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25 July 2007 : Column 1138W—continued
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| Note: As reported by local authorities. Source: Communities and Local Government Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix return (HSSA). Data from the 1986-2000 from Housing Investment Programme (HIP) | |||||||
Council Tax
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the reasons for the change in (a) average council tax per dwelling and (b) average Band D council tax in England between 1997-98 and 2007-08. [152553]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham, East and Saddleworth (Mr. Woolas) to the hon. Member for Newbury (Mr. Benyon) on 27 February 2007, Official Report, column 1272W.
Departments: Air Conditioning
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent by her Department and its agencies on the hire of mobile air conditioning units in each of the last five years. [151984]
Mr. Iain Wright: The amount spent by the Department for Communities and Local Government and its predecessor the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was:
| £ | |||||
| Building | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
This answer does not include land or buildings occupied by Government offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.
It is not this Department's usual practice to hire portable air conditioning units unless exceptional business critical reasons exist.
The high spend at Temple Quay was caused by a combination of problems including local power supply issues (frequent outages), high summer temperatures and a fault developed by our HV transformer switchgear which made it run at temperatures likely to cause a very expensive failure and potentially long term disruption to power supplies to the buildings occupiers. This problem has now been resolved.
The spend in Eland House was to provide short term extra cooling in the main communications room after additional ICT equipment had been installed and before the primary cooling system had been upgraded.
Departments: Carbon Emissions
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether her Department carbon off sets foreign visits made by its staff; at what cost for visits made in the last 12 months; and what level of carbon dioxide was offset. [152404]
Mr. Iain Wright: Communities and Local Government have committed to offsetting all official domestic and foreign air travel from 1 April 2006. Departmental aviation emissions are calculated annually and subsequently offset through payments to the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund. The Fund purchases certified emissions reductions credits from energy efficiency and renewable energy projects with sustainable development benefits, located in developing countries. The cost of air travel during the last financial year was £256,974, and 275 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent were offset. The figures provided do not include data from the regional Government offices or our executive agencies.
The Department does not offset foreign rail travel and is currently unable to accurately calculate this aspect of its carbon emissions.
Departments: Pay
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the salary bands are of each pay grade in her Department. [152534]
Mr. Iain Wright: The salary bands for each pay band below senior civil service from 1 August 2006 in the central Department excluding Government offices, departmental agencies and NDPBs are as follows:
| £ | |||
| Pay band | Grade | Minimum | Maximum |
For the senior civil service the information is published on the civil service website at:
Departments: Publicity
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the cost-effectiveness of advertising commissioned by her Department in the last 12 months. [148502]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Department uses its communications channels to ensure its policies are properly based in and communicated to target audiences and stakeholders. This is achieved in policy development through consultation and discussion with business, agencies and the public. During implementation, this is achieved by full and open communication to citizens affected by the policy, which can include advertising as a communications medium.
During the past 12 months we have commissioned a number of advertising campaigns, which have been assessed as a matter of course to gauge their effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. For example:
The ongoing fire safety campaign delivered a rise in recognition of the new fire prevention advertising from 27 per cent. in July/August 2006 to 45 per cent. in October/November 2006. Fire deaths are at their lowest since 1959 and this campaign is one part of the strategy that has achieved this.
Research into the local e-gov advertising campaign showed that 51 per cent. of those who recognised the campaign intended to visit their local council website in the next 12 months.
The campaign to encourage women to apply for posts in the fire and rescue service delivered a 20 per cent. increase in the number of applications from women when the campaign was running.
The campaign to inform business of their new responsibilities under the Fire Order Reform delivered a rise in recognition from 14 per cent. in April to 61 per cent. in September 2006.
The Department is committed to developing a work force that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve, enjoying genuine equality of opportunity, and ensuring the Department is rigorously fair in its recruitment and development policies.
During the past 12 months all vacant posts within the Department were advertised to existing staff in the Department; 33 per cent. of vacancies were also advertised through the civil service. Just 5 per cent. of posts were advertised nationally. In addition, an assessment centre was run for senior civil service (SCS) recruitment at deputy director level, which attracted 20 applicants through this process from which seven appointments were made.
The success of the Department’s recruitment advertising is assessed by the quality, appropriateness and number of applicants applying for publicly advertised posts. In the past 12 months this has resulted in 142 permanent and 17 fixed term appointments to the Department.
Departments: Visits Abroad
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many overseas visits were made by (a) officials and (b) Ministers within her responsibility, and at what cost, in each year since 1997. [151648]
Mr. Iain Wright: This information can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Since 1999, the Government have published on an annual basis, a list of all overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of £500, as well as the total cost of all ministerial travel overseas. Copies of the lists are available in the Libraries of the House. Information for 2006-07 is currently being compiled and will be published before the summer recess. All travel is undertaken in accordance with the ‘Civil Service Management Code’ and the ‘Ministerial Code’.
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