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25 Jan 2007 : Column 1925W—continued
Government Office for London
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the budget was of the Government Office for London in (a) 1997 and (b) 2006, broken down by Department. [115360]
Angela E. Smith: We do not hold administration budget information on Government Office for London broken down by Department for 1997-98. The overall administration budget for GOL in 1997-98 was £13,458,820. The current budget for 2006-07 is £17,955,700. This is broken down as follows:
| Department | Budget (£000) |
Government Offices for the Regions
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which Government Departments contribute to the programme expenditure of each of the Government Offices for the Regions (GOR); and how much each Government Department provided to each GOR in the most recent year for which figures are available. [113729]
Angela E. Smith: The following Departments contribute towards the programme expenditure of each Government Office: DEFRA, DfES, Home Office, DTI, Communities and Local Government, DWP and DfT.
The Department for Communities and Local Government’s delegated programme expenditure for 2006-07 for each GO was estimated as follows:
| Government Office | Programme expenditure (£) |
The Department for Communities and Local Government does not centrally hold programme expenditure data for the other sponsor Departments to the nine Government Offices.
High Hedge Disputes
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment her Department has made of the charges levied by individual local planning authorities for high hedge dispute applications. [111979]
Meg Munn:
The Department for Communities and Local Government has made no formal evaluation of
the level or impact of fees levied by local authorities under Part 8 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 to deal with complaints about high hedges. Information on these fees is not collected centrally. Our advice in “High Hedges Complaints: Prevention and Cure” indicates that each local authority is responsible for deciding whether, and at what level, to charge for dealing with complaints about high hedges.
We will carry out a review of this part of the 2003 Act in 2010 after it has been in operation for five years. We are aware that authorities are keeping their fees for this service under review.
Local Government
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many councils in England operate the (a) leader and cabinet, (b) mayor and cabinet, (c) mayor and manager and (d) streamlined committee systems of decision-making; and if she will make a statement. [117245]
Mr. Woolas: The number of councils operating each governance model is as follows:
(a) Leader and cabinet—318
(b) Mayor and cabinet—11
(c) Mayor and council manager—1
(d) Alternative arrangements (streamlined committee system)—56
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of local authorities in England elect councillors (a) by thirds and (b) all-out. [117246]
Mr. Woolas: Of the 388 principal local authorities in England, 35 per cent. (all 36 metropolitan district councils and 98 shire district councils) elect by thirds; 2 per cent. (seven shire district councils) elect by halves; and 63 per cent. (all 32 London boroughs and the City of London, all 35 county councils and 179 shire district councils and the Isles of Scilly) hold whole council elections.
Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of local authorities electing councillors by thirds have expressed a wish to move to all-out elections. [117247]
Mr. Woolas: Following the Electoral Commission's report “The cycle of local government elections in England” which, after consultation with stakeholders, recommended a move to all-out elections for all local authorities in England, we have received inquiries about changing electoral cycles from 21 per cent. of shire district councils that currently elect by thirds. To date, three of those local authorities have made a formal request to amend their cycle. The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill provides that, in future, all councils, including metropolitan district councils that are currently barred from whole council elections, which elect by thirds can, by council resolution, move to whole council elections.
Local Government Finance
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects (a) to receive, (b) to publish and (c) to respond to the report of the Lyons Inquiry into local government finance. [114721]
Mr. Woolas: Sir Michael Lyons’s report will be published around the time of Budget 2007. His work will inform the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007. Decisions on the Government’s response will be taken in light of the report.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) pursuant to the answer of 4 December 2006, Official Report, column 170W, on council tax, what information on (a) town and (b) parish council tax precepts her Department collects for the collation of the yearly council tax datasets published by her Department each March; [114907]
(2) how many (a) parish and (b) town councils levy a precept on council tax in England. [115036]
Mr. Woolas: The Department collects, from each billing authority and for each financial year, the figure for the aggregate amount of any precepts issued by local precepting authorities, or anticipated by the billing authority. Local precepting authorities comprise parish and town councils and similar bodies, such as parish meetings and charter trustees.
Local Government Restructuring
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether a referendum is required (a) to ratify and (b) to approve a move to unitary local government from a two-tier structure. [103904]
Mr. Woolas: A referendum will not be required to ratify or approve a move to unitary local government.
Local Taxation
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether her Department is assessing the implications of the introduction of the discrete capital values system of local taxation and the conduct of the rates revaluation in Northern Ireland for policy making in England. [111942]
Neighbourhood Renewal Fund
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will break down by main budget heading the programme expenditure for the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund initiative in the (a) North West, (b) London, (c) East Midlands, (d) Eastern, (e) Yorkshire and Humberside, (f) West Midlands, (g) South West and (h) North East region in the most recent year for which figures are available. [110970]
Mr. Woolas: The Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) is a special unhypothecated grant paid to the 86 most deprived areas in England. NRF can be used in any way a locality wishes—as long as its use is agreed through their Local Strategic Partnership and contributes to the achievement of neighbourhood renewal outcomes in line with a local neighbourhood renewal strategy.
NRF programme expenditure in the current financial year (2006-07) for the eight(1) English regions listed is set out in the following table.
(1) The ninth region (South East) has a 2006-07 NRF allocation of £3.376 million.
| Region | £ million |
New Deal
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will break down by main budget heading the programme expenditure for the New Deal for Communities initiative in the (a) Eastern, (b) east Midlands, (c) London, (d) north-east, (e) north-west and (f) south-east regions in the most recent year for which figures are available. [110731]
Mr. Woolas: The 39 NDC neighbourhoods will be allocated £2 billion over 10 years (average of £52 million each). The breakdown for capital/resource expenditure for the regions specified is as follows for financial year 2005-06:
| New Deal for Communities expenditure 2005-06 | ||||
| £000 | ||||
| Region | Number of NDCs | Resource spend | Capital spend | Total spend |
Non-departmental Public Bodies
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which non-departmental public bodies are sponsored by her Department; what the function is of each body; and what the budget was for each body in the most recent year for which figures are available. [116757]
Angela E. Smith:
Details of the remit, Government funding and gross expenditure of public bodies sponsored by the Department for Communities and Local Government can be found in the Cabinet Office
publication “Public Bodies 2006”, copies of which are in the Library and which is also available online at:
http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/other/agencies/publications/pdf/public-bodies/publicbodies2006.pdf
In addition to those bodies listed in the 2006 edition under the Department for Communities and Local Government, this Department is now also responsible for the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Women’s National Commission, listed under the Department for Trade and Industry; and the Commission for Racial Equality and the Community Development Foundation listed under the Home Office.
The National Housing and Planning Advice Unit is a new Advisory NDPB and does not appear in Public Bodies 2006. It has been set up to provide independent advice and strengthen the evidence and analysis on improving housing market affordability available to the regional planning bodies throughout the planning process. Its budget for 2006-07 is £1.5 million. It is expected to be fully operational from March 2007.
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