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Local Government Finance
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what departmental working groups are carrying out work for departmental sections (a) HSF6—Right to Buy, (b) LGF 4D—National Non-Domestic Rates Policy, (c) LGF 5—Council Tax Capping Division and (d) LGF 2B—Council Tax and Valuation Tribunals Policy Branch. [48049]
Jim Fitzpatrick: There is no formal definition of what constitutes a departmental working group. There is currently no internal group which is referred to as a working group" working for the Office of The Deputy Prime Minister's sections listed.
Local Government Pensions
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) if he will list the pension funds covered by the Local Government Pension Scheme; [60257]
(2) if he will list the 2004 valuation reports of the funds within the Local Government Pension Scheme. [60285]
Mr. Woolas: The local authorities in England and Wales which have specific statutory responsibility for administering the Local Government Pension Scheme, and for managing and investing its pension funds are:
Each of the above authorities undertook an actuarial valuation of its pension funds at 31 March 2004, as required by the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulation 1995.
Ministerial Travel
Norman Baker: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he last travelled on official business by train. [59403]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Deputy Prime Minister travelled by train to and from his constituency on Monday and Thursday last week, beginning Monday 20 March, as he does on a regular basis.
All Ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code" and Travel by Ministers", copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.
Mobile Telephone Masts
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his most recent estimate is of the total number of (a) mobile telephone masts and (b) picocell mobile telephone masts in England; and what assessment he has made of the demand for new (i) masts and (ii) picocell masts as part of 3G rollout. [60193]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister makes no assessment of base station numbers. However, we are advised that there are approximately 47,000 base stations across the country at present for all mobile phone network operators, this includes 2G and 3G networks.
The licences to operate 3G networks require that 80 per cent. of the population will have access to the network by the end of 2007. It is expected that in total
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50,000 base stations will be required to meet this obligation. We do not have the information on which of these base-stations are of what particular capacity.
MOD Empty Quarters
Mike Penning: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on whether long-term empty service quarters could be made available for sale to private individuals. [54743]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 2 March 2006]: As part of an on-going framework agreement, English Partnerships has regular discussions with Defence Estates, an agency of the Ministry of Defence, about the future use of surplus defence land and buildings.
Multiple Occupation Licensing
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what minimum property attributes are needed for a local authority to introduce discretionary house in multiple occupation licensing of a residential property. [59133]
Yvette Cooper: Section 56 of the Housing Act 2004 gives local authorities powers to licence HMOs that fall outside the scope of mandatory licensing.
Before designating an area for additional licensing, local authorities must consider that the HMOs which will be covered by such designation are giving rise to problems for the occupants of the property or membersof the public because of poor management arrangements. They are also required to consult those likely to be affected by the designation and take account of any representations received.
The Act requires authorities to ensure that the use of additional licensing is in accordance with their overall housing strategy and forms part of a co-ordinated approach to deal with wider issues such as homelessness and anti-social behaviour. They are also required to ensure that there are no other courses of action that could be used to deal with the problems identified and that additional licensing will, whether on its own or in conjunction with other policies, make a significant contribution to dealing with the problems from which the area is suffering.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his Department's policy is on subsidising by local authorities of the costs of housing in multiple occupation licensing through increased council tax. [59134]
Yvette Cooper: Section 63(7) of the Housing Act 2004 enables local housing authorities to have regard to all its costs in carrying out the administration of the licensing scheme when setting licence fees.
We expect local authorities to ensure that the level of fees they have set is sufficient to cover the full costs of their responsibilities in relation to licensing.
In addition authorities will be expected to establish a coherent and transparent fee structure that is set up in time for the commencement of the licensing provisions, on 6 April 2006. This structure must operate within and in accordance with the Chartered Institute of Public
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Finance and Accountancy's (CIPFA) accountancy framework. We will also rely on the audit process to ensure that fee levels remain proportionate.
Finally, the Government provided funding of £5 million to the local government's improvement arm, the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), to cover the impact of start-up costs of licensing on local authority resources.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether there is an upper limit on the fees that local authorities can charge landlords for (a) discretionary and (b) mandatory housing in multiple occupation licensing. [59136]
Yvette Cooper: The Government have not specified an upper limit on licence fees chargeable for (a) discretionary or (b) mandatory licensing of houses in multiple occupation (HMO). Local authorities have been encouraged, in consultation with landlords operating in their areas, to develop a transparent and clear fee structure regime which reflects the need to recover the costs of the administration of licensing without placing additional burdens on local council tax payers. The Improvement and Development Agency, Local Government Association and the Charted Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy in collaboration with local authorities and landlord representative bodies have developed a toolkit to assist local authorities in determining fee structures. This is due to be published in early spring.
In addition, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy will provide guidance to authorities and the audit process will ensure that fee levels remain proportionate.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whatproperty attributes are necessary for mandatory house in multiple occupation licensing of a residential property. [59137]
Yvette Cooper: Mandatory HMO licensing will apply to the highest risk HMOs which have been identified as those of three or more storeys and occupied by five or more persons who together form two or more households.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Government has provided additional funding to local authorities to meet the (a) set-up and (b) ongoing costs of the proposed housing in multiple occupation licensing scheme. [59180]
Yvette Cooper: To assist local authorities with set up costs for licensing, the Government provided £5 million in 2005–06 to the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), to fund a programme of assistance for local authorities. A further £3 million is being made available for 2006–07. The programme includes training for local authority front line staff and strategic policy makers to enable authorities to deliver their statutory duties. The programme has also encouraged local authorities to create genuine and positive working relationships with landlords and landlord organisations.
Once licensing is in force, local authorities will be expected to cover their ongoing costs through licence fees.
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