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18 Apr 2006 : Column 100W—continued
Departmental Staff
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many and what proportion of (a) staff and (b) new staff employed in (i) his Department and (ii) each of the agencies for which he has responsibility were registered as disabled in each of the last three years for which data are available. [61372]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Cabinet Office collects and publishes annually statistical information on the civil service by Department. These include data on the number of staff in departments who have declared a disability. Declaration of a disability is voluntary.
The latest available information at April 2004 is available in the Library of the House and on the Civil Service website at:
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/manaqement/statistics/publications/xls/disability_apr04_4nov04.xls for data relating to 1 April 2004, and http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/archive/index.asp for previous reporting periods.
For new entrants to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Executive agencies, the figures for the period 1 April 2003 to 27 March 2006 are as follows 1 :
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Centre) | 1 |
| Fire Service College | 0 |
| Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre | 0 |
| The Planning Inspectorate | 6 |
18 Apr 2006 : Column 101W
Domestic Leases
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate the Government have made of the number of domestic leases extended in duration by leaseholders in each of the last five years. [62289]
Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not hold or collate information relating to the number of domestic leases that have been extended, and has not sought to estimate the numbers. Such transactions are recorded by the Land Registry although inquiries have established that they do not collate the information.
Energy Efficiency
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to increase energy efficiency within his Department; and if he will make a statement. [60339]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has adopted the energy targets as set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. Our Sustainable Development Action Plan and its associated delivery plan can be viewed at http://www.odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id=l164438. We have been actively engaged with the Carbon Trust to identify both quick wins and longer term actions required to achieve the current target of a reduction of 15 per cent. usage of fuel per square metre by 2010–11.
Additionally we have completed the first phase of the programme to define the requirements for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to join the Carbon Trust's Carbon Management Programme.
Projects are underway to increase energy efficiency within our buildings. Primarily these are based upon the Carbon Trust energy audits that have been carried out in the Office's HQ buildings. Some actions are:
These actions are included within the certificated and independently audited ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems which the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has developed to manage our response to the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate".
This answer does not include the buildings occupied by Government Offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.
Environmental Information Regulations
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many requests his Department has received for information under the environmental information regulations since their introduction; and what proportion (a) have still to be processed, (b) were refused outright, (c) were granted in part, (d) were fully met as part of the original request, (e) were refused initially and granted in whole or in part under internal review and (f) have been referred to the Information Commissioner on appeal. [62291]
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Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today, UIN62308.
Freedom of Information
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many requests his Department has received for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 since its introduction; and what proportion of those requests (a) have still to be processed, (b) were refused, (c) were partly refused, (d) were fully answered, (e) were refused initially and granted in whole or in part under internal review on appeal and (f) have been referred to the Information Commissioner. [62308]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The raw figures for the number of Freedom of Information requests (including requests for environmental information) received by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister—including the Government Offices for the Regions—in the first three quarters of 2005 which were granted in full, partially withheld and fully withheld are available from the Department for Constitutional Affairs' publications Freedom of Information Act 2000—Statistics on Implementation in Central Government—Ql: January to March 2005; Q2: April to June 2005; and Q3: July to September 2005", copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and can be viewed on the Department for Constitutional Affairs website. The information requested can be found in table 3 of the Reports.
Of the 600 resolvable" requests received by ODPM in the first three quarters of the year, that is, requests where the information requested was held by ODPM, 31 were requests for environmental information that were answered under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. In 52 per cent. of these cases the information requested was granted in full, in 13 per cent. it was partially withheld and in 35 per cent. it was fully withheld.
In total, three requests where the information had initially been withheld or partially withheld were later granted in full, and a further 11 were granted in part, following internal review on appeal. Of the 11 that were granted in part at internal review, four were requests for environmental information that were answered under the Environmental Information Regulations. Three refusals have been referred to the Information Commissioner, of which two were requests handled under the Environmental Information Regulations.
DCA are intending to publish, and place in the libraries of both Houses, the corresponding tables for the fourth quarter of 2005 early in April 2006. In addition an Annual Report for the whole of 2005, containing additional statistics on Central Government's performance in handling requests made under the Freedom of Information Act in its first year will be published later in April.
Hereditaments
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what formula is used to calculate the council tax and business rates liability for a composite hereditament. [62263]
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Mr. Woolas: There is no single formula used to calculate the council tax and business rates liability for a composite hereditament. The parts of the hereditament used for domestic purposes would be placed in one of eight value bands based on their open market value on 1 April 1991. The parts of the hereditament used for non-domestic purposes would be valued to determine the rateable value. The rates liability for that part of the hereditament would be determined by applying the relevant formula to the rateable value based on the availability of any mandatory relief and then deducting any further discretionary relief.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average rateable value was per square metre in 2005 following revaluation of bulk class hereditaments in (a) England and (b) each Government Office Region. [62284]
Mr. Woolas: The ODPM produces estimates of commercial and industrial floor space and rateable values from data received from the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). The rateable values per square metre of bulk class hereditaments in England and each Government Office Region as at 1 April 2005 are given in the table.
Bulk class hereditaments comprise retail premises, offices, factories, warehouses and other bulk premises". These types of commercial and industrial property have floor space information available from the VOA.
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