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8 May 2006 : Column 100W—continued
Mr. Michael Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent on average in real terms by (a) district councils and (b) shire county councils on employing staff in (i) 1998 and (ii) the latest year for which figures are available. [67400]
Mr. Woolas: Average expenditure on employees by district councils and shire county councils in England in 1998-99 and 2004-05 at 2004-05 prices are shown in the following table.
| £ million | ||
| District councils | Shire county councils | |
Total expenditure on employees is reported by local authorities to ODPM on Revenue Outturn (RO) forms. This includes all direct and indirect employee expenses and contributions to employee-related provisions, including national insurance contributions, pensions and employee related expenses.
The 1998-99 prices have been re-valued at 2004-05 prices using the latest ONS/HMT GDP deflators.
The large difference in employee expenditure between district and shire county councils is due to the different responsibilities different types of councils have.
Figures for 2004-05 are not directly comparable with figures for 1998-99. This is because the outturn data for 1998-99 have been calculated on a non-FRS (Financial Reporting Standard) 17 basis while the outturn data for 2004-05 have been calculated on a FRS 17 basis.
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the total expenditure of local authorities was in each of the last five years. [67836]
Mr. Woolas: Total revenue expenditure of local authorities in England in each of the last five years can be found in table 4 of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) Statistical Release: “Local authority revenue expenditure and financing England: 2004-05 final outturn”. This release is on the ODPM website at: http://www.local.odpm.gov.uk/finance/stats/natstats.htm#rev.
Figures in this table are presented on a non-financial reporting standard 17 (FRS17) basis.
Local Referendums
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether (a) fire authorities, (b) police authorities, (c) parish councils and (d) the Greater London Authority have powers to organise and hold local polls or referendums on local issues. [66300]
Mr. Woolas: Fire authorities and police authorities have no powers to hold local referendums. Parish councils do not have powers to organise and hold local referendums, but electors can demand a referendum on a question arising at a parish meeting, which is carried out by the district council. The Greater London Authority has powers to organise and hold referendums on local issues.
Local Strategic Partnerships
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) whether members of local strategic partnerships are subject to the Local Government Code of Conduct; [68044]
(2) whether a local authority is permitted to provide information to a local strategic partnership which it has not given to local councillors; [68046]
(3) what provision there is for local councillors to put (a) oral and (b) written questions to the local strategic partnership; [68047]
(4) whether there is a requirement for local strategic partnerships to report (a) verbally and (b) in writing to the local authority. [68048]
Mr. Woolas: Outside of Neighbourhood Renewal Fund areas local strategic partnerships are currently voluntary partnerships governed by non-statutory guidance issued in 2001, as such there is no requirement for the partnership collectively to report verbally or in writing to the local authority or a centrally-specified formal mechanism for local councillors to put (a) oral and (b) written questions to the local strategic partnership.
The 2001 guidance 'Local Strategic Partnerships' states that
‘Individual local authorities working within LSPs need to determine which elected members are involved and what role they should play'.
The guidance also states that:
‘It should be ensured that councillors are properly included in the process'.
It is therefore for each area to determine the way in which LSPs and councillors interact.
The local Government Act 2000 provides for a code of conduct to apply to members and co-opted members of every relevant authority. The Standards Board of England policies this code. Non-local authority members would conduct themselves with reference to their own professional or corporate code of conduct and comply with any advice that accompanies this.
We have recently consulted on the future role of LSPs and are considering responses to this.
Local Vision Forum Website
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many unique visitors the http://www.localvisionforum.net/ website has received in each month since its establishment. [66264]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The visitor statistics for www.localvisionforum.net are as follows.
| 2006 | ||
| March | April | |
As at 25 April 2006, 538 individuals have registered to use the forum, who between them have made 114 written contributions to the consultation through the forum.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Government spent on creating the http://www.localvisionforum.net/ website. [66265]
Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was not charged for the local vision forum. It was created as part of the DCA-funded Digital Dialogues project, evaluated by the Hansard Society, to investigate Government use of ICT to promote digital democracy.
Non-domestic Hereditaments
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many non-domestic hereditaments were shown in the rating list for England, under the description of communication stations, in the local authority area of (a) Brentwood and (b) Epping Forest in (i) 1998 and (ii) 2005. [66304]
Mr. Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 20 December 2005, Official Report, column 2836W, and 20 January 2006, Official Report, column 2836W.
Ordnance Survey
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with what work on intelligent speed adaptation technology on roads Ordnance Survey is assisting. [66253]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Ordnance Survey data is being used in a pilot of intelligent speed adaptation technology in London. The pilot involves co-operative working between organisations from government and the private sector.
Police Precept
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the police precept is on Band D bills in each police authority in (a) 1997-98 and (b) 2006-07. [66324]
Mr. Woolas: The council tax precepts levied by each police authority on Band D properties in 1997-98 and 2006-07 are shown in £s in the following table.
| £ | ||
| 1997-98 | 2006-07 | |
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what revenue was raised from the police precept on council tax in 1997-98 in each police authority in England and Wales; and what the forecast is for 2006-07. [66325]
Mr. Woolas: The police precepts levied in 1997-98 and 2006-07 for each police authority in England are shown in £000s in the following table.
We do not hold data for police authorities in Wales; the data are available from the Welsh Assembly Government.
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