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3 Sep 2007 : Column 1646W—continued
(b) Agencies of the Department.
Planning Inspectorate have no IT projects currently being undertaken.
| Project | Start date | Original planned completion date | Expected completion date | Originally planned costs (£000) | Estimated planned costs (£000) |
Departments: Legislation
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) which Bills introduced by her Department in the last five years did not contain sunset clauses; and if she will make a statement; [152492]
(2) which Bills introduced by her Department in the last five years have contained sunset clauses; and what plans she has for the future use of such clauses. [151832]
Hazel Blears:
Since the formation of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in May 2002 and subsequently the Department for Communities and
Local Government in May 2006, we are aware of one sunset clause in primary legislation for which we have been responsible, namely section 1(7) of the Fire Services Act 2003, which prevents the making of an order (fixing firemen’s conditions of service) more than two years after commencement of the Act (on the date of Royal Assent, 13 November 2003) except for an order revoking a previous order.
The following primary legislation has received Royal Assent since 2002 and has not contained sunset clauses:
Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004;
Housing Act 2004;
Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004;
Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Act 2006; and
Housing Corporation (Delegation) etc. Act 2006
Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007
Of the Acts currently before Parliament, the GLA Bill does not contain a sunset clause, but the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill does contain a sunset clause (in clause 3) which ensures that the Secretary of State may not give a direction (under clause 2) to an authority to prepare a proposal for unitary local government after 25 January 2008. This sunset clause was introduced by amendment in the Commons in response to concerns of the Local Government Association that the Secretary of State’s power to direct would otherwise be too wide. The Secretary of State may therefore only issue a direction under clause 2 from after the enactment and commencement of Part 1 of the Bill (likely to be November 2007) up until 25 January 2008.
As to the future use of sunset clauses, the appropriateness of a sunset clause for the whole or part of any proposed legislation is considered on a case by case basis. It is also addressed when a regulatory impact assessment relating to legislation is being prepared.
Departments: Manpower
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many press officers are employed by her Department. [153229]
Mr. Iain Wright: As at 1 April 2007 there were 22 press officers in the central Department.
Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the name is of each special adviser in her Department. [153228]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has two Special Advisers. They are Andy Bagnall and Paul Richards.
Departments: Ministerial Responsibilities
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will list the official duties undertaken by the then Minister of State for Housing and Planning on 23 April. [152927]
Yvette Cooper: I attended the 9(th )meeting of the Hertfordshire Housing Conference in St. Albans.
Departments: Press
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to which periodicals her Department subscribes. [153221]
Mr. Iain Wright: Communities and Local Government have a service level agreement with the Department for Transport to provide library services. Communities and Local Government library service provides periodicals for both Communities and Local Government and for Department for Transport. A list of those periodicals centrally funded has been placed in the Library of the House. Separating those titles solely held for use by Communities and Local Government could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Listings for the periodical holdings of Executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies and Government offices are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent by her Department on newspapers and magazines in the last 12 months. [153222]
Mr. Iain Wright: Communities and Local Government have a service level agreement with the Department for Transport to provide library services. From 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007, the Communities and Local Government library service spent £25,064 on paper-based publications for Communities and Local Government and for Department for Transport. This included the purchase of newspapers, magazines, annuals and books. Separating out spend relating to newspapers and magazines solely held for use by Communities and Local Government would attract a disproportionate cost.
Information on expenditure outside this service for the Executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies and Government offices is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Departments: Public Appointments
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on the change of her Department’s Director of Housing. [153510]
Yvette Cooper: As part of an internal re-organisation in October 2006, changes were made to the remits of the three director posts dealing with housing issues. The Department does not comment publicly on such changes.
Departments: Railways, Aviation and Taxis
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much was spent by her Department on first class train tickets in the last 12 months; [153223]
(2) how much was spent by her Department on (a) business class flights and (b) first class flights (c) first class train tickets (d) taxis in the last 12 months; [153224]
(3) how much was spent by her Department on taxis in the last 12 months. [153226]
Mr. Iain Wright: The breakdown of information in the format requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, the following table sets out the overall expenditure incurred by Communities and Local Government on overseas and domestic travel (for civil servants and Ministers) in the last 12 months.
| 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007 | |
| £ | |
The figures include all expenditure for travel by air, train, taxi and car as well as subsistence and hotel accommodation costs.
All travel by civil servants and Ministers of Communities and Local Government is conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code and Travel.
Departments: Recruitment
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department paid in fees to recruitment agencies for (a) temporary and (b) permanent staff in each year since 1997. [151670]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Department for Communities and Local Government and its predecessors made payments to a number of employment agencies in respect of agency employees during this period but the information requested is not held centrally.
The Department’s policy is to engage temporary agency staff only through competitively negotiated framework contracts which provide value for money for the Department. The central part of the Department for Communities and Local Government and its predecessors paid the following amounts to recruitment consultants in relation to permanent staff.
| £ | |
It would cost a disproportionate amount to obtain information prior to 2002-03.
Departments: Training
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff who had previously been seconded to the Deputy Prime Minister’s office have received (a) anti-bullying training and (b) diversity awareness training since May 2006 following their return to her Department. [152699]
Mr. Iain Wright: Two senior managers seconded to the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office attended the Department’s Dignity and Respect Workshop.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent by her Department on staff away days in the last 12 months. [153218]
Mr. Iain Wright: Expenditure related to staff away days is not identified as a separate item on the Department’s accounting system, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, any such expenditure could reasonably be expected within the expenditure total for conferences. The total expenditure on conferences for Ministers and civil servants incurred by Communities and Local Government in the period 1 July 2006 to 30 July 2007 was £543,786.
All expenditure on conferences is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety.
Departments: Tribunals
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent by her Department on industrial tribunals in the last 12 months. [153220]
Mr. Iain Wright: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Derelict Land
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will publish a list of all surplus public sector land sites that she expects to be used for brownfield development. [153514]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Register of Surplus Public Sector Land provides a quarterly publication of sites that are owned by central government departments and their agencies. These sites have been identified as available for release for development and details can be accessed via the website at
The Register is managed by English Partnerships and holds details of over 700 sites totalling more than 5,000 ha. The 550 newly identified surplus sites owned by central government departments and their agencies have not yet been placed on the Register of Surplus Public Sector Land managed by English Partnerships. The sites will be placed on the Register in due course.
Derelict Land: Greater London
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of available brownfield sites was used for the provision of new homes in each of the London boroughs in each of the last five years. [153568]
Yvette Cooper:
This information requested is not held centrally. However almost all housing development in London takes place on brownfield land (97 per cent.
in 2005). Also, the stock of available brownfield land is not static as new sites are coming forward for development all the time. Historically, studies to provide a comprehensive technical analysis of London's potential for future housing growth have been the responsibility of the Mayor of London, or predecessor body, and the boroughs. Regular studies have been undertaken, namely London's Housing Capacity (Greater London Authority, September 2000) and the 2004 London Housing Capacity Study (GLA, July 2005). As a result, housing targets for London have recently been increased, from 23,000 homes per year to 2006-07, to 30,500 homes per year from 2007-08.
Digital Mapping
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans there are to review or revise the Government-wide agreement on digitised mapping services provided by Ordnance Survey. [153513]
Mr. Dhanda: Communities and Local Government are currently running a competitive procurement for a replacement Pan-Government Agreement. It is intended that this will take effect from April 2008.
Empty Property: Greater London
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many vacant homes there were in each London borough in each of the last five years. [153556]
Mr. Iain Wright: Estimates for vacant dwellings in each London borough since 2002 are tabulated as follows. These include vacancies up to six months and long-term vacancies over six months. These are as reported by local authorities through the Council Tax Base (CTB1) form and present vacant dwellings receiving some or a full discount on council tax.
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