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19 Dec 2006 : Column 1826Wcontinued
Complaints received | Complaints dealt with | |
The number of cases under investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman as at 30 November 2006 was 4,922.
The average time taken for a case to be dealt with by the Local Government Ombudsman in the 12 months prior to 30 November 2006 was 13.6 weeks.
The Local Government Ombudsman employs 106 investigators.
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which sectors of employment are covered by the Local Government Pension Scheme; what the membership of the scheme is in each sector; what estimate she has made of the average length of service in the scheme in each sector; and what estimate she has made of the proportion of total employment in each sector that scheme membership represents. [109829]
Mr. Woolas: Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme covers a number of different employment sectors including all local authority staff, non-operational staff in the police and firelighters sectors and non-teaching staff in the education sector. Non-local authority sectors that participate in the scheme include, for example, voluntary bodies, charities, housing bodies and private sector companies delivering local authority type services under contract.
Specific information about the number of scheme members in each of these sectors; the average length of service in each sector and the proportion of the total employment they represent, is not held centrally. However, data which are available indicate that about one fifth of the 1.6 million active members of the LGPS are employed in the non-local government sector. Individual Local Government Pension Scheme administering authorities will have the membership details within each of the sectors requested.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on the potential role of (a) the regions, (b) cities and (c) Coventry in the Olympic Games. [109690]
Yvette Cooper: The role of the regions in the Olympic Games, and the actions necessary to capture regional opportunities, are receiving detailed consideration through the medium of the Olympic Regional Delivery Plans which each region is currently preparing. The process involves key urban authorities in each case, including Coventry in the West Midlands.
My department is involved in the cross government work in this area.
Sir Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which Ministers in her Department have visited Leicester in the last year; and where they visited in Leicester. [108690]
Mr. Woolas: Communities and Local Government Ministers have visited Leicester on five occasions in the last year.
The Minister for Housing and Planning attended a meeting in the Town Hall and visited a development site at Carlton Square. The Minister for Local Government visited Leicester as part of the programme of Preventing Extremism Together re-visits. The Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Meg Munn) visited Leicesters Peepul Centre. The Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Angela E. Smith) visited the Leicester Fire and Rescue Service Southern Fire and Rescue Centre and the Leicester Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters.
All Ministerial visits are conducted in accordance with the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers.
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what account she takes of the use to which funds raised by a conference are to be put before deciding whether it is appropriate for a Minister in her Department to attend in an official capacity; and what guidance she has issued on this matter. [110373]
Angela E. Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given today by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister (UIN 110372).
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what criteria included in PPS6 will be used to assess the merits of future applications for large-format out-of-town grocery outlets. [110241]
Yvette Cooper: Planning Policy Statement 6: Planning for town centres, published in March 2005, sets out the Governments policy and how it bears upon the determination of planning applications for out of town retail development. The key considerations to be taken into account in assessing such applications are set out in Paragraph 3.4 of PPS6.
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department has provided to Bedfordshire county council in relation to the Oxford Cambridge Arc. [110025]
Yvette Cooper:
The Department for Communities and Local Government has not provided any funds to Bedfordshire county council specifically in relationto the Oxford Cambridge Arc initiative. The Oxford to Cambridge Arc initiative is funded and overseen jointly
by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA), and the East of England Development Agency (EEDA).
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which public appointments have been made by her Department and its predecessor to former Ministers who have served in the Government since May 1997. [105761]
Angela E. Smith: I am unaware of any public appointments made by my Department and its predecessor to former Ministers who have served in the Government since May 1997.
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department has spent on commissioning public opinion research in each of the last five years. [105443]
Angela E. Smith: The Department for Communities and Local Government, established on 5 May 2006 has spent £35,000 on commissioning public opinion research.
Expenditure on public opinion research for the previous four years under the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are as follows:
£ | |
Mr. Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding is available from her Department to help (a) local authorities and (b) crime and disorder reduction partnerships employ resident co-ordinators to reduce antisocial behaviour in communities. [110068]
Angela E. Smith: Communities and Local Government does not provide funding specifically towards the employment of resident co-ordinators to reduce anti-social behaviour in communities. However, a number of funding streams are provided by my Department to local authorities to meet their local priorities. It is the local authoritys responsibility to ensure funds are available to Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships to meet community safety priorities.
Mr. Duncan Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which staff in her Department are seconded from organisations with charitable status; and which have (a) costs and (b) salaries met (i) in part and (ii) in whole (A) from public
funds and (B) by the charity from which they are seconded. [102416]
Angela E. Smith: There is presently one member of staff seconded from an organisation with charitable status. The cost and salary is met in the whole from public funds.
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what Government policy is on the prescription of Alzheimers drugs based on a clinical need as assessed by medical staff in Northern Ireland. [110275]
Paul Goggins: Current policy is that the drugs donezepil, galantamine, rivastigmine and memantine are available on prescription in Northern Ireland following examination and recommendation by a consultant. These medicines can subsequently be prescribed and monitored by general practitioners for individual patients. The position on the availability of drugs for treating people with Alzheimers disease is being reviewed by my Department in light of the recent NICE technology appraisal on Alzheimers drugs and the institutes broader clinical guideline on the management of dementia.
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people claimed (a) disability living allowance, (b) incapacity benefit, (c) attendance allowance, (d) income support and (e) job seekers allowance in each of the 26 district council areas in each of the last three years. [110087]
Mr. Hanson: The information requested is shown in the following tables:
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