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HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Parliamentary Data and Video Network

Mr. Drew: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what the (a) budget and (b) cost of the Parliamentary Data and Video Network was in each of the last five years; and how many users had access to the systems in each of those years (i) on the parliamentary estate and (ii) as remote users. [189971]

Sir Archy Kirkwood: The current costs, budget, and number of accounts on the Parliamentary Network (PN) for the last five years are:

					£000
	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04
PN Budget	1,425	1,399	1,688	1,664	2,135
PN Expenditure	1,545	1,264	1,773	1,783	2,594
Accounts at year end (approx)	3,000	4,000	5,200	5,600	6,600

Budget and expenditure figures for the PN for 2003–04 reflect organisational changes to the Parliamentary Communications Directorate and are not directly comparable with earlier years.

The total number of accounts has been given because the number of individual users is not recorded. Of the total network accounts, around 2,230 are registered for Virtual Private Network (VPN) remote access and 2,730 for Citrix remote access. The numbers cannot simply be added because network accounts can be registered for both VPN and Citrix access.

Television Sets

Norman Baker: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission how many television sets are operationally available on the parliamentary estate; what hours they are preset to turn on and off for each day of the week (a) when the House is sitting and (b) during parliamentary recesses; what measures have been taken to conserve the energy that they use; and what energy consumption he estimates results each year from televisions being left in stand-by mode. [191185]

Sir Archy Kirkwood: There are 1,951 television annunciators on the parliamentary estate. When the Houses are sitting the central control switches on the sets for an average of approximately 14 hours per day. On non-sitting days the central control does not activate the sets. The annunciator sets have been selected for their low energy consumption. When a set is operating it consumes 65 watts and in standby mode the consumption is 5.5 watts. The estimated annual energy cost of all the sets when in standby mode is £2,300.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Bed-and-Breakfast Accommodation (Buckinghamshire)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many homeless households in the Buckingham constituency have been resident in bed-and-breakfast accommodation in each year since 2002; and what percentage of them claimed benefit in each year. [191070]

Keith Hill: Information is not collected at constituency level, only at local authority level. Information reported by Aylesbury Vale district council on the number of homeless households resident in bed and breakfast hotels under homelessness legislation at the end of each quarter since 2002 is given in the table. Aylesbury Vale DC comprises the entire parliamentary constituency of Buckingham, and part of Aylesbury. The number of these households claiming, or in receipt
 
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of, social security benefits is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Homeless households in B&B accommodation(inc. Shared Facility Annexes): Aylesbury Vale DC

	31 March	30 June	30 September	31 December
2002	1	4	4	0
2003	3	0	0	1
2004	1	1	—	—

Note:
Includes households accommodated pending completion of inquiries by the local authority.
Source:
ODPM P1(E) housing returns (quarterly).

Canvey Island

Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to ensure (a) that Canvey Island is provided with an additional access road before any further major housing or industrial development is undertaken and (b) that the East of England Development Agency invests in additional access roads in Canvey before making any expenditure on development on the Island. [190958]

Keith Hill: The need for an additional access road to Canvey Island is a matter which the local planning and transport authorities should take into account when they are considering any proposals for further major development which may be brought forward; the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) is not empowered or funded to build infrastructure.

Care Homes

Sue Doughty: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average price paid for each care home bed by the local authority in a non-local authority run home was in Surrey in each year since 1997. [188170]

Dr. Ladyman: I have been asked to reply.

This information is not available centrally.

Gypsies

Mr. Gray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the number of Gypsies of (a) English, (b) Irish and (c) Eastern European origin in England. [190727]

Keith Hill: This information is not available—at present the bi-annual Count of Gypsy and Traveller Caravans does not require local authorities to record the ethnicity of caravan dwellers.

High Hedges

Mr. Flook: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he will publish the guidance to local authorities on how to implement the legislation concerning high hedges contained in the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003. [191617]

Phil Hope: Draft guidance to local authorities on dealing with complaints about high hedges under the provisions in Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 was issued on 29 March. The consultation closed on 30 June. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is
 
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now finalising the guidance and Regulations and expects the system to be fully operational around the end of 2004.

Housing (South Somerset)

Mr. Laws: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action he is taking to improve the availability of affordable accommodation in South Somerset; and if he will make a statement. [191283]

Keith Hill: Through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme (ADP) the South West Housing Body has allocated the following amounts to deliver 324 Affordable Homes in South Somerset from 2003 until 2006:

	£
2003–04	1,518,626
2004–05	1,300,629
2005–06	4,007,790

Mobile Phone Masts

Mr. John Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he intends to publish a response to the recommendations of the All Party Mobile Group on Mobile Phone Masts published in July. [190640]

Keith Hill: The Government do not intend to publish a formal response to the recommendations in the report on mobile phone masts published by the All Party Mobile Group in July.

The Government have welcomed the report and acknowledges the work that went into preparing the report and the expert knowledge and advice given by those who presented written and oral evidence to the Group. Accordingly, the Government have given a commitment to reviewing the Group's recommendations in taking forward Government policy on planning for telecommunications. This is happening, as evidenced by the recent publication of the consultation document "Changes to the System of Planning Fees in England" which made direct reference to the Group's work.

Planning Appeals

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the current average delay is at the Planning Inspectorate in dealing with appeals; what action is being taken to reduce the backlog of cases; and if he will make a statement. [190931]

Keith Hill: The Planning Inspectorate has been faced with a very large increase in planning appeals over the last 18 months. 22,548 planning appeals were received in 2003–04, an increase of 21.5 per cent. compared to the previous year. In the six months to 30 September 2004 there was a 23 per cent. rise in receipts of planning appeals compared to the same period in the previous year. As a result of the substantial increase in the number of cases, the Inspectorate is currently taking an average 52 weeks to arrange a site visit, and 60 weeks to arrange a hearing or inquiry. The Planning Inspectorate are taking a number of steps to reduce the backlog of cases including taking on an additional 29 consultant Inspectors, carrying out a pilot scheme to encourage
 
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appellants to go for the less resource intensive written representations rather than hearings method, working to identify and implement ways of increasing the productivity of Inspectors, reviewing how householder cases are dealt with and restructuring the Inspectorate to increase the capacity to deal with the casework. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has also provided an additional £l million to the Inspectorate this year to help them deal with the backlog.

Mr. Truswell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many planning appeals relating to the Leeds Metropolitan District area have been (a) submitted, (b) upheld and (c) rejected in the last five years for which figures are available. [190503]

Keith Hill: The information requested is tabled below.
Leeds city council—planning appeals

	Number submitted (received)	Number upheld (allowed)	Number rejected (dismissed)
2000–01	141	33	86
2001–02	186	60	63
2002–03	223	70	122
2003–04	203	64	126
2004–05(8)	95	27	29

⁽⁸⁾ To 30 September 2004

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