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17 Jan 2005 : Column 756W—continued
Special Advisers
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Prime Minister whether the contracts signed by his special advisers differ from the Model Contract for Special Advisers. [207237]
The Prime Minister:
All special advisers are employed on contracts based on the Model Contract for Special Advisers. There is a provision in No. 10 for up to three special advisers to have executive powers. This would be reflected in their contract.
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DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
"Awareness of Comprehensive Performance Assessment"
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of the research study conducted by MORI for the Audit Commission entitled Awareness of Comprehensive Performance Assessment among the general public published in December 2002. [207920]
Mr. Raynsford: MORI conducted the survey entitled 'Awareness of Comprehensive Performance Assessment among the general public' on behalf of the Audit Commission. I have asked the Chief Executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member. Copies of his letter will be made available in the Libraries of both Houses.
Letter from Steve Bundred to Mrs. Caroline Spelman, dated 18 January 2005:
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The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has passed your parliamentary question to me for reply.
In 2002 MORI conducted a survey on our behalf entitled Awareness of Comprehensive Performance Assessment among the general public. The report was not made public, but I am pleased to enclose a copy for your use.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any further information about this survey report.
Beacon Councils
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what central Government expenditure on the beacon council scheme was in each year since its creation. [207916]
Mr. Raynsford: The beacon council scheme has been running since 1999 and is now in its sixth round. Estimated central Government expenditure on the previous five rounds is tabled as follows.
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reward Grant | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 3 | 3 |
| Peer Support Grant | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Panel Costs | 0.150 | 0.190 | 0.185 | 0.190 | 0.190 |
| Administration | 0.150 | 0.250 | 0.230 | 0.240 | 0.235 |
| Total | 1.0 | 2.14 | 2.115 | 5.43 | 5.425 |
Council Tax
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average band (a) A, (b) B, (c) G and (d) H council tax bills were in England in (i) 1997–98 and (ii) 2004–05. [208690]
Mr. Raynsford: The information requested is in the below.
| Average area council tax (two adults) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial year | Band A | Band B | Band G | Band H |
| 1997–98 | 459 | 535 | 1,147 | 1,376 |
| 2004–05 | 778 | 907 | 1,945 | 2,333 |
Departmental Credit Cards
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many credit cards for official expenditure are held by his Department. [206431]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was formed in May 2002. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister uses the Government procurement card (GPC) and corporate card. To date the total number of cards currently held by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is 220 of which 188 are GPC and 32 are corporate cards.
Apart from these, there are no other credit cards held within the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost of refurbishments in his Department was in each year since 1997; and what the planned expenditure is for 2005–06. [205671]
Yvette Cooper: For 2004–05 the estimated out-turn expenditure is £5,352,399. Of this £4,697,000 was spent on the Government offices.
In 2005–06 expenditure of £3,103,000 is planned. Of this £1,305,000 is to be spent on the Government offices and £440,000 on the Fire Service College. The planned spend on the offices of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister includes costs involved in re-planning parts of its accommodation to improve the occupational space density.
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 10 Government Departments.
For information on previous years' expenditure I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State (Phil Hope) on 11 November 2004, Official Report, columns 842–43W.
Derelict Land
Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) area of sites designated as derelict land, broken down by region. [208221]
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Keith Hill: The National Land Use Database of Previously-Developed Land provides estimates which are tabled as follows.
Note:
The estimates of total areas include an allowance for incomplete reporting.
District Auditing
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the cost of (a) district audit and (b) district auditors in England in the current financial year; and whether this is included in the Audit Commission's annual expenditure. [207922]
Mr. Raynsford: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission. I will ask the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Steve Bundred to Mrs. Caroline Spelman, dated 14 January 2005:
District Audit was amalgamated with the Audit Commission Inspection Service in November 2002. The costs of this combined activity identified in 2004–05 are £95.8 million for England and £13 million for Wales and are shown in our accounts. Allocating these costs between audit and inspection services would result in audit costs of £77.3 million for England and £10 million for Wales. These figures exclude support and management costs which are accounted for centrally. They also exclude the costs of audits conducted by the private firms appointed by us to audit around 30 per cent. of local authority and NHS bodies.
District Auditor is a grade of staff employed within the Audit Commission. The total cost, including all on costs but again excluding support and management costs, for this grade of staff for 2004–05 is £6.6 million.
Fire and Rescue Services
Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish in full the recent business case undertaken on behalf of his Department for proposals to abolish individual fire and rescue control centres. [208249]
Mr. Raynsford: A copy of the draft outline business case is already available on the web. http://www.firecontrol.odpm.gov.uk/.
Mr. Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many fire appliances are proposed to be redeployed at night time away from their day time deployments under the draft Integrated Risk Management Plan documents published by fire and rescue authorities in England. [206068]
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Mr. Raynsford: Examination of all Integrated Risk Management Plans has yet to be undertaken. Of those seen to date, none contain proposals to redeploy appliances at night time away from their day time locations.
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