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20 Dec 2004 : Column 1484W—continued
Countryside Signage
Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the level of signage in the countryside; if he will issue new guidelines to local authorities on (a) how to seek early removal of such signs and (b) the bringing of prosecutions; and if he will bring forward legislative proposals, in conjunction with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to expedite such processes. [205507]
Keith Hill: Signage is controlled by local planning authorities under the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 1992 and local authorities are already provided with guidance.
Next year the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister intends to make new Regulations to consolidate and update the 1992 Regulations. There will be new guidance in an accompanying Circular. We intend to introduce further measures to combat fly- posting in the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill.
County Hall
Mr. Banks:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what payments have been made by the Shirayama Corporation in respect of the outstanding balance on
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the purchase price of County Hall, London, SE1 from the annual net-profit of the hotel and other business activities in the riverside building; [204672]
(2) what payments remain outstanding from the sale of County Hall, London, SE1 to the Shirayama Corporation of Japan; whether interest on the sum has been (a) paid and (b) requested; when the balance is due; and if he will make a statement. [204673]
Keith Hill:
The contract for the sale of County Hall provided for a deferred sum of £10 million to be paid to the London Residuary Body from April 1997, subject to the full sum being paid by 2012. Following the winding up of the London Residuary Body on 29 March 1996, the London Borough of Bromley inherited the remaining rights and liabilities in respect of County Hall, including those in relation to the payment of this sum. In accordance with the contractual terms no payment had been made to Bromley before February 2004. On 6 February 2004, after obtaining expert legal and accountancy advice and after consulting the Leader's Committee of the Association of London Government, Bromley agreed to accept immediate payment of £7,800,000 in full and final settlement of the
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deferred sum. This sum was distributed among the London Boroughs in accordance with the provisions of the London Residuary Body (Winding Up) Order 1996.
Departmental Budget/Expenditure
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish a regional breakdown of his Department's budget allocations for 2004–05 for planned (a) revenue and (b) capital expenditure on its (i) housing and homelessness, (ii) neighbourhood renewal and (iii) sustainable communities programmes. [204736]
Keith Hill: Information on regional breakdowns of expenditure is gathered annually each spring and published in Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA). (Cm 6201, April 2004). The data within PESA excludes payments to local authorities, but includes local authority expenditure on departmental programmes, and is recorded against internationally recognised headings using the UN's Classification of Functions of Government (COFOG).
Earlier this year, as part of the Spending Review, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister collected some additional information in order to provide a full breakdown of proposed budgets by region within its departmental expenditure limits for 2004–05, under functional headings. The estimated breakdown of the relevant budgets at that time for 2004–05 is tabled as follows.
The information in the table and within PESA represents best estimates of the regional breakdowns at the time the data was collected, which was before the start of this financial year. A further analysis for 2004–05, based on budgets following winter supplementary estimates, will be produced by April 2005, and will be published in PESA.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on energy costs incurred by his Department in each of the last two years. [202453]
Phil Hope: Energy costs incurred by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for the years 2002–3 and 2003–4 are in the following table, along with the corresponding consumption data and average fuel prices. Figures are given separately for electricity and heating fuels, as well as for the total energy.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has traditionally reported energy figures separately for its central estate, the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre and the Government Office Network. For consistency this format has been retained and the data is presented in Tables la, b and c respectively.
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The increase in electrical consumption is due mostly to a rise in occupational density throughout the estate, which has resulted in increased load on the air conditioning systems. Increased use of the two gas
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fired Combined Heat and Power installations has also resulted in an increased use of gas, which for the purpose of this answer has been included as a heating fuel.
The energy used in the Conference Centre is dependent on the commercial activities undertaken. Recent refurbishment of the air-conditioning systems should improve the Centre's overall efficiency.
Government Offices have increased their usage of electricity from renewable sources, which carry a premium. This has led to an increase in the cost of their energy, despite a reduction in the amount used.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's electricity costs have risen by 8 per cent. overall, despite a small decrease in average price, due to a 12 per cent. rise in consumption. Heating fuel costs have risen by 15 per cent., mainly due to a 9 per cent. increase in price.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is investigating options for reducing energy consumption across the estate. Surveys of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's main office buildings are being undertaken and action plans for fuel reduction produced. Early indications from these reports confirm that increased use of IT along with higher staff occupation rates per sq. m and therefore higher IT and air conditioning loads are the main contributory factors.
Although the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has overall responsibility for the buildings occupied by Government Offices, they carry out functions on behalf of ten Government Departments.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost was of (a) in-house canteen and (b) other catering services provided by his Department in each of the last two years. [202457]
Phil Hope: With the exception of The Planning Inspectorate's office in Bristol, the catering services within the buildings of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are contracted out on a non-cost basis, with the contractors recovering their costs through income from the services.
The cost of catering services to the Planning Inspectorate in Bristol in each of the last two years are listed in the following table:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 55,520 |
| 2003–04 | 48,174 |
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total cost to his Department was for the use of external consultants in each of the last two years. [202467]
Phil Hope: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper) on 24 May 2004, Official Report, column 1433W.
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