| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
23 Oct 2006 : Column 1674W—continued
Lyons Inquiry
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects the Lyons Inquiry into local government finance to report. [95163]
Mr. Woolas: Sir Michael Lyons will submit the final report of his independent inquiry to my right hon. Friends the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government by the end of this year.
Mayors
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance the Government have published on the procedures to be followed in order to move from a directly-elected mayor to a cabinet system. [94719]
Mr. Woolas: Guidance on this matter is included in “New Council Constitutions: Guidance to English Local Authorities” which was published in 2001 as part of the guidance on new constitutional arrangements introduced by the Local Government Act 2000. This is available at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=l133792
Mentors
Ms Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities in England and Wales are paying for peer group mentors for their elected members. [95665]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested for England is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The information for Wales is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government.
Microgeneration
David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance is issued to local planning authorities on the processing of microgeneration applications; and if she will make a statement. [93877]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 16 October 2006]: Some microgeneration equipment will be ‘permitted development' and will not require an application for planning permission. The Government are looking to
extend the scope of what is permitted development to enable more householders to install such technologies without the need for a planning application. We will consult in the next few months on our proposals.
Where a planning application is required it should be assessed against the policies set out in the local planning authority's development plan. National planning policy on renewable energy, set out in Planning Policy Statement 22 (PPS22), expects these plans to promote and encourage renewable energy and can be a companion guide that provides practical advice for considering proposals for renewable energy, including for microgeneration.
Minimum Wage
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many employees in (a) her Department and (b) its associated agencies and non-departmental public bodies were affected by the rise in the minimum wage on 1 October. [93479]
Angela E. Smith: None—the pay rates of all staff employed in the Department for Communities and Local Government, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies, are above the minimum wage.
Planning
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 15 May 2006, Official Report, column 813W, on planning, in how many of the cases listed Estates Partnerships played a role as (a) applicant, (b) agent and (c) another role. [91715]
Yvette Cooper: Our records of planning applications and planning appeals considered by the Deputy Prime Minister and other planning Ministers show no applications from Estate Partnerships, either as appellant or agent.
We do not know which people and organisations are clients of Estate Partnerships and are therefore unable to provide any further answer with regard to them.
Planning Inspectorate
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the Planning Inspectorate's policy is on fast-tracking planning appeals relating to (a) residential developments and (b) care homes. [95900]
Yvette Cooper: Following receipt of Kate Barker's Report on Housing Supply the Government decided that for 2006-07 the Planning Inspectorate's key performance targets should include for England the following timeliness proposals for 10 or more dwellings:
To open all hearings within 20 weeks of the start date of the case.
To issue 80 per cent. of decisions within 10 weeks of the close of the hearing.
To open all inquiries within 20 weeks of the start date of the case.
To issue 80 per cent. of decisions within 10 weeks of the close of the inquiry.
There is no policy to fast-track planning appeals for other categories.
Policy Action Team 18
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what publications have been produced by her Department's Policy Action Team 18; and whether the action team remains in operation. [94647]
Mr. Woolas: Policy Action Team 18 produced one report only, titled “Better Information” published in April 2000. The action team itself no longer exists, however responsibility for the recommendations of the PAT 18 report were taken forward by a partnership of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the then Neighbourhood Renewal Unit (NRU) (now part of the Places and Communities Group, DCLG). As a result the Neighbourhood Statistics Service (NeSS) was launched.
PPG3
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 25 July 2006, Official Report, column 1610W, on Planning Policy Guidance Note 3 (PPG3), whether the 1992 edition of PPG3 applied to Wales before the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales. [94604]
Yvette Cooper: A separate version, Planning Policy Guidance note 3 (Wales), Housing in Wales, was issued for Wales in 1992, but was subsequently cancelled and superseded by Planning Guidance Wales: Planning Policy, issued by the then Secretary of State for Wales in 1996. This 1996 guidance was itself replaced in 2002 by the Welsh Assembly Government's Planning Policy Wales document referred to in my earlier answer.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the final version of planning policy statement 3 will be published. [94721]
Yvette Cooper: Planning policy statement 3: ‘Housing’ (PPS3) will be published later this year.
Public Conveniences
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many public conveniences were in working order and available for use in each of the last 10 years. [95929]
Mr. Woolas: The provision and maintenance of toilets in public places is at the discretion of local authorities who have, under section 87 of the Public
Health Act 1936, a power to provide public conveniences, but no duty to do so. For this reason, the information requested is not held centrally. Figures from the Valuation Office Agency indicate the number of public conveniences open to the public between 2000 and 2004 was as set out in the following table:
| Number of public conveniences open to the public | |||||
| Government Office Region | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | Percentage reduction |
| Note: VOA totals given in the table show conveniences that are open to the public. They will include stand alone conveniences, and also those located in (for example) car parks and shopping malls | |||||
Public Events (Risk Assessments)
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department has given to local authorities on the requirement for risk assessments of public events. [95883]
Mr. Woolas: The Department for Communities and Local Government contributed to the Health and Safety Executive’s published guidance “The Event Safety Guide: A guide to health safety and welfare at music and similar events”. The guidance includes advice on risk assessment and many practical, sensible steps to help make events run safely.
Regeneration (Thames Gateway)
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to ensure that the Building Regulations ensure (a) a satisfactory standard in the case of modern construction materials and techniques and (b) that the value of innovative products and techniques is recognised. [93958]
Angela E. Smith: Building Regulations are concerned with the health and safety of people in and around buildings, and with the accessibility and energy efficiency of buildings. The regulations prescribe performance standards which apply equally to modern and traditional construction products and techniques. The Department keeps the regulations under review, including their applicability to modern products and techniques.
Regional Fire Control Rooms
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when a draft version of the full business case for regional fire control rooms will be published. [95875]
Angela E. Smith: A draft of the FiReControl Full Business Case will be published shortly. On publication a copy will be placed in the House Library along with FRS Circular 63/2005 which sets out implementation funding for the project and details which costs will be met by central Government.
Reviews Progress
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made with the (a) Independent Equalities and (b) Discrimination Law reviews. [95312]
Meg Munn: Both reviews are progressing well. I understand that the Equalities Review will publish its final report early next year, and we intend to publish a consultation paper on the proposals emerging from the Discrimination Law Review around the same time.
Thames Gateway
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made towards the target in “Creating Sustainable Communities: Making it Happen” for the creation of 160,000 to 180,000 new jobs in the Thames Gateway between 2003 and 2016. [88726]
Yvette Cooper: The number of employees in the Thames Gateway has already increased from 548,580 in 1998 to 637,866 in 2004.
Later this year, the Department will publish a Strategic Framework for the Thames Gateway. It will have at its core an economic rationale for the Gateway, developed in partnership with the three Thames Gateway Regional Development Agencies and the Thames Gateway Sub-Regional Partnerships. The Department plans to publish a baseline report alongside the framework, which will describe the position at the start of the programme in 2003. We intend to use this to produce progress updates at appropriate intervals thereafter.
Traveller Communities
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the likely effect of the (a) recent and (b) forthcoming European Union expansion on the extent of migration of Traveller communities into the United Kingdom. [94646]
Meg Munn: The Department for Communities and Local Government has not conducted a specific assessment of the possible migration of the accession countries’ Gypsy/Roma ethnic minorities into the United Kingdom.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |