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1 Mar 2004 : Column 768W—continued

Land Regeneration Trust

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress is being made towards establishing the Land Regeneration Trust. [155849]

Keith Hill: English Partnerships, Groundwork, the Forestry Commission and the Environment Agency have jointly submitted to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister proposals for the establishment of a Land Restoration Trust. The purpose of the Trust would be to facilitate the remediation and management of brownfield sites that are not suitable for development, turning them into valuable new public open space and ensuring sustainable long-term management. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently discussing the detail of the plan with the partners and with other Government Departments. Hopefully it will be possible to conclude these discussions shortly.

Land/Waste Reclamation

Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the Building Research Establishment on land and waste reclamations. [156386]

Phil Hope: The Building Research Establishment (BRE) has carried out research for the Buildings Division of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on protecting buildings from landfill gas. Buildings Division has also funded BRE to support widescale monitoring of research and guidance relating to contaminated land and to support the revision of British Standards relating to the waste management in buildings.

1 Mar 2004 : Column 769W

Local Government Finance

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what grants that fall outside the revenue support grant were awarded to local authorities in (a) Lancashire and (b) Chorley by his Department in each of the last three years. [156512]

Mr. Raynsford: A table made available in the Library of the House shows the grants within aggregate external finance distributed to local authorities in Lancashire in each of the last three years, except for general grant support (Revenue Support Grant and National Non Domestic Rates). For 2003–04, this information is taken from the information supplied by the local authorities to the Office on the Revenue Account (Special Grant) form, which gives details of their budgeted revenue grants. For the earlier years, this information is taken

1 Mar 2004 : Column 770W

from the information supplied by councils on the Revenue Outturn (Income from Specific and Special Grants) form.

Jim Knight: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what grants were awarded to local authorities in Dorset by his Department in financial year 2003–04 that fall outside the revenue support grant. [156210]

Mr. Raynsford: The following table shows the grants within aggregate external finance distributed to authorities in Dorset in 2003–04, except for general grant support (Revenue Support Grant and National Non Domestic Rates). This information is taken in the main from the information supplied by the local authorities to the Office on the Revenue Account (Special Grant) form for 2003–04, which gives details of their budgeted revenue grants, although it also takes account of additional information supplied by the Department for Works and Pensions.

£000

Grant	Issuing Depart-ment	Dorset	Dorset Police	Bourne-mouth	Poole	Christ-church	East Dorset	North Dorset	Purbeck	West Dorset	Weymouth and Portland
Civil Defence	CO	0	0	70	62	0	0	0	0	0	0
National Parks and Broads	DEFRA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Waste Re-Cycling Challenge	DEFRA	0	0	0	0	196	0	0	70	0	0
Childcare	DfES	989	0	455	415	0	0	0	0	0	0
Excellence in Cities	DfES	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0
Leadership Incentive	DfES	0	0	350	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
School Standards	DfES	6,290	0	2,005	1,904	0	0	0	0	0	0
Standards Fund	DfES	7,840	0	2,150	2,913	0	0	0	0	0	0
Teachers' Pay Reform	DfES	4,876	0	2,081	1,508	0	0	0	0	0	0
GLA Transport Grant	DfT	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Metropolitan Railway Passenger Services	DfT	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rural Bus Challenge	DfT	130	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rural Bus Subsidy	DfT	865	0	0	11	0	0	0	0	0	0
Urban Bus Challenge	DfT	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Access and Systems Capacity	DoH	1,346	0	650	457	0	0	0	0	0	0
AIDS/HIV Support	DoH	0	0	87	24	0	0	0	0	0	0
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services	DoH	292	0	141	95	0	0	0	0	0	0
Carers	DoH	673	0	352	248	0	0	0	0	0	0
Children's Services	DoH	2,377	0	1,693	1,102	0	0	0	0	0	0
Deferred Payments	DoH	517	0	210	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Delayed Discharges	DoH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mental Health	DoH	869	0	210	319	0	0	0	0	0	0
National Training Strategy	DoH	0	0	34	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Performance	DoH	742	0	361	229	0	0	0	0	0	0
Preserved Rights	DoH	3,504	0	3,200	1,203	0	0	0	0	0	0
Residential Allowance	DoH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Teenage Pregnancy Local Implementation	DoH	63	0	0	23	0	0	0	0	0	0
Training Support	DoH	342	0	169	126	0	0	0	0	0	0
Council Tax Benefit Administration	DWP	0	0	416	275	98	124	97	84	178	141
Housing Benefit Administration	DWP	0	0	712	331	126	153	142	97	211	253
Workstep	DWP	574	0	415	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
HB and CTB administration due to New Tax Credits	DWP	0	0	36	19	7	9	8	6	14	12
HB and CTB administration due to Pension Credits	DWP	0	0	89	62	27	31	25	21	45	29
HB and CTB administration due to New Tax Credits Special Subsidy Provision	DWP	0	0	10	5	2	2	2	2	4	3
HB and CTB administration due to Pension Credit set-up	DWP	0	0	15	9	5	6	5	5	8	7
Airwaves Communication Project	HO	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Asylum Seekers	HO	176	0	1,170	59	0	0	0	0	0	0
Basic Command Units Challenge Fund	HO	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Community Support Officers	HO	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Counter Terrorism	HO	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Crime Fighting Fund	HO	0	2,298	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
London and South East Allowance	HO	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Police Negotiating Board	HO	0	430	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rural Policing Fund	HO	0	442	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Street Crime Initiative	HO	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Magistrates Courts	LCD	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Local Public Service Agreement Performance Reward	ODPM	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neighbourhood Renewal Fund	ODPM	0	0	400	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neighbourhood Wardens	ODPM	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Planning Delivery	ODPM	0	0	0	0	75	0	0	0	0	0
The Private Finance Initiative	ODPM	1,893	2,915	1,761	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Supporting People (Administration)	ODPM	349	0	120	177	0	0	0	0	0	0
Supporting People (Programme)	ODPM	7,475	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other inside		0	0	0	282	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total		42,182	6,085	19,352	11,894	535	478	290	285	599	445

1 Mar 2004 : Column 771W

Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to set up a separate formula spending settlement for waste; and what discussions he has had on this issue with the Local Government Association. [156385]

Mr. Raynsford: The Government have no plans to set up a separate formula spending share for waste. In the course of the review of formula grant distribution, which led to the new formulae introduced for 2003–04, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister examined possible options in consultation with local government. Analyses undertaken demonstrated a very poor fit between expenditure levels on waste and any combination of plausible indicators.

Local Government Reorganisation

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions he has had with local authorities in (a) the North East, (b) the North West and (c) Yorkshire and Humber about how the costs of local government reorganisation will be funded. [157024]

Mr. Raynsford: None, but as previously explained in the answer given on 23 February 2004, Official Report, column 32W, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will be discussing the cost of reorganisation with local government in due course. A working group has been established to look at costs and the wider practical implications of reorganisation. Its first meeting will take place on 9 March. The Local Government Association is part of the group.

1 Mar 2004 : Column 772W

Mobile Phone Masts

John Cryer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement about his powers to overturn decisions by the Planning Inspectorate to grant permission for mobile phone telephone masts. [157324]

Keith Hill: Planning Inspectors act in a quasi-judicial role, under delegated powers, for my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister. Once the Inspector issues a decision letter on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister, that is his decision. If a party to the matter is dissatisfied, their recourse is through an appeal to the Court.

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