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DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Affordable Homes

Mr. Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many affordable homes were provided by housing associations in (a) Lancashire and (b) Ribble Valley in each year since 1997. [35730]

Yvette Cooper: The number of affordable homes provided by housing associations in Lancashire and Ribble Valley in each year since 1997, as reported by the Housing Corporation are in the following table. Figures show the number of dwellings provided through the Approved Development Programme, this includes new dwellings built, as well as acquisitions.

	Ribble Valley	Lancashire
1997–98	19	549
1998–99	16	499
1999–2000	15	508
2000–01	34	555
2001–02	16	350
2002–03	0	104
2003–04	0	278
2004–05	8	198

Arm's Length Management

Jim Cousins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he expects to publish the report of the Arm's Length Management Organisation Review Group. [37430]

Yvette Cooper: The Office of The Deputy Prime Minister expects to make the findings from this review group public in the new year.

Buildings (Energy Performance)

Peter Law: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what progress has been made with training arrangements for building professionals to ensure proper support for monitoring and measuring in buildings required by the EU Energy Performance in Buildings Directive (2002/91/EC); whether he expects sufficient skilled building inspectors to be in place when the directive enters into force in January 2006; and if he will make a statement. [35782]

Yvette Cooper: There is a three year derogation period within the directive to apply fully the requirements for energy performance certificates and plant inspection. In
 
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the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Press Notice of 13 September, the Government signalled that it proposed to use this derogation as there will not be sufficient numbers of suitably qualified inspectors in place by January 2006.

We are therefore working with stakeholders to muster a cadre of inspectors to support a phased programme of implementation. The introduction of the home inspection pack in June 2007 and associated training of home inspectors will cover requirements of the directive for the marketed sales of dwellings. We expect to make a further statement on the implementation of the directive in the new year.

Correspondence

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 28 November 2005, Official Report, column 197W, on correspondence, how many letters he wrote in the same time period in (a) 2004 and (b) 2003. [37815]

Jim Fitzpatrick: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has written over 800 letters from May to November in both 2003 and 2004.

Departmental Assets

Anne Main: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many assets were removed from his Department's asset register between 2003–04 and 2004–05. [38123]

Jim Fitzpatrick: This information comes from our accounting system, and it will take time to convert this into a suitable user-friendly format. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister expects this to be completed in January.

Anne Main: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister why his Department did not produce a public copy of its asset register for financial years ending (a) 2003, (b) 2004 and (c) 2005. [38128]

Jim Fitzpatrick: Departmental Asset Registers were published for the first time in 1997, and again in 2001 aspart of the National Asset Register exercise led by HM Treasury. There is no central requirement for Departments to publish an asset register, and given until recently our relatively small asset base, no business reason for us to do so.

Anne Main: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 30 November 2005, Official Report, column 581W, on the asset register, when he expects his Department's asset register for (a) 2003, (b) 2004 and (c) 2005 to be placed in the Library. [38174]

Jim Fitzpatrick: I expect the Register to be made available in the Library of the House before Christmas.

Departmental Policy

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the Department's policy on the use of (a) broadcast, (b) print and (c) internet media analysis. [37776]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), like other Government Departments, analyses coverage in the press and broadcast media as
 
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part of their day-to-day operations. This is an important part of best practice in communications (in both public and private sectors) as it enables us to measure the impact of our communication activities and so helps us manage future activity more effectively.

Our use of media evaluation is covered by the Government Communication Network central guidance on media evaluation (published at http://www.comms.gov.uk/guidance/media/evaluation.htm). ODPM does not commission formal analysis from external contractors but uses in-house resources to produce summaries of media coverage of issues of concern to the Department.

Departmental Reports

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will place in the Library copies of (a) print, (b) broadcast and (c) internet media reports undertaken for his Department since 2002. [37775]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), like other Government Departments, analyses coverage in the press and broadcast media as part of their day-to-day operations. This is an important part of best practice in communications (in both public and private sectors) as it enables us to measure the impact of our communication activities and so helps us manage future activity more effectively.

Our use of media evaluation is covered by the Government Communication Network central guidance on media evaluation (published at http://www.comms.gov.uk/guidance/media/evaluation.htm). ODPM does not commission analysis from external contractors but uses in-house resources to produce summaries of media coverage of issues of concern to us.

Media reports produced by ODPM are internal documents and not in a form which could be published.

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost to his Department was of (a) broadcast, (b) print and (c) internet media analysis in the latest year for which figures are available. [37777]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) does not commission formal analysis from external contractors but uses in-house resources to produce summaries of media coverage of issues of concern to the Department. The cost for this activity is covered by the running costs for the directorate and can not be disaggregated. ODPM does commission national and local press cuttings from the Cabinet Office and from a private supplier and the costs of these are as follows:
Costs (£000—exclusive of VAT)

	2004–05	2005–06(24)
National press cuttings	204.9	110.1
Regional press cuttings	74.6	39.4
Media Monitoring Unit (subscription to Cabinet Office)	49.0	26.5

⁽²⁴⁾1 April to 30 September



 
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Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Department has undertaken research into reporting in the (a) broadcast, (b) print and (c) internet media of the hon. Member for Brent, East since 5 May. [37849]

Jim Fitzpatrick: No such research has been undertaken.

Departmental Travel

Mr. MacNeil: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much has been spent by his Department on taxi travel in the 2005–06 financial year; and what proportion of such travel was undertaken in each nation and region of the United Kingdom, including London. [37468]

Jim Fitzpatrick: From the start of the financial year 2005–06 to 15 December 2005 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister spent £71,735 on taxi travel. Details of location visited are not recorded.

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