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17 Dec 2003 : Column 947Wcontinued
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made with the award of a medal for service in Iraq. [144009]
Mr. Caplin [holding answer 15 December 2003]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 November 2003, Official Report, columns 76869W, to the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Flook). The case for the award of a campaign medal to recognise service in Iraq is currently with the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals for their deliberation. I expect to make a further announcement in the new year.
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the eligibility criteria are for the award of a medal for service in Afghanistan; and what medal that is. [144011]
Mr. Caplin [holding answer 15 December 2003]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 November 2003, (Official Report, columns 7689W) to the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr Flook). I expect to make a further announcement in the New Year.
Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will take steps to introduce a medal for service during the Cold War. [144013]
Mr. Caplin [holding answer 15 December 2003]: There are no plans to institute any additional medals for service between the end of the Second World War and the break up of the Soviet Empire in the early 1990s, a period generally referred to as the Cold War.
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Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the monthly recruitment numbers for each of the Territorial Army's recruitment posts in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) England since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [143999]
Mr. Caplin [holding answer 15 December 2003]: There are no dedicated Territorial Army (TA) recruitment posts. Recruitment into the TA is conducted by individual units, locally for independent units and nationally in the case of specialist units.
The Army does not differentiate the recruitment of British nationals. The Recruitment figures for the TA as a whole, by month, since 1997 are as follows:
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Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how he intends to tackle the rise in planning refusals for residential dwellings identified by the Barker Report.[R] [144200]
Keith Hill: The Barker Report suggests that the recent increase in refusals may have resulted from a failure on the part of some housebuilders to respond to the changed policy environment, following recent policy changes, including those set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 3 (Housing) 2000. It is expected that the rate of refusals will decrease over time, as the policy changes are more widely understood and adopted.
The Barker Report does not identify members' actions to overturn officer recommendations as a key reason for the rise in refusals of housing applications. However, where planning permission for housing is refused by a local planning authority, applicants have a right of appeal to my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister.
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Jon Trickett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was generated in capital receipts by council house sales for Wakefield Metropolitan District Council in each financial year since 1997; how much of this finance was available to the council to spend in each year; how much was spent on (a) council housing and (b) items unrelated to council housing by the council in each year; and how much remains unspent. [144128]
Keith Hill: The amount of capital receipts received by Wakefield MDC for sales of its council houses since 1997 is tabled as follows:
£000 | |
---|---|
199798 | 7,437 |
199899 | 7,033 |
19992000 | 10,923 |
200001 | (7) |
200102 | 15,525 |
200203 | 23,948 |
(7) This information was not collected on the Housing Investment Programme return for 200001. However, the ODPMs' P1A return collects similar information on housing capital expenditure and receipts. In this return, Wakefield reported that £11,248 (thousand) was the amount of capital receipts received from council house sales in 200001.
Sources:
ODPM's Housing Investment Programme returns.
Under capital finance regulations, 25 per cent. of net capital receipts arising from council house sales (excluding the value of any related local authority mortgages) are classified as usable. Information on how much of this amount was spent on council housing, items unrelated to council housing, and the amount unspent is not collected centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to introduce incentives to encourage developers to build on (a) hardcore brownfield sites and (b) polluted sites; and what assessment he has made of the contribution such development could make to increasing housing stock. [144539]
Keith Hill: Budget 2001 introduced a 150 per cent. accelerated payable tax credit for owners and investors for the costs they incur in cleaning-up contaminated sites. This year's pre-Budget report announced that the Government are examining the possibility of extending this relief to include remediation of land that is long-term derelict.
English Partnerships, the Government's expert adviser on brownfield land is currently working to develop a housing gap funding scheme for use by themselves, the regional development agencies and the local authorities. The final guidance on the scheme will be available in the New Year. They have also been invited to develop a Land Remediation Scheme which will enable themselves, regional development agencies and the local authorities to give grants to encourage owners of derelict, contaminated and polluted sites to
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bring them back into productive use. Both of these measures will help to contribute to the delivery of housing.
The Government's planning policies expects new housing to be secured in the most sustainable way, by expecting priority to be given to the re-use of urban brownfield land in preference to greenfield development, although these policies do not rule out greenfield development where it is needed.
Mr. Steen: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many houses have been built outside local plan boundaries in each of the last five years; and how many of these have been built by housing associations. [144540]
Keith Hill: Planning Policy Guidance note 3: Housing advises that local plans and Unitary Development Plans should identify sufficient sites on the plan's proposals map to accommodate at least the first five years (or the first two phases) of housing development proposed in the plan. Local planning authorities should be monitoring closely the uptake of plan allocations and windfall provision, and the type of that provision in terms of size, type and affordability, but this information is not collected centrally, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average revised level of revenue support grant per head is for (a) West Sussex, (b) inner London boroughs, (c) outer London boroughs, (d) Tyne and Wear and (e) England; and what he estimates extra total grant payable would be if West Sussex were to be funded at the same level of revenue support grant per head as (i) inner London boroughs, (ii) outer London boroughs, (iii) Tyne and Wear and (iv) the average for England. [144632]
Mr. Raynsford: Provisional revenue support grant (RSG) per head in 200405 is tabled as follows:
Area | Revenue support grant per head (£) |
---|---|
West Sussex county council | 262.12 |
Inner London boroughs (including City of London) | 913.52 |
Outer London Boroughs | 560.79 |
Average metropolitan district in the Tyne and Wear area | 625.10 |
England | 543.78 |
The RSG per head figures in the table are not directly comparable since the services provided by West Sussex county council are not the same as those provided by London boroughs or metropolitan districts. London boroughs and metropolitan districts also provide those services provided by the district council within the West Sussex area; while West Sussex county council received an allocation of grant to cover fire services in 200304, that are provided by the Greater London Authority in the London area and by Tyne and Wear Fire and Civil Defence Authority in the Tyne and Wear area. In addition the City of London also provides police
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services. The total England figure includes both district level and police services; neither of these services are provided by West Sussex county council.
The calculation of RSG takes account of a range of factors other than the numbers of service recipients. It includes top-ups for deprivation, pay costs, and other factors such as population sparsity that drive the costs of service delivery in different areas, as well as the relative ability of councils to raise council tax in their areas. Simple per capita comparisons will not therefore be meaningful comparisons of all the factors that drive grant distribution.
If West Sussex county council received £913.52 per head of RSG then it would have received £690,488,660, an additional £492,366,039; at £560.79 per head of RSG then it would have received £423,875,925, an additional £225,753,304; at £625.10 per head of RSG then it would have received £472,484,961, an £411,018,832,163,260, an additional £212,896,211.
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