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11 Dec 2007 : Column 553W—continued
Local Government: Complaints
Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what the average length of time the Local Government Ombudsman took to consider a complaint was in each of the last three years; [170219]
(2) how many complaints her Department has received on the decision-making process of the Local Government Ombudsman in each of the last three years; [170220]
(3) what consideration she has given to bringing forward amendments to reform the system of appeals against local government ombudsman decisions. [170221]
John Healey: The average length of time taken for the Local Government ombudsman to determine a complaint in each of the last three years was as follows:
| Weeks | |
My Department has received around 50 letters of complaint about the decision-making process of the local government ombudsman in each of the last three years.
Challenges to decisions made by the local government ombudsman are matters for the courts. My Department has no plans to amend these arrangements.
Local Government: Standards
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in relation to which Best Value Performance Indicators which are not included in the National Indicator set local authorities will be required to collect and submit data to central Government. [171607]
John Healey: No additional performance indicators will be collected other than those in the national indicator set. We are committed to reducing data returns from all front line public sector organisations by 30 per cent. by May 2010. However, as set out in the 2006 Local Government White Paper, “Strong and Prosperous Communities”, there will be a need for local authorities to report limited additional information, for reasons such as financial management and statistical data to support national policy development.
Maps: Green Belt
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) for what reasons her Department cancelled the commercial licence for the green belt boundaries dataset on her Department's Maps on Taps database; [173326]
(2) which commercial supplier provided the green belt boundaries dataset for the Maps on Taps database; and how much was spent on this dataset before the contract was cancelled by her Department. [173329]
Mr. Iain Wright: The green belt boundaries dataset was provided by Landmark Information Group. £32,606.25 was spent on this contract.
The licence was cancelled because we can now collect digital data more efficiently from local authorities.
Non-profit Making Organisations
Mr. Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to support social enterprises following assessment of responses to the Third Sector discussion paper and outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review. [172759]
John Healey: Responses to our Third Sector Strategy discussion paper are currently being analysed and we welcome the useful submissions from many social enterprises and entrepreneur organisations. We are aiming to publish our final strategy, including support available for social enterprise, early next year.
Ordnance Survey: Green Belt
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what records Ordnance Survey holds of green belt boundaries. [173323]
Parish Councils
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new parish councils were established in England in the last 24 months. [171501]
John Healey: In the last 24 months there were 23 new parish councils established in England.
Parish Councils: Finance
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the new powers for parish councils in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 will be resourced via (a) additional funding from central Government and (b) a higher parish precept on council tax bills. [171575]
John Healey: The Act empowers parish councils in two ways: to appoint additional parish councillors; and (where the parish council is eligible) to exercise the power of wellbeing under section 2 of the Local Government Act 2000.
The power to appoint additional parish councillors will not require resources. The power of wellbeing will enable eligible parish councils to do anything which they consider is likely to promote or improve the economic, social or environmental well-being of their area. The extent to which the power is exercised, and the costs funded, will be a matter for eligible parish councils themselves.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what obligations will fall upon London boroughs to provide funding for parish councils set up within borough boundaries; [171576]
(2) what additional funding has been allocated by central Government to parish councils in London for (a) set up and (b) running costs. [171577]
John Healey: As with principal councils elsewhere in England who are responsible for undertaking community governance reviews, there are no obligations on London borough councils to provide funding for parish councils they may set up. It will be for them to decide whether to establish new community governance arrangements in their areas, and to anticipate the set up and running costs of the first precept to any new parish council.
Personal Care Services: Licensing
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the case for licensing of nail bars by local authorities. [162003]
Mr. Dhanda: Nail bars are subject to a number of regulatory regimes, for example in relation to health and safety. There are currently no proposals for licensing of nail bars by local authorities.
Planning
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Statement of 14 November 2007, Official Report, columns 667-73, on national security, what plans she has to amend planning policy guidance. [171641]
Mr. Iain Wright: Government planning policy on design already asks planning authorities to create safe environments where crime and disorder or fear of crime does not undermine quality of life or community cohesion. We do however plan to publish a counter terrorism supplement to our guidance “Safer Places—the Planning System and Crime Prevention” which is intended to be a practical guide to how best to design counter terrorism measures into new development proposals while ensuring that they are of high design quality.
Planning Permission: Government Buildings
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what planning applications her Department has submitted in relation to requests for planning permission on its departmental properties in the last 12 months; on what buildings; and for what purposes. [173378]
Mr. Dhanda: No planning applications have been submitted by Communities and Local Government in relation to its departmental properties in the last 12 months. This answer does not include land and buildings occupied by Government Offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments, CLG's Government agencies or NDPBs.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the value is of the new consultancy and contracts awarded to PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2007-08; and whether those contracts contain provisions limiting freedom of information disclosure. [172584]
Mr. Dhanda: One new consultancy contract was awarded for £600,000. The contract was awarded under the Office of Government Commerce Buying Solutions framework agreement for the provision of financial management consultancy. The standard contractual terms and conditions applied and these do not contain provisions limiting freedom of information disclosure.
Regeneration: Greater Manchester
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what the membership is of the inter-departmental working group led by her Department that is considering regeneration alternatives to the regional casino in Manchester; [166759]
(2) which organisations she has (a) consulted and (b) received representations from as part of her review of the regeneration alternatives to the regional casino in Manchester; [166760]
(3) which organisations she has met as part of her review of the regeneration alternatives to the regional casino in Manchester; [166761]
(4) when she expects to publish the outcomes of her review of regeneration alternatives to the regional casino in Manchester; [166762]
(5) how many full-time equivalent civil servants have been seconded to work on the review of regeneration alternatives to the regional casino in Manchester. [166763]
John Healey [holding answer 21 November 2007]: In July, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said that the Government would consider the question of whether deprived areas could be equally well served by other forms of regeneration than the development of regional casinos. While Manchester will clearly have an interest in the findings of the review, the response is not specific to alternatives to a regional casino in Manchester—it applies to deprived areas more broadly. The review of alternatives to regional casino led regeneration will report shortly.
As a part of this process, an inter-departmental working group has been set up. Since July 2007, three full meetings have been held, on: 9 August, 10 September and 20 September.
All meetings had representatives from Communities and Local Government, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Work and
Pensions, the Department for Transport, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, the Cabinet Office, the Treasury, and Government Office North West.
During the review, Communities and Local Government officials have consulted the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Transport, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, the Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, Government Office North West, local authorities (including Blackpool and Manchester), and members of one of Communities and Local Government’s External Expert Panels (including Michael Parkinson, Vince Taylor and Graham Russell).
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has also met with representatives from Manchester city council, Blackpool council, and local hon. Members to hear their views.
Civil servants have to date devoted a significant amount of time to the investigation of alternatives to regional casino led regeneration, although the review has not specifically a dedicated resource.
Regional Planning and Development: Public Participation
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will take steps to simplify the statutory forms designed for public participation in local development plans. [172779]
Mr. Iain Wright [holding answer 10 December 2007]: There is no statutory form that local authorities are required to use in consultation. The Planning Inspectorate published guidance in 2005 which included a model form for various stages of plan preparation. This is not statutory and can be modified or replaced entirely by one of the local authorities’ own design.
On 27 November 2007, we published revised draft regulations and guidance on producing local development plan documents which are designed to streamline and simplify the process.
Rented Housing
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which organisations responded to her Department’s consultation on the Mechanism for Setting Guideline Rents in Housing Revenue Account subsidy 2008-09 and 2009-10. [164192]
Yvette Cooper: The organisations that responded were as follows:
Adur District Council
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Basildon Council
Birmingham City Council
Blyth Valley Council
Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
Bristol City Council
Cambridge City Council
Chester-le-Street District Council
CIPFA
City of Nottingham
Corby Borough Council
Croydon Council
Derby City Council
Dover District Council
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
Fareham Borough Council
Gravesham Borough Council
Haringey Council
Harlow District Council
Harrogate Borough Council
Homes for Islington
Hounslow Homes Hull
Lambeth Housing
Leeds City Council
Lewisham Borough Council
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
London Borough of Camden
London Borough of Hackney
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
Southwark Council
London Councils
Luton Borough Council
Newark and Sherwood District Council
North Tyneside
North Warwickshire Borough Council
Oxford City Council
Salford County Council Sanctuary Housing Group
Sheffield City Council
Sheltered Housing Residents Group
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council/Solihull Community Housing
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