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9 Oct 2006 : Column 366W—continued
Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations her Department has received on additions to the number of council tax bands. [92075]
Mr. Woolas:
Those writing to my Department with suggestions for the reform of council tax have been
advised to put their ideas to the Lyons Inquiry into local government funding. Sir Michael Lyons set a deadline of 14 September for receiving submissions for consideration by his Inquiry. Since that date my Department has received no representations on the number of council tax bands.
Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations her Department has received on the impact of council tax Band A on sheltered housing schemes where flats are banded on an individual basis. [92076]
Mr. Woolas: Those writing to my Department with suggestions for the reform of council tax have been advised to put their ideas to the Lyons Inquiry into local government funding.
Sir Michael Lyons set a deadline of 14 September for receiving submissions for consideration by his Inquiry. Since that date we have received no representations on the separate banding of flats within sheltered housing schemes.
Decent Homes Standard
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will take steps to include the provision of digital services in the Decent Homes Standard. [88512]
Yvette Cooper: We have no plans to include the provision of digital services in the Decent Homes Standard. The standard is well established, and is one that we are not proposing to change.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the total carbon emission from her Department's buildings in each year since 1997. [89518]
Angela E. Smith: The Department for Communities and Local Government was created on 5 May 2006 and no assessment of its carbon emissions has yet been undertaken.
Data on carbon emissions are published in the annual Sustainable Development in Government reports. The last report was published by the Sustainable Development Commission in December 2005. It covered the reporting period April 2004 to March 2005. The published figures for DCLG’s predecessor departments are as follows.
| Carbon dioxide (tonnes)( 1) | ||
|
(1 )No notional carbon figures have been included for energy generated from renewable sources | ||
These emissions were calculated from the energy consumed across the estate; this included ODPM, DTLR and ODPM properties, Executive Agencies and the Government Office network.
The Department for Communities and Local Government has commenced a carbon management programme with the Carbon Trust. The aim of the programme is to mobilise the Department and its Agencies in working towards reducing carbon emissions across the estate.
Departmental Meetings (Muslim Groups)
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what meetings her Department has had with the (a) Muslim Council of Britain, (b) Sufi Muslim Council and (c) British Muslim Forum; and if she will make a statement. [90133]
Meg Munn: Since its creation in May 2006 the Department for Communities and Local Government has engaged with a wide cross-section of community leaders from all faiths. No single organisation claims to represent all Muslims in Britain. The Government recognise the diversity that exists in British Muslim communities, and will engage with a wide range of organisations. Meetings have been held with the three organisations listed as follows:
Departmental Publications
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) circulation, (b) cost and (c) title is of each publication her Department has issued since 1 July 2005. [89519]
Meg Munn: The Department, both as DCLG and ODPM, was responsible for some 700 publications during the period from 1 July 2005 to 28 August 2006. The further information requested would be available only at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Staff (Bicycles)
Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what tax-efficient schemes for the purchase of bicycles her Department makes available to its employees; how many and what percentage of her Department's staff purchased bicycles through such schemes in 2005-06; whether the schemes are available through a range of suppliers; and whether arrangements are made to enable staff with disabilities to purchase adapted bicycles from a specialist supplier. [90068]
Meg Munn: The Department supports staff cycling to work by providing tax-free salary advances towards the purchase of a bicycle for travel between home and office. In 2005-06 the Department made six advances, which equates to 0.3 per cent. of staff. It is open to the member of staff to purchase the bicycle, plus accessories, from a supplier of their choice. The Department also provides cycle storage space at its offices.
The Department does not operate the Cycle to Work Tax Incentive Scheme and has no plans to do so.
Digital National Framework
Mr. Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on progress with the development of the Digital National Framework. [89787]
Angela E. Smith: The Digital National Framework (DNF) is
“an industry standard for integrating and sharing business and geographic information from multiple sources”.
DNF is directed and overseen by an expert group which has over 40 members from public and private sectors and academia.
The group has produced a “road map” to achieve its aims and is actively working on most elements of this. All progress is reported on the DNF website at www.dnf.org. Recently most effort has been directed at promoting best practice to underpin the sharing of business information combined with location and to promote this across all communities (local/central Government, utilities and the private sector). This is being achieved in two ways:
(1) The publication of case studies showing the benefits of joined up information (examples from Oxford county council, Dudley metropolitan borough council and the Isle of Wight council are now available on the DNF website).
(2) Development and publication of “Technical Guides” that supplement national and international standards. The Technical Guides reflect best practice adopted in the case studies and elsewhere, and are intended for reuse by others so that they too can benefit from sound information management, data integrity and are more readily able to share information with other organisations.
The expert group is also working with the e-Government Unit in the Cabinet Office to ensure that DNF also aligns with the wider information plans and strategies of government.
Empty Dwellings
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what obligation a local authority has to pay compensation to the owner for the full value of a domestic property obtained by (a) an Empty Dwelling Management Order and (b) a compulsory purchase order under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. [86786]
Yvette Cooper: Ownership does not transfer when a property is subject to an Empty Dwelling Management Order and the owner maintains the right to sell the dwelling at any time. Therefore there is no obligation on the local authority to compensate the owner for the full value of the dwelling s/he continues to own. A local authority must, however, pay any balance of income received from rent, after deduction of its relevant expenditure, to the owner.
When repairs or improvements are proposed under the terms of a management scheme the owner will benefit from any resulting increase in the value of the property on expiry of the order. A third party with an interest in a dwelling may be entitled to compensation resulting from any loss they suffer as a result of the making of an Empty Dwelling Management Order.
The level of compensation in cases in which domestic property is acquired compulsorily is a matter of negotiation between the acquiring local authority and the claimant. Where a local authority acquires land compulsorily, it will have an obligation to pay compensation to those legally entitled to claim it. The level of compensation will be in accordance with a number of principles established under statute, case law and guidance, often described as the "Compensation Code." The open market value of the property acquired, disregarding the impact of the scheme, will form the basis of any award. The claimant may also be entitled to compensation for disturbance costs (removal expenses, fees etc.) and a Home Loss payment. The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 introduced new provisions about valuation principles, introduced other kinds of loss payments and allowed an advance payment of mortgage in appropriate circumstances.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what rights the owner of a property has to collect and remove (a) furniture, (b) the fittings and (c) the fixtures of a property subject to a final Empty Dwelling Management Order. [86830]
Yvette Cooper:
When a final Empty Dwelling Management Order is made the local housing authority that made the order is responsible for any furniture, fittings and other articles belonging to the owner that were left in the dwelling. The owner may make a request to the local authority to collect and remove any such items. If the dwelling is unoccupied at the time when the request is made, the local authority must comply with it. If the local authority wishes to
remove any items of furniture not collected by the owners, it must arrange and pay for their safe storage off the premises. If the local authority wishes to replace any permanent fittings such as those in kitchens and bathrooms, it must consult the owner under the terms of the management scheme that it is required to draw up under a final Empty Dwelling Management Order.
Energy Performance Certificates
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate has been made of the yearly cost to the (a) social rented sector and (b) private rented sector of the implementation of EU Directive 2002/91/EC. [90510]
Angela E. Smith: The technical provisions of EU Directive 2002/91/EC, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, have been implemented through an amendment of the Building Regulations. The Regulatory Impact Assessment that estimates the costs and benefits associated with this amendment can be seen on my Department’s website.
There is a three-year derogation period within the directive to apply fully the procedural provisions for energy certificates and inspection of boiler and air-conditioning systems. We plan to lay a Statutory Instrument in early 2007 to transpose these remaining parts of the directive into law. The Regulatory Impact Assessment to support this Statutory Instrument which will contain estimates of the yearly costs to the social and private rental sectors is still being prepared.
Enfield Council
Mr. Love:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of meetings between
her officials and the London borough of Enfield in improving the performance of that council. [90165]
Mr. Woolas: There has been much positive work conducted between the Department for Communities and Local Government and the London borough of Enfield in recent years. This has evidenced itself in an improved rating for the local authority in its most recent performance assessments by both the Audit Commission (comprehensive performance assessment) in terms of corporate assessment and the Government Office for London in terms of its achievements through its Local Strategic Partnership. DCLG and its partners remain committed to working closely with the London borough of Enfield to help drive improvement forward.
English Partnerships
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what representations have been made to her concerning the balance of expenditure between the north and south of England by English Partnerships since 2001-02; and if she will make a statement; [90813]
(2) what percentage of English Partnerships' annual programme expenditure was spent in (a) the North East, (b) the North West, (c) Yorkshire and Humberside, (d) the East Midlands, (e) the West Midlands, (f) the East of England, (g) London, (h) the South East and (i) the South West in each year since 2001-02. [90815]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 11 September 2006]: No representations have been received by the Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government concerning the balance of English Partnerships' (EP) expenditure since 2001-02 between the north and the south of England.
EP's gross programme expenditure since 2001-02 by Government Office region is set out in the following table.
| Spend as a percentage of total programme (all spend figures in £million) | |||||||
| Years ended 31 March | 2001-2 | Percentage | 2002-3 | Percentage | 2003-4 | Percentage | |
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