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19 Apr 2004 : Column 342W—continued
Charity Shops
Mr. Alan Campbell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations his Department has received regarding the concessionary rate reduction allowed for charity shops. [165355]
Phil Hope: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister receives on an intermittent basis correspondence both in favour and against the rate relief granted to charity shops. We have at present no proposal to change the rules governing rate relief for charities. However, as stated in the White Paper Strong Local leadership—Quality Public Services (2001), we will monitor closely the various rate relief schemes.
Coastal Marinas
Mr. Moss: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many planning applications for coastal marinas in England have been (a) submitted, (b) granted and (c) refused in each of the last five years. [165928]
Keith Hill:
This information is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
19 Apr 2004 : Column 343W
Community Cohesion and Regeneration
Mr. Doug Henderson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what resources his Department has put into community cohesion and regeneration through sport and physical activity based programmes in the last five years. [164685]
Yvette Cooper: Most Neighbourhood Renewal Unit (NRU) programmes and funding streams are allocated at local level. Therefore the exact amount of, for example, the Community Empowerment Fund or Neighbourhood Renewal Fund that have been spent on sports related interventions cannot be calculated.
Mr. Doug Henderson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of sports and physical activity-based interventions in community cohesion and regeneration. [164687]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not made an independent assessment but relies on the monitoring and evaluation carried out by lead Departments.
The Department of Health guidance is that adults participate in 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least five times a week. Reaching this outcome will contribute to reducing health inequalities.
The Youth Justice Board has analysed the lives of young offenders in the communities where they live. They recommend an increase in interventions that 'demand healthy standards and the use of social and reasoning skills, provide opportunities for involvement, due praise and recognition'. The Neighbourhood Renewal Unit supports sports projects that meet these conditions.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has worked with the Home Office Community Cohesion Cultural Practitioners Panel to understand the skills and competencies needed for sports workers who need to promote cohesion as part of their job.
Computer Misuse
Mr. Webb: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many cases of computer misuse there were in (a) the predecessors to his Department in each year between 1997 and 2000 and (b) his Department in 2003, broken down by each category of misuse; and how many of those cases resulted in disciplinary action. [163197]
Yvette Cooper: Information on the number of cases in predecessor Departments could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
No cases have been raised since the introduction on the new policy (on 29 May 2002).
Council Housing (East Yorkshire)
David Davis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the total of unpaid council house rents in the East Riding of Yorkshire in each year since 1997. [165041]
19 Apr 2004 : Column 344W
Keith Hill: The total of unpaid council rents in the East Riding of Yorkshire for each financial year from 1997/8 to 2002/3 is tabled below. Also shown is the total of unpaid rents expressed as a percentage of total collectable rent.
| Financial Year | (112)Collectable Rent (£000) | (113)Unpaid rents for the year (£000) | Unpaid rents as a percentage of total collectable rents |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–1998 | 22,644,000 | 310,000 | 1.4 |
| 1998–1999 | 22,993,000 | 182,000 | 0.8 |
| 1999–2000 | 23,727,000 | 285,000 | 1.2 |
| 2000–2001 | 24,709,000 | 427,000 | 1.7 |
| 2001–2002 | 25,690,000 | 940,000 | 3.7 |
| 2002–2003 | 26,701,000 | 656,000 | 2.5 |
(112) The maximum that the authority could expect to have collected during each year i.e. the total value of rent roll less rent deductions and refunds and rent loses on vacant/void dwellings.
(113) The arrears of rent that fell due during the year and remained outstanding at the end of the year. In other words, the rent that should have been received during the year but wasn't.
Note:
The figures supplied by the East riding of Yorkshire have, for presentation purposes, been rounded to the nearest £1,000. They are not necessarily audited.
Source:
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Local Authority Housing Division Housing Revenue Account: Second Subsidy Claim Form
Demotion Orders
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what response his Department received from Merseyside's local authorities regarding demotion orders. [165918]
Mr. Raynsford: Neither the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which leads on demotion policy nor the Home Office, which leads on anti-social behaviour policy more generally, are aware of any correspondence with Merseyside's local authorities relating to the subject of demotions orders. Should the hon. Member wish to bring any issue relating to demotion to my attention, I should be happy to bring it to the attention of the appropriate Minister.
Department Branding
Mr. Laws: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much his Department and its predecessors spent on branding the Department between 1997–98 and 2003–04, broken down by (a) consultancy fees, (b) design and orders for new stationery, (c) website design and (d) other material featuring new logos. [154065]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was created on 29 May 2002. From this point ODPM used the Royal Coat of Arms and the words Office of the Deputy Prime Minister as the main part of its corporate identity and incurred no 'design' costs as such. A nominal amount was been spent on originating artwork for print and electronic publishing.
(a) logo—£525 + vat
(b) stationery—£7, 400 including value of existing stock
(c) signage—£3,600 + vat
(d) website—£3,145.
The figure of £3,145 for the website represents half the cost of dividing one site into two sites. The other half of the cost is attributable to the Department for Transport. On the development of a revised visual identity for the ODPM in 2003 and its implementation in 2004, a sum of £27,110 has been spent on branding, broken down as follows:
(a) consultancy fees: £17,152;
(b) design and orders for new stationery: £4,400—there are minimal stationery write off costs as the revised identity introduction has been phased and new letterheads are created from centralised staff PC templates;
(c) website design: £325; and
(d) other material: office signage featuring new logos between 2003–04—£5233.
Contractors carried out the work under our normal framework agreements for design and print of paper and electronic publications.
Departmental Staff
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) how many staff are employed in the Department to work in the communications field, broken down by (a) Government Information and Communication Service staff and (b) other staff, broken down by (i) press officers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) others; [158154]
(2) what the total expenditure on communications for the Department has been in 2003–04, broken down by expenditure on (a) Government Information and Communication Service staff and (b) other staff, broken down by (i) press officers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) others. [158191]
Yvette Cooper: As at 1 March 2004 there were 51 GICS staff and 21 administrative staff employed in the Directorate of Communications for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Of these, 23 are press officers and 49 provide a range of communications and administrative support functions. From 1 April 2003 to 29 February 2004 the pay cost of these staff was £2.5 million, of which £0.96 million was for press officers.
There are four GICS staff employed within line divisions of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister who perform a range of communication functions, as well as a small number of non-GICS staff whose role may encompass a proportion of communications related work. Detailed information on the latter is not maintained centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The Special Advisers' Code of Conduct sets out the sort of work a special adviser may undertake on behalf of their Minister. This includes communications activity. Details of the costs of Special Advisers are given on an annual basis. Information for the financial year 2003–04 will be published in due course.
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