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19 Dec 2005 : Column 2573W—continued
Local Government
Greg Clark: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what statistical measures the Government uses to compare the performance of different levels of regional and local government. [38575]
Mr. Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister sets a number of Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs) which may be used to compare the performance of local authorities across the range of their activities. Comparative data can be found at: www.bvpi.gov.uk
Mr. Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what responses on the local government finance consultation he has received from (a) Ribble Valley borough council and (b) Lancashire county council; and when the responses were received. [35469]
Mr. Woolas: Lancashire county council responded on 10 October to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's public consultation on formula grant distribution. In addition, I met Lancashire county council on 5 October. No response was received from Ribble Valley boroughcouncil. Consultation on the local government settlement for 2006–07 runs from 5 December 2005 to 11 January 2006.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the likely impact of changes in the local government formula grant on public services delivered by (a) Ribble Valley borough council and (b) Lancashire county council. [35470]
Mr. Woolas: Consultation on the local government settlement for 2006–07 runs from 5 December 2005 to 11 January 2006. The provision of local services is a matter for Ribble Valley borough council and Lancashire county council themselves, bearing in mind their statutory responsibilities.
Opinion Research/Public Relations
Mr. Weir: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the value was of (a) public opinion research and (b) public relations contracts awarded by his Department in 2004–05 in (i) each (A) nation and (B) region of the UK and (ii) London. [35957]
Jim Fitzpatrick:
In the financial year 2004–05 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister undertook no public opinion research and awarded no public relations contracts.
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Pathfinder Areas
Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 7 November 2005, Official Report, column 191W, on pathfinder areas, if he will list the companies responsible for the constructions listed in (a) Manchester, Salford, (b) Birmingham, Sandwell and (c) Newcastle, Gateshead. [36586]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 12 December 2005]: The following table shows the companies responsible for the construction/conversion of homes in the pathfinder areas of Birmingham Sandwell, Manchester Salford and Newcastle Gateshead.
Playgrounds
Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many local authority-owned playgrounds there were in each local authority in England in (a) 1997, (b) 2001 and (c) 2005. [37746]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Population Projections
Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whose population projections are used by the Registrar General in the new calculations for local government formula grant funding. [36624]
Mr. Woolas: The population projections used by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in the 2006–07 and 2007–08 Local Government Finance Settlements are the 2003-based sub-national population projections for England produced by the Office for National Statistics.
Private Members' Bills
Mr. Amess:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list those Private Members' Bills introduced (a) under Standing Order No. 14(6), (b) Standing
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Order No. 23 and (c) Standing Order No. 57 which were (i) supported and (ii) opposed by his Department in each Session since 1997–98. [36218]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was formed on 29 May 2002.
The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. (The ODPM's response to Private Members' Bills is normally set out by Ministers during the Second Reading debate.)
Recyclable Housebuilding Materials
Andrew Selous: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to promote recyclable house-building materials. [37708]
Yvette Cooper: The Government supported the passage of the Sustainable and Secure Buildings Bill-now the Sustainable and Secure Buildings Act (2004). Among other things, the Act gives powers to make regulations concerning the use of recycled materials or the re-use of materials. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently investigating ways in which these new powers should be used. The Government are also now consulting on a code for sustainable homes, that includes sustainable materials.
Revenue Transfers
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was transferred from (a) housing revenue accounts and (b) right to buy revenues of all local authorities in each of the last three years; and for what purposes it was transferred in each case. [10271]
Yvette Cooper: The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) system is redistributive, and is supported by the Exchequer. The Exchequer adds to the surpluses collected from some authorities in order to subsidise those who would otherwise make a deficit. The intention is that all authorities should be able to offer a similar standard of service while charging affordable rents.
The figures for the last three years are shown in the following table:
Prior to 2004–05, authorities had to set aside 75 per cent. of the net capital receipts from right to buy sales to repay debt (if they had debt). Less debt meant less debt charges for Government to subsidise, allowing the Government to support more new investment where the need was greatest.
From April 2004 set-aside was abolished. All authorities were required to pay 75 per cent. of their net capital receipts from right to buy to the Government so that it could be used fund new investment. Receipts from debt-free authorities are used to support Sustainable Communities programmes including the construction of
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new affordable housing and the improvement of existing housing. Receipts from authorities with debt are not hypothecated to any particular purpose.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) collects data on total pooled receipts and total amounts set aside by housing authorities. These figures include the amounts arising from right to buy sales alongside amounts relating to other housing capital receipts, but the amounts relating to right to buy sales are not separately identified. The available data is as follows:
| Financial year | Total set-aside | Total pooled |
|---|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 1.9 | n/a |
| 2003–04 | (118)— | n/a |
| 2004–05 | n/a | 1.7 |
(118)ODPM did not collect data on set-aside for 2003–04 because, with the abolition of set-aside, there was no longer a need to collect audited set-aside data.
Government housing capital investment totalled £4.5billion in 2004–05.
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