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9 Sept 2004 : Column 1340W—continued

Equality Bodies

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what views she has received from publicly funded equality bodies on (a) the Government's proposal for a single equality body and (b) the proposals in the document Fairness for All. [187154]

Ms Hewitt: The Government are currently assessing the response of the three public funded equality bodies and all the responses they have received in detail and will publicly respond in due course. Government will be assisted in this task by their independent advisory Task Force, which discussed the consultation responses on 7 September.

The consultation following the release of Fairness for All officially closed on 6 August. Over 450 responses were received from a wide variety of stakeholders, interested groups and individuals, including those from the publicly funded equality bodies—the Commission for Racial Equality, the Disability Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commission.

Shares (Tax Rules)

Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on her assessment of the effect of new tax rules on shares held by academics set out in the Finance Act 2003 on the number of university spin-off companies being set up. [186332]

 
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Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the impact of schedule 22 of the Finance Act 2003 on university spin-out companies. [186452]

Ms Hewitt: The Government recognise the contribution that research-based entrepreneurial activity makes to this country and are committed to creating a clear fiscal environment that enables universities, public sector bodies and their researchers to grow companies based on their research.

Inland Revenue, DTI and Treasury officials have been engaged in constructive dialogue with university and public sector spin-out sector representatives to provide certainty around the tax treatment of university/public sector employees who acquire such shares. This dialogue between officials and sector representatives has led to a joint Memorandum of Understanding regarding the tax treatment of one type of spin-out company shareholding structure and some companies are understood to have taken advantage of this model. Officials will continue negotiations with interested parties to ensure that an appropriate solution to the sector's difficulties is identified and ensure that there is no long-term adverse impact on spin-out activity.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Community Forum

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the (a) total budget, (b) departmental funding and (c) total cost to his Department of the Community Forum (i) is for the financial year 2004–05 and (ii) is estimated for financial years 2005–06 to 2007–08. [187563]

Phil Hope: The total departmental budget for the Community Forum is £186,000.000 per year. This incorporates an annual budget of £150,000.00 and £36,000.00 for administrative support and management.

This amount has been allocated for 2004–05 and will be made available for 2005–06 to 2007–08.

Actual expenditure for financial year 2003–04 was £155,489.00. The estimated expenditure for 2004–05 will be £183,000.00.

Fly-posting

Harry Cohen: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what effect his Department's good practice guide to fly-posting has had on the residents of Leyton and Wanstead. [187744]

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Good Practice Guide, "The Control of Fly-Posting", offers guidance to local planning authorities on how best to deal with the problem of fly-posting. No assessment has been made on the effect the guide has had on the residents of Leyton and Wanstead. This is a matter for Redbridge and Waltham Forest borough councils.
 
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Suffolk Fire Authority

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much funding was made available for the Suffolk Fire Authority (a) in 2004–05 and (b) in each of the last nine years. [187204]

Mr. Raynsford: The Fire Service in Suffolk is the responsibility of Suffolk county council. Net current expenditure on the Fire Service, as reported by the authority, for the last 10 years is tabled as follows:

	Amount (£000)
1995–96	12,683
1996–97	13,667
1997–98	13,593
1998–99	14,634
1999–2000	15,022
2000–01	15,900
2001–02	16,533
2002–03	17,627
2003–04	17,829
2004–05	18,690

The data are taken from the RS (outturn) forms for all years except 2004–05 when the data are taken from the RA (budget) form. These forms are completed each year by individual local authorities.

TREASURY

Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the letter to him dated 2 August from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. H. Broadley. [187981]

John Healey: I did so on 3 September.

Green Landlord Scheme

Sue Doughty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress he has made towards the introduction of a green landlords scheme as announced in the Budget. [187384]

John Healey: The Chancellor announced in his last Budget the possible introduction of a "green landlord scheme" which would aim to incentivise landlords to invest to improve energy efficiency. The Government are considering the options available.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

Departmental Employees

Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many civil servants were employed by her Department and its related agencies in each year since 1997. [187276]

Mr. Caborn: The table shows the number of staff in post on 1 April of each year since 1997.
 
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	DCMS	Royal Parks	Historic Royal Palaces Agency(1)	Total
1997	352	246	220	818
1998	365	231	n/a	596
1999	359	233	n/a	592
2000	407	220	n/a	627
2001	403	230	n/a	633
2002(2)	469	230	n/a	699
2003	488	230	n/a	718
2004	490	231	n/a	721

⁽¹⁾Historic Royal Palaces ceased to be a DCMS Agency when it became a Royal Charter Body on 1 April 1998.
⁽²⁾Staff in post rose significantly in between 1 April 2001 and 1 April 2002 reflecting machinery of government changes after the last election, which saw a transfer of staff from Cabinet Office and Home Office.

Olympic Games

Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many Government officials will attend the Athens Olympic Games. [183552]

Mr. Caborn [holding answer 12 July 2004]: The Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport and myself attended the Olympic Games and both our Private Secretaries accompanied us on our visit. One press officer from DCMS was also present in Athens during the Olympics.

Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many Members of the Government will attend the Athens Olympic Games. [183553]

Mr. Caborn [holding answer 12 July 2004]: The Olympic Games in Athens was officially attended by four Members of Government—the Prime Minister, the First Minister for Scotland, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and myself.

Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what class of hotel Ministers and officials will stay in while attending the Athens Olympic Games. [183554]

Mr. Caborn [holding answer 12 July 2004]: Ministers and officials stayed at the following accommodation in Athens:

The British embassy;

A four and three star hotel;

The campus of the British School of Archaeology.

All arrangements were made with the BOA, benefiting from their negotiated tariffs.

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