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30 Jan 2007 : Column 292W—continued
The definition of central funding used here is the sum of specific government grants inside aggregate external finance (i.e. revenue grants paid for councils’ core services), and formula grant (revenue support grant and redistributed business rates). In past years, where applicable the SSA reduction grant, police grant, and central support protection grants have also been included.
Figures exclude capital grants, funding for local authorities’ housing management responsibilities and those grant programmes (such as European funding) where authorities are simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area.
The London borough total excludes the City of London.
Minerva
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what commercial (a) lease agreements and (b) contracts her Department and its predecessors have made with Minerva plc. since 1997. [111973]
Angela E. Smith: The Department has no lease agreements or contracts with Minerva plc. The predecessor Department, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which began in May 2002, also had no lease agreements or contracts with Minerva plc. Data prior to 2002 are obtainable only at disproportionate cost.
Mosaic Data
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what purpose the Audit Commission purchased Mosaic data from Experian; and how much was spent on the data. [111944]
Mr. Woolas: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission. I have asked the Chief Executive of the Commission to write to the hon. Member and shall ensure that the answer is made available in the Library of the House.
Open Space Works
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the estimated cost is of her Department's Open Space Works programme. [114470]
Angela E. Smith: The Open Space Works project will introduce full open plan accommodation for Communities and Local Government's HQ staff. It is currently forecast to cost £7.9 million (excluding VAT). The project will allow Communities and Local Government to accommodate London HQ staff in two buildings. Savings are forecast to pay back the investment in 2.4 years and to deliver savings of £3.5 million per annum beyond that.
Parish Councils
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions she has had with the National Association of Local Councils about enhancing the powers of parish councils. [111713]
Mr. Woolas:
The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has played a full and valuable role in the development of the Government’s policies relating to parish and town councils, involving frequent meetings with officials from my Department. In particular, NALC has advised on a number of reforms to the parish council sector, including reforms to the approach to parish reviews, the proposed extension of the power of wellbeing to eligible parish councils and also parish councils in London. These reforms and
others are now before Parliament in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill. More generally NALC contributed during 2005-06 to the project board charged with taking forward the ideas published in “Citizen Engagement and Public Services: Why Neighbourhoods Matter”.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many parish councils in England have had vacancies for a councillor of more than six months in the last three years. [111714]
Mr. Woolas: We do not hold this information centrally.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what support is available for parish councils wishing to obtain quality parish council status. [111715]
Mr. Woolas: The support available for parish councils wishing to obtain quality parish council status includes a bursary scheme of the National Association of Local Councils, assistance from individual County Associations of Local Councils, and the guidance published jointly by the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs and the then Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average turnout was in parish council elections in England in the last five years. [111717]
Mr. Woolas: Information about the turnout of parish council elections is not collected by Government.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she will answer question 103216, on super output areas tabled on 21 November 2006 by the hon. Member for Yeovil. [112150]
Mr. Woolas: I have now replied to the hon. Member’s question. I apologise for the delay in responding to it.
Planning Inspectorate
Mr. Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the Planning Inspectorate will provide a substantive reply to the letter from Reigate and Banstead borough council of 13 November 2006, reference PLE01/351 (07707). [117258]
Yvette Cooper: The Planning Inspectorate is currently investigating the cause of the delay in dealing with Reigate and Banstead borough council's letter of 13 November. A substantive reply will be sent within the next seven days.
Private Sector Contracts
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) remit, (b) membership and (c) reporting date is of the inquiry into private sector contracts with local authorities; and if she will make a statement. [111965]
Mr. Woolas: My right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has received a letter from the Local Government Association proposing a review of procurement. Discussions are under way with the association on the format for taking this work forward.
Public Requests Ordering Disposal
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) which properties were involved in the 14 cases of public request to order disposal since 1997; [103928]
(2) what the reasons were in each case where she has refused a public request ordering disposal since 1997. [104093]
Yvette Cooper: The following table lists the land or properties involved in the 14 cases along with the reasons why a direction was not issued under section 98 of the Local Government Planning and Land Act 1980.
Under section 98 the Secretary of State can order local authorities and certain other public bodies to dispose of their vacant or underused land. Any member of the public can request that the Secretary of State use this power. If, having considered the request and received representations from the owners, the Secretary of State is satisfied that the land in question is not being used or not being sufficiently used for the purposes of that body’s functions then she may issue a direction.
The table shows that there has been a variety of reasons why directions were not issued and in the majority of these cases the Secretary of State did not refuse the public request to order disposal.
Revenue Support Grant
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if her Department will reform the Revenue Support Grant Formula to take into account the cost pressures associated with containing a busy airport or port. [110838]
Mr. Woolas: We have no current plans to review the funding formula to take specific account of the cost pressures associated with containing a busy airport or port. Formula Grant (which includes Revenue Support Grant) can be used by councils for any purpose, provided their statutory obligations are met. I note that Hillingdon’s formula grant will increase by 4.4 per cent. in 2007-08.
Rough Sleeping
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what measures are in place (a) to maintain and (b) to audit the accuracy of her Department’s estimates of rough sleeping. [114507]
Yvette Cooper: The Prime Minister’s target to reduce rough sleeping by two thirds from 1998 levels was met ahead of time in 2001 and is now 73 per cent. lower and being sustained. My officials work closely with local authorities to ensure that levels of rough sleeping remain low and are further reduced through implementation of their homelessness strategies, required under the Homelessness Act 2002.
Local authorities undertake rough sleeping counts in accordance with guidance developed by the Department in association with the voluntary sector. Departmental officials also attend many counts and we are in the process of extending independent verification to cover all counts undertaken. Local authorities submit the outcome of a count, or their estimate, in their housing strategy and statistical appendix each year. It is these local authority figures that are published each September in the national rough sleeping estimate. Independent evaluations have confirmed the overall reduction since 1997. In addition we are looking at other ways to assess wider homelessness which may not be captured by the current count methods.
Shared-ownership Housing
Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which housing associations required buyers to purchase outright a share greater than 75 per cent. in shared-ownership housing developments in the last 24 months. [110762]
Yvette Cooper: Properties which are grant funded by the Housing Corporation are not offered for sale with a requirement to purchase above 75 per cent.
Some Housing Associations may offer different terms on schemes provided with their own funding, but the Department for Communities and Local Government do not collect information on the terms and conditions of these schemes because they are not grant funded.
Social Housing
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she expects to meet the decent homes standard in social housing by 2010; and what estimate she has made of the proportion of housing stock which will fail to meet the target. [114715]
Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on 7 June 2006, Official Report, column 28WS.
Super Output Areas
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the population is of each of the lower layer super output areas listed in the answer to question reference 68496; what the 10 most deprived lower layer super output areas are in (a) England and (b) the UK; and if she will make a statement. [103216]
Mr. Woolas: The following table lists the number of people in each lower layer super output area (LSOA) given in answer to question reference 68496. A total of 293,746 people live in these LSOAs.
| SOA code | Local authority name | Government office region | Rank of IMD( 1) | Population 2004 |
| (1) Where 1 is most deprived. | ||||
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