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Universities

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what meetings he has had with university chancellors and vice-chancellors over the last 12 months. [209421]

Mr. Timms: Treasury Ministers regularly meet representatives from the higher education sector and discuss a wide range of issues.

Vale of Clwyd Constituency

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out, including statistical information relating as closely as possible to the constituency, the effect on Vale of Clwyd constituency of his Department's policies since 1997. [209295]

Mr. Timms: The Government have put in place a radical programme of both macro-economic and micro-economic reform since our election in 1997 to improve the economic performance of all parts of the UK. There is significant evidence that these policies have already yielded considerable benefits for the Vale of Clwyd constituency. For example, since May 1997, claimant unemployment has fallen by 52 per cent., and both long-term unemployment and long-term youth unemployment have nearly been eliminated, with falls of 91 per cent. and 81 per cent. respectively.

The Neighbourhood Statistics Service provides a wide range of statistical information at parliamentary constituency level, taken from the 2001 Census and other sources. This service is available on the National Statistics website at http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk./.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Building Energy Standards

Mr. Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the fuel cost data provided for the revision of building energy standards takes account of the leakage of natural gas during (a) processing, (b) transmission, (c) storage and (d) distribution; and whether his Department has studied records of leakage in the USA. [209499]

Phil Hope: The fuel cost data used in the review of the energy efficiency standards required by building regulations reflect typical UK market prices and include all costs associated with delivering fuel to the point of use. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not
 
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studied US leakage data but it is investigating how the global warming implications of gas leaks in the supply system can be taken into account.

Building Regulations

Mr. Todd: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received on the definition of a minor work as applied to the inspection of electrical work under Building Regulations; and if he will make a statement. [209532]

Phil Hope: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister received representations on the definition of minor works from a majority of the 490 bodies and individuals who responded to the May 2002 consultation on bringing electrical work into the Building Regulations. The final list of minor works published on 22 July 2004 was drawn up by a Working Party of the Building Regulations Advisory Committee, and was further amended in December 2004 to clarify notification requirements for intruder and fire alarm systems following representations from security industry bodies.

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what regulatory impact assessment he has made of the cost of (a) employing and (b) training surveyors to issue annual certificates under the proposed new Building Regulations. [209638]

Phil Hope: There are no requirements for surveyors to issue annual certificates under the proposed new Building Regulations.

Civil Servants

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many of his Department's staff are based outside the London area. [208888]

Yvette Cooper: As of December 2004, 2,188 of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's staff (on a headcount basis) were based outside of the London area.

Civil Service

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average annual increase in gross salary for the year 2003–04 was for (a) staff below the Senior Civil Service and (b) the Senior Civil Service in his Office. [208107]

Yvette Cooper: The average annual increase in gross salary for the year 2003–04 in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for staff below the Senior Civil Service was 3.6 per cent.

The average annual increase in gross salary for the year 2003–04 in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Senior Civil Service staff was 4.7 per cent.

Council Housing

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will set a new target to reduce the council house repairs backlog to 700,000 properties by April 2008. [208389]

Keith Hill: Repairs to council housing are now covered by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's target to ensure social sector homes reach the decent
 
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homes standard by 2010. By reducing the number of non-decent homes we are also reducing the repairs backlog.

Departmental Staff/Running Costs

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many staff are employed by his Office; and what its annual running costs are. [209434]

Yvette Cooper: Information on the projected average number of staff employed by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for the 2004–05 financial year can be found in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Annual Report 2004 (pages 123–124) which is available in the Library of the House and electronically at: http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_about/documents/downloadable/odpm _about_028551.pdf

The total running costs, including pay and non-pay costs are forecasted to be around £328 million for the 2004–05 financial year.

Fire and Rescue Control

Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Tewkesbury (Mr. Robertson) of 12 January 2005, Official Report, column 290, on Fire and Rescue Control, if he will place in the Library the evidence on which his statement on the difference in cost per incident reported between the Gloucestershire Fire Service Centre and the assumed regional control centre was based. [209607]

Mr. Raynsford: The costs per incident of current control rooms are based on costs information provided to us by individual Fire and Rescue Authorities. The average cost per incident of the regional control centres (RCCs) has been calculated using expected costs pending completion of the procurement processes, for the control centre accommodation and infrastructure. Incident data are collected by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). A table, showing this information for Gloucestershire, has been made available in the Library of the House.

Graffiti

Mr. Byrne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) obligations are incumbent on and (b) powers are at the disposal of local authorities to clean (i) publicly and (ii) privately owned properties of graffiti; and if he will make a statement. [209374]

Phil Hope: In 2002, the cross-government review "Living Places: Powers, Rights and Responsibilities" consulted on obligation and powers for tackling environmental crimes, including graffiti. Since then we have strengthened and streamlined powers to tackle graffiti.

The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 included powers to issue fixed penalty notices for graffiti on public property, enabling local authorities to issue such notices to people who commit "minor" acts of graffiti and to allow all local authorities to retain income from fixed penalty notices issued for graffiti for use in local environmental improvements.
 
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In the case of graffiti on private buildings owners are expected to remove it. However, Section 48–52 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act introduced new powers to enable local authorities to issue graffiti removal notices against the owners of property in or on the street where this is not done.

The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill currently before Parliament proposes further clauses to vary the level of fixed penalty notices, require the name and address of those receiving fixed penalties and extend "authorised officers" able to issue notices. It also proposes a duty on local weights and measures authorities to undertake enforcement of their powers to tackle the sale of spray paints to children under 16 to try reduce the incidence of graffiti.

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