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4 Apr 2005 : Column 1146W—continued
New Deal for Communities (North London)
Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action has been taken to respond to the petition submitted to his Department in November 2004 by local residents regarding the New Deal for Communities project in the Seven Sisters area of North London; and if he will make a statement. [223319]
Yvette Cooper: The petition, on behalf of two expelled Partnership Board Members, has been carefully considered and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister remains satisfied that the expulsions were handled fairly.
Official Residences
Chris Grayling: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the official residences for which his Department is responsible; who occupies each one; what the annual cost is of running each property; what contribution the occupants of each make towards running costs; what the total capital and refurbishment expenditure has been on those properties in each of the past five years; how much money was spent in each property on (a) flowers and plants, (b) wine and entertaining, (c) food, (d) telephone bills and (e) electricity and gas in 2003–04; how many (i) domestic and (ii) maintenance staff areemployed at each property, broken down by post; and what the total cost of staff employment was in 2003–04. [213562]
Yvette Cooper:
With regard to which residences the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is responsible for and who occupies them, I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's answer of 20 January 2005, Official Report, column 1037W.
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On general running and refurbishment/maintenance costs of residences, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Phil Hope) to the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr. Prisk) on 18 November 2004, Official Report, column 1733W.
The costs of other expenditure items in the official residence in Admiralty House of my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister are as follows:
(b) The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's entertainment budget does not detail expenditure by venue and this could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
i. There are no domestic staff providing services in the official residence occupied by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister.
ii. Maintenance within the residence is provided under a Cabinet Office contract and the cost of this is included within the service charge. There are no maintenance staff employed exclusively in my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister's official residence.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister also has the use of Dorneywood, which is a Trust property available for use by Ministers.
Parking
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much has been spent on (a) provision of parking spaces for civil servants and (b) parking tickets and penalties incurred by civil servants in the Department and its predecessors in each year since 1997. [213831]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was established in May 2002. Car parking spaces are provided for staff (including those with disabilities) and visitors. For the buildings of both the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its predecessors, the car parking spaces are included in the rent of each building and this element cannot be separated from the overall cost.
Civil servants in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are personally responsible for meeting the cost of any parking tickets and penalties they may incur. Since May 2002 one fine costing £50 has been paid by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. This was as a result of a Government Car and Despatch Agency car being used by a member of staff incurring a penalty charge.
The value of any fines incurred prior to the establishment of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
This answer does not include information pertaining to Government Offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.
4 Apr 2005 : Column 1148W
Quality Mark
Brian Cotter: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the proposals developed in conjunction with the construction industry and consumer bodies to revive the Quality Mark initiative; whether he anticipates incorporating his Department's existing Competent Persons Schemes under the Building Regulations into the proposed successor initiative; and if he will make a statement. [223997]
Phil Hope: Officials from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have taken part in discussions with the Department for Trade and Industry, the construction industry and consumer bodies to develop a possible successor to the Quality Mark Initiative. Existing and future competent person schemes and their registered installers will be free to take part in any successor if they wish to do so.
Social Housing
Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 25 February 2005, Official Report, column 902W, on social housing (right to buy), what estimate he has made of the amount of capital receipts from right to buy sales in debt-free authorities that will be centrally pooled in (a) 2004–05, (b) 2005–06, (c) 2006–07 and (d) 2007–08. [223296]
Keith Hill: Current estimates are tabled as follows:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2004–05 | 51 |
| 2005–06 | 102 |
| 2006–07 | 150 |
| 2007–08 | 197 |
The increase year-on-year is a feature of the transitional arrangements, which allow debt-free local authorities to retain 75 per cent. of the value of poolable receipts in 2004–05, 50 per cent. in 2005–06 and 25 per cent. in 2006–07. The transitional arrangements end in 2007–08.
Surplus Assets Sales
Mr. Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Office sold any surplus stock on the eBay auction website, in each year since 2000–01. [220952]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was formed in May 2002. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not use eBay to dispose of any surplus stock. Any surplus stock that cannot be used within the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister or any other Government Department is disposed of in accordance with departmental procedures which are contained in the Procurement Manual.
Telecommunications Masts
Mr. Gill: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent discussions he has had with mobile phone operators on the siting of phone masts. [223641]
Keith Hill:
The last meeting between a Minister of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Mobile Operators Association was held with me on 24 March 2004.
4 Apr 2005 : Column 1149W
Monday 4 April 2005
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Air Quality (Leicester)
Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the concentration of (a) nitrogen dioxide, (b) sulphur dioxide and (c) benzene in Leicester has been in each year since 1997. [223643]
Alun Michael: The table shows annual mean concentrations (in micrograms per metre cubed) for nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide from 1997 to 2004 measured by the Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN) air monitoring site in Leicester.
There are no measurements of benzene in Leicester. The table includes measurements from Birmingham, East (1997 to 2000) and Birmingham Roadside (2002–04). These are the nearest benzene monitors to Leicester.
All historic and current air quality measurements from the AURN are published at www.airquality.co.uk
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