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20 Nov 2003 : Column 1297W—continued
Periodicals
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the periodicals that (a) his ministerial office, (b) other ministerial offices within his Department, (c) non-departmental bodies, (d) executive agencies and (e) his Department have subscribed to since May 2002. [138119]
Yvette Cooper: The information requested is available in the Library of the House. Weekly newspapers and tabloid-format periodicals that have the appearance of newspapers have been classed as "periodicals" and included in the list available in the Library of the House. The information relates solely to central procurement in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Central. Information for the executive agencies, Non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and the Government offices is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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Planning Policy (Renewable Energy)
Mr. Best: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the forthcoming review of Planning Policy Guidance Note 22: Renewable Energy will include the consideration of land use planning as a means of reducing the UK's energy demands. [140348]
Keith Hill: The Government issued Draft Planning Policy Statement 22 (PPS22): "Renewable Energy" for consultation on 5 November. The document sets out the Government's new proposals for the handling of all types of renewable energy projects through the planning system. In addition, as promised in the Energy White Paper, this Government is currently examining, together with other government departments, how to bring consideration of the use of renewables and energy efficiency in developments more within the scope of the planning system.
Mr. Best: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions he has had with colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs about the review of Planning Policy Guidance Note 22: Renewable Energy. [140349]
Keith Hill: Ministers in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister discussed the review of Planning Policy Guidance note 22: Renewable Energy at the 9 October meeting of the Ministerial Group on the Implementation of the Energy White Paper. This committee is jointly chaired by my right hon. Friend the Member for Derby South and my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester West. My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister also sought written clearance on the consultation paper from ministerial colleagues. The ministerial activity has, at all stages, been underpinned by official level correspondence, discussions and meetings.
Private Parking Firms
John Mann: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what regulations exist to ensure transparency in local authority contracts with private parking firms which operate on local authority land. [140059]
Mr. McNulty: I have been asked to reply.
Local authority contracts in connection with provision of parking services are subject to the normal public procurement procedures for letting of any contract by an authority.
Rate Support Grant (Kirklees)
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the (a) actual and (b) percentage increases in Government Rate Support Grant for Kirklees Metropolitan Council were in each year since 1997. [139699]
Mr. Raynsford: Revenue Support Grant is only one component of each year's local government settlement, and taken in isolation could give a misleading impression. The annual increases in formula grant (revenue support grant and redistributed business rates), adjusted to give a like for like comparison each year, are listed in the table.
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| Formula grant increase (£ million) | Formula grantincrease (percentage) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 7.8 | 3.5 |
| 1999–2000 | 9.7 | 4.2 |
| 2000–01 | 9.5 | 3.9 |
| 2001–02 | 8.0 | 3.2 |
| 2002–03 | 12.8 | 5.1 |
| 2003–04 | 19.7 | 7.3 |
| 2004–05(32) | 15.4 | 5.3 |
(32) Provisional
Regional Co-ordination Unit
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many conferences staff of the regional co-ordination unit have attended each year since its establishment; what the cost was in each case; and how many were overseas conferences. [138106]
Yvette Cooper: Regional co-ordination unit staff attend a small number of conferences (none overseas) to help fulfil the RCU's role as the corporate centre of the Government Offices in the English Regions. However, the information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many conferences have been organised by the Regional Co-ordination Unit in each year since it was established; and what the cost was of each. [138107]
Yvette Cooper: The Regional Co-ordination Unit organises high-level meetings and a small number of other events involving its 10 sponsor Government Departments and other stakeholders, however, the detailed information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many publications have been issued by the Regional Co-ordination Unit in each year since its formation; and what the annual cost was. [138133]
Yvette Cooper: I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
Regional Resilience Forums
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the core membership of each regional resilience forum is. [140224]
Mr. Raynsford: I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
Rural Housing
Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what reasons rural allocations have been made by the Housing Corporation to individual local authorities without specifying site location. [140279]
Keith Hill: The Housing Corporation normally seeks to allocate funds to registered social landlords for the development of schemes on identified sites. However, experience has shown that some of the rural schemes may not proceed as anticipated due to difficulties in obtaining planning permission and other development matters. To ensure continued delivery of affordable
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homes in rural areas, the Housing Corporation issues additional rural allocations to enable registered social landlords to bring forward schemes on sites which are identified during the year.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many allocations were made to rural housing providers in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04 to date. [140318]
Keith Hill: In 2002–03 the Housing Corporation approved through its Approved Development Programme 1,579 homes provided by registered social landlords in small rural settlements of 3,000 people or less. In 2003–04, approval has been given for 647 homes in small settlements up to the end of October 2003.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many allocations to rural housing schemes were made under transitional arrangements to replace local authority social housing grant in 2002–03. [140268]
Keith Hill: The Housing Corporation is currently collating the information requested. I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy in the Library of the House.
Social Housing
Simon Hughes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many social housing properties were (a) vacant and (b) constructed in each London borough in each of the last six years for which figures are available. [139931]
Keith Hill: The total numbers of local authority (LA) and registered social landlord (RSL) dwellings that were (a) vacant and (b) constructed in each London borough for each of the last six years are tabled as follows.
Sources:
ODPM's annual Housing Investment Programme (HIP) returns and the Housing Corporation's annual HAR 10 and Regulatory and Statistical Return (RSR).
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| Local authority | 2002–03 | 2001–02 | 2000–01 | 1999–2000 | 1998–99 | 1997–98 (33) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barking and Dagenham | 15 | 57 | 80 | 18 | 8 | 12 |
| Barnet | 164 | 72 | 168 | 98 | 74 | 56 |
| Bexley | 24 | 27 | 98 | 27 | 19 | 8 |
| Brent | 570 | 294 | 251 | 103 | 30 | 1 |
| Bromley(33) | 0 | 9 | 33 | 97 | 28 | 33 |
| Camden | 25 | 17 | 256 | 166 | 85 | 42 |
| City of London | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| Croydon | 216 | 114 | 77 | 194 | 221 | 132 |
| Baling | 144 | 157 | 53 | 125 | 125 | 0 |
| Enfield | 356 | 312 | 344 | 84 | 139 | 42 |
| Greenwich | 147 | 72 | 147 | 64 | 133 | 48 |
| Hackney | 0 | 84 | 112 | 91 | 112 | 325 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 27 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 22 | 74 |
| Haringey | 63 | 140 | 59 | 75 | 63 | 20 |
| Harrow | 118 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Havering | 25 | 133 | 28 | 47 | 25 | 8 |
| Hillingdon | 214 | 134 | 294 | 137 | 111 | 11 |
| Hounslow | 84 | 87 | 24 | 0 | 21 | 38 |
| Islington(33) | 73 | 5 | 44 | 27 | 65 | 0 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 28 | 11 | 55 | 20 | 41 | 0 |
| Kingston upon Thames | 7 | 4 | 41 | 45 | 2 | 22 |
| Lambeth(33) | 74 | 58 | 47 | 53 | 117 | 98 |
| Lewisham | 156 | 264 | 150 | 95 | 167 | 35 |
| Merton | 72 | 81 | 51 | 149 | 129 | 0 |
| Newham | 0 | 160 | 138 | 120 | 180 | 25 |
| Redbridge | 33 | 12 | 39 | 39 | 5 | 8 |
| Richmond upon Thames | 6 | 28 | 20 | 30 | 8 | 0 |
| Southwark | 30 | 22 | 26 | 13 | 35 | 86 |
| Sutton | 180 | 83 | 161 | 122 | 19 | 26 |
| Tower Hamlets | 496 | 415 | 131 | 197 | 56 | 171 |
| Waltham Forest | 294 | 83 | 596 | 186 | 577 | 25 |
| Wandsworth | 0 | 0 | 3 | 76 | 36 | 8 |
| Westminster | 352 | 243 | 358 | 207 | 113 | 0 |
| London total(34) | 4,329 | 3,539 | 4,320 | 2,934 | 3,233 | 4,381 |
(33) Estimates may be low because of missing returns from boroughs.
(34) Total includes estimates for missing local authority returns. Figures for boroughs are based on reported data.
Sources:
Reported completions in returns to ODPM from local authorities and the National House-Building Council.
20 Nov 2003 : Column 1302W
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