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21 Jul 2005 : Column 2091W—continued
Firelink Project
Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will publish the representations he has received on the Firelink Project. [14069]
Jim Fitzpatrick:
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not think that it would be appropriate to disclose individual correspondence including that from private parties. The Government are committed to run a fair and open competition for Firelink in accordance with EU/UK Public Procurement Regulations. The decision as to which company will be awarded the contract will be made in accordance with the award criteria. Any representations from outside this process will be disregarded.
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Gore Basin Planning Appeal
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister why the planning inspectorate extended for an unspecified period the deadline for submission by the appellant of an environmental impact assessment in respect of planning appeal P2114/c/05/2001426 (Gore Basin, Newport, IW); whether the appeal on ground is deemed to have lapsed owing to the non-submission of an environmental impact assessment; and when a hearing of the appeal is likely to take place. [13758]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 20 July 2005]: The appellant has until 12 September to submit an environmental statement. If the statement is not submitted by then the appeal on ground will lapse unless the Planning Inspectorate extends the period further. A date for hearing the appeal has been deferred pending receipt of the environmental statement.
Housing
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what role his Department plays in releasing former new town landholdings for the development of social housing. [12965]
Yvette Cooper: The former Commission for New Town landholdings are now owned by English Partnerships, the national regeneration agency whose remit includes the acquisition and disposal of land for sustainable development. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has overall responsibility for housing policy within Government and has implemented a number of initiatives to assist with land supply and deliver new housing in support of the sustainable communities plan. The use to which English Partnerships' landholdings should be put falls within this context.
However, it is the responsibility of local planning authorities to consider applications for development, which they should do in accordance with their local plan or local development framework.
Local Area Agreements
Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which local authorities have signed local area agreements; and (a) which services and (b) what expenditure are involved in each case. [13895]
Mr. Woolas:
20 pilot local area agreements were signed in March 2005. These local authority areas and the local authorities included within each agreement are
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listed in the table. The anticipated expenditure related to each local area agreement as described in each agreement is also set out in the following table. The figures include funding that is being brought together in the local area to achieve the LAA as well as the funding provided directly by central Government.
The pilot agreements are organised around three service blocks: the Safer and Stronger Communities block; the Healthier Communities and Older People block; and the Children and Young People's block. Future local area agreements will have a fourth block, the Economic Development and Enterprise block.
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Local Government Pensions
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost will be to local authorities of revoking the changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme outlined in the Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2004. [13116]
Mr. Woolas:
My right hon. Friend, the Deputy Prime Minister, within the framework of the Local Government Pension Scheme tri-partite committee, has invited all parties to develop, by the autumn, realistic and costed measures to fully meet actual cost pressures arising from the introduction of the Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2005. The 2005 regulations also allow actuaries to conduct interim valuations to produce fresh assessments of each fund's assets and liabilities to help manage that process. The
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intention is to secure the scheme's solvency and affordability, without any additional resource calls on employers, on Government or on council tax payers.
Management Consultancies
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister which five management consultancies received the highest value of contracts awarded by his Department in each of the last three years; and what the total value was of the contracts awarded to each. [12584]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was formed in May 2002. This information is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Parish Councils (Departmental Documentation)
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) consultation and (b) advisory documents were sent to parish councils by his Department in each of the last five years. [13961]
Mr. Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister sends each year a number of consultation and advisory documents to local authorities including parish councils. Details of these are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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