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15 Jun 2006 : Column 1368W—continued
In the 2001 census information on owner occupancy was collected at the household as opposed to the person level. Therefore, the attached table below shows the number of “owner occupied” households in each ward within Stroud constituency on Census day (29 April 2001), broken down by type of ownership. The figures have been extracted from Table KS18 on the Key Statistics for Output Areas DVD, which is available on request from Census Customer Services (census.customerservices@ons.gov.uk)
IT
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent on information technology (IT) sourced from outside her Department and its predecessor in each of the last five years; who is responsible for such projects in her Department; and what IT (a) expertise and (b) qualifications they possess. [71786]
Angela E. Smith: The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) was created in May 2006 and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in May 2002. Expenditure on IT sourced externally over this period is as follows:
| Financial year | Expenditure (£) |
| Note: These figures include VAT where appropriate. | |
Regarding responsibility for IT projects, ODPM introduced dual key sign off in 2005-06, under which IT expenditure is approved jointly by the CIO and the relevant business manager. Prior to this responsibility rested with project Executives (formerly Senior Responsible Owner under Prince2 methodology).
There is no central record of project Executives, their expertise and qualifications; providing this information could not be achieved without incurring disproportionate cost.
Libraries
Mr. Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many libraries have been closed in the last two years, broken down by region; and what estimate she has made of the number of libraries that will be closed in 2006. [76889]
Mr. Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
The table shows the change in the number of static public libraries, grouped into bands by opening hours, over the last three years and, for context, the comparable figures for 1997-98. The same information, by region, can be found in the Public Library Statistics published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.
There have been a number of library closure proposals in recent months. I have written to the leaders of all the 149 library authorities in England asking them to consider carefully what would be lost through closures. Since then a number of the original proposals have either been dropped or scaled down.
Although some proposals remain it is too early to speculate on their likely outcome. However, my officials continue to monitor the situation closely.
| Static libraries in England | |||||
| Hours open per week | |||||
| 60 plus | 45 to 59 | 30 to 44 | 10 to 29 | <10 | |
Local Government Finance
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funds were distributed to each London borough to increase efficiency in local government in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [75698]
Angela E. Smith: Funding to support efficiency in local authorities is distributed to nine Regional Centres of Excellence (RCEs). Each RCE has its own local governance arrangements for supporting authorities across the region.
Funding for individual projects, many of which operate across local authority boundaries, are decided by the RCE Board. Specifically, since 2004-05, funding made available to the London RCE in relation to taking forward the Efficiency Agenda is as follows:
| Receiving authority | Grant payable (2004-05) | Grant payable (2005-06) | Additional core funding (2005-06) | Workstream specific efficiency support (2005-06) |
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