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24 Jan 2006 : Column 2060W—continued
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Council Tax
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether (a) local authorities and (b) central government receives the additional revenue from increasing a council tax collection rate; and whether (i) local authorities and (ii) central government lose revenue from a low council tax collection rate. [43033]
Mr. Woolas: The grant distribution formula for local authorities does not take account of council tax collection rates. A collection rate for council tax in excess of, or below, the billing authority's budgeted level will, other things being equal, mean increased or reduced revenue for a billing authority and its precepting authorities.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether local authorities retain additional income received from reducing or removing the council tax discount on empty property; and how much additional revenue has been raised for central government from reductions in the discounts in each year since the powers to reduce the discounts were introduced. [43030]
Mr. Woolas: Local authorities do not retain the additional income generated from reducing or removing the council tax discount on long term empty properties. It is estimated that the additional amounts of council tax generated in 2004–05, the first year that billing authorities had powers to reduce or remove the discount, was £49 million. Figures for 2005–06 are not yet available.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recommendations for changes to council tax regulations noted in the Valuation Office Agency Local Authorities Liaison Group meeting minutes for 27 September 2004 were submitted to his Department by the Valuation Office Agency. [42597]
Mr. Woolas: The proposals for changes to council tax regulations referred to in the minutes of the Valuation Office Agency Local Authorities Liaison Group meeting minutes for 27 September 2004 relate to regulation 3 of the Council Tax (Chargeable Dwellings) Order, SI 1992/549. The Government have no current plans to amend this regulation.
Councillors (Pensions/Income)
Mrs. Spelman:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 14 December 2005, Official Report, column 1964–5W, on councillors (pensions/income), if he will list the regulations or circulars that
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have changed the rules relating to allowances and pensions since May 1997 and the dates of their commencement. [42599]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is as follows.
The Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (Amendment) Regulations 1998/556 Came into force: 1 April 1998
The Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1998/557 Came into force: 1 April 1998
The Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (Amendment) Regulations 1999/1086 Came into force: 30 April 1999
The Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1999/1087 Came into force: 30 April 1999
The Local Government Act 2000 Came into force: 28 July 2001 The Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2001/1280 Came into force: 4 May 2001
The Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003/1021 Came into force: 1 May 2003
The Local Government Pension Scheme and Discretionary Compensation (Local Authority Members in England) Regulations 2003/1022 Came into force: 1 May 2003
The Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2003/1692 Came into force: 31 July 2003
The Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2004/573 Came into force: 1 April 2004, Changes to decision, notification and dispute resolution procedures 1 June 2004.
The Local Government Pension Scheme (Civil Partnership) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2005/3069 Came into force: 5 December 2005.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 14 December 2005, Official Report, columns 1964–65W, on councillors (pensions/income), what estimate he has made of the equivalent average monetary value of a councillor's pension after (a) four years, (b) eight years, (c) 12 years and (d) 16 years participation in the Local Government Pension Scheme. [42601]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. It is a matter for individual local authorities to consider.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Weir: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was spent on advertising by (a) his Department and previous Departments with his Department's responsibilities, (b) each (i) non-departmental public body and (ii) Executive agency for which his Department is responsible and (c) independent statutory bodies, organisations and bodies financially sponsored by his Department in each year since May 1997. [39110]
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Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was formed in May 2002 and information prior to this date is not available. Expenditure shown as follows relates to advertising, marketing and publications and relates only to ODPM Central. A breakdown of expenditure for each agency, non departmental body and statutory body sponsored by the ODPM could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | (34)16,496,127 |
| 2003–04 | 7,836,792 |
| 2004–05 | 8,551,328 |
| 2005–06 to date | 8,312,919 |
(34) This figure includes expenditure from both ODPM and the Department for Transport (DfT) and which could not separately be identified.
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much his Department spent on bottled water in 2004–05. [40338]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its Agencies spent a total of £62,476.11 on bottled water in 2004–05.
This sum does not include bottled water supplied to delegates attending the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, or provided for students at the Fire Service College. The sum also does not include for any bottled water provided at 1 High street, Glossop, Ashdown House, Hastings and Temple Quay House, Bristol where this information is not recorded. Bottled water used in 26 Whitehall has been included within the answer provided by the Cabinet Office [ref ], who manage the building.
Bottled water at three sites is dispensed from water coolers. Only the dispenser at Temple Quay House, Bristol is held on a rental agreement, the cost of which in 2004–05 was £860.53. This cost is included in the above total.
The figure provided is exclusive of Value Added Tax.
This answer does not include buildings occupied by Government Offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.
Departmental Vehicles
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many cars are (a) owned and (b) leased by his Department; what models the cars are; what type of petrol each model requires; and what the fuel efficiency is of each model. [41346]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its Agencies own and lease the following cars:
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The fuel efficiency of these cars has been provided in the metric urban (cold), metric extra urban and metric combined cycles; this data is for the vehicles when new.
Where possible the data has been sourced via the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) on-line database. The data for the Citroen Synergie is not available on the VCA site and this has had to be obtained from another commercial source. Reliable data for the Ford Mondeo cannot be located.
For vehicles provided to Government Departments by the Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport has asked the Chief Executive of the GCDA to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
This answer does not include cars used by Government Offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments,
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