| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
27 Oct 2003 : Column 107W—continued
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Contracts (Bechtel)
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list contracts for consultancy or work carried out by Bechtel in each year since 1997 stating in each case (a) the nature of the work, (b) the value of the contract and (c) the duration of the contract; and if he will make a statement. [133898]
Yvette Cooper: Since the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was established in May 2002, there have been no contracts with Bechtel.
Correspondence
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he will reply to the letter to him dated 15 September from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Sylvia Mason. [133840]
Yvette Cooper: I replied to the right hon. Member on 20 October.
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when the hon. Member for West Worcestershire will receive a response to his letter to the Minister of State for Local and Regional Government of 22 September. [134329]
Phil Hope: I replied to the hon. Member on 22 October.
Council Housing Stock
Mr. Skinner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total impact on employment in local housing authorities has been where transfers of all or part of the housing stock have taken place. [133773]
27 Oct 2003 : Column 108W
Keith Hill: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT) Staff Impacts and Implications Research Report suggests there is no evidence of job losses, rather that some local authorities need to recruit new staff to undertake their strategic housing role post transfer. However, where a local authority transfers all or part of its housing and the local authority considers the sale amounts to a transfer of undertaking, the authority and the new landlord would have to have regard to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protections of Employment) Regulations 1981 (as amended).
Councillors (Tenure)
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2003, Official Report, column 403W on councillors (tenure), whether this change will be enacted by primary legislation. [134724]
Mr. Raynsford: The Local Government Act 2003 allows my right. hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister, by order, to move the date of local government and Greater London Authority elections in 2004 so that they can be held on the same day as the European Parliamentary election, making voting more convenient for voters. The Government will shortly be consulting on the Statutory Instruments which give effect to the Government's stated policy as set out in my previous reply.
Electoral Registration Departments
Chris Ruane: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the budgets allocated to electoral registration departments by each local authority (a) in total and (b) per head of population in descending order according to the amount spent per head of population. [133047]
Keith Hill: The latest figures for English local authorities are available in the Library of the House.
Energy Performance
Gregory Barker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he plans to set requirements for entire renovated buildings over 1,000 sq m as proposed under Article 6 of Directive 2002/91 on the Energy Performance of Buildings. [134545]
Phil Hope: Article 6 indicates that, when buildings with floor areas over 1000 square meters undergo major renovation, "the requirements may be set either for the renovated building as a whole or for the renovated systems or components when these are part of a renovation to be carried out in a limited time period". The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister shall decide on which of these options to pursue during the course of the review of the Building Regulations announced in the Energy White Paper earlier this year.
Equity Loans Scheme
Tim Loughton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many social workers will benefit from interest-free mortgages under the equity loans scheme announced by his Department. [134835]
27 Oct 2003 : Column 109W
Keith Hill: The balance of products taken up by individual key worker groups will depend on the severity of recruitment and retention problems in their sector, the level of employer contribution and the personal circumstances of individual key workers. Full details of the operation of the scheme will be announced by the beginning of March.
Ex-firefighters (Pensions)
Mr. McWalter: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many ex-firefighters are being paid a pension because of early retirement through ill health; and what monitoring systems are in place to ensure that the ill health is not transient. [134547]
Mr. Raynsford: The information concerning the number of ex-firefighters being paid ill-health pensions is not held centrally, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost as individual Fire Authorities administer the Firelighters' Pension Scheme. Fire Authorities have discretion to review the payment of ill-health pensions to determine whether they should remain in payment for so long as firefighters are below the age at which they could or should have retired with ordinary pensions. The Office of theDeputy Prime Minister has recommended Fire Authorities to carry out regular reviews.
Homeless Households
Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he will publish a summary of information being collected from local authorities on the (a) type and (b) sex of members of homeless households in bed and breakfast accommodation as at 31 March. [133862]
Yvette Cooper: Specific information about the household type and gender of homeless applicants, and those in various forms of temporary accommodation such as bed and breakfast, is included in an annual return supplied by local authorities, using the classifications as follows:
- Couples with dependent children
Lone parent—female applicant
Lone parent—male applicant
Single person—female applicant
Single person—male applicant
All other household types
Final responses to the return are still being received. Data are currently being validated and provisional analyses are expected to be available before the end of the year.
Housing
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what financial allocations have been made to each of the housing renewal pathfinders in England; and if he will make a statement. [134402]
Keith Hill: All of the nine pathfinder areas have been allocated £2.66 million for preparation of a strategic scheme and where considered by the pathfinder appropriate some early projects.
27 Oct 2003 : Column 110W
Birmingham Sandwell, East Lancashire, Oldham Rochdale, Merseyside, NewcastleGateshead, North Staffordshire, and South Yorkshire have been allocated £4 million to begin action on the ground ahead of scheme agreement.
Manchester Salford is the first pathfinder to complete and agree their strategic scheme. They have been awarded £125 million over the next two and a half years to implement its scheme.
Further funding for other pathfinders will be negotiated on completion of their scheme.
Local Elections
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what percentage of the electorate in the North West Region all ward memberships will be up for election at the local elections scheduled for June 2004. [134280]
Mr. Raynsford: Approximately 80 per cent. of the electorate in the North West Region will be voting at the elections for local government in 2004.
Dr. Pugh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many councils in the North West Region have elections of all members scheduled for June 2004. [134281]
Mr. Raynsford: There are 18 local authorities that are due to have whole council elections in 2004.
Local Government (Compensation Claims)
Simon Hughes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much compensation has been paid in claims against local government in London in each of the last six years. [135160]
Mr. Raynsford: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Local Government Finance
David Wright: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which local authorities in England and Wales were affected by the floors and ceilings in the local government settlement for 2003–04; and how much grant each one gained or lost. [132547]
Mr. Raynsford: All authorities in England were affected by the floors and ceilings in the local government settlement for 2003–04.
In order to pay for the cost of the floor authorities are subject to a ceiling. However because the money raised from ceiling authorities does not entirely pay for the cost of the floor, middle authorities (i.e. those not subject to either the floor or the ceiling) are subject to a scaling factor on any increase above the floor. The amount raised from both middle and ceiling authorities equals the amount needed for floor authorities.
A table showing the actual benefit from cost to authorities of the floors and ceilings in the local government settlement for 2003–04 is available in the Library of the House.
27 Oct 2003 : Column 111W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |