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15 Jun 2005 : Column 411W—continued
Pensions
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of the Local Government Pension Scheme is invested in UK equities. [4305]
Mr. Woolas: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Individual Local Government Pension Scheme pension fund authorities can provide specific figures for their funds.
Planning Applications (Covenants)
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) if the Government will introduce legislation ensuring that planning authorities are bound by covenants on land for which a planning application has been submitted; [3922]
(2) what statutory obligations there are on local authority planning departments to ensure that they do not grant planning requests if such requests are in breach of existing covenants. [3923]
Yvette Cooper: Restrictive covenants protect private rights and benefits of the owners or occupiers of the land specified in them. Covenants are privately negotiated and agreed. If a covenant is breached, it would be for those affected to see if enforcement would be possible; through the courts, if necessary.
Private rights are quite separate from planning considerations. Planning decisions are taken in the broader public interest, in the light of policies in development plan documents and of any other factor relevant to land-use planning. There is public involvement when plan documents are put forward for adoption, or planning applications made. Accordingly, the existence of a restrictive covenant should not be the basis of a decision about a planning application or appeal.
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Shared Ownership Schemes
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people have participated in a shared ownership scheme in each year since 1990. [1102]
Yvette Cooper: Figures on the number of people or households participating in a shared ownership scheme are not available.
Toyota Prius
Peter Viggers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he was offered the free use of a Toyota Prius motor car; and what his response was. [4710]
Jim Fitzpatrick: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has not been offered the free use of a Toyota Prius motor car.
My right hon. Friend is provided with an official car and driver from the Government Car Service in accordance with the rules set out in the 'Ministerial Code' and 'Travel by Ministers', copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.
Wardens
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish figures for the central Government funding of neighbourhood warden schemes in each year since their commencement. [4268]
Mr. Woolas: Funding for neighbourhood warden schemes from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) is shown in the following table.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 4.5 |
| 2001–02 | 5 |
| 2002–03 | 4.5 |
| 2003–04 | 5 |
| Total | 19 |
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Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans the Government has to provide central funding for (a) community wardens and (b) neighbourhood wardens after March 2006. [1101]
Mr. Woolas: There are no current plans to centrally fund either community wardens or neighbourhood wardens after March 2006.
It was the Government policy to pilot fund warden schemes for a limited period as was announced to test the concept.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is in contact with local authorities to analyse progress towards the mainstreaming of funding. In fact 83 per cent. of first round schemes and 84 per cent. of second round schemes secured future funding after the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister financial support ceased.
CABINET OFFICE
Faith Awareness Training
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many civil servants in theDepartment received faith awareness training in 2004. [3813]
Mr. Hutton:
The Cabinet Office does not have a separate departmental faith awareness training programme.
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Information about faith awareness is provided for all staff via the departmental intranet. Diversity and equality issues are also covered in the Department's selection and management development programmes.
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent consultations havebeen carried out by his Department with representatives of faith communities; and if he will make a statement. [3890]
Mr. Hutton: The Cabinet Office has not recently undertaken formal consultations that have required specific consultation with representatives of faith communities.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Businesses (London)
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many businesses have ceased trading in (a) Brent, East and (b) each London borough in each year since 1997. [2536]
Alun Michael: DTI figures based solely on VAT de-registrations for the Brent, East parliamentary constituency area and all the London borough areas are shown as follows for 1997 to 2003. Data for 2004 will be available in autumn 2005.
Source:
VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994–2003, Small Business Service, available from http://www.sbs.gov.uk/vats
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VAT de-registrations do not give a complete picture of business closures. Businesses that de-register will not necessarily have closed. For example, they might continue to trade but at a turnover level below the VAT threshold. Only 1.8 million out of 4 million enterprises were registered for VAT at the start of 2003.
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average income was of a small business in (a) Brent East and (b) each London borough in each year since 1997. [2517]
Alun Michael: Data on the average profit or gross value added of all small businesses are not available. Turnover gives an alternative indication of the income of a business; it corresponds to the market sales of goods and services, excluding VAT. Figures on the average turnover of small businesses are only available at the national and regional level. They are not available for Brent, East or any London borough separately.
The average turnover of a small business (defined as a business with zero to 49 employees) in the UK in each year since 1997 is as follows:
| In UK at the start of: | Average turnover(16)/£1,000: |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 193 |
| 1998 | 202 |
| 1999 | 201 |
| 2000 | 205 |
| 2001 | 206 |
| 2002 | 216 |
| 2003 | 215 |
(16) Excludes turnover in financial intermediation.
The average turnover of a small business based in London in each year since 1997 is as follows:
| Based in London at the start of: | Average turnover(17)/£1,000: |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 354 |
| 1998 | 330 |
| 1999 | 282 |
| 2000 | (18)— |
| 2001 | 276 |
| 2002 | (18)— |
| 2003 | 312 |
(17) Excludes turnover in financial intermediation.
(18) London figures for 2000 and 2002 are not available.
Source:
Small Business Service Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Statistics, www.sbs.gov.uk/smes
The average turnover of a small business in the UK at the start of 2004 will be available in August 2005.
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