Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
22 Mar 2007 : Column 1101Wcontinued
24. Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what recent representations she has received on the application of the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007. [128974]
Meg Munn: Since the end of the consultation phase we have received over 4,000 letters, from a wide variety of individuals and organisations, and the Secretary of Sate has continued to hold meetings with representatives from a broad spectrum of stakeholder groups. We have recognised and listened to the strongly held beliefs on this complex issue, and are confident that the Regulations (approved by Parliament) strike a balance which uphold the rights of all.
Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what recent discussions she has had with Home Office colleagues on violence against women; and if she will make a statement. [128972]
Meg Munn: The Government are committed to tackling violence against women in all its forms.
I have regular discussions with Home Office colleagues on measures to address violence through the domestic violence, sexual offences and trafficking inter-ministerial groups. Recent initiatives have included the development of cross-government action plans.
Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much each local authority in England and Wales spent on community safety in 2005-06; and what proportion of each authority's total expenditure this represented. [128908]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 20 March 2007]: Information on how much each local authority in England spent on community safety in 2005-06 has been made available in a table which has been placed in the Library of the House. The data are as recorded on revenue and capital outturn returns submitted to this Department by each local authority.
Information for Welsh local authorities is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government.
Nick Herbert:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average expenditure was on community safety by local
authorities in 2005-06, broken down by type of local authority; and what proportion of total expenditure this represented. [128909]
Mr. Woolas [holding answer 20 March 2007]: The information requested for English local authorities is shown in the following table.
Expenditure on community safety, police and fire services by type of local authority: 2005-06 | ||
Average expenditure (£ million) | Proportion of total expenditure (Percentage) | |
Source: Communities and Local Government Revenue Outturn and Capital Outturn Returns |
Community safety is defined as the whole of expenditure on police and fire services plus the revenue spending on crime reduction and safety services and capital spending on community safety. These categories capture spending on community safety which authorities cannot clearly or properly allocate to a specific service.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what Gateway reviews (a) have been produced and (b) are under way for projects under the responsibility of her Department and its agencies. [127102]
Ruth Kelly: Office of Government Commerce (OGC) gateway reviews have been carried out on the following Communities and Local Government projects and programmes since the Department was created on 5 May 2006:
Home Information Packs
Fire Service College E-Learning
Transactional ERDF and State Aid
Pan-Government Agreement on Geographical Information
Government Office IT Outsourcing Project
Open Space Works
Tenancy Deposit Protection
Thames Gateway
Housing Corporation ICT Infrastructure Management
Local Area Agreements
FiReControl
Franchising Sustainable Communities Summit
New Dimension (Long Term Capability Management).
Mrs. Spelman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether a full
council could overturn the (a) decisions and (b) budget of a directly-elected executive under her proposals for reform of local government. [127010]
Ruth Kelly: The Local Government Act 2000 provides that all decisions in the authority are the responsibility of the executive unless otherwise provided for in regulations made under that Act. This applies to a directly elected executive as to any other executive. Those regulations provide for the authority to adopt its annual budget based on the executive's proposals, with or without amendment. In the case of a mayoral executive, the council can amend the executive's budget proposals only on a two-thirds majority, and we intend to apply this same provision to elected executives.
Mr. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much central Government grant each local authority delivering social services would have received if (a) floors and ceilings had not been applied and (b) if damping had not been applied to the children and young adults element of the grant. [112523]
Mr. Woolas [pursuant to the reply, 8 February 2007, Official Report, c. 1162W]: A corrected table has been placed in the Library of the House showing how much formula grant, which comprises revenue support grant, redistributed business rates and principal formula police grant, would have been received in 2007-08 (a) if damping had been applied to the Children's Social Care Relative Needs Formula and the Younger Adults' Personal Social Services Relative Needs Formula but floor damping had not been applied and (b) if damping had neither been applied to the Children's Social Care Relative Needs Formula and the Younger Adults' Personal Social Services Relative Needs Formula nor had floor damping been applied.
It is not possible to say how much grant authorities would have received in 2007-08 had damping not been
applied to the Children's Social Care Relative Needs Formula and the Younger Adults' Personal Social Services Relative Needs Formula but floor damping had been applied, since we might have taken different decisions on the level of floor damping to ensure that every authority would have received a reasonable increase year-on-year on a like-for-like basis. i.e. after adjusting for changes in funding and function.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will amend electoral legislation to allow the words the' and candidate' to be used within the description of any political party candidate without an additional, specific description having to be registered under the Electoral Administration Act 2006. [128878]
Bridget Prentice: The Electoral Administration Act 2006 amended the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 so as to make new provision for political parties to register up to 12 descriptions of no more than six words for use on its nomination papers or ballot papers.
The Government have no plans to amend electoral legislation in the way suggested.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many election petitions have been heard in courts in England and Wales since 2000; what the outcome was of each case in which no proceedings remain active; which election each concerned; and what the nature was of each petition. [128881]
Bridget Prentice: The following table sets out the election petitions that have been heard in England and Wales since 2000:
Next Section | Index | Home Page |