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12 Oct 2005 : Column 487W—continued
Tax-free Limit
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what stage his application to the European Commission to increase the tax-free limit on goods brought into the UK from outside the European Union has reached. [17022]
Dawn Primarolo: The European Commission has expressed support in principle for the Government's proposal that the limit on goods (excluding wine, spirits, tobacco and perfume) brought into the EU without incurring tax or duty on arrival should be raised. We hope the Commission will soon come forward with draft legislation addressing our request and reducing unnecessary restrictions on travellers bringing goods into the EU for their own use.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Building Regulations
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the timetable for amending Part G of building regulations for regulating the temperature of bathing water in residential homes; and if he will make a statement. [4310]
Yvette Cooper: The review of Part G of the Building Regulations is in progress and it is expected that a consultation document will be published next year.
Methods for regulating the temperature of bathing water in residential care homes are already the subject of the Care Homes Regulations 2001.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what changes the Government have made to building regulations in England since 1997; and if he will publish the regulatory impact assessments accompanying those changes to the regulations. [17395]
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Yvette Cooper: Consolidated building regulations were issued in 2000 as the Building Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/2531). All earlier Building Regulations were revoked in their entirety. Since that time the following amendments have been made to these Regulations:
Prior to the issue of the Building Regulations 2000, the principal regulations were the Building Regulations 1991. Amendments to them since 1997 were as follows:
Regulatory Impact Assessments for those changes where such assessments were required were approved in line with guidance current at the time and are all available in the building regulations section of the ODPM website:
Many of the changes to the Regulations were of a technical or legal nature, not requiring such assessments.
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Green Belt
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the locations of each development on green belt land for which he or his predecessors have (a) refused and (b) given planning permission since 1 May 1997. [15239]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 11 October 2005 (ref. 4289), Official Report, c. 440W.
Gypsies and Travellers
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the (a) documents and (b) guidance that the Department and its predecessors has published relating to Gypsies and Travellers since 1997. [17400]
Yvette Cooper: The documents and guidance which have been published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its predecessors since 1997 concerning Gypsies and Travellers are summarised as follows:
Gypsy and Traveller Caravan Count figures are published by the Department every six months. The most recently published Count returns includes data collected by local authorities in January 2005.
On the Gypsy Sites Refurbishment Grant (GSRG), bidding guidance and the determinations of winning bids have been published annually since the inception of the grant scheme in 2001, with the successful bids for the last round of funding being announced in July 2005.
Other individual publications which have been produced since 1997 in the Gypsy and Traveller policy area are:
"DETR Research Project—Local Authority Powers for Tackling Unauthorised Camping", published October 1997;
"Guidelines for Residential Caravan Parks for Travellers", published October 1997; "Local Authority Powers for Managing Unauthorised Camping—Research Report", published October 1998;
"The Provision and Condition of Local Authority Gypsy/Traveller Sites in England", report and summary document published October 2002;
"Counting Gypsies and Travellers—A Review of the Gypsy Caravan Count System", published January 2004;
"Government Response to the ODPM Select Committee's Report on Gypsy and Traveller Sites", published January 2005;
Gypsy and Traveller issues are also touched on in other documents produced by the Department, however, these are focused on wider policy areas, such as community cohesion and race equality.
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Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what advice the Government have given to local authorities on the provision of services to residents in unauthorised Traveller sites. [17198]
Yvette Cooper: The joint ODPM/Home Office document, "Guidance on Managing Unauthorised Encampments", provides comprehensive advice to local authorities, the police and other landowners on how such incidents should be dealt with, including the question of providing services to unauthorised campers.
Planning Delivery Grant
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total expenditure was on Planning Delivery Grant in each year since its inception; and what the planned level is for (a) the forthcoming financial year and (b) future financial years for which figures are available. [17224]
Yvette Cooper: The total expenditure on Planning Delivery Grant in each of the years since its inception, and the planned level for which future figures are available, is set out in the table.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 2003–04 | 50 |
| 2004–05 | 130 |
| 2005–06 | 170 |
| 2006–07 | 135 |
| 2007–08 | 120 |
HOME DEPARTMENT
Community Support Officers
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers there are in Southend; what plans there are to change these numbers; and if he will make a statement. [16596]
Hazel Blears: Information provided by Essex police shows that on 30 June 2005 there were 23 community support officers (CSOs) in the H (Southend) Division . I am told that the Essex police has plans for CSO numbers to grow to around 200 by 31 March 2006. The deployment of CSOs to the territorial divisions of the Essex police is a matter for the chief constable (Mr. Roger Baker).
Mr. Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will commission research to assess the effectiveness of community support officers. [16726]
Hazel Blears:
The Home Office research and development section were commissioned to conduct a national evaluation of community support officers in 2004. The report examines the impact community support officers are having in their communities and looks at issues that impact on their effectiveness. An interim report of the evaluation was published in December 2004 and is available on the Home Office website. The final report is due to be published in December 2005.
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