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30 Nov 2005 : Column 583W—continued
Local Government
Mr. Bone: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what would be the length of the period of consultation in regard to changes to the structure of local government in England. [31589]
Mr. Woolas:
In undertaking any consultation on local government structures, the Government would have regard to its code of practice on consultation which
30 Nov 2005 : Column 584W
provides, but for exceptional cases, for a minimum period of 12 weeks. Implementation of any changes would require legislation.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment the Government have made of the (a) transitional and (b) set-up costs of introducing unitary local government. [31894]
Mr. Woolas: Other than in the case of the local government restructuring proposed in the context of referendums on regional assemblies, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not made any assessment of the transitional and set up costs of introducing unitary local government.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to use real data rather than modelling to assess the day visitor indicator element of the formula spending share for local authorities; and if he will make a statement. [24041]
Mr. Woolas: Ministers are currently considering the option to update the day visitor indicator for use in the 2006–07 formula spending shares taking into account the representations received during the recent formula grant distribution consultation.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the organisations that have seconded staff to the Lyons Inquiry into local government finance. [31783]
Mr. Woolas: The parent organisations of the staff of the Lyons Inquiry comprise the following:
The Inquiry also has an adviser from Shropshire county council, and I understand that it is currently seeking to recruit additional expertise from local government.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many written representations the Lyons inquiry into local government finance has received. [31784]
Mr. Woolas: I understand that the Lyons inquiry has received over 400 written representations.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the likely costs to local authorities in England of council tax revaluation. [31827]
Mr. Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has made no estimate of the likely costs of council tax revaluation to local authorities in England.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many households in London are in each council tax band. [31829]
Mr. Woolas:
The number of dwellings in each council tax band in London, as at 31 March 2005, were:
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| Band | Dwellings (Thousand) |
|---|---|
| A | 108 |
| B | 432 |
| C | 853 |
| D | 812 |
| E | 490 |
| F | 245 |
| G | 199 |
| H | 55 |
| Total | 3,194 |
Source:
The data are supplied by the Valuation Office Agency.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the (a) Government and (b) Valuation Office Agency conducted research or analysis on the (i) possible distribution and (ii) number of gainers and losers from the council tax revaluation in England prior to the public announcement of its postponement. [31833]
Mr. Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 14 November 2005, Official Report, column 1030W.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list items of expenditure that the valuation tribunal service has incurred on council tax revaluation in (a) England and (b) Wales. [31836]
Mr. Woolas: The valuation tribunal service has not incurred any expenditure on council tax revaluation in England. The remit of the valuation tribunal service does not extend to Wales.
Local Government Pension Scheme
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will restore the entitlement to the first 12 months pension scheme membership to local government manual workers who began employment before 1991. [31658]
Mr. Woolas: There are no plans to amend the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations in relation to manual workers whose employment started before the 12 months qualifying condition for joining the scheme was removed. It is open to scheme members to purchase added years membership where appropriate.
Mr. Mudie: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average percentage contribution by local authority employees to the Local Government Pension Scheme was in each of the last five years; and what the total employee contributions were in each year. [32459]
Mr. Woolas: The employee contribution rate is set by the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 1997. Over the past five years, the rate has been fixed at 6 per cent., with a 5 per cent. contribution rate for those members classed as manual workers prior to March 1998 who can demonstrate continuous membership.
Further information about the total percentage of employee contributions paid into the scheme in each year since 1995–96 can be found at:
Policies (Financial Report)
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 31 October 2005, Official Report, column 764W, on policies (financial report), if he will place in the Library copies of the costings carried out on the two documents to which the answer refers. [27104]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to HM Treasury's website:
Public Service Agreements
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what assessment he has made of the attainability of 2004 public service agreement target number 7; [29890]
(2) what method he will use to measure performance against 2004 public service agreement target number 8, with particular reference to deprived areas; [29937]
(3) what method and which individual indicators he will use to measure overall performance against 2004 public service agreement targets 5 and 6. [29938]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The performance indicators the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister uses to measure progress against all its public service agreement targets are set out in technical notes, which were published at the beginning of 2005. These are available at http://www.odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1122982.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister publishes an assessment of progress against these performance indicators in its Annual Report and Autumn Performance reports. The latest assessment published was in the Annual Report for 2004–05 (cmd 6526). The next assessment will be given in the Autumn Performance Report for 2005, due to be published in December 2005.
Smoke Alarms
Paul Rowen: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will issue guidance to fire services on the need for smoke alarms provided to deaf and hard of hearing people to meet the British Standard (BS 5446–3.2005). [31920]
Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning) on 14 November 2005, Official Report, column 1046W.
Valuation Office Agency
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total cost is of the contract and associated liabilities between the Valuation Office Agency and Cole Layer Trumble. [30280]
Mr. Woolas:
Cole Layer Trumble currently assist the Valuation Office Agency with computer modelling and statistical analysis of the AVM. The total spend with Cole Layer Trumble from July 2004 until end October 2005 is £1,868,780. It is estimated any associated liabilities will not exceed £200,000.
30 Nov 2005 : Column 587W
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much the Valuation Office Agency spent on digital cameras and related electronic equipment in the last five years for which figures are available; and how many cameras were purchased in each year. [30695]
Mr. Woolas: This equipment is used across the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) business. In respect of residential property, it is used for external photographs to help valuation officers arrive at fair and accurate valuations. On very rare occasions, for example where a property is in poor condition and this is not obvious from an external photograph alone, the occupier's permission is sought for internal photographs to be taken.
The Valuation Office Agency has spent £438,749.40 (excluding VAT) on digital camera equipment in the last five years, detailed as follows.
Number purchased | Cost (excluding VAT) (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 150 | 30,425.90 |
| 2002–03 | 656 | 202,523.50 |
| 2003–04 | (41)— | (41)— |
| 2004–05 | 1,270 | 196,850.00 |
| 2005–06 | 50 | 8,950.00 |
(41)None.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the committees and working groups within the Valuation Office Agency that have been involved in the council tax revaluation in (a) Wales and (b) England. [30698]
Mr. Woolas: In respect of both England and Wales a large number of committee meetings and working groups were naturally held in the course of business in preparation for the revaluations.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what arrangements are in place for compensating a property owner if Valuation Office Agency inspectors accidentally damage property. [30700]
Mr. Woolas: The Agency would consider a claim for compensation for any direct costs incurred.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what account the Valuation Office Agency takes of the presence of human or animal remains in making a valuation of a domestic property. [30838]
Mr. Woolas: The proximity of, for example, burial ground might affect value, as might any other feature in the locality.
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