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5 Nov 2003 : Column 678W—continued
Diabetics
Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will issue guidance under planning provision that encourages major stores, high street restaurants and other appropriate retail outlets to provide private rooms for diabetics to inject insulin; and if he will make a statement. [133093]
Keith Hill: The internal arrangement of shops and restaurants, including customer facilities such as toilets and baby changing facilities, are not planning matters. Although some facilities for customers are required under other legislation, most are provided by retailers as a customer service.
Domestic Violence
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement about the progress of the Government's domestic violence helpline. [136314]
Yvette Cooper: The development of the single freephone Helpline for victims of domestic violence is making good progress. The Government and Comic Relief are providing funding. However, it will not be a Government help-line as it will be owned and run by two independent charities.
A further statement will be made as soon as the launch date of the project is known.
Housing Market Renewal (West Yorkshire)
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to provide resources for housing market renewal in West Yorkshire. [136412]
Keith Hill: The Regional Housing Board for Yorkshire and the Humber has identified £16 million over two years to kick-start a West Yorkshire Low Demand Project, in addition to the needs-based allocation that all local authorities will receive. In 2004–05, West and South Yorkshire will also be sharing £2 million of the £6 million identified for innovative approaches to private sector renewal in Yorkshire and the Humber, with bids from all sub-regions for the remaining £4 million to be invited early next year. The board will also allocate £10 million for 2005–06 for transformational projects that meet the region's priorities, which include regeneration and neighbourhood renewal.
There are no current plans for further Market Renewal Pathfinders. The evidence for further pathfinders will be considered within the context and constraints of the 2004 Spending Review.
Investigatory Powers
Brian White: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what statutory investigatory powers his Department has; which ones will be superseded by use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000; and what plans he has for removing these legacy powers. [136118]
Yvette Cooper: A full list of existing statutory investigatory powers for which the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has responsibility is not held centrally
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and could be provided only at disproportionate costs. But in any event, no such powers are superseded by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000: generally speaking, existing powers make provision relating to compelling production of information (subject to various safeguards) in different contexts and in a wide variety of statutory regimes. Such existing statutory powers could not be used to compel disclosure of communications data in the sense for which the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 provides. Accordingly there are no plans to repeal any such powers in consequence of that Act.
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Local Government Finance
David Wright: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) how much additional grant support has been received by Telford and Wrekin Council annually since its creation as a unitary authority; [132548]
- (2) what annual percentage increase in grant support has been made available to Telford and Wrekin Council since its creation as a unitary authority. [132545]
Mr. Raynsford: Total grant for Telford and the Wrekin Council since its creation as a unitary authority is shown in the table.
| 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2003–03(7) | 2003–04(7) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Grant(8) | 92.6 | 99.9 | 108.6 | 116.8 | 122.9 | 140.9 |
| Increase on previous year | — | 7.4 | 8.6 | 8.2 | 6.1 | 18.1 |
| Percentage increase on previous year | — | 8.0 | 8.6 | 7.6 | 5.2 | 14.7 |
| Percentage cumulative increase on previous year | — | 8.0 | 17.3 | 26.2 | 32.7 | 52.2 |
(7) Budgeted figures
(8) Includes Revenue Support Grant, Redistributed Non-Domestic Rates and Special and Specific Grants inside AEF.
Note:
Increases between years may not be on a comparable like for like basis due to changes in responsibilities.
Source:
1998–99 to 2001–02 Revenue Summary Returns and 2002–03 to 2003–04 Budget Estimate Returns.
Regional Assemblies
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much public money he estimates will be spent by both sides of the campaign on the forthcoming regional assembly referendums. [136076]
Phil Hope: Under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, organisations can apply to the Electoral Commission to become the lead campaign body for one of the referendum outcomes. The Electoral Commission is currently considering the appropriate level of grant to award to these designated organisations.
Street Wardens
Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the sources of funding are for street wardens in Cambridgeshire; and how much funding is being received from each source in 2003–04. [136384]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister funds three street warden schemes in Cambridgeshire, based in Cambridge, Huntingdon and Peterborough, all of which are match funded by local authorities. The Cambridge scheme has an Office of the Deputy Prime Minister grant of £54,250 for 2003–04, which is match funded by Cambridge city council. The Huntingdon scheme has an Office of the Deputy Prime Minister grant of £64,484, match funded by Huntingdon district council and the Peterborough scheme has an Office of the Deputy Prime Minister grant of £94,691, match funded by Peterborough county council. This represents a total of £426,850 to fund street wardens in Cambridgeshire in 2003–04.
Tollington Estate
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what expenditure there has been on the preparation for the sale of the Tollington Estate in Islington by the North British Housing Association and its subsidiaries; and how much of this was funded by (a) local authority, (b) Housing Corporation and (c) re-generation funds. [136507]
Keith Hill: The North British Housing Association (NBH) has spent £590,000 to ensure effective resident involvement and consultation in the development of proposals for the stock transfer of the Tollington Estates from Islington council to NBH. This has involved extensive resident involvement in the preparation of the masterplan for the estates, the provision of an estate based office to provide an accessible information point for residents and the production and circulation of newsletters to everyone living on the estates.
This sum has been funded internally within NBH. There has been no financial support to NBH from other bodies.
HEALTH
"A Vision for Pharmacy"
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in implementing "A Vision for Pharmacy". [136051]
Ms Rosie Winterton: "A Vision for Pharmacy", published on 17 July 2003, builds on a programme to develop national health service pharmacy services set out in "Pharmacy in the Future", published in September 2000. The consultation paper highlights the significant progress made in the past three years in delivering important changes in the way pharmacy services are delivered. Consultation on "A Vision for Pharmacy" ended on 17 October and details of the wide-ranging responses received will be published by the end of the year. These are currently being analysed and will
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help inform and shape further action to deliver improved patient choice and access to a range of high quality pharmacy services.
Accident and Emergency Services
Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients admitted to accident and emergency departments in London in each quarter of each of the last four years waited for more than 12 hours before being treated or transferred to a ward. [135156]
Mr. Hutton: The information requested is not collected centrally. However, data on total time spent in accident and emergency from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge has been collected and routinely published since July 2002. This information is available on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivitv.
Asian People's Disability Association
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to enable the Asian People's Disability Association to remain in the offices which they now occupy in the Central Middlesex Hospital, Park Royal, (a) during and (b) after the rebuilding programme. [132724]
Mr. Hutton: This is a local matter and I understand that health and social services have been working together to find suitable alternative accommodation for the Asian People's Disability Association and that these negotiations are on-going locally.
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