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Winter Fuel Payments
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what would be the additional cost in the next financial year to public funds (a) in benefits and (b) in administrative costs of providing entitlement to winter fuel payment to all persons on reaching their 60th birthday if it falls during the months of October to March inclusive, on the assumption that those with birthdays in other months would continue to receive payment in the winter after attaining age 60. [155327]
Malcolm Wicks: If all those reaching their 60th birthday in the months of October 2003 to March 2004 were to receive a winter fuel payment for the winter of 2003–04, the additional cost would be approximately £47 million. We are unable to provide figures for the additional administrative costs that this would incur.
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many British citizens not resident in the UK received Winter Fuel Payments in respect of 2003–04; how many of those previously resided in (a) the Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) Tyne and Wear, (d) the North East and (e) the UK; and what the value of such payments was in each case. [153230]
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Malcolm Wicks: The information requested is not available. Such information that is available is as follows:
So far 14,696 people no longer resident in the United Kingdom have received Winter Fuel Payments for the period winter 2003–04, at a cost of £2,235,700. Citizenship does not affect entitlement to Winter Fuel Payment as entitlement is based on residency in the UK.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Street Wardens
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) if he will make a statement on street warden funding in Coventry in 2004–05; [155747]
- (2) what evaluation has taken place of the successes of street warden schemes in tackling anti-social behaviour in (a) England, (b) the West Midlands and (c) Coventry; [155660]
(3) what assessment he has made of the impact of the withdrawal of funding for the Street Warden schemes on (a) the levels of anti-social behaviour in Coventry and (b) the perceptions of safety among people in Coventry. [155661]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister funds three warden schemes in Coventry. One scheme has managed to sustain itself without further funding from the department. Funding for another scheme has been offered for 2004–05 providing that the scheme continues to find match funding. The third scheme is funded from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister until March 2006.
Evaluations of the first and second round of warden schemes, including their effect on anti-social behaviour and perceptions of safety are currently being undertaken. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister expects to publish the first report later this year.
Agricultural Ties
Mr. Flook: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many owners of properties with agricultural ties have been forced to sell their homes because of failure to satisfy the terms of the tie, in each year since 1997. [155174]
Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Where planning permission is granted for an isolated agricultural worker's dwelling, an 'occupancy' condition is normally attached in order to ensure that the dwelling is kept available for meeting the agricultural need in the area. The responsibility for attaching, monitoring compliance with, and taking any necessary action to enforce occupancy conditions rests with the local planning authority in the first instance.
Area-based Initiatives
Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much money has been allocated by his Department for each (a) region and (b) Neighbourhood Renewal Fund area for the next five years; and if he will make a statement. [152799]
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Yvette Cooper: Funding allocated by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to the regions can be found in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2003 Cm 590l as amended by corrigendum-corrected tables for Chapter 8, published in June 2003. These set out expenditure by region and by function for an historic five year period. No figures are available for the forward years.
Funding by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Neighbourhood Renewal Fund areas for the period 2002–03 until 2005–06 is available in the Library of the House. Funding plans beyond 2005–06 are subject to current Spending Review deliberations.
Civil Servants
Tim Loughton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many senior civil servants in his Department are disabled, expressed in (a) numbers and (b) as a percentage of whole-time equivalents. [144985]
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made in meeting targets for the proportion of people with disabilities in senior posts in his Department. [145996]
Yvette Cooper: Statistical information about senior civil servants with disabilities is available on the Civil Service Statistics website at http://www.civil-service. gov.uk/statistics/documents/pdf/disability-oct03.pdf
As there are less than five members of the senior civil service in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister with a disability, the actual number is not published in order to protect the privacy of individuals in line with exemption 12 of the "Code of Practice on Access to Government Information".
Community Projects
Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made on bringing together in a single community programme the (a) Community Cohesion pathfinders, (b) Community Chest, (c) Community Empowerment Fund and (d) Community Champions Fund; and if he will make a statement. [152916]
Yvette Cooper: From April 2004, the Community Empowerment Fund, Community Chests and Community Learning Chests will be merged into the single Community Programme.
It was not the intention to include the Community Cohesion pathfinders or the Community Champions Fund in the single Community Programme.
The Community Cohesion Pathfinders will end in November 2004 and there are no plans to merge the fund.
The Community Champions Fund is administered by the Department for Education and Skills and there are no plans to merge the fund.
Consultancy
Mr. Curry: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list external (a) public relations and communications companies, (b) advertising and
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marketing companies, (c) management consultancies, (d) accountancy companies, (e) banking firms, (f) individual consultants and (g) other specialist consultancies used by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister since May 2002, indicating in each case the work performed. [145990]
Yvette Cooper: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Council Housing
Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total sum in local authority accounts derived from selling council houses is; how much the Southend-on-Sea local authority has in its account; and if he will review the purposes for which these funds can be used. [155309]
Keith Hill: Since 1980–81 to 2001–02, the last year for which we have audited figures, sales of Housing Revenue Account (HRA) dwellings for owner occupation have generated £23.490 billion in receipts for local authorities in England. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not hold records for the amount generated by sales in Southend-on-Sea for the entirety of this period, but from 1998–99 to 2001–02 the receipts generated were £9.603 million.
Currently, with-debt local authorities, such as Southend-on-Sea, are required to set aside 75 per cent. of the capital receipt arising from the disposal of HRA dwellings for the repayment of their debt. They may use the remaining 25 per cent. to meet capital expenditure. Debt-free local authorities are exempt from the set-aside requirement and may use 100 per cent. of such capital receipts for any capital purpose.
The set-aside regime, which effectively provides resources for new capital investment by authorities generally, will cease to be available from 1 April this year, when a new capital finance system is introduced. Pooling is the regime that will replace set-aside. It will apply to debt-free as well as with-debt authorities—both will be required to pay to the Exchequer 75 per cent. of their receipts from the sale of council housing, to provide resources nationally for further capital investment in housing. They will retain 25 per cent. to meet such capital expenditure as they may decide. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister believe these arrangements are appropriate and currently has no intention of reviewing them further.
Mr. Dobson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the councils which indicated that they did not want the fourth option of continuing council management of the homes to be improved during the course of the Government's Decent Homes consultation. [155499]
Keith Hill: The Government set out their 'Decent Homes' programme in "Quality and Choice: A Decent Home for All-The Way Forward For Housing" published December 2000. 70 housing authorities are now in the process of implementing the programme by means of PFIs, stock transfers, ALMOs and mainstream funding. The remaining authorities are to have completed the options appraisal process by 31 July 2005.
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