House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 16 Jun 2005 (pt 8)

16 Jun 2005 : Column 549W—continued

Deprived Areas

Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps are being taken to encourage enterprise and entrepreneurialism in deprived areas. [4332]

Mr. Woolas: In the March 2005 Budget, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor announced proposals for a new Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) with the aim to provide flexible, devolved investment in the most deprived areas to support locally-developed and owned proposals that pursue new or proven ways of stimulating economic activity and productivity through enterprise development.

LEGI will be worth £300 million over the three years 2006–07 to 2008–09 and £10 million will be made available this year to help eligible areas develop proposals. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is consulting on the proposals until 30 June 2005 and would welcome views from all stakeholders.

The initiative have been designed to complement the work of the Regional Development Agencies and existing Government initiatives for increasing enterprise

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and entrepreneurship in deprived areas, such as the Phoenix Fund, the Enterprise Areas scheme, the Under-served Markets Project and the recently developed business engagement toolkit for local strategic partnerships.

Housing (Overcrowding)

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of social housing tenants who are (a) white and (b) black or ethnic minority live in overcrowded accommodation. [4367]

Yvette Cooper: It is estimated that in 2003–04 in England the proportion of social housing tenants living in accommodation which failed the bedroom standard" were (a) 3 per cent. for white households and (b) 14 per cent. for black and minority ethnic households. The figures are derived from the Survey of English Housing.

Local Authorities (Expenditure/Indemnities)

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish figures listing the capital expenditure for each local authority in England in the latest year for which figures are available. [4270]

Mr. Woolas: The figures requested have been made available in the Library of the House and relate to the financial year 2003–04, the latest year for which outturn figures are available.

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will revise the Local Authorities (Indemnities for Members and Officers) Order 2004 to provide for circumstances in which a member of a minority party on a council seeks an indemnity from a council which is refused (a) as a result of the votes of the majority party and (b) where a technical breach of the code has been found, but no penalty imposed and no further action taken. [3896]

Mr. Woolas: The Government have no plans to amend the Local Authorities (Indemnities for Members and Officers) Order 2004. These issues were considered before the Order was made.

Local Government Standards Board

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will require the Local Government Standards Board (a) to account separately for the costs of cases that were (i) proven and (ii) dismissed and (b) further to break down those costs by stage of the investigation and adjudication procedure; and if he will make a statement. [3818]

Mr. Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has no plans to require the Standards Board for England to provide information in the form referred to.

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many of the cases disposed of (a) directly by the Standards Board, (b) after an adjudication panel and (c) after a local standards committee hearing (i) were dismissed, (ii) were found proven but no penalty imposed and (iii) were found to be vexatious complaints in each of the last three years. [3820]

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Mr. Woolas: This information requested is in the table.

Cases 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05

Not referred for investigation 1,689 2,144 3,029

Investigations producing finding of no evidence of a breach of the code of conduct 113 154 310

Investigations producing finding that no action is required in respect of the matters under investigation 225 462 947

Total number of determinations made by the adjudication panel for England 30 130 59

Adjudication panel determinations that there was no breach of the code of conduct 1 4 8

Adjudication panel determinations that no further action is required 0 3 7

Total number of determinations made by local standards committees ⁽⁴⁾n/a 39 72

Local standards committees' determinations that there was no evidence of a breach of the code of conduct ⁽⁴⁾n/a 2 4

Local standards committees' determinations that no further action is required ⁽⁴⁾n/a 3 8

⁽⁴⁾Regulations providing for cases to be referred to local standards committees for investigation and determination were not in place in 2002–03.

Cases	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05
Not referred for investigation	1,689	2,144	3,029
Investigations producing finding of no evidence of a breach of the code of conduct	113	154	310
Investigations producing finding that no action is required in respect of the matters under investigation	225	462	947
Total number of determinations made by the adjudication panel for England	30	130	59
Adjudication panel determinations that there was no breach of the code of conduct	1	4	8
Adjudication panel determinations that no further action is required	0	3	7
Total number of determinations made by local standards committees	⁽⁴⁾n/a	39	72
Local standards committees' determinations that there was no evidence of a breach of the code of conduct	⁽⁴⁾n/a	2	4
Local standards committees' determinations that no further action is required	⁽⁴⁾n/a	3	8

The Standards Board does not hold information on the number of apparently 'vexatious' complaints received.

Lyons Review

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Lyons Review will consider the introduction of a capital value system in its assessment of local government finance. [4294]

Mr. Woolas: It is for Sir Michael Lyons to decide what to consider within his terms of reference.

National Spatial Address Infrastructure

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what access political parties will have to the National Spatial Address Infrastructure database; and if he will make a statement. [4281]

Mr. Woolas: The proposed specification and plans to deliver the National Spatial Address Infrastructure are set out in the outline prospectus published by The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on 26 May 2005.

The outline prospectus sets out a governance process that will encourage participation at a number of levels.

The Government are seeking comments from interested parties on a range of issues set out in the outline prospectus, by the end of June 2005. These issues include an outline of supply arrangements for the National Spatial Address Infrastructure and it would be inappropriate to comment on specific access issues at this stage.

Pensions

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when the Government intends to revoke the local government pension scheme (amendment) (No. 2) regulations 2004. [4302]

Mr. Woolas: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister is considering responses received to the recently concluded statutory consultation exercise on draft regulations which have the effect of revoking the local government pension scheme (amendment) (No 2) regulations 2004. A decision will be issued in due course.

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Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the current asset value of the Local Government Pension Scheme is (a) in England and (b) across the United Kingdom. [4303]

Mr. Woolas: The actuarial valuation of the local government pension scheme in England and Wales as at 31 March 2004 shows the asset value for funds in England to be £80.7 billion and £4.8 billion for funds in Wales. No comparable figure is available for the remainder of the UK.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of the local government pension scheme's liabilities are funded. [4304]

Mr. Woolas: The actuarial valuation exercise for the local government pension scheme in England and Wales, as at 31 March 2004, showed that the 89 separate funds which make up the scheme had assets covering 73 per cent. of their liabilities, as assessed by the independent actuaries. The actuaries have set new employers' contribution rates, effective from 1 April 2005, in each of these funds to secure their ongoing solvency.

Performance Targets

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans the Government have to reduce the number of performance targets on local authorities. [4307]

Mr. Woolas: In March this year the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published 'Securing better outcomes: developing a new performance framework' as part of our work on a 10 year strategy for local government. We highlighted the need to find a better balance between national and local targets for local government and its partners and to reduce the number of targets not directly related to PSAs or national standards. Over the coming months we will be considering how to achieve these aims.

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