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12 Jun 2006 : Column 966W—continued
Roads
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of road schemes approved through the targeted programme of improvements and local transport plans on reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. [75930]
Dr. Ladyman:
The carbon dioxide impacts of road schemes approved through the targeted programme of improvements and local transport plans form part of
the Department’s normal approval processes for major transport schemes. The impact of road schemes in the Highways Agency targeted programme of improvements, consistent with the Future of Transport White Paper, is estimated to be around an additional 0.1 million tonnes of carbon (MtC), a tenth of the carbon savings expected in 2010 from the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation. The overall implications for carbon dioxide emissions of local transport plans have not been modelled, but LTPs are subject to individual Strategic Environmental Assessments which carefully consider these impacts.
Communities and Local Government
Best Value Surveys
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent representations her Department has received on the carrying out of Best Value surveys. [75907]
Mr. Woolas: The Department conducted a consultation exercise on the 2006-07 Best Value User Satisfaction surveys between 14 December 2005 and 6 February 2006. 199 responses from 241 organisations were received (some organisations chose to respond in consortia). A feedback document analysing responses to the consultation paper will be published shortly. In addition, we have subsequently received correspondence on this subject from three local authorities and two MPs.
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the different types of methodology available to carry out Best Value surveys. [75908]
Mr. Woolas: The Department has commissioned three pieces of research concerning the methodology applied in the Best Value Performance Indicator (BVPI) user satisfaction surveys.
The first, published in 2002, was conducted by the Office for National Statistics and reviewed local authorities’ experience of the 2000-01 surveys, including the different methodologies applied.
The second, carried out by Ipsos MORI, which reported in March 2003, concerned the development of questions for the Best Value general and benefits surveys, piloting those surveys, and advising on guidance for the surveys.
The third was conducted by BMG and concerned the development of new sections of questions for the 2006-07 BVPI surveys (we anticipate the publication of this work in the autumn of 2006). The new questions formed part of the recent consultation of local authorities on the BVPI surveys.
In addition to this work, following the 2003-04 surveys, ‘in-house’ analysis concerning the impact of methodology on response rate, using data supplied by local authorities, has been conducted. These analyses also considered factors such as deprivation and ethnicity. This work found no evidence of a significant
difference in response rate between postal and face-to-face methods even after allowing for context and respondent group.
Black/Asian Staff
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) black and Asian and (b) other people are employed in her Department's press office. [74366]
Angela E. Smith: Twenty people are employed as press officers in the Department's Directorate of Communications. All information on ethnicity is provided voluntarily by individuals and is confidential. Only four members of the press office have provided information on ethnicity and therefore details cannot be provided in order to preserve confidentiality.
Chief Rents
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of freehold properties in Greater Manchester subject to chief rents; and if she will make a statement. [73137]
Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many applications have been made to the Government Office for the North West for the redemption of chief rents on freehold domestic properties for each of the past five years; and how many such applications were successful. [73138]
Yvette Cooper: In the period 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2005 the unit received a total of 2,575 applications for redemption. Of these, 29 are still under consideration; 738 were redeemed and 1,808 were not redeemed.
Applicants may withdraw their application at any time in which case the rentcharge is not redeemed. Of the 1,808 applications which were not redeemed, 525 were considered to be Estate Rentcharges which are incapable of redemption under the terms of the Rentcharges Act 1977.
In conjunction with the Department, the Rentcharge Unit reviewed and revised its own guidelines for determining estate rentcharges in October 2005 resulting in more applications being redeemed.
Correspondence
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Windsor of 7 February 2006 about D. Ashworth. [76314]
Angela E. Smith: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 8 June 2006.
Council House Sales
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2006, Official Report, column 2583W, on council house sales, what measures her Department takes to ensure local authorities use the 25 per cent. of retained capital receipts from the sale of council housing under the right-to-buy scheme on capital rather than revenue programmes. [73459]
Yvette Cooper: The only ways in which local authorities may use their capital receipts are set out in regulation 23 of the Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/3146, as amended). Receipts retained from sales of council housing may be used for capital expenditure but not normally for revenue expenditure.
Council Minutes
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what limitations are placed on the publication in (a) local newspapers and (b) other media of council minutes relating to meetings held in public. [75461]
Mr. Woolas: The minutes of council meetings relating to all non-confidential matters may be released for publication. Statute sets out the categories of matters that a local authority may decide to treat as confidential.
Departmental Pensions
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will estimate the pension liability of her Department over the next 30 years. [75239]
Angela E. Smith: The information requested is available in the technical Note issued by HM Treasury which was placed in the Library of the House on 2 March 2006 following an oral statement in Parliament by the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Columns 388-390. Pension liabilities are not estimated for individual Departments; they are estimated for individual pension schemes, as shown in the breakdown of liabilities per pension scheme given in Table 1 of the technical Note.
Deprivation Indicators (Peterborough)
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authority wards in the Peterborough city council area are in the top 30 per cent. of wards in England by multiple deprivation indicators; and if she will make a statement. [76624]
Mr. Woolas: The Indices of Deprivation 2004 (ID 2004) were constructed at Super Output Area (SOA) level rather than ward level to overcome problems associated with frequently changing ward boundaries and lack of consistency in population size. SOAs are a better measure as they are consistent in size and overtime, and they allow better identification of small pockets of deprivation. There are 32,482 SOAs in England, each with an average population of 1,500 people.
The ID 2004 ranks areas according to their level of deprivation, relative to other areas in the country. Peterborough City has 42 per cent. of its 104 SOAs among the 30 per cent. most deprived SOAs in England. The following table lists these SOAS and identifies the wards in which they are located. There are three wards (Central, East and North) in which all the SOAs fall within the 30 per cent. most deprived in the country.
| SOA code | Ward name | Local authority | GO Region | Rank of IMD (where 1 = most deprived) |
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