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8 Feb 2005 : Column 1443W—continued

Renewables Promotion

Ms Walley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made towards promoting renewables within the context of planning policy; and if he will make a statement. [214926]


 
8 Feb 2005 : Column 1444W
 

Keith Hill: In 2004 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published Planning Policy Statement 22 on Renewable Energy, that provides the policy context for encouraging appropriate development of further renewable energy schemes, and its companion guide which gives practical advice as to how these policies can be implemented. These documents provide a positive planning framework for achieving the Government target of generating 10 per cent. of UK electricity from renewable energy sources by 2010.

Right to Buy

Mr. Betts: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many council homes have been sold under the right to buy scheme in Sheffield in each year since 1980. [214489]

Keith Hill: Annual figures of council right to buy sales for Sheffield reported by the local authority are as follows.
Number
1981–82513
1982–832,104
1983–841,005
1984–85789
1985–861,001
1986–871,001
1987–881,860
1988–892,499
1989–903,806
1990–911,564
1991–92831
1992–93679
1993–94548
1994–95611
1995–96453
1996–97469
1997–98450
1998–99459
1999–2000619
2000–01745
2001–021,333
2002–031,489
2003–042,249




Source:
Quarterly returns on council house sales (P1B) from local authorities to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.



Staff Training

Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the costs of departmental (a) staff training days and (b) staff development days held away from the Department were in each year since 1997. [213788]

Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Sustainable Communities

Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the strategy for building sustainable communities. [213872]

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister makes frequent assessments of progress on delivering sustainable communities through our Public Service Agreement Targets, information about which is
 
8 Feb 2005 : Column 1445W
 
published in our Departmental Annual Report. The Sustainable Communities Plan is a long-term programme of action, but progress to date has been excellent. Since 2002, the Government have increased house building by 10 per cent. delivered 43,589 affordable homes to rent and assisted over 11,000 key workers into home ownership. We have cut rough sleeping by 70 per cent. since 1998. Since 1997 we have made around 1 million social homes decent and increased grant to local authorities by 30 per cent. in real terms. We will build on this success through the measures outlined to the House by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister on 24 January.

Unallocated Spending

Mr. Laws: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his latest estimate is of unallocated departmental spending in (a) 2005–06, (b) 2006–07, and (c) 2007–08; and if he will make a statement. [213264]

Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 2 February 2005, Official Report, column 910W.

TRANSPORT

Bolton Transport Infrastructure

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his Oral answers to the hon. Members for Leigh (Andy Burnham) and Wigan (Mr. Turner) of 1 February 2005, Official Report, columns 699–700, for what schemes transport infrastructure funding will be available in the Bolton South East constituency. [214692]


 
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Charlotte Atkins: The transport infrastructure funding is available for integrated transport capital schemes. Within Bolton, it will be for Greater Manchester PTE, in partnership with Bolton borough council, to determine for which schemes the funding will be used. Previous similar funding has been used, for example, to support bus-related highway improvements.

Departmental Policies

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Burnley constituency, the effects on Burnley of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [214719]

Charlotte Atkins: The Department has put in place a considerable programme of improvements across a wide range of transport policy areas since 1997. I am confident that the Burnley constituency will have benefited from these. For example, the injury totals for all road causalities in Great Britain fell from 327,803 in 1997 to 290,607 in 2003, and the numbers of children aged under 16 years killed or seriously injured on our roads fell from 6,452 in 1997 to 4,100 in 2003. On our railways, passenger kilometres have increased from 32.1billion in 1996–97 to 40.9 billion in 2003–04, a rise of 27 per cent. In terms of improvements to air quality, emissions of the UK's two main pollutants—nitrous oxides and particles—fell by 31 per cent. and 27 per cent. respectively between 1997 and 2002.

The funding provided directly to Lancashire county council since 1997 is shown in the following table 1 . It has been for Lancashire to determine how that allocation has been spent, in line with its local transport plan and its priorities.


Lancashire county council
£ million

Nature of funding1998–991999–20002000–012001–022002–032003–042004–05
Capital Maintenance3.9843.0486.09616.63017.78213.33716.176
Integrated Block2.2033.8334.20011.20011.92212.05113.033
Major schemes0.9682.8000.6361.026
Targeted bus grants(30)1.2331.1391.4112.2121.5753.7771.238
Total8.33810.8212.34330.04232.30529.16530.447


(30)Includes Rural Bus Subsidy Grant and Rural Bus challenge funding


In addition, since 1997 the Burnley constituency has benefited from major improvements to strategic infrastructure, for example the South Ribble M65 Interface scheme has been completed.

Finally, 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./. In addition, the Department for Transport's website also contains data on transport trends over the past 20 years at http://www.dft.gov.uk.

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Pendle constituency, the effects on Pendle of his Department's policies and activities since 2 May 1997. [214977]

Charlotte Atkins: The Department has put in place a considerable programme of improvements across a wide range of transport policy areas since 1997. I am confident that the Pendle constituency will have benefited from these. For example, the injury totals for all road causalities in Great Britain fell from 327,803 in 1997 to 290,607 in 2003, and the numbers of children aged under 16 years killed or seriously injured on our roads fell from 6,452 in 1997 to 4,100 in 2003. On our railways, passenger kilometres have increased from 32.1billion in 1996–97 to 40.9 billion in 2003–04, a rise of 27 per cent. In terms of improvements to air quality,
 
8 Feb 2005 : Column 1447W
 
emissions of the UK's two main pollutants—nitrous oxides and particles—fell by 31 per cent. and 27 per cent. respectively between 1997 and 2002.

The funding provided directly to Lancashire county council since 1997 is shown in the following table 1 . It has
 
8 Feb 2005 : Column 1448W
 
been for Lancashire to determine how that allocation has been spent, in line with its local transport plan and its priorities.


Lancashire county council
£ million

Nature of funding1998–991999–20002000–012001–022002–032003–042004–05
Capital Maintenance3.9843.0486.09616.63017.78213.33716.176
Integrated Block2.2033.8334.20011.20011.92212.05113.033
Major schemes0.9682.8000.6361.026
Targeted bus grants(31)1.2331.1391.4112.2121.5753.7771.238
Total8.33810.8212.34330.04232.30529.16530.447


(31)Includes Rural Bus Subsidy Grant and Rural Bus challenge funding.


In addition, since 1997 the Pendle constituency has benefited from major improvements to strategic infrastructure, for example the South Ribble M65 Interface scheme has been completed.

Finally, 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./. In addition, the Department for Transport's website also contains data on transport trends over the past 20 years at http://www.dft.gov.uk.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Hemsworth constituency, the effects of changes to departmental policy since 1997 on Hemsworth constituency. [214496]

Charlotte Atkins: The Department has put in place a considerable programme of improvements across a wide range of transport policy areas since 1997. I am confident that the Hemsworth constituency will have benefited from these. For example, the injury totals for all road causalities in Great Britain fell from 327,803 in 1997 to 290,607 in 2003, and the numbers of children aged under 16 years killed or seriously injured on our roads fell from 6,452 in 1997 to 4,100 in 2003. On our railways, passenger kilometres have increased from 32.1billion in 1996–97 to 40.9 billion in 2003–04, a rise of 27 per cent. In terms of improvements to air quality, emissions of the UK's two main pollutants—nitrous oxides and particles—fell by 31 per cent. and 27 per cent. respectively between 1997 and 2002.

The funding provided directly to City of Wakefield council since 1997 is shown in the following table 1 . It has been for City of Wakefield to determine how that allocation has been spent, in line with the local transport plan for West Yorkshire and the local priorities.


City of Wakefield
£ million

Nature of funding1998–991999–20002000–012001–022002–032003–042004–05
Capital Maintenance1.4041.7524.6082.8603.7624.1904.292
Integrated Block1.0861.1302.9003.0952.9102.931
Major schemes
Targeted bus grants(32)0.9200.7641.4732.3852.0502.7730.980
Total3.413.6466.0818.1458.9079.8738.203


(32)Includes Rural Bus Subsidy Grant and Rural Bus challenge funding.


The Hemsworth constituency is likely to benefit from further improvements to strategic infrastructure. Funding support for the Hemsworth to Al and the Glasshoughton Coalfields link roads has been provisionally approved.

Finally, 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/. In addition, the Department for Transport's website also contains data on transport trends over the past 20 years at http://www.dft.gov.uk.

Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effect on North Durham constituency of his Department's policies since June 2001. [214471]

Charlotte Atkins: The Department has put in place a considerable programme of improvements across a wide range of transport policy areas since 1997. I am confident that the North Durham constituency will have benefited from these. For example, the injury totals for all road causalities in Great Britain fell from 327,803 in 1997 to 290,607 in 2003, and the numbers of children aged under 16 years killed or seriously injured on our roads fell from 6,452 in 1997 to 4,100 in 2003. On our railways, passenger kilometres have increased from 32.1billion in 1996–7 to 40.9 billion in 2003–04, a rise of 27 per cent. In terms of improvements to air quality,
 
8 Feb 2005 : Column 1449W
 
emissions of the UK's two main pollutants—nitrous oxides and particles—fell by 31 per cent. and 27 per cent. respectively between 1997 and 2002.

The funding provided directly to Durham county council since 2001 is shown in the following table 1 . It has been for Durham to determine how that allocation has been spent, in line with its local transport plan and its priorities.


Durham county council
£ million

Nature of funding2001–022002–032003–042004–05
Capital Maintenance8.5559.1038.0089.357
Integrated Block5.3976.4408.0547.895
Major schemes1.9556.1171.0078.103
Targeted bus grants(33)1.7131.6260.9020.929
Total17.6223.28617.97126.284


(33)Includes Rural Bus Subsidy Grant and Rural Bus challenge funding.


Finally, 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./. In addition, the Department for Transport's website also contains data on transport trends over the past 20 years at http://www.dft.gov.uk.


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