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Translink

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps Translink is taking to (a) reduce dependency in its bus fleet on diesel and (b) increase the use of cleaner fuels. [56677]

Mr. Woodward: I am told by Translink that all vehicles in the Translink fleet currently operate on low sulphur diesel. From April 2006, a change in supplier will permit Translink to run a trial using a bio-diesel blend. No further plans are currently in hand but Translink is monitoring other developments including hybrid drive systems and fuel cell technology, but none is currently considered to offer a cost-effective option.

Unmanned Rail Crossings

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much has been spent on (a) the improvement and (b) the maintenance of safety measures at unmanned crossing points on the rail line between Ballymena and Londonderry in each of the last five years. [56165]

Mr. Woodward: Translink has advised that the following amounts have been spent by Northern Ireland Railways on improvements and maintenance at unmanned crossings between Ballymena and Londonderry.
£

	Capital works and improvement measures	Maintenance	Total annual expenditure
2000–01	509	98,400	90,909
2001–02	182,078	91,200	273,278
2002–03	263,774	109,200	372,974
2002–04	311,807	76,200	388,007
2004–05	314,846	74,400	389,246
Total	1,522,414

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Allotments

Mr. Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many new allotments he has agreed to in each local government area in each of the last three years; and how many have closed over the same period. [57169]

Mr. Woolas: Under the Smallholdings and Allotments Act 1908 it is for each local authority to decide on the level of allotments provision in their area. The Government do not collect information centrally on the closure of allotments on an annual basis.

Best Value Performance Data

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the timetable is for the next publication of outturn best value performance data. [56099]

 
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Mr. Woolas: Outturn best value performance data will be published later this month on www.bvpi.gov.uk.

Building Regulations

David Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he plans to publish details of the alterations to Part L of the Building Regulations for England and Wales, set to come into force in April 2006. [54147]

Yvette Cooper: In the press release of 13 September 2005 I announced that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was introducing the changes to Part L of the building regulations two years early in April 2006. The statutory instrument is intended to be laid and the final approved documents will be published in sufficient time to allow this to happen.

Complaints

Mr. Hurd: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what official guidelines apply to the treatment of complaints against senior officers of local authorities. [55015]

Mr. Woolas: The Local Authorities (Standing Orders)(England) Regulations 2001 provide that, where it appears to an authority that an allegation of misconduct by its chief executive, monitoring officer or chief finance officer requires to be investigated, it must appoint a person to investigate the allegation. The regulations provide for that person to undertake various actions in respect of his or her investigation. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not issued any guidance in respect of these regulations.

Comprehensive Performance Assessment Scores

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the Audit Commission's Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) scores were for each council in England in each year since the establishment of CPA. [56096]

Mr. Woolas: This is a matter for the Audit Commission. I will ask the chief executive to write to the hon. Member and ensure the answer is made available in the Library of the House.

Council Tax

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the levels of council tax on (a) 1 May 1997 and (b) 1 May 2006. [56863]

Mr. Woolas: The average Band D council tax in England in May 1997 is included in Table 2.2e of Local Government Financial Statistics England No. 16 2005, a copy of which has been made available in the Library of the House. It is also available at:

http://www.local.odpm.gov.uk/finance/stats/lgfs/2005/lgfs16/h/lgfs16/xlsfiles/lgfs 16–2-2e.xls

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will have received 2006–07 budget returns from all authorities by 17 March and will be publishing this information on 27 March.

Departmental Staff

Dr. Cable: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people were employed by the (a) Office of
 
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the Deputy Prime Minister, (b) Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, (c) Planning Inspectorate and (d) Fire Service College in each region in each of the last 12 months for which information is available; and how many and what percentage of posts were vacant in each month. [51169]

Jim Fitzpatrick: Figures and staff numbers (Full Time Equivalent (FTE) and headcount) are published as Table A in Civil Service Statistics. Civil Service Statistics are available in the Library and at the following address on the Cabinet Office Statistics website: http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/index.asp

Vacancies in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister which are open to applicants outside the civil service in each month since September 2005 are tabled as follows:
Office vacancies of the Deputy Prime Minister

Month/Year	Number of vacancies
September 2005	10
October 2005	0
November 2005	2
December 2005	0
January 2006	0
February 2006	0
March 2006	0

Figures cannot be broken down by region. Comparable figures are not collected and held by the ODPM for the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Planning Inspectorate and Fire Service College.

Digital Radio

Mike Penning: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether discussions with O2 Airwave Ltd have been concluded in respect of the contract for the new nationwide digital radio system for the fire and rescue service. [57143]

Jim Fitzpatrick: On 11 November 2005 it was announced that 62 Airwave was the preferred bidder for the Firelink contract. Discussions are continuing with 62 Airwave with a view to achieving contract signature.

Efficiency Measurement

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the membership of the Local Government Efficiency Measurement Taskforce is; how often the taskforce has met; what conclusions it has reached; when it is due to produce a guidance note; and whether this note will be made public. [54941]

Mr. Woolas: The membership of the Taskforce comprises representatives from the following organisations—Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Audit Commission, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), Department of Culture Media and Sport, Department for Education and Skills, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department of Health, Department for Transport, Department of Work and Pensions, Employers Organisation, Highways Agency, HM Treasury, Improvement and Development Agency, Institute of Public Finance (IPF), the Local Government Association, Office of Government Commerce, Society of
 
9 Mar 2006 : Column 1748W
 
County Treasurers, Society of District Treasurers, Society of London Treasurers and the Society of Metropolitan Treasurers.

The Taskforce has met seven times since February 2005.

Guidance incorporating advice from the group was published in May 2005 on the 2005–06 backward look Annual Efficiency Statement (www.rce.gov.uk/rce/aio/12573), and February 2006 in relation to the 2006–07 forward-look Annual Efficiency Statement (www.rce.gov.uk/rce/aio/16540).

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what research his Department has commissioned pursuant to section 3.12 of the Efficiency Technical Note for Local Government; when this is due to be received; and whether this research will be made publicly available. [54942]

Mr. Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has commissioned a study undertaken by INLOGOV of the university of Birmingham, supported by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). Provisional findings from that study were published last month in the guidance to councils on the 2006–07 forward-look Annual Efficiency Statements (www.rce.gov.uk/rce/aio/16540). The final results to the study will be disseminated through the ODPM's measurement toolkits, to be published in subsequent rounds of guidance on the completion of Annual Efficiency Statements.

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