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11 Dec 2006 : Column 901W—continued
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many days were lost to (a) long-term and (b) short-term sick leave in each local authority in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [105670]
Mr. Woolas: The Best Value Performance Indicator 12 provides information on sickness absence records for each local authority. Figures from 2000-01 are available at www.bvpi.gov.uk.
Figures for 2005-06 have recently been collated and will be added shortly. Sickness absence data was not collected by the Department prior to 2000. Councils are not required to report the split between long-term and short-term sick leave.
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authority wards have received funding from urban regeneration programmes since 1979; under which programmes each received funding; and how much each received. [105724]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Historically the Department has not collated this information at ward level, as all funds were allocated by individual projects/programmes rather than by ward.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much Tamworth Borough Council received from central government in real terms in each of the past six years. [105737]
Mr. Woolas: The central Government grant received by Tamworth borough council expressed in terms of 2005-06 prices in each of the past six years is shown in the following table.
| 2005-06 prices (£000) | |
| Source: Communities and Local Government Revenue Outturn (RO) returns and HM Treasury GDP deflators | |
The real terms figures have been calculated using the latest GDP deflators.
Government grant is defined here as the sum of specific grants inside aggregate external finance (i.e. revenue grants paid for councils' core services), formula grant (revenue support grant, redistributed business rates and police grant) and Greater London Authority (GLA) grant.
Comparisons across years may not be valid due to changing local authority responsibilities. The information provided excludes capital funding and funding for local authorities' housing management responsibilities. The information also excludes those grant programmes, such as European funding, where authorities are simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area.
Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what estimate of the number of A8 migrants in local authority areas will be used in the calculation of support grant to local authorities in England; [105842]
(2) how she plans to reflect the impact of A8 migration on the allocation of funds to local authorities in England. [105844]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 29 November 2006]: The 2007-08 Local Government Finance Settlement is the second year of a two-year settlement period. Provisional allocations for 2007-08 were therefore first published in December 2005. Multi-year settlements have been welcomed by local government.
For the Local Government Finance settlements, we have to use the best data that are available at the time, and that treat all local authorities on a consistent basis.
Therefore, for the measure of the resident population in the 2007-08 settlement, we have used the 2003-based sub-national population projection for 2007 as the key measure of population, and the mid-2004 estimate of population within other indicators used in the top-up formulae. These were the best data available at the time.
As multi-year settlements bring stability and predictability to local authority funding, we do not intend to change the settlement from that previously announced, other than in exceptional circumstances.
The next round of multi-year settlements, for 2008-09 to 2010-11, will be made in late 2007. The best data on population that will be available at that point will be the 2004-based sub-national population projections and the mid-2006 estimate of population.
Jenny Willott:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent on (a) electricity and (b) gas by each local
authority in each year since 2001; what the average expenditure on electricity and gas was by local authorities in each year; and if she will make a statement. [106320]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not available for all local authorities in England. The England estimates of local authority expenditure on (a) electricity and (b) gas and other energy costs are tabled as follows.
| £000 | ||
| Energy costs | ||
| Electricity | Gas and other( 1) | |
| (1) Figures collected for 2001-02 were for gas only while from 2002-03 onwards figures include gas and other energy costs. As 2002-03 was the first year of the new definition, the figure for that year may be less reliable. Source: Communities and Local Government Revenue Outturn (RO) suite of forms—Subjective Analysis Return (SAR). | ||
Mayor of London
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost was to the public purse of the case against the Mayor of London by the Standards Board and the Adjudication Panel. [106284]
Mr. Woolas: The costs incurred by the Standards Board in respect of the case against the Mayor of London currently stand at £63,000. This figure does not include the costs incurred by the Mayor, which have yet to be finalised, but which will be met by the Standards Board in due course. The cost to the Adjudication Panel for England in respect of this case was £14,000.
Newcastle City Council Finance
Mr. Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what population figures for the City of Newcastle upon Tyne were used to calculate Newcastle City Council’s Revenue Support Grant for (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05 and (c) 2005-06; and what population projections will be used for the grant in each of the next three financial years. [107763]
Mr. Woolas: Mid-year population estimates published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) were used in the calculation of formula grant in 2003-04 to 2005-06. The revised mid-2001 and mid-2002 population estimates were incorporated through amending reports. The following table shows the population figures for the City of Newcastle upon Tyne that were used:
| Settlement year | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 |
| Population data used | ( 1) Mid-2001 | ( 1) Mid-2002 | ( 1) Mid-2003 |
| (1 )Estimates Note: Unrounded population figures are used in settlement calculations, though ONS publish rounded population data. Source: ONS | |||
Following consultation, the Government adopted the policy of multi-year formula grant settlements from 2006-07. The use of population projections as the key measure of population was a part of this change. The first multi-year formula grant settlement under that policy concerns the financial years 2006-07 and 2007-08.
For the 2006-07 settlement, the best available population projections were the ONS 2003-based sub-national population projections. From this dataset, the projected population for 2006 were used.
As 2007-08 is the second year of a multi-year settlement and was calculated at the same time as the 2006-07 settlement, the provisional 2007-08 settlement also uses the 2003-based sub-national population projections. From this dataset, the projected population for 2007 are used. The Government are currently consulting on the 2007-08 provisional settlement and will take into account all relevant representations made during the consultation period before making the final settlement.
For the 2008-09 to 2010-11 settlements, consistent with the Government’s policy on multi-year formula grant settlements, we intend to use the ONS’s 2004-based sub-national population projections. We intend to use the projected population for 2008, 2009 and 2010 in each of the respective settlements. The Government will consult fully with local authorities before making these settlements.
Persimmon Homes
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on how many occasions in the last 12 months (a) she, (b) ministerial colleagues and (c) her officials have had meetings with (i) Persimmon Homes and (ii) the company's representatives. [107299]
Yvette Cooper:
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has had no meetings with Persimmon Homes or their representatives within the last 12 months. I am not
aware of any meetings that my ministerial colleagues or officials have had with Persimmon Homes or their representatives over the same period. Senior Persimmon employees have attended events and workshops where Ministers and officials have spoken.
Planning Policy Guidance 3
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent representations she has received on Planning Policy Guidance 3. [105895]
Yvette Cooper: The Department received a range of representations on the proposed replacement of Planning Policy Guidance note 3 with Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3) when it was published in draft for consultation last year. Final PPS3 was published on 29 November, together with the Summary of consultation responses. Copies of both documents are in the Library of the House.
Recruitment
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 28 November 2006, Official Report, column 532W, on departmental staff, how many applications the Department has received for the position of Director General of Equalities; and when she expects the position to be filled. [107332]
Angela E. Smith: 53 candidates applied for the position of Director General of Equalities. Appointment procedures are in the final stages and it is expected that the position will be filled in the new year.
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department spent on recruitment advertising in each of the last three years. [107738]
Angela E. Smith: Communities and Local Government was created on 5 May 2006, so figures for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are included in the figures in the table.
As required under the Civil Service Recruitment Commissioners’ Code, vacancies in Communities and Local Government are advertised in accordance with the principles of merit, open and fair competition. Posts may be advertised, based on the individual circumstances, both within and outside the civil service and in a variety of media such as the press, the internet or local jobcentres.
The total cost of recruitment advertising in each of the last three years is as follows (note the figures are given as expenditure in financial years). The majority of these posts were classed as specialist i.e. Senior Research Officers, Assistant Librarians, Accountants, Auditors and Statistical Officers.
| £ | |
Religiously Aggravated Offences
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many church buildings have been damaged in faith hate crimes in each of the last five years. [104631]
Mr. Woolas: The information requested is not held centrally.
Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many reports of faith hate incidents there have been in each of the last five years. [104632]
Mr. Woolas: Statistics on religiously aggravated offences in England and Wales cannot be separated from recorded crime statistics for racially and religiously aggravated offences.
The police treat faith hate incidents as racist incidents. Their definition when recording such incidents is, “any incident which is regarded as racist by the victim or any other person”. This is the definition recommended by the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry.
As a consequence, the statistics available do not distinguish between religiously and racially aggravated crime. The total number of racially or religiously aggravated offences recorded in England and Wales has risen from 31,035 in 2002-03 to 35,022 in 2003-04 and to 37,074 in 2004-05, according to the Home Office Statistical Bulletin “Crime in England and Wales 2004/05”.
Placing this rise in perspective, the British Crime Survey (BCS) put racially motivated incidents at around 179,000 based on interviews in 2004-05. The estimated number of racially motivated incidents was 206,000 based on the 2003-04 interviews, and there was a similar response in 2002-03. The BCS figures for these years were not broken down by the religion of the victim.
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