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18 Dec 2007 : Column 1338W—continued
Mr. Dhanda:
Since April 2007, there have been two roundtable meetings with academics, theologians and leading Muslim women in which women's access to mosque life was discussed, which built on a previous
roundtable earlier in the year. These roundtables were held at the Department for Communities and Local Government, Eland House, London.
The Department has also hosted two wider stakeholder roundtables in which a range of issues, including the empowerment of Muslim women, was discussed.
Muslims: Vocational Training
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what support her Department is providing to help develop leadership skills among Muslim women and young people; what the cost of this has been; and what expenditure is planned in the next three years. [173952]
Mr. Dhanda: In the financial year 2007-08 Communities and Local Government (CLG) supported the development of leadership skills among Muslim women and young people through the funding of projects from the Preventing Violent Extremism: Community Leadership Fund and providing media seminars.
£233,200 of the Preventing Violent Extremism: Community Leadership Fund has been spent on building the leadership capacity of Muslim women and young people.
CLG is both independently and jointly funding media seminars with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to enable a greater number of young British Muslims, both men and women, to have the confidence and the skills to act as community leaders and ensure their voices are heard in wider public debate. The cost of this to date is £1,375 and work is ongoing.
The Secretary of State has undertaken to provide £45 million for local projects and £25 million for national schemes to support communities in preventing violent extremism. The Secretary of State made it clear in her speech at the Preventing Extremism: Strengthening Communities National Conference that women and young people will be prioritised.
National Anthems
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what work (a) her Department and (b) the Equalities and Human Rights Commission is (i) undertaking and (ii) funding on changes to the national anthem. [174542]
Mr. Dhanda: Communities and Local Government and the Equality and Human Rights Commission are not undertaking or funding any work on changes to the national anthem.
Office of the Local Government Ombudsman: Conditions of Employment
Mr. Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether it is a requirement for staff in the Office of the Local Government Ombudsman not to have previously been local government employees. [174899]
John Healey: There is no such requirement.
Pedestrian Areas: Safety
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many claims have been made against local authorities for trips and falls due to uneven pavements in each of the last five years. [173072]
Mr. Dhanda: This information is not held centrally.
Planning
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the (a) rural proofing analysis and (b) an environmental impact assessment was undertaken in the Impact Assessment for Housing and Planning Delivery Grant. [173341]
Mr. Iain Wright: The current consultation on the Housing and Planning Delivery Grant takes forward a key component of the Housing Green Paper, “Homes for the future” (Cm 7191), which set out how Government would deliver on their housing target of 240,000 new homes per year by 2016.
The Green Paper had been accompanied by a detailed impact assessment, which included its own rural proofing, sustainability and other environmental analyses.
Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which provisions of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 have yet to be commenced. [171505]
Mr. Iain Wright: The provisions yet to be commenced are included in the table that I have deposited in the Library of the House.
Planning Permission: Greenbelt
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what powers the (a) new Infrastructure Planning Commission and (b) regional development agencies will have from 2010 to review or remove green belt planning protection. [174455]
Mr. Iain Wright: Under the terms of the Planning Bill, the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) will take over the powers currently held by the Secretary of State, where a nationally significant infrastructure project would propose to use green belt land. The IPC would only be able to use these powers where this is in accordance with the national policy statement, which would set out (among other matters) how the Secretary of State believes applications referring to green belt land should be treated. Clause 125 of the Planning Bill makes clear that where an order granting development consent allows the acquisition or sale of green belt land, or frees it from any restrictions imposed on it under the Green Belt Act 1938, the IPC must notify all relevant local authorities and the Secretary of State.
With regard to regional development agencies, we have yet to consult on the details of their future role in spatial planning following on from our proposals set out in the Sub National Economic Development and
Regeneration Review (July 2007). We will be consulting in the new year on how these proposals are to be implemented.
Planning: Leisure
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much of the funding allocated for infrastructure in growth areas and growth points will be available for new build and refurbishment of sports and leisure facilities. [174846]
Mr. Iain Wright: Funding allocated through the £732 million Growth Fund to local authorities and their partnerships in the Growth Areas and Growth Points is intended to enable local authorities to make growth more sustainable, including provision of new community facilities. The funding is un-ringfenced and it is for local authorities to prioritise how this funding is used in their area, including whether to invest this funding for new build and refurbishment of sports and leisure facilities.
Planning: Renewable Energy
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the likely impact of allowing greater provision of energy from renewable sources off-site on the UK's capacity to contribute to the EU target that 20 per cent. of energy should come from renewable sources by 2020; and if she will make a statement. [167073]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Impact Assessment undertaken for our policy statement: Building a Greener Future, published in July 2007, estimated that the Government’s zero carbon home policy could generate an increased contribution from renewables to the total UK electricity demand of around one per cent by 2020. The policy statement defined renewable energy supply for zero carbon homes in this context as coming from on site or local, decentralised energy sources connected to the development. The Impact Assessment did not disaggregate between these different sources.
Planning: Retail Trade
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her timetable is for revising planning policy statements on out-of-town retail developments. [174541]
Mr. Iain Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 10 December 2007, Official Report, column 149W.
Preventing Violent Extremism Community Leadership Fund: Finance
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she plans to increase levels of funding for the Preventing Violent Extremism Community Leadership Fund over the next three years. [174757]
Mr. Dhanda: The Community Leadership Fund objectives are supporting women; building community leadership including leadership by young people and building community capacity to resist violent extremist ideologies. Grant funding for these objectives will increase substantially over the next three years.
Public Bodies: Internet
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what work or research is being (a) undertaken and (b) commissioned by her Department on the development of XML schema for the sharing of data between public authorities. [173295]
Mr. Dhanda: Communities and Local Government (CLG) has a number of XML schemas in use at present as this is the currently preferred mechanism for collecting data in a standard format and in accordance with eGIF.
CLG are presently devising a data interchange mechanism that uses XML for collecting and sharing the National Indicator set as part of the New Performance Framework across Local, Regional and Central Government. As part of this programme CLG has commissioned a partner to build a data interchange hub.
Recreation Spaces: Tamworth
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many acres of green space there are in the Borough of Tamworth, excluding the flood plain area. [174714]
Mr. Iain Wright: The amount of green space within the borough of Tamworth excluding the flood plain is 2,400 acres.
Recycling: Birmingham
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the household recycling rates were in Birmingham city council area in (a) each year since 2000-01 and (b) each quarter in 2006-07; and what municipal recycling rates were in 2006-07. [171101]
Joan Ruddock: I have been asked to reply.
The reported figures for Best Value Performance Indicators 182a and 182b (the percentage of household waste recycled or composted) for Birmingham city council for each year since 2000-01 are as follows:
| Percentage | |
The household recycling/composting rate percentages for each quarter in 2006-07 were as follows:
| Percentage | |
Birmingham city council’s municipal recycling rate for 2006-07 was 20.24 per cent.
Regional Government: Brussels
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which regional assemblies have offices in Brussels; and how much each spent on each of the offices in each of the last three years. [173316]
John Healey: Each of the regional assemblies makes a contribution with regional partners, including the regional development agency and regional local government association, towards an office in Brussels. Details of the cost incurred by each assembly are:
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