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17 Mar 2006 : Column 2587W—continued
Planning
Mr. Steen: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many building applications have been refused by local authorities in (a) the South West, (b) the South East, (c) the Midlands, (d) the North West and (e) the North East on the basis of a conflict with sustainability objectives contained in section 19(5)(a) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. [59370]
Yvette Cooper: Statistics on the reasons for local authority decisions on planning applications are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the applications for the development of (a) supermarkets and (b) large stores that (i) he and (ii) his inspector has granted on appeal in each of the last five years. [59095]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 16 March 2006]: The information requested is as follows.
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Religious Iconography
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) churches, (b) synagogues and (c) mosques have applied for planning permission to erect or display religious iconography deemed to be advertising under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 on or around their premises in each of the past five years; and how many of these applications have been successful. [57818]
Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Security Staff
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what percentage of his Department's security staff will be licensed before the Security Industry Authority's licensing deadline of 20 March 2006. [59555]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The percentage of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's security staff who will be licensed before the Security Industry Authority's licensing deadline of 20 March 2006 are as follows:
Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre (QEIICC)—11 per cent. (the remainder will be licensed within 16 weeks)
This answer does not include buildings occupied by the Government Offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.
Stock Transfers
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Government plans to take steps to ensure that local authorities which set up arm's length management organisations to manage their housing stock cannot be legally challenged on the grounds of unfair restrictions on trade should they fail to invite private sector bidders to tender for the management contracts; and if he will make a statement. [59024]
Yvette Cooper: In the light of the recent European Court of Justice Case C-458/03 Parking Brixen GmbH v. Gemeinde Brixen and Stadtwerke Brixen AG (Brixen judgment) it remains our view that if set up within the boundaries set out in ODPM Guidance on ALMOs, ALMOs could be classified as in house" provision andas such exempt from a competitive procurement procedure.
Therefore where the ODPM guidance is followed the contracting of the service should not be legally challenged on the grounds of unfair restrictions on trade should they fail to invite private sector bidders to tender for the management contracts.
Where a local authority and its ALMO are considering any future developments or extensions to the role of ALMOs they will have to have regard to the Brixen judgment.
Store Size
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many stores with a floor area of (a) more than 3,000 square feet and (b) less than 3,000 square feet operate in (i) England and Wales and (ii) Scotland. [58111]
Yvette Cooper: The ODPM produces estimates of commercial and industrial floorspace from data received from the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). Using these data, there were 490,603 retail premises of less than 3,000 square feet (278.7 square metres) and 57,618 premises that were greater than or equal to 3,000 square feet in England and Wales at 1 April 2005 (the latest available data).
Retail premises are those that provide goods and services to the public. They include supermarkets, corner shops, local post offices, financial and professional services (such as banks and building societies), food and drink establishments and other uses typically found in shopping centres. The figures exclude most public houses, car showrooms and garden centres.
These figures are based on floorspace information for retail premises as collected by the VOA under their responsibility for assessing the non-domestic properties in England and Wales that are liable for business rates.
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The VOA does not collect floorspace information for Scotland, so no comparable estimates are available from the ODPM.
Tenure Reform
Margaret Moran: To ask the Deputy Prime Ministerwhat plans the Government has for tenure reform. [55681]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister plans to give careful consideration to proposals by the Law Commission for tenure reform when the ODPM can see how these are reflected in the draft Bill that they are planning to publish this spring.
Urban Community Initiative
Mr. Ellwood: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much money has been allocated to Dorset from the Urban Community Initiative. [58930]
Yvette Cooper: The Urban II Community Initiative supports programmes in a limited number of specified urban areas in England, with no more than one programme per region. The programmes, including their geographical coverage, were agreed with the European Commission at the start of the 2000–06 programming period. There are no such programmes in Dorset.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Bullying
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps the Department of Education is taking to tackle bullying on school buses. [58053]
Angela E. Smith: The Department of Education actively promotes the development of anti-bullying initiatives through its anti-bullying programme. These apply to all forms of bullying whether in the classroom or getting to and from the school.
One particular initiative is the Safe Transport Working Group which was set up under the umbrella of the Ballymena Community Safety Partnership. This involves a range of interested agencies, including education and the police, in an effort to develop a co-ordinated approach to tackling bullying and other forms of anti-social behaviour en route to and from schools in the Ballymena area.
I understand that the working group will be reviewing their work and reporting on the project to the Northern Ireland Anti-Bullying Forum for their consideration.
Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress is being made in the development of anti-bullying campaigns in primary schools in Northern Ireland. [58064]
Angela E. Smith:
The Department of Education actively promotes the development of anti-bullying initiatives in both the primary and post primary sectors through its anti-bullying programme. The main developments of anti-bullying initiatives specific to the primary sector are as follows.
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In 2005, following on from previous bullying research which was published in 2002, the Department commissioned the University of Ulster to undertake a further study into the extent and nature of bullying in schools in Northern Ireland. Approximately 60 primary schools are directly participating in the research; the final report is scheduled for completion in November 2006.
Also in 2005, a 'Primary Pack' was produced which included the production of materials specifically for primary schools to tackle bullying. This work was pursued in partnership with the education and library boards and voluntary sector organisations with a keen interest in tackling bullying. Feedback on the materials has been positive.
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