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3 Dec 2007 : Column 876W—continued
Enterprise and Workless Fund: Torbay
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the likely effect of the Enterprise and Workless Fund on the economy of Torbay and the area's ability to attract grant funding; and if she will make a statement. [166994]
John Healey: Eligibility for the Working Neighbourhoods Fund (WNF) will be determined on the basis of the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007 (IMD 2007), which is a robust measure of small area deprivation. Areas that will qualify for the WNF are those that have high concentrations deprivation.
We are currently assessing the likely impact of the new fund on eligible areas and will announce the list of authorities and their funding in December alongside the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement.
Fire Services: Consultants
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the total cost has been of all consultants' fees for the FiReControl Project to date, broken down by consultancy. [169489]
Mr. Dhanda: To date spend on consultants for the FiReControl project totals £26 million. Consultants provide a wide range of specialist services and skills to the project. They have provided project managers, lawyers, IT specialists, accountants, architects, building engineers, and experts in the property market and in security and resilience. The following table(1) gives total consultancy costs to date (30 October 2007) by company:
(1 )The figures are stated net of reimbursements and exclude costs from within the public sector.
| Company name | Total to date (£) |
| (1)( )At the end of 2005-06 the Department clarified its policy in relation to VAT and this resulted in a significant charge to expenditure of VAT that had previously been treated as recoverable. | |
Litter: West Midlands
Lynda Waltho: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what powers are available to local authorities to take action against those caught (a) dropping litter and (b) fly-tipping; and how many (i) prosecutions were brought and (ii) penalty notices were issued under each power in each local authority area in the West Midlands in each of the last five years. [168902]
Joan Ruddock: I have been asked to reply.
Dropping litter is an offence under section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, punishable by a fixed penalty fine, which can be set locally by a council within a range of £50 to £80, or prosecution (with a fine of up to £2,500 on conviction). Police community support officers, persons accredited under community accreditation schemes, parish councils and local authority authorised officers have enforcement powers, although responsibility rests primarily with the local authority.
Data on the number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued and cases taken to court can be found on the DEFRA website at:
The deposit of waste without a licence, or fly-tipping, is an offence under section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The offence carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both. Due to the serious nature of fly-tipping, there is no FPN available. Local authorities must prosecute offenders through the courts.
Flycapture, the national fly-tipping database, was set up in 2004 and records the number of fly-tipping incidents dealt with by the Environment Agency and local authorities, The database also records enforcement actions taken, including prosecutions.
Data are available from April 2004 onwards and are as follows:
| Fly-tipping prosecutions taken | |||
| Local authority | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
| (1) No data. | |||
Members: Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the Minister of State will respond to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 30 October on home information packs. [170088]
Yvette Cooper: I have now replied to the hon. Member's correspondence.
Migration Impacts Forum
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she next expects the Migration Impact Forum to report; and if she will make a statement. [168768]
John Healey: The next meeting of the Migration Impacts Forum (MIF) is on 16 January 2008.
A presentation on the impacts of migration on housing will be made in this meeting. All papers presented to the MIF are put onto the websites of Communities and Local Government and the Home Office after each meeting.
Non-Domestic Rates: Telecommunications
Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the implications for her policy on the rating of telephone networks of the establishment by Coventry city council of a fibre optic network upgrade; how many such fibre optic communications networks (a) owned and (b) controlled by (i) local authorities and (ii) other public sector organisations there are; how many of these have been assessed for business rates; and what factors are taken into account when assessing (A) public and (B) private sector networks for rates. [166905]
John Healey: There has been no change in the policy of rating telephone networks. Where fibre optic networks are known to the Valuation Office Agency they are assessed for rating. At present there are four fibre optic telecommunications networks in assessment that are known to be in the rateable occupation of local authorities and 18 fibre optic networks in assessment that are known to be in rateable occupation of other public sector organisations. All fibre optic networks, whether occupied by public or private sector ratepayers, are valued in the usual way on the basis of their annual rent if they were available to let on the open market at a fixed valuation date.
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