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19 Jan 2007 : Column 1354W—continued
Local Government Finance
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what statistical measures or attributes have a role in the determination of the distribution and allocation of revenue support grant to local authorities. [114722]
Mr. Woolas: Distribution of formula grant, which comprises Revenue Support Grant, redistributed business rates and principal formula Police Grant, where appropriate, is based on the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the authority, together with the number of band-D equivalent properties in the area, subject to a minimum percentage increase (the ‘floor’) on a like-for-like basis.
Details of the data used for the current year can be found in The Local Government Finance Report (England) 2006/07 (HC 858), approved by the House on 6 February 2006, together with supporting documentation published by the Department for Communities and Local Government for that settlement.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of the average council tax bill in England is (a) property-based and (b) service-based. [114749]
Mr. Woolas: Council tax bills are not made up of discrete property-based and service-based charges.
Local Government Reform
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether small district councils will be able to keep the committee system under the Government’s proposals for further local government reform. [114723]
Mr. Woolas: As paragraph 3.26 of the White Paper “Strong and Prosperous Communities” states, we do not intend to change the arrangements in the small number of authorities that, because of their small size, operate a reformed committee system.
Lyons Review
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations the Audit Commission has made to (a) her Department and (b) Sir Michael Lyons’ review on reform of local government finance. [114460]
Mr. Woolas: The Audit Commission made a submission in 2003 to the Balance of Funding Review for which my Department was responsible. A copy has been placed in the Library. While submissions to the Lyons inquiry are a matter for Sir Michael, I understand that copies of all submissions from organisations to the Lyons inquiry up to the time of the inquiry’s May report, including those from the Commission, are available on the inquiry’s website at http://www.lyonsinquiry.org.uk and that Sir Michael intends to publish further submissions at the time of his final report.
Mapping Data and Services
Mrs. Spelman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) purpose and (b) main areas of expenditure were of (i) the £100,000 payment to the East of England Development Agency, (ii) the £274,000 payment to the Valuation Office Agency, (iii) £7.7 million expenditure
on mapping data and services and (iv) the £1,160,000 transfer to the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office referred to in her written statement of 21 November 2006, Official Report, column 23WS. [114747]
Mr. Woolas: The information is as follows.
(i) East of England Development Agency
The £100,000 additional provision for the East of England Development Agency is funding for the Essex Green Grid environmental projects which were not completed in the previous financial year. The Essex Green Grid is a strategy for developing the urban and rural environment through the linking of green spaces via environmental improvements, greenways, cycle routes etc.
An increase of £274,000 was made to the Department’s annual budget for right to buy revaluations, reflecting a rise in the charge made by the Valuation Office Agency for revaluations requested by tenants. However, the number of right to buy applications has since fallen significantly and fewer tenants have therefore requested revaluations. As a consequence, it is unlikely that the additional £274,000 will now be required for reimbursement payments to the agency.
(iii) Mapping Data and Services
The £7.7 million for mapping and data services is expenditure on the Pan-Government Agreement, a collective purchasing agreement to provide geographic information to central Government. The expenditure represents other Departments’ share of the cost of the agreement and is fully offset by income from them.
(iv) Deputy Prime Minister’s Office
The transfer of £1,160,000 relates to the costs of functions which transferred from the former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to the new Deputy Prime Minister’s Office in the machinery of government changes of 5 May 2006.
ODPM Hospitality
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will break down expenditure on hospitality by the Private Office of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2005-06 by main budget heading. [114085]
Angela E. Smith: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on, 6 November, Official Report, column 867W.
Ordnance Survey
Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps the Director General of Ordnance Survey takes to separate her responsibility as a vendor of services to government from her role as the Government's Geographic Information Adviser. [116293]
Angela E. Smith:
Within Ordnance Survey responsibility for those activities concerned with provision of products and services to users including
Government, and for those concerned with provision of advice are held by different and separate groups of officials. Communities and Local Government has a Minister responsible for Ordnance Survey as a customer, with responsibilities for procurement of geographic information, and a Minister responsible for Ordnance Survey as shareholder for Ordnance Survey. Officials working on these distinct areas within CLG are in separate teams and report to the appropriate Minister.
Ministers also receive advice and recommendations on key medium to long-term geographic information issues from the United Kingdom Geographic Information Panel, established in 2005.
Parish and Town Councils
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) parish and (b) town councils there are in England. [115037]
Mr. Woolas: There are approximately 8,700 parish and town councils in England. The Department does not hold figures which distinguish between them.
Planning
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many development plan documents under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 have been refused by the Planning Inspectorate. [114946]
Yvette Cooper: Five development plan documents have been found unsound by the Planning Inspectorate.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will list the plan documents which local planning authorities must produce as a result of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. [114947]
Yvette Cooper: The local development framework should contain the following development plan documents: core strategy; site specific allocations of land; and area action plans (where needed). Local planning authorities are also required to produce a Local Development Scheme, a Statement of Community Involvement and Annual Monitoring Reports.
Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the long-term costs and liabilities arising from private finance initiative credits are to fire and rescue authorities. [115658]
Angela E. Smith:
Private finance initiative (PFI) credits are allocated to fire and rescue authorities as contributions to support the capital element of each PFI project. The current long-term costs and liabilities to fire and rescue authorities from current signed schemes are in terms of payments to contractors. Over the remaining length of the current projects in operation this amounts to £487
million. PFI credits awarded to these projects by the Department provide grant to the fire and rescue authorities which will amount to £214 million over the remaining period. This will be used by the authorities to offset their liabilities.
Special Advisers
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether any of the special advisers employed by her Department have registered external employment. [114496]
Angela E. Smith: All external employment of special advisers is registered and retained by the Department in accordance with the principles of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, and the Civil Service Code. No external employment has been registered in the last year.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 11 December 2006, Official Report, column 904W, on special advisers, what the difference is between a special adviser and a policy adviser; and how many (a) special advisers and (b) policy advisers are employed by her Department. [114569]
Angela E. Smith: Special advisers are appointed by Ministers and add a political dimension to the advice and assistance available to them. Policy advisers are permanent civil servants who provide policy advice to Ministers but are required to be politically neutral.
There are currently three special advisers and two policy advisers employed in the Department. Special advisers and civil servants operate under their respective codes.
Sustainable Communities Bill
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) whether (a) she and (b) her Ministers intend to attend any of the forthcoming public meetings on the Sustainable Communities Bill; [113726]
(2) if she will make it her Department’s policy to support the Sustainable Communities Bill; [113727]
(3) how many public meetings (a) she and (b) her Ministers have attended on the Sustainable Communities Bill; [113728]
(4) how many invitations (a) she and (b) her Ministers have received to speak at public meetings on the Sustainable Communities Bill. [113730]
Mr. Woolas: Ministers have received a number of invitations to meetings relating to this Bill, and therefore, we recently met supporters of the Bill to discuss the issues it seeks to address and the relationship to the Government’s Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill.
Valuation Office Agency
Mrs. Spelman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what use the Valuation Office Agency is making of its automated
valuation model in its current valuation exercise; and whether the agency is using the model for valuing domestic properties when (a) the property is sold, (b) a new property is built and (c) the property is valued after a material change at the request of the owner. [114530]
Mr. Woolas: There is no “current valuation exercise” as the council tax revaluation in England has been postponed. Elements used in automated valuation modelling are being developed for use in supporting the normal day-to-day work of continuing to maintain the current (1993) lists.
Constitutional Affairs
Adoption
Annette Brooke: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what average time was taken to obtain a court date from the time of application for an adoption placement order in (a) London and (b) other parts of England in the latest period for which figures are available. [117002]
Ms Harman: More up-to-date information than that provided to the hon. Member in my answer of 24 July 2006, Official Report, column 932W, is not available, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Islamic Shariah Council
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether Ministers and civil servants in her Department have held meetings with the Islamic Shariah Council; and if she will make a statement. [116973]
Ms Harman: Neither Ministers nor officials from this Department have held meetings with the Islamic Shariah Council.
Culture, Media and Sport
Departmental Studies
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 11 December 2006, Official Report, column 812W, on departmental studies, if she will place in the Library a copy of (a) Measuring elasticity of tourism demand, (b) Casino impacts scoping study, (c) Independent technical review on sport and leisure facility equity indicators, (d) Sport’s contribution to achieving wider social benefits, (e) economic impact of Department of Culture, Media and Sports cultural investment, (f) Creative industries analysis, (g) Review of evidence base for delivering SP2/PSA3, (h) Willingness to pay for work to inform licence fee setting, (i) Assessing the readiness of social housing sector for digital switchover, (j) Assessing the impact of 2005 Gambling Act on internet gambling, (k) International dimension of the creative economy, (l) Exploring creative
industry spillovers, (m) Governance of non-departmental public bodies, (n) Knowledge economy, (o) Scoping links between the creative industry and the rest of the economy and (p) Museums indicators revisions. [113685]
Mr. Lammy: Items (a), (b), (d), (e), (g), (i), (k), (I), (m), (o), and (p) are not yet complete, but the Department will place copies in the Libraries of the House at a later date. Items (f) and (h) have been placed in the Libraries of the House. Items (j) and (n) will soon be placed in the Libraries of the House. Item (c) contains commercially sensitive information, so there are no plans to make the document publicly available.
Legal Advice
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been spent by the Department on external legal advice in each of the past five years. [109103]
Mr. Lammy: On the basis of available records, the total cost to the Department of external legal advice in each of the last five years is shown in the following table.
| Financial year | £ |
| (1) Spend to date. | |
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