375	2000–03
Chorley/South Ribble Mental Health Alliance	570	2000–03
Chorley Environmental Forum: Green Vehicles Exhibition	500	2002

Public Housing

Mr. Gray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his policy is on public housing investment in (a) the south-east and (b) the south-west; how many homes were built in the south-west in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement on the reasons underlying the trend. [126932]

Keith Hill: The policy of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on public housing investment is set out in "Sustainable Communities in the South East and Sustainable Communities in the South West", which made clear the actions that will be taken on a regional basis to deliver a step change in addressing the balance between supply and demand of housing.

Funding for the provision of affordable housing in the south-west has increased to £81 million for 2003–04, compared to just under £62 million for 2002–03. The programme is expected to deliver around 2,000 new affordable homes for the region in 2003–04. Funding for the provision of affordable housing in the south-east has increased to £146 million, compared to just under £114 million for 2002–03. The programme is expected to deliver around 3,000 new affordable homes for the region in 2003–04.

The table shows the supply of new dwellings built in the south-west in each of the last 10 years.

	New homes built
1992–93	14,873
1993–94	15,171
1994–95	16,772
1995–96	16,884
1996–97	16,642
1997–98	19,003
1998–99	15,929
1999–2000	15,912
2000–01	14,979
2001–02	15,575
2002–03	15,943

Source:

Returns from local authorities and the National House Building Council to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

To better understand the reasons underlying the low responsiveness of housing supply to demand pressures in the UK, the Chancellor and Deputy Prime Minister have asked Kate Barker to conduct a review of issues affecting housing supply in the UK. The review will deliver an interim report by autumn 2003.

Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre

Mr. Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the bar chart on page 2 of the annual report and accounts 2002–03 of the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre gives a fair representation of the evolution of the centre's surplus on ordinary activities. [126234]

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Yvette Cooper: The accounts of the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre have been given an unqualified Opinion by the Comptroller and Auditor General in all the years represented. Therefore, the figures shown in the bar chart on page 2 in relation to surplus on ordinary activities can be considered audited and accurate.

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