| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
9 Jan 2006 : Column 251W—continued
Departmental Property
Angus Robertson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was paid by his Department in rates to each local authority in the UK in 2004–05; and how much was paid in (a) each (i) nation and (ii) region of the UK and (b) London in that year. [35993]
Mr. Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister paid a total of £7,589,600 in rates for its properties in 2004–05. All the properties are in England and the amount of rates paid to each local authority was as follows:
The amount of rates paid in respect of regions of the UK was as follows:
| Region | Amount (£) |
|---|---|
| London | 5,839,992 |
| Eastern | 84,674 |
| North West | 14,719 |
| West Midlands | 477,432 |
| South West | 1,172,783 |
| Total | 7,589,600 |
9 Jan 2006 : Column 252W
Of the total amount of £7,589,600 paid by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) to local authorities, £1,614,185 was recovered from other Government occupiers. ODPM also paid £224,565 in respect of rates to other Government Departments whose property they occupied.
This answer does not include buildings occupied by Government Offices, which carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.
Departmental Secondees
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many secondees there have been to his Office from consultancy firms, including the Big Four accountancy firms, in each of the last three years; and what areas of the Department they have worked in. [37355]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has had one secondee from a consultancy firm in each of the last three years: Details are as follows:
| Number | Area | |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 1 | Local Government |
| 2004 | 1 | Local Government |
| 2005 | 1 | Corporate Strategy |
Departmental Staff
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many and what proportion of each civil service grade in his Department is located in each (a) region and (b) nation of the UK; what the average salary is for each grade; and if he will make a statement. [35921]
9 Jan 2006 : Column 253W
Jim Fitzpatrick: My hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office will write to the hon. Member with details for the civil service of the percentage of staff in post by region and grade responsibility and the median salary of staff in post by region and grade responsibility as at 1 April 2004. Copies of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many civil servants in his Department worked from home for at least one day a week in the last year for which figures are available. [40293]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) does not collect such data. Staff in ODPM may work at home subject to the agreement of their line manager and the business needs of ODPM. In making such arrangements full account is given to the rights of staff with children under the age of six under the Employment Act 2002 to request a flexible working pattern. ODPM supports such arrangements which assist staff maintain a satisfactory work/life balance, subject to there being a business justification for the arrangement.
Design for Manufacture
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his estimate is of the final sale price of the £60,000 homes being constructed as part of the Design for Manufacture competition. [33495]
Yvette Cooper: The Design for Manufacture competition is being run by English Partnerships on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. It is anticipated that there will be mixed tenure on each site, with some homes being available for affordable rent, some under shared equity and some for private sale.
The aim of the competition is to demonstrate how to build cost-effectively across a range of housing types without sacrificing quality. The sites are in public sector ownership. This also allows some of the competition homes to become part of our developing low cost home ownership initiatives. We anticipate that the shared equity homes will be made available at a price equivalent to the cost of construction, plus a contribution to the overall development charge for the installation and connection of services and infrastructure. Final details will be known later this year once the homes are built on site and details finalised.
Designated Growth Areas
Anne Main: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 8 December 2005, Official Report, columns 1501–02W, on designated growth areas, if he will list the providers of private funding; how much funding has been committed by each; what opportunities for private sector funding were identified by his Department in each of the growth areas; and what his Department's estimate is of the private funding that will be made available within each designated growth area by 2016. [37947]
Yvette Cooper:
The answer given on 8 December 2005, Official Report, columns 1501–02W, referred to the opportunities that the designated growth areas will present to private sector investors. This includes
9 Jan 2006 : Column 254W
investment by the privately owned utility companies in water, waste water and electricity supply infrastructure and investment by housing developers who will be expected to contribute to infrastructure requirements through Section 106 contributions.
A specific example of private sector investment in one particular growth location was also given. In Milton Keynes, delivery partners have focused on identifying, prioritising and sourcing investment for growth related infrastructure—based on their individual circumstances and infrastructure priorities—using a mix of public and private sector funding. The local delivery vehicle has been negotiating a standard charge of over £18,000 per house from private developers in the east and west expansion flanks. This will generate approximately £300 million of funding to complement circa £900 million of funding from public sources in support of infrastructure to facilitate construction of 15,000 houses to 2016. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is encouraging other growth locations to follow similar principles in securing local agreement on priorities and funding their growth location business plans.
There will of course also be direct private sector investment in new opportunities created by the growth strategies. For example in Corby, an important growth location within the Milton Keynes/South Midlands growth area, investment from private sector partners includes: major town centre retail development by Land Securities at Willow Place (Phase 1 of which is worth around £35 million); mixed use town centre and light industrial development by Quadrant Developments at Cockerell Road (which is worth around £35 million) and office, industrial and commercial development by Wilson Bowden at Phoenix Parkway (which is worth around £30 million). This is in addition to the major public sector investment (around £25 million) that has been earmarked for Corby's Parkland Gateway scheme—of which £9 million is Growth Areas Funding.
A full list of (a) all of the providers of private funding and the amount of funding committed by each and (b) the opportunities for private sector funding in each of the growth areas (covering more than 15 separate locations) is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Domestic Microgeneration Devices
Greg Clark: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the average cost to (a) the applicant and (b) the planning authority of applying for planning permission to install domestic microgeneration devices. [40259]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not carried out any estimates in this context. As I informed the House on 11 November, we envisage consulting in 2006 on possible amendments to the General Permitted Development Order, including provisions that would make it easier for householders to install microgeneration equipment.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |