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26 Jan 2007 : Column 2098W—continued
Local Planning Authorities
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local planning authorities have a specialist in-house conservation service. [110889]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 23 January 2007]: Results of research commissioned by English Heritage and the Institute of Historic Building Conservation and carried out by Oxford Brookes University was published in “Local Authority Conservation Provision in England” (February 2003). This states that 85 per cent. of local authorities can draw on at least some in-house conservation expertise. The average per authority is 1.7 full-time equivalent specialists.
A recent telephone survey of planning authorities, part of further research by English Heritage and the Institute of Historic Building Conservation for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, suggests that there has been little change since 2003.
Renewable Energy
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 4 December 2006, Official Report, column 185W, on renewable energy, what plans she has to increase the amount of energy from renewable sources. [111907]
Angela E. Smith: Government Departments are mandated to source at least 10 per cent. of electricity from renewable sources by March 2008.
Communities and Local Government's HQ estate presently obtains 99 per cent. of its electricity from renewable sources. The remaining 1 per cent. is provided by our landlord in a multi-occupancy building as part of the service charge, and they have no proposals to change this arrangement.
CLG’s agencies obtain 52 per cent. of their electricity from renewable sources, and at this time they have no plans to increase this percentage, although the situation is reviewed annually. This review takes into consideration factors such as cost, market forces and Government commitments.
Social Care Funding
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make it her policy to increase levels of social care funding for local authorities; and if she will make a statement. [110881]
Mr. Woolas: The Government have provided significant investment in local services, including in the area of social care, since taking office. Total Government grant has increased by 39 per cent. in real terms since 1997. We are working with local government to identify future pressures on local authorities, and the ways in which these can be mitigated, as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007.
Work and Pensions
Access to Work Scheme
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many access to work advisers there are in each region. [109751]
Mrs. McGuire [holding answer on 18 December 2006]: The information is in the following table:
| Region | Number of advisers |
Benefits
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants were in receipt of (a) incapacity benefit only, (b) incapacity benefit in combination with any other benefit, broken down by type of benefit, (c) any single benefit other than incapacity benefit, broken down by type of benefit and (d) any combination of benefits, other than those involving incapacity benefit, broken down by type of combination in each of the last five years; and what the average weekly level of benefit received by a claimant was in each category in each year. [101741]
Mrs. McGuire: The available information is in the following tables.
| All claimants by benefit combination, Great Britain | |||||
| Thousand | |||||
| Benefit combination | May 2002 | May 2003 | May 2004 | May 2005 | May 2006 |
| Total average weekly amount for all claimants by benefit combination, Great Britain | |||||
| £ per week | |||||
| Benefit combination | May 2002 | May 2003 | May 2004 | May 2005 | May 2006 |
| Notes: 1. Case load figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and displayed in thousands; Some additional disclosure control has also been applied. 2. Average amounts are shown as pounds per week and rounded to the nearest penny. 3. Benefits included are jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), income support (IS), pension credit (PC), incapacity benefit (IB), severe disablement allowance (SDA), disability living allowance (DLA) (from May 2002), carer’s allowance (CA), bereavement benefit (BB)/widow’s benefit (WB), state pension, attendance allowance and national insurance credits only (through JSA or IB). 4. Housing benefit and council tax benefit are not available from WPLS data and are shown separately. 5. Average weekly amounts are combined averages of all benefits in payment. 6. Figures for AA, CA and DLA include those cases with entitlement but where payment is currently suspended (for example, because of an extended stay in hospital or an overlapping benefit). 7. Average weekly amounts of carer’s allowance are unreliable prior to August 2003 and are therefore not included in the table Source: Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) 100 per cent. data. | |||||
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