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8 May 2006 : Column 103W—continued
| £000 | ||
| 1997-98 | 2006-07 | |
Public Relations/Marketing Agencies
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what (a) public relations, (b) marketing and (c) communication agencies her Department (i) employs, (ii) plan to employ and (iii) have employed in the last 12 months; and if she will state the purpose of each such employment. [66320]
Jim Fitzpatrick: In the last 12 months the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have employed the following Public Relations agencies:
The Central Office of Information—working on Fire Safety
Blue Rubicon - working on the Local E-Gov take up campaign and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme awareness campaign.
Band and Brown—working on the awareness campaign for Home Information Packs
Amazon—working on Houses of Multiple Occupancy Property Licence, and the Housing Heath and Safety Rating System.
The marketing and communications agencies used by the Office over the last 12 months are as follows.
Carat and COI—media buying
Euro RSCG—working on Fire Safety advertising, and Houses of Multiple Occupancy Property Licence, Tenancy Deposit Scheme and Fire Order Reform
Leo Burnett—Home Information Pack advertising
Rainey Kelly—Fire Service recruitment advertising
All future work will be tendered through the COI agency roster or by open competition.
Rate Relief (Tamworth)
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many businesses have received small business rate relief in the Tamworth borough council area since it was introduced. [68367]
Mr. Woolas: This information is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Social Exclusion Unit
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funds have been allocated to the Social Exclusion Unit for each of the last eight years. [67014]
Mr. Woolas: The expenditure of the Social Exclusion Unit for the last eight years is set out as follows.
| £ | |
Social Services Funding
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what account is taken in local government social services funding formulae of the proportion of (a) over-65s, (b) over-75s and (c) over-85s in the local population. [68391]
Mr. Woolas: The basic amount for the social services for older people relative need formula is based on the number of household and supported residents aged 65 years and over. A further top-up is provided based on the proportion of such residents aged 90 and over. The full formula is described in section 4 of the Local Government Finance Report (England) 2006-07.
Supporting People Programme
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was paid to each relevant local authority in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes in (a) 2004-05 and (b) 2005-06 under the Supporting People programme; how much she plans to allocate to each in (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2007-08 and (iii) 2008-09; and if he will make a statement. [67664]
Mr. Woolas: Supporting People is administered through top-tier local authorities and, for the area in question, the relevant authorities are Buckinghamshire county council and Milton Keynes council. The grants paid or due to those authorities for the years 2004-05 to 2007-08 are as set out in the following table.
| 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
In line with my announcement of 5 December 2005, the programme grant allocations given in the aforementioned table for each authority for 2007-08 are minimum allocations, set at 95 per cent. of the allocations for 2006-07. This approach has been taken to allow us to consider, following the recent consultation on the development of a Supporting People strategy, how best to approach future programme grant allocations. Full programme grant allocations for all Supporting People authorities will be confirmed before the 2006 summer recess.
Similarly, the administration grant allocations given in the table for each authority for 2007-08 are indicative allocations, and allocations will be confirmed before the 2006 summer recess.
Allocations for all authorities for 2008-09 to 2010-11 will be set following the conclusion of the Comprehensive Spending Review.
Valuation Office Agency
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the letter written by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to local authority chief executives on their statutory obligations referred to in the Summary of VOA and Authorities Liaison Group Meeting of 2 July 2003. [66314]
Mr. Woolas: The letter referred to in the Summary of VOA and Local Authorities Liaison Group meeting of 2 July 2003 was a draft prepared by the VGA's head office. It was made available on 4 July 2003 for local valuation officers to send to chief executives of those local authorities that were not fully undertaking their
statutory obligations to supply information to valuation officers. It reminded them of their responsibilities and sought meetings to improve co-operation. A copy of the draft letter has been placed in the Library as requested.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the Valuation Office Agency's policy is on the council tax or business rates liability of live-work units; andwhat changes have been made to this policy since1997. [66390]
Mr. Woolas: The criteria applied by valuation officers of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) are set out in the Council Tax Manual published by the VOA on its website at www.voa.gov.uk. The guidance was last updated on 4 March 2004 to reflect the decision of the Lands Tribunal in the case of Tully v. Jorgensen (VO) 2003 RA 233.
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