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16 Jun 2006 : Column 1457W—continued
Whaling
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions (a) she and (b) her predecessor has had with Ministers from countries which are members of the Commonwealth on whaling; and if she will make a statement. [78036]
Mr. McCartney: Whaling is not part of the Commonwealth agenda and was not raised at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting last year.
Australia and New Zealand share the UK’s view of whaling and co-operate bilaterally at official level.
Communities and Local Government
Council Tax
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average level of council tax has been in rural areas in each year from 1997 to 2005. [78207]
Mr. Woolas: The average level of band D council tax in rural areas since 1997-98 is tabled as follows. A district is classified as a rural area if it falls within category “Rural-50” or “Rural-80” of the rural definition and local authority classification published by Defra in 2005 (www.statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/rural_resd/rural_definition.asp).
| £ | |
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the additional council tax revenue raised by local authorities as a result of setting second home council tax discounts lower than 50 per cent. in 2005-06. [78283]
Mr. Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Mr. Kidney) on 4 May 2006, Official Report, column 1803W.
Fire Services College
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the Fire Services College provides (a) training courses and (b) access to the college's library and online information and development resources to fire services in (i) the Crown dependencies, (ii) overseas territories, (iii) the Republic of Ireland and (iv) Commonwealth countries; and how much is charged by the college for those services to fire services in each category. [76270]
Angela E. Smith: The primary customer of the Fire Service College is the United Kingdom fire and rescue service. It has provided training to representatives from the categories of countries listed as follows: Crown dependencies and overseas territories, the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth countries.
Charges for training are a commercial matter for the Fire Service College. It will depend on the number of people to be trained, the requirements of the course and the duration of training.
On-site access to the Library and Information Resource Centre (LIRC) is available to all staff and students (including all overseas students on study courses) of the Fire Service College. The Library and Information Resource Centre has Membership options for UK and Republic of Ireland Fire and Rescue Services, corporate and individual customers, and organisational membership can cost between £260 and £600 per year, depending on the size of the organisation and the services provided. It does not currently offer memberships to other overseas customers.
Foreign Travel
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent on foreign travel by her Department and its predecessors in each of the last eight years. [76935]
Angela E. Smith: The former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and the new Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) were created following the machinery of government changes on 29 May 2002 and 5 May 2006, respectively. The following table sets out the total expenditure on foreign travel for the former ODPM and DCLG (excluding the Government offices). Details of expenditure by predecessor Departments prior to the 2002-03 financial year could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
| £ | |
All travel by civil servants and Ministers is conducted in accordance with requirements of the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code and Travel.
Housing Development
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to prevent excessive land banking by housing developers. [66426]
Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
The Barker Review of Housing Supply considered the issue of land banking in assessing competition in house building, and did not find evidence of excessive land banking by house builders.
The Review did make recommendations designed to make the planning system, and its arrangements for releasing land for housing, more responsive to demand, in the interests of improving housing affordability. Draft Planning Policy Statement 3 published earlier this year is designed to achieve these objectives.
The Office of Fair Trading periodically reviews the house building sector. If there is evidence of anti-competitive behaviour which was against the consumer, including excessive land banking by house builders, OFT may consider the case for a reference to the Competition Commission.
The Department is concerned to ensure that there is proper competition in the house building sector and that land banking or the holding of options do not operate as a barrier to entry. We are continuing to keep this under review to ensure that greater land supply results in increased house building.
Local Strategic Partnerships
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to increase the powers available to local strategic partnerships. [77107]
Yvette Cooper: LSPs, outside those areas receiving neighbourhood renewal funding, are currently entirely voluntary and therefore do not have any powers of their own.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now Department for Communities and Local Government) undertook a consultation “Local Strategic Partnerships: Shaping their Future” from December 2005 to March 2006 which looked at the future of all LSPs, focusing on their role, accountability and capacity. As part of this consultation we proposed formalising the role of LSPs and ensuring the involvement of key agencies through establishing duties to co-operate with the local authority on named local delivery agencies. The results of the consultation are now being evaluated and decisions on whether this legislative option will be pursued will need to be taken in due course.
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local strategic partnerships are chaired by (a) an hon. Member, (b) a councillor, (c) a directly-elected mayor and (d) a representative from the (i) public sector, (ii) voluntary sector and (iii) business sector. [77181]
Mr. Woolas:
Outside areas receiving neighbourhood renewal funding, LSPs are voluntary partnerships and hence are not monitored on an individual basis by the Department. However, we do evaluate all LSPs on a national basis and therefore are able to give indicative answers to these questions. The last evaluation of LSPs was conducted in 2004 (National Evaluation of Local
Strategic Partnerships: Report on the 2004 Survey of all English LSPs ODPM 2005). This indicated the following split in LSP chairs:
| Percentage | |
The question as to whether MPs or directly-elected mayors chaired LSPs was not specifically asked.
Portland PR
Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what meetings officials in her Department have had with representatives of the public relations company Portland PR; what contracts Portland PR has with her Department and agencies for which she has responsibility; and what the nature of the contract is in each case. [70042]
Angela E. Smith: There is no record of any meetings between Department for Communities and Local Government Officials and representatives of Portland PR.
Public Sector (Funding)
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will list the 10 non-public sector entities that have received the largest total sum of payments from her Department and its predecessor in each of the last five years. [71788]
Angela E. Smith: The Department of Communities and Local Government was formed in May 2006. Formerly this Department was the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister which was formed in May 2002.
The following lists in alphabetical order the 10 non-public sector entities that have received the largest payments from the Department in financial years 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06.
Ashdown House Ltd.
Balfour Kilpatrick Ltd.
BNFL plc Instruments
Building Research Establishment
Carat Ltd.
Land Securities Properties Ltd.
Marshall Specialist Vehicles Ltd.
Professional Protection Systems.
Regus (UK) Ltd.
Respirex International
Ashdown House Ltd.
Building Research Establishment
Carat Ltd.
Land Securities Properties Ltd.
Marshall Specialist Vehicles Ltd.
Mitie Managed Services Southern
National telecommunications Ltd.
PA Consulting Group
Regus (UK) Ltd.
Scout Solutions Projects Ltd.
Ashdown House Ltd.
Carat Ltd.
Hytrans Systems
John Dennis Coachbuilders
Land Securities Properties Ltd.
Marshall Specialist Vehicles Ltd.
Mitie Managed Services Southern
Mott Macdonald Ltd.
PA Consulting Group
Serco Government Consulting
Information for 2002-03 was recorded jointly with the Department for Transport and expenditure figures cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costs.
Right to Buy
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department issues to local authorities on whether sections 185 and 187 of the Housing Act 2004 apply to right to buy purchases completed prior to January 2005. [76249]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer12 June 2006]: The Department issued a letter to local authorities on 18 January 2005 providing guidance on the changes to the right to buy under the Housing Act 2004, including the application of sections 185 and 187. No further guidance has been issued.
Solicitor-General
Gerson Report
Peter Viggers: To ask the Solicitor-General how many civil servants were employed in the Law Officers’ Departments before the Gershon Report; what net reductions are proposed in the Gershon Report; how many reductions have been made; and how many civil servants are expected to be employed in the Law Officers’ Departments in the Gershon target month of April 2008. [74288]
The Solicitor-General: It is unclear whether the hon. Member includes in his request the CPS. The information requested on the numbers of civil servants employed in the Law Officers’ Departments is given in the following table which includes the CPS:
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