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5 May 2004 : Column 1603W—continued

Planning

Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance his Department issues to ensure that local authorities take account of economic importance in planning decisions. [170380]

Keith Hill: A number of planning policy statements set out the important role which planning policies and decisions can play in promoting sustainable economic growth, for example, draft Planning Policy Statement 1—Creating Sustainable Communities—on which we are currently consulting. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently working on a revision of Planning Policy Statement 4—Planning for Economic Development—on which we expect to consult later in the year.

The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill has been amended to require the applicant in respect of a development which is designated as a major infrastructure project, to prepare an economic impact report if the Secretary of State directs. Details on the form and content of such a report will be set out in secondary legislation on which we will consult in due course.

Regional Assemblies

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the value of the contract with Robson Brown for each component of the Your Say campaign. [169257]

 
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Mr. Raynsford: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 19 April 2004, Official Report, column 366W. With reference to the main components of the Your Say campaign, Robson Brown spend to date and projected future spend is as follows:

	£
(a) Production and distribution of leaflets	45,305
(b) Posters	(50)20,000
(c) Broadcast media	438,560
(d) Newspaper advertising	54,894
(e) Events	67,303

⁽⁵⁰⁾ TBC.

These are not final costs. At this time, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is still awaiting final estimates for further paid activity, in particular any outdoor, and press activity.

Regional Government

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the (a) cost was in 2003 and (b) projected cost is over the next three years of staffing and infrastructure for each of the eight regional assemblies; and how each is funded. [166893]

Mr. Raynsford: The Regional Chambers are voluntary bodies and not agencies or arms of the Government. They have specific responsibilities that are supported through the provision of Government grant, including: scrutiny of the work of the Regional Development Agency; acting as the Regional Planning Body; and the development and articulation of a representative regional voice.

For the financial years 2003–2004 and 2004–2005 the levels of grant allocated to each Chamber are set out in the following table:
Grant £

Chamber	2003–04	2004–05
East of England	1,874,000.00	2,112,000.00
East Midlands	1,631,000.00	2,056,000.00
North East	1,408,000.00	1,708,000.00
North West	1,837,000.00	2,536,000.00
South East	2,186,000.00	3,280,000.00
South West	1,613,000.00	2,101,000.00
West Midlands	1,671,000.00	2,071,000.00
Yorkshire and the Humber	1,655,000.00	1,923,000.00
Total	13,875,000.00	17,787,000.00

Grant allocations for future years have not yet been agreed. In regions where elected regional assemblies are set up, the designated responsibilities of the Regional Chamber will pass to the new assembly, and Government grant will cease to be made to the Chamber.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not hold information on the staffing and infrastructure costs incurred by each Chamber.

Some Chambers also receive funding from other sources within the region, including their constituent local authorities, through their payment of membership subscriptions.
 
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Retained Distribution Centre

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the annual cost of his retained distribution centre was in 2003–04. [169261]

Yvette Cooper: The annual cost of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's distribution centre was some £620,000 in 2003–04. This included £343,000 for fulfilling requests for ODPM publications and £277,000 for distributing other material to specific target audiences for individual projects.

Roadside Advertising

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what advice his Department offers local authorities regarding the sale of roadside and roundabout advertising. [171122]

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not give specific advice to local authorities regarding the sale of roadside and roundabout advertising.

Scottish Power

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister on what occasions in the last two years Ministers in his Department have had meetings with representatives of Scottish Power. [164252]

Yvette Cooper: Neither my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister nor any other Minister in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has held meetings with representatives of Scottish Power UK Plc, on issues relating to the commercial interests of the company, during the last two years.

Supporting People Overspend

Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will identify by local area the impact of the savings expected to be made to meet the requirements of the Supporting People overspend. [167891]

Yvette Cooper: There has been no overspend of the Supporting People budget. The Supporting People budget was fixed at the total level of funding spent on housing related support as at the 31 March 2003 and has been capped. Given that the budget was much higher than predicted, the Government launched an Independent Review into the programme to look at value for money issues. The review found that £1.8 billion was too much to pay for the legacy programme with the result that the Government required authorities to make a small level of efficiency savings. The majority of these savings have been re-allocated back into the programme to pay for new supported schemes that came on stream in 2003–04.

Undeveloped Land

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish figures for the estimated amount of undeveloped land zoned for industrial use in England. [171110]

Keith Hill: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
 
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CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

1911 Census

Mr. Horam: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when the contract was signed (a) to digitise and (b) to micro film the returns for the 1911 Decennial Census of population for England and Wales; when the census returns for 1911 will be made available to the contractors; and if he will make a statement about the progress which has been made with the 1911 Census project. [169821]

Mr. Leslie: The National Archives is beginning to develop plans so that the public will enjoy the widest possible access to the 1911 census returns for England and Wales when they are released in 2012. At the present time no contract for the digitisation or microfilming of the census returns has been signed.

House Repossessions

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many house repossessions there have been in each region per quarter since 2002. [171164]

Keith Hill: I have been asked to reply

The number of properties repossessed by lenders was 11,970 in 2002 and 7,630 in 2003. These figures cover UK mortgage lending by Council of Mortgage Lenders members and include properties that were voluntarily surrendered. Figures are not published on a regional or quarterly basis.

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