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7 Dec 2004 : Column 455W—continued
Departmental Mobile Phones
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many departmental mobile telephones were used by (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials in his Department in each year since 1997; at what cost; how many such telephones were lost or stolen in each year since 1997; and what the replacement costs were in each case. [202760]
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Phil Hope: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was created on 29 May 2002. Since then the number of mobile phones used by Ministers and Special Advisers, and the associated costs (including purchase, line rental, and call charges) are as follows:
| Number of mobile phones used | Cost (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 May 2002 to 31 March 2003 | 3 | 2,071 |
| 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 | 6 | 3,756 |
| 1 April 2004 to 30 November 2004 | 6 | 2,600 |
The number of these lost and stolen, and the cost of replacement, is as follows:
| Number lost | Number stolen | Cost of replacement (£) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 May 2002 to 31 March 2003 | 0 | 1 | 213.56 |
| 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 | 1 | 0 | 82 |
| 1 April 2004 to 30 September 2004 | 1 | 0 | 82 |
Information on mobile phones used by officials is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Staff
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many staff there are within each of the Groups/Directorates within the ODPM. [200960]
Phil Hope: The following table sets out the number of staff in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister by Group and Directorate, as at 31 October 2004.
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East of England Regional Chamber
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the budget of the East of England Regional Chamber was in each of the last two years; and what its source was. [202020]
Mr. Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister made a grant of £1,874,000 to the East of England Regional Chamber in the 2003–04 financial year and £2,112,000 in 2004–05. The Regional Chamber may also derive additional revenue from other sources including members' subscription.
Fire Control Centres
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will estimate when the location of 95 per cent. of calls will be available to fire control centre staff. [202746]
Mr. Raynsford: Control room staff currently determine the location of the caller by asking suitable questions. Facilities to automatically locate the caller to the control room operator form part of the FiReControl project which will deliver a network of resilient regional control centres. Currently this is scheduled for completion in early 2009.
Government Office for London
Ms Buck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by the Government Office for London in each year from 2000; and what the forecast is for 2005. [202002]
Phil Hope: The Government Office for London staffing figures from 2000 are as follows:
| As at April: | Number | FTE |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 370 | (10)— |
| 2001 | 240 | 236 |
| 2002 | 260 | 256 |
| 2003 | 288 | 285 |
| 2004 | 325 | 320 |
| 2005 | 325 | (9)320 |
(9) This is an estimate. GOL staffing may change in 2005, but it is difficult to predict accurately as decisions on future workstreams for government offices have yet to be made by central departments
(10) No data held.
Ms Buck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the running costs for the Government Office for London were in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05; and what the forecast is for 2005–06. [202003]
Phil Hope: Government Office for London (GOL) running cost (admin) expenditure is as follows:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2003–04 | (11)16.7 |
| 2004–05 | (12)18.6 |
| 2005–06 | (13)17.3 |
(11) Total yearly spend.
(12) Projected forecast for the year as at November 2004.
(13) Notified budget.
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Ms Buck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the real terms change in the total programmes budget of the Government Office for London was in each year between 2001–02 and 2004–05; and what the projected change is for 2005–06. [202004]
Phil Hope: Government Office for London (GOL) programme budget/expenditure changes are as follows:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | (14)2,094 |
| 2002–03 | (14)2,530 |
| 2003–04 | (15)2,711 |
| 2004–05 | (15)3,027 |
| 2005–06 | (16)— |
(14) Outturn.
(15) Budget.
(16) Budget not yet known.
GOL centralised its Programme management information in 2003–04. The outturn figures reflect spend in 2001–02 and 2002–03—as there is not a centralised record of Programme budgets dating back to 2001–02. The 2003–04 and 2004–05 figures reflect Programme allocations. Information on the 2005–06 Programme budgets is not yet available.
Housing
Ms Buck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) if he will break down the low cost home ownership units planned for Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea in the Housing Corporation's 2004–06 Approved Developed Programme by (a) one-bed, (b) two-bed, (c) three-bed and (d) four-bed or more; [201964]
(2) if he will break down the low cost home ownership units planned for Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea in the Housing Corporation's 2004–06 Approved Developed Programme by (a) conventional shared ownership, (b) Do-It-Yourself shared ownership, (c) Homebuy and (d) other forms of low cost home ownership. [201965]
Keith Hill: The Housing Corporation have so far allocated resources to fund a total of 52 shared ownership dwellings in Westminster, and 43 in Kensington and Chelsea over the years 2004–06. Homebuy replaced Do-It-Yourself shared ownership schemes in the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme in 1999.
Homebuy (other than new-build Homebuy) is allocated via Zone Agents to the sub-regions of London.
The north Sub-region, including Westminster, Islington, Haringey, Enfield, Camden and Barnet, has allocated 155 Homebuy, and 296 Keyworker Homebuy (including 100 higher value equity loans specifically for teachers with potential for leadership). The West sub-region, including Kensington and Chelsea, Hounslow, Hillingdon, Harrow, Hammersmith and Fulham, Baling, and Brent, has allocated 296 Keyworker Homebuy (including 100 higher value equity loans specifically for teachers with potential for leadership).
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Other forms of low-cost Home Ownership enable tenants to buy their rented home. They are the Right to Acquire, which is demand-led; and the Voluntary Purchase Grant, of which none are planned in Westminster or Kensington and Chelsea.
The table shows the split of low cost homeownership schemes by one, two, three and four or more bedrooms for each authority in London and has been made available in the Library of the House. The figures for Homebuy Market Purchase, allocated by Zone Agent to the sub-regions, cannot be broken down by bedroom numbers until the individual properties are purchased.
Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the (a) average, (b) greatest and (c) smallest proportion of tenants on the arms length management company is where a housing stock transfer has been achieved using an arms length management company. [202299]
Keith Hill: Councils who set up an arms length management organisation (ALMO) to manage their housing stock retain ownership of the properties and no stock transfer is involved. Most ALMO boards are made up of one third tenants, one third local authority nominees and one third independent members. No ALMO boards have less than one third tenant members. One ALMO board has a tenant majority, with 11 tenants, five local authority nominees and five independent members. However, this is an exception, agreed because the ALMO was created from a Tenant Management Organisation which formerly managed the council's stock.
Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance he has given to councils seeking housing stock transfers to an arms length management company (ALMC) on the proportion of (a) tenants and (b) nominees on the Board of the ALMC; and if he will make a statement. [202300]
Keith Hill: Councils who set up an arms length management organisation (ALMO) to manage their housing stock retain ownership of the properties and no stock transfer is involved. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's "Guidance on Arms Length Management of Local Authority Housing", published in October 2004, sets out that the board should include tenants, local authority nominees and independent members. It does not specify proportions, but makes it clear that no one group should normally be in a majority.
Simon Hughes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many shared ownership properties were sold in Southwark in each year since 1997; and how many of those properties were purchased by someone who was (a) already in social housing in that area, (b) on the single housing register in that area and (c) a key worker. [202969]
Keith Hill: A table containing this information for every local authority in England has been made available in the Library of the House.
The table includes, for each financial year from 1997–08 to 2003–04 and for every English local authority and Government Office Region:
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how many Shared Ownership sales were to people who were registered on a local authority waiting list/common housing register.
Note that the figures relate to the sales of initial shares only. Subsequent purchases of additional equity are not included.
It should be noted that figures on the number of key workers that bought Shared Ownership properties during the period 1997–08 to 2003–04 are not available. This is because the purchaser's occupation was not collected as part of CORE Sales during this period.
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