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5 Mar 2004 : Column 1203W—continued
Landlords
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for what reason rent officers are (a) obliged to investigate private landlords and (b) not obliged to investigate registered social landlords. [158984]
Keith Hill: Where requested to do so by a local authority, the Rent Service is obliged to assess the rental value of a property let to a tenant of a private landlord or a Registered Social landlord in connection with a claim for Housing Benefit.
Housing Benefit regulations set out the circumstances in which cases are referred to the Rent Service. In respect of tenants of private landlords, local authorities must refer claims on which rent allowance may be awarded, or where they have been notified of a change relating to rent allowance, or where a prospective occupier is likely to make a claim for rent allowance. In respect of tenants of Registered Social Landlords, local authorities may refer the case where they consider that the dwelling is too large or the rent is unreasonably high. In such cases the local authority must state the reason for the application, and the rent officer must make a determination in the normal way.
In respect of properties let to tenants of private landlords or Registered Social Landlords, where the tenancy commenced before 15 January 1989, the landlord or tenant may ask the Rent Service to determine a fair rent for a property.
Planning
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when the Department is planning to release Planning Policy Guidance Note 10; and if he will make a statement. [159036]
Keith Hill: Planning Policy Guidance Note 10 "Planning and Waste Management" will be replaced by a planning policy statement in line with the update of the PPG series. The aim is to consult on a draft of the new PPS10 in the first half of this year.
Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to bring forward proposals for legislation to ensure that companies providing water and sewerage services are made statutory consultees to local authorities in the planning process. [159124]
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Keith Hill: Water and sewerage undertakers will be statutory consultees on local development documents under the new arrangements being introduced under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill.
Local authorities are advised to consult water and sewerage undertakers on planning applications. These non-statutory arrangements appear to be working satisfactorily and will continue.
Andy King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action the Department has taken to ensure there is full consultation with (a) schools and residents in close proximity to and (b) local authorities responsible for proposed sites of Tetra masts. [159377]
Keith Hill: Current planning guidance for all electronic communication developments is set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 8 (revised) (PPG8). The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has also issued a Code of Best Practice on Mobile Phone Network Development.
PPG8 requires that where a base station site is on or near a school the operator consults the relevant body of the school or college prior to submitting an application to the local planning authority. The Code sets out the factors that should be taken into account by network operators and local planning authorities in determining whether a school or college should be consulted.
PPG8 also strongly encourages telecommunications operators and local planning authorities to carry out annual discussions about rollout plans for each authority's area. The Code includes more detailed recommendations for managing the relationship between mobile operators and local planning authorities and the process of public consultation.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Beef
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage by weight of current beef supply contracts for his Department and its agencies are sourced from (a) British and (b) Scottish herds. [157861]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: This detailed information could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office restaurant and catering services are contracted out to a range of suppliers. Of the beef provided by our principal supplier, we are told that the amount currently sourced from British herds is 90 per cent. of which 10 per cent. comes from Scottish Herds.
Belize/Guatemala
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action his Department is taking to help bring about a long-term solution to the territorial border disputes between Belize and Guatemala. [159269]
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Mr. Mike O'Brien: The UK continues to support fully the Organisation of American States (OAS) sponsored process as the best means to secure a negotiated settlement, and is a member of the OAS-facilitated Belize-Guatemala 'Group of Friends'.
When my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Rammell) visited Belize and Guatemala from 14–17 January, he reaffirmed the UK's continued support for Belize and Guatemala in their pursuit of a definitive settlement to their territorial dispute, within the framework of the OAS-facilitated process.
We are supporting the OAS-sponsored Confidence Building Measures in Belize and Guatemala through the FCO/DFID/MOD Global Conflict Prevention Pool. £1.8 million has been allocated this financial year. Our projects are aimed at reducing tensions, encouraging co-operation between security agencies and addressing the underlying causes of conflict.
British Prisoners Overseas
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British citizens are serving custodial sentences in foreign gaols, broken down by country. [159290]
Mr. Mullin: The figures for the number of British citizens detained overseas are collated on a quarterly basis. The most recent quarter for which we have figures is the quarter ending 31 December 2003.
The following table lists the countries in which British citizens are imprisoned and gives the numbers detained in each, as of 31 December 2003. The totals do not differentiate between those awaiting trial/sentencing and those serving custodial sentences.
The figures represent those prisoners who either requested Consular assistance or who gave permission to the local authorities to notify the Consul of their arrest.
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Correspondence
Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Manchester, Central of (a) 27 October 2003 regarding Mr. IHT, reference GV100/81730, (b) 12 December 2003 regarding Ms AY, (c) 13 December 2003 regarding Mrs. EA, (d) 7 November 2003 regarding Mr. MOS, reference Yemen 4781/03 and (e) 4 December 2003 regarding Mr. SM, reference GV100/83947. [158568]
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Mr. Mullin: I apologise that my hon. Friend has not received replies to his letters. The letter concerning Mrs. EA was not received at my office and the letter concerning Mr. MOS was addressed to UKvisas but not initially received there. I now have copies of both letters. UKvisas is making the necessary enquiries with our diplomatic posts overseas. The other three letters were not replied to due to an administration error in UKvisas. I will reply to my hon. Friend on all these cases as soon as possible.
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