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27 Mar 2006 : Column 832W—continued
Official Residences
Mr. Heald: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the official residences for which his Department is responsible; who occupies each one; what the annual cost is of running each property; what contribution the occupants of each make towards running costs; what the total capital and refurbishment expenditure was on those properties in 2004–05; how much was spent in each property on (a) flowers and plants, (b) wine and entertaining, (c) food, (d) telephone bills and (e) electricity and gas in 2004–05; how many (i)domestic and (ii) maintenance staff are employed at each property, broken down by post; and what the total cost of staff employment was in 2004–05. [50875]
Jim Fitzpatrick: With regard to which residencies the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is responsible for and who occupies them, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister occupies Admiralty House as his official residence assigned to him by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister.
On general running and refurbishment/maintenance costs of residencies, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25 October 2005, Official Report, column 326W to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs.Spelman).
Ministers occupying official residencies do not pay tax on the living accommodation itself. However, tax is paid on the ancillary services (lighting, heating etc) a sum limited to 10 per cent. of his/her taxable ministerial salary and benefits (if any). The costs of other expenditure items in the official residence in Admiralty House of my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister are as follows:
(b) The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's entertainment budget does not detail expenditure by venue and this could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
(e) With regard to the cost of electricity and gas, the operation of Admiralty House is covered by a single facilities management contract which covers maintenance, renovation, security and running costs. It is not possible, within the overall total, to separately identify the electricity and gas costs that arise from the three flats in Admiralty House, although for internal accounting purposes the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister meets 20.7 per cent. of the costs of the operation of the entire building. The 20.7 per cent. is derived from the floor area of the flat occupied by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister, as a proportion of the total floor area of Admiralty House.
(i) There are no domestic staff providing services in the official residence occupied by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister.
(ii) Maintenance within the residence is provided under a Cabinet Office contract and the cost of this is included within the service charge. There are no maintenance staff employed exclusively in my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister's official residence.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister also has the use of Dorneywood, which is a Trust property available for use by Ministers.
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Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much he has paid to (a) his Department and (b) Westminster city council in backdated council tax for his official residence at Admiralty House. [54540]
Jim Fitzpatrick: My right hon. Friend made a payment of £3,830.52 to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to cover the council tax payments made on his official residence at Admiralty House from 16 May 1997 until 31 March 2005. He has also made a voluntary payment of £2,862.52 to Westminster city council, equivalent to the second home discount that had been claimed on his official residence at Admiralty House over the same period. My right hon. Friend has directed that from 1 April 2005, the council tax bill on his official residence at Admiralty House should be personally addressed and sent direct to him.
Park Home Pitch Fees
Mr. Greenway: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will use his powers under the Housing Act 2004 to publish draft regulations to amend provisions for the regulation of park home pitch fees. [59049]
Yvette Cooper: The Government introduced several park home provisions in the Housing Act 2004, which came into force on 18 January 2005. These implement some of the key recommendations of the Park Homes Working Party. The provisions in the Act also allow us to insert further amendments to the Implied Terms and we expect to lay the first order in the next few months, to come into force in October 2006.
Parks
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) residential parks and (b) urban green spaces have been created since 1997. [60447]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not collect centrally information on the numbers of new parks and green spaces created.
Pathfinder
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate the Government have made of the expenditure on consultants in the Pathfinder areas to date. [56097]
Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not held centrally. However, pathfinders will spend less than £90 million of revenue in their first two years. While this may fund some consultancy, it will mainly cover their staff and running costs, some staff in local authorities, community consultation, neighbourhood management and other activities.
Planning Appeals (Wycombe)
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful appeals have been made against planning decisions made by Wycombe district council in each year since 1999. [60890]
Yvette Cooper
[holding answer 23 March 2006]: A breakdown of the number of planning appeals determined by the Planning Inspectorate for Wycombe district council in each year since 1999 is given in the
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following table. It shows the number of appeals allowed (a), dismissed (b), the total number of appeals received and the percentage of successful appeals.
Planning Procedure
Robert Key: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he plans to change the circular 18/84 planning procedure for development of Crown land; and if he will make a statement. [60742]
Yvette Cooper: Development by Crown bodies will continue to be undertaken under the arrangements set out in Part IV of the Memorandum to DOE Circular 18/84 until the provisions to remove Crown immunity in Part 7 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 are implemented. We shall make an announcement on this in due course.
PPS3 (Aviation Industry)
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the likely effects of the proposed changes to Planning Policy Statement 3 on the aviation industry; and if he will make a statement. [60810]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to the hon. Member for Southport (Dr. Pugh) on 20 March 2006, Official Report, column 67W, and to the hon. Member for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh) on 22 March 2006, Official Report, columns 401–02W.
Regional Spatial Strategies
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what mechanism there is within each regional spatial strategy to assess the demand for (a) housing for inward migrants and (b) retirement housing. [57364]
Yvette Cooper: As part of developing proposals for the level and distribution of housing provision in their regional spatial strategies, regions are expected to take into account a range of factors including the Government's latest household projections. These are based on the Office for National Statistics' sub-national population projections, which include assumptions for the number of future migrants based upon recent trends.
Planning Policy Guidance Note 3: Housing, requires local authorities to assess local housing need, including the needs of the elderly, as part of preparing plan policies. Draft Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing, consultation on which closed on 27 February, proposes that regions may set out in regional spatial strategies the
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approach to achieving an appropriate mix of household types to meet need and demand, which could include the needs of the elderly where appropriate. We are aiming to publish PPS3 before the Summer Recess.
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