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London Mayor

Mrs. Lait: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he plans to announce the results of his consultation on the powers of the London mayor; and if he will publish the evidence submitted. [56023]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The consultation exercise on proposals for additional powers and responsibilities for the Mayor of London and London Assembly ended on 22 February 2006. Ministers are now considering the responses to consultation and will announce a final package of proposals in due course.

In the consultation document Ministers gave a commitment to publish a summary of the responses to consultation by 22 May 2006.

Mobile Phone Masts

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of the study by the university of Reading and Arup commissioned by his Department into mobile phone masts. [56093]

Jim Fitzpatrick: On 2 March 2006, Official Report, column 33WS, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced the publication of the report by the university of Reading and Arup of their review of the code of best practice on mobile phone network development. Copies of the report have been made
 
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available in the Libraries of the House. Further copies can be downloaded from http://www.odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id=l163923.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much the Department has paid to fund the study by theuniversity of Reading and Arup on mobile phone masts. [56095]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The total cost of the research contract was £92,214 including value added tax. The Welsh Assembly Government contributed £4,000 to meeting the cost of the contract.

Monitoring Officers

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1)for what purpose monitoring officers are employed by local authorities; who monitors their performance; what the selection process is; and what qualifications are required; [55337]

(2) what the process is for employing the monitoring officers referred to in the Local Government Act 2000. [55440]

Mr. Woolas: Section 5 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 provides for every principal authority to designate one of its officers as a monitoring officer. The monitoring officer must report to the authority on any proposal, decision or omission by the authority which has given rise to, or is likely to give rise to, a breach of the law. The monitoring officer also gives advice to councillors about personal or prejudicial interests, conducts investigations into misconduct allegations and presents his or her findings to the local standards committee for its determination. Decisions on the designation, employment and management of monitoring officers are matters for local authorities.

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1)what appeals procedure is available for councillors who disagree with a monitoring officer's interpretation of a personal or prejudicial interest; [55361]

(2) what rights of appeal councillors have against judgments made by monitoring officers; [55443]

(3) what powers monitoring officers have to compel local authorities to take action against councillors. [55444]

Mr. Woolas: Councillors are able to comment on the monitoring officer's findings following his or her investigation of an allegation of misconduct, and also to make representations to the local standards committee which determines misconduct cases referred to them by the monitoring officer. They can also appeal against the local standards committee's determination.

While monitoring officers' roles include giving advice to councillors about personal or prejudicial interests, conducting investigations into misconduct allegations and presenting their findings to the local standards committee for its determination, they have no powers to compel local authorities to take action against councillors. Accordingly, there are no arrangements to appeal against monitoring officers' judgments.
 
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National Interest Mapping Service Agreement

Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the use of mapping products and services that have been wholly or partly funded under the National Interest Mapping Service Agreement in public procurement competitions. [56953]

Mr. Woolas [holding answer 8 March 2006]: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has both customer and shareholder relationships with Ordnance Survey. These are dealt with separately.

The current National Interest Mapping Service Agreement (NIMSA) has supported the provision by Ordnance Survey of a number of services in the national interest. NIMSA contributes to the maintenance of the National Geospatial Database and the provision of other uneconomic activities in the national interest. NIMSA supports the maintenance of databases; it does not support the creation of products nor the dissemination of products derived from the databases.

The services provided by NIMSA are typically available at no cost, not only to Government but also to professionals and the general public. They include formal education, providing information on geographic datasets, and provision of mapping in the event of emergencies.

Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of a potential competitive advantage for Ordnance Survey in the procurement for the Pan-Government Agreement due to funding from the National Interest Mapping Service Agreement. [56954]

Mr. Woolas [holding answer 8 March 2006]: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has both customer and shareholder relationships with Ordnance Survey. These are dealt with separately.

The current NIMSA concerns the maintenance of mapping databases and provision of services which are in the national interest but uneconomic to provide. The current Pan-Government Agreement (PGA) concerns the procurement of products and services on consistent licence terms across central Government.

In all of its procurement activity ODPM seeks to avoid defining business requirements in such a way as to favour particular suppliers. The Pan-Government Agreement procurement is handled no differently. ODPM is committed to treating all potential suppliers fairly and ensuring to the best of its ability, a level playing field.

Official Residences

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister for how many days in 2005 he resided at his official residence in (a) Dorneywood and (b) Admiralty House. [54527]

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Dorneywood is owned and operated by the Dorneywood Trust which is a registered charity, therefore there is no cost to public funds.
 
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Planning (Thames Gateway)

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many local planning authorities in the Thames Gateway have an elected member nominated as the authority's design champion. [54685]

Yvette Cooper: Of the 18 local authorities (including county councils) in the Thames Gateway, information shows that 11 have an elected member as their design champion, two have officer level design champions and one further authority is in the process of appointing a design champion.

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1)how many new dwellings have received planning permission in the five strategic planning locations in the Thames Gateway since July 2003; [54696]

(2) how many new dwellings in the Thames Gateway have received planning consent since February 2003; and how many of these were subject to a design code. [54680]

Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

However, in May 2004 my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister announced a pilot programme on Design Coding to investigate various models and approaches for developing, adopting and implementing Design Codes, and to assess the potential benefits of Design Coding in the British context. Within the Thames Gateway area projects in London Royal Docks (West Silvertown), and Greenwich (Greenwich Millennium Village) have been examined as part of this research.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and CABE are producing guidance this year that will provide more detail on Design Codes; criteria for selecting an approach for particular circumstances; and how to achieve successful Design Codes.

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what obligations regarding quality of design are placed upon (a) developers and (b) the construction industry in relation to (i) new buildings and (ii) urban areas in the Thames Gateway. [54701]

Yvette Cooper: Good design and quality in construction are essential in creating and maintaining quality places where people want to live and work, now and in the future. This applies across the country.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's policy in Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development" (PPS1) sets out general principles and policies for planning, and makes it clear that good design is indivisible from good planning. PPS1 needs to be taken into account by all planning authorities in the preparation of development plans and it may also be material to decisions on individual planning applications.

Obligations are also placed on the construction industry through Building Regulation. These are based on functional requirements and it is therefore open to the industry to achieve these requirements using different design approaches.
 
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In terms of the Thames Gateway specifically, the ODPM has asked the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment to carry out a piece of work, involving a wide range of stakeholders, looking at the identity of the Thames Gateway. This will establish a clear idea about the kind of place the Thames Gateway will be. It can then provide a direction towards which development plans can be orientated, ensuring consistently good design which fits in with and enhances the local surroundings.

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