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9 Feb 2006 : Column 1428W—continued
Local Government Reorganisation
Tony Baldry: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions officials in his Department have had with chief executives of local authorities on possible future legislation on the reorganisation of local government. [49085]
Mr. Woolas: Officials in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have held meetings with chief executives of local authorities to discuss local authority restructuring on six separate occasions since December 2005.
Parliamentary Questions
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) how many parliamentary questions tabled in the last 12 months for answer by him on a named day (a) were transferred and (b) received a substantive answer (i) on the day named and (ii) after the day named; [49888]
(2) how many ordinary written parliamentary questions tabled for answer by him in the last 12 months have been answered (a) within 14 days, (b) between 14 and 28 days, (c) between 28 days and two months and (d) in excess of two months after the date of tabling; and if he will make a statement. [49905]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Ministers in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) aim to ensure that hon. Members receive a substantive response to their named day question on the named day and to endeavour to answer ordinary written questions within a working week of being tabled. Unfortunately, this is not always possible but ODPM makes every effort to achieve these timescales.
In the period 7 February 2005 to 6 February 2006, 480 named day parliamentary questions were tabled to my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister. Of those, 351 (73 per cent.) received a substantive answer on the day named and 101 (21 per cent.) were answered by ODPM Ministers after the day named. The remaining 28 named day questions (6 per cent.) were transferred to another Department and the ODPM does not hold information on when those questions were answered.
In the same period, 2,986 ordinary written parliamentary questions were tabled to my right hon. Friend. Information on the length of time taken to answer those questions is not available in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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However, of the 2,986 ordinary written questions tabled to my right hon. Friend, 2,284 (76 per cent.) were answered within a working week.
Supermarkets (Planning Permission)
Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent representations the Government have received on planning permission for new supermarkets. [49673]
Yvette Cooper: My right. hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has decided nine planning cases involving supermarkets since 1 January 2005. There is one retail case involving a supermarket currently before my right. hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister for decision. Representations received by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are set out in the decision letter of each case and are made available to the public on written request.
Sustainable Building Task Group
Rosie Cooper: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the members of the Sustainable Building Task Group; and to whom this group is responsible within his Department. [45139]
Yvette Cooper: Following the better building summit in October 2003, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Department of Trade and Industry agreed that a working group should be established which would bring together key representatives from the construction sector, green technology companies, local authorities, the housing corporation and others, to consider how best to improve the sustainability of all aspects of construction and design, including off-site construction and low carbon technologies.
This task group was a short-life group set up to identify specific, cost-effective, improvements in the quality and environmental performance of buildings which industry can deliver in both the short and long term, together with further actions that Government could take to facilitate faster progress.
The Secretaries of State asked Sir John Harman (chair, Environment Agency) and Victor Benjamin (deputy chair, English Partnerships) to co-chair the Sustainable Buildings Task Group, and invited the following to serve on the task group:
The task group presented their recommendations to Government on 17 May 2004.
The Government response was issued on 27 July 2004. The task group was then disbanded.
Sustainable Buildings
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received from private sector developers on his Department's proposed code for sustainable buildings; and if he will make a statement. [49536]
Yvette Cooper: The proposal for introducing the code for sustainable homes went out on consultation on 5 December 2005. This will last until 6 March 2006. A small number of responses have been received so far. All these will be analysed once the consultation period is over.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Antisocial Behaviour Orders
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State forthe Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders were made in Wales in each of the last five years. [48562]
Hazel Blears: The available information is given in the following table.
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been imposed in (a) England and (b) Wales in each year since their introduction. [48720]
Hazel Blears: The available information is given in the following table.
(20) During this period ASBO data were collected on aggregate numbers only by police force area.
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Basic Command Units
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 29 November 2005, Official Report, column 428W, on the basic command unit boundaries, whether the table is based upon (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05 basic command units. [48152]
Hazel Blears: The table relates to those boundaries in use for (b) 2004–05. Basic command unit and ward boundaries are subject to change and in the absence of any current requirement for such data this table has not been updated. Any such updating could only be undertaken at disproportionate cost.
Paragraph two, schedule two of the Police and Justice Bill amends the Police Act 1996 to place basic command units on a statutory footing and mandate co-terminosity with local authority boundaries.
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