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5 Dec 2005 : Column 956W—continued
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Civil Service Relocation (Scotland)
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many departmental civil service jobs have been relocated to Scotland in each year since 2001. [32376]
Jim Fitzpatrick [holding answer 28 November 2005): The Office of Deputy Prime Minister only began monitoring relocation away from its London Headquarters in September 2003. In this time, there has been no reported relocation of departmental civil service jobs to Scotland.
Council Tax
Mrs. Moon: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate the Valuation Office Agency has made of the value of a sea view from a coastal property for council tax purposes. [34142]
David Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much council tax must be paid by owners of dwellings that are empty after a year; and who sets that level. [34281]
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Mr. Woolas: The council tax discount can be set on second homes at any point between 50 per cent. and 10 per cent. and on long-term empty homes at any pointbetween 50 per cent. and zero. Second homes are homes which are furnished and no-one's main residence, while long-term empty homes are homes which are substantially unfurnished and in general have been unoccupied for at least six months (a substantially unfurnished unoccupied home is generally exempt from council tax for up to six months).
Local billing authorities are responsible for setting the council tax discount on second and long-term empty homes.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the council tax is for each band in (a) each London borough and (b) each local authority in Essex; and what it was in each of the last three years. [34318]
Mr. Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member on 11 July 2005, Official Report, column 795W.
Departmental Expenditure
Martin Horwood: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much his Office and its agencies have spent on (a) the design and production of new logos and (b) employing external (i) public relations and (ii) graphic design agencies in each year since 2000, broken down by project. [33202]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Finance
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the real terms percentage increase in allocated resources for his Department (a) was for the period 1997–98 to 2004–05 and (b) is estimated to be between 2005–06 and 2007–08 (i) for each period and (ii) for each year. [31034]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was established following the Machinery of Government changes on 29 May 2002. The following table sets out in real terms the percentage increase in expenditure from 2002–03 to 2004–05, the increase in allocated resources between 2005–06 and 2007–08 and the increases for each of those years.
The figures cover total resource and capital spending on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's main programmes and on local government.
| Period | Increase in expenditure/allocation(19) |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 to 2004–05 | 28 |
| 2005–06 to 2007–08 | 15 |
| 2003–04 | (20)18 |
| 2004–05 | 9 |
| 2005–06 | 10 |
| 2005–07 | 6 |
| 2007–08 | 8 |
(19)2005–06 onwards.
(20)This increase was due in part to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister taking on full responsibility for the Supporting People programme of some £1.8 billion.
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Departmental Staff
Dr. Cable: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to relocate staff in his Department and related agencies into London and the South East. [31752]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has a general presumption against locating in London and the South East. However, as an exception to this, ODPM Central will on current planning assumptions relocate another nine posts to its existing Hastings office. A further four posts are expected to be relocated to the Government Office for London and two posts to the Government Office for the South East in order to undertake work closer to the communities involved. In addition, so as to make best use of their existing estate, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's non-departmental public bodies have plans to relocate another 33 posts within London and the South East.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many staff in his Department have been relocated into London and the South East in each of the last five years for which records are available. [31753]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of Deputy Prime Minister only began monitoring relocation away from its London Headquarters in September 2003. In this time, ODPM Central has relocated three posts to its existing Hastings office, on the grounds of Hastings' level of deprivation and regeneration areas status.
In line with the Office of Deputy Prime Minister's policies for improving regional performance, the majority of our moves to date have been to the Government Offices. This has allowed us to make use of existing ODPM estate and greatly reduce the costs of relocation. Where posts have been dispersed around all the regions in order to undertake work closer to the communities involved; some have moved to the Government Offices for London and the South East. Such dispersal accounts for the seven posts already relocated to the Government Office for London and five posts to the Government Office for the South East.
The relocation of the above posts is an exception to the Office of Deputy Prime Minister's presumption against locating in London and the South East.
Departmental Tendering Policy
Martin Horwood: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his policy is on including (a) ethical and (b) environmental factors in tenders for services. [33337]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister takes its responsibilities on environmental and ethical issues very seriously and the documentation it sends out with its invitations to tender make it known that the ODPM requires all of its potential suppliers to comply with key environmental and ethical issues and that these will in conjunction with other criteria be used in evaluating their tender response.
Deprivation (Tamworth)
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what funding streams are available to tackle areas of deprivation in Tamworth. [33810]
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Mr. Woolas: Tamworth was in receipt of Single Regeneration Budget (up to 2005) to help address deprivation in the Glascote area of the town, the one super output area in Tamworth that is among England's 10 per cent. most deprived.
The Learning and Skills Council, Sure Start and Test-Bed Learning Communities all offer funding streams (via the Department for Education and Skills) that contribute to tackling deprivation in Tamworth. Staffordshire Learning and Skills Council (in partnership with others) is currently supporting the development of a new vocational skills centre in Glascote. This will help to re-engage local people.
Transitional ERDF Objective 2, ESF Objective 3 and aspects of Home Office funding streams also contribute to tackling deprivation in Tamworth.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what programmes the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund has funded in Tamworth. [33811]
Mr. Woolas: Tamworth is not in receipt of Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF). Eligibility for NRF is determined by the Indices of Deprivation.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Atkinson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of spending by (a) Northumberland county council, (b) Tynedale district council and (c) Castle Morpeth borough council has been financedfrom council tax in each year since 16 January 1996. [34023]
Mr. Woolas: The percentage of Revenue Expenditure by Northumberland county council, Tynedale district council and Castle Morpeth borough council that has been financed from council tax in each financial year since 1996–97 is tabled as follows.
The data are as reported by local authorities and are taken from Revenue Summary (RS) returns for 1996–97 to 2003–04, and Revenue Account budget (RA) returns for 2004–05 and 2005–06.
The definition of council expenditure used here is that expenditure funded from Aggregate External Finance (AEF), council tax and authorities' reserves.
Comparisons across years may not be valid due to changes in the method of reporting the information. In particular, the outturn data for 1996–97 to 2002–03 have been calculated on a non-FRS (Financial Reporting Standard) 17 basis while the outturn data for 2003–04 has been calculated on an FRS 17 basis. The
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budget data for 2004–05 and 2005–06 are a mix of FRS 17 and non-FRS 17. This is because for their 2004–05 and 2005–06 budget forms local authorities, after consultation, were given the option to complete their forms either on a non-FRS 17 basis or on an FRS 17 basis. Hence, figures for different years may not be directly comparable.
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of revenue spending by (a) Northamptonshire county council, (b) Kettering borough council and (c) Daventry district council has been financed from the council tax in each year since 1 January 1996. [34102]
Mr. Woolas: The percentage of Revenue Expenditure by Northamptonshire county council, Kettering borough council and Daventry district council that has been financed from council tax in each financial year since 1996–97 is in the following table.
The data are as reported by local authorities and are taken from Revenue Summary (RS) returns for 1996–97 to 2003–04, and Revenue Account budget (RA) returns for 2004–05 and 2005–06.
The definition of council expenditure used here is that expenditure funded from Aggregate External Finance (AEF), council tax and authorities' reserves.
Comparisons across years may not be valid due to changes in the method of reporting the information. In particular, the outturn data for 1996–97 to 2002–03 have been calculated on a non-FRS (Financial Reporting Standard) 17 basis whilst the outturn data for 2003–04 has been calculated on an FRS 17 basis. The budget data for 2004–05 and 2005–06 are a mix of FRS 17 and non-FRS 17. This is because for their 2004–05 and 2005–06 budget forms local authorities, after consultation, were given the option to complete their forms either on a non-FRS 17 basis or on an FRS 17 basis. Hence, figures for different years may not be directly comparable.
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