| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
4 Feb 2008 : Column 851W—continued
Birmingham city council
Blitz games in Leamington Spa
Telford and Wrekin council
Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage
The Ricoh factory
Keele Science and Business Park
North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership
Waterside Housing development
University quarter in Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke city council
Wolverhampton university science park
Wolverhampton Urban Regeneration Company
Walsall Art Gallery
Dudley Limestone Caverns
Business leaders at the West Bromwich Building Society.
The Innovation Centre at Longbridge.
The Guild/Pridmore estate
Whitefriars Housing Association
Government office west midlands
Jobcentre Plus
Learning and Skills Centre
West Midlands strategic health authority
Advantage West Midlands.
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what support her Department provides for the Minister for the West Midlands in pursuit of his regional responsibilities. [180827]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 21 January 2008]: The Government office for the west midlands supports the role of the Regional Minister. This support was provided by one full-time equivalent staff when the role was created and has now expanded into two full-time equivalent staff to manage the delivery of the Ministers priorities in the region.
Mosques and Imams Advisory Committee: Finance
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much she has allocated to the Mosques and Imams Advisory Committee in (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11. [183579]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 31 January 2008]: The Department has not committed any funding to the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB) for the financial years 2008-09, 2009-10 or 2010-2011.
Persimmon
Grant Shapps:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations her Department has received from Persimmon in the
last 12 months; and what meetings between her Department and Persimmon have taken place in the same period. [178914]
Mr. Dhanda: Details of any representations that may have been made by Persimmon to the Department could be found only at disproportionate cost. Ministers and civil servants meet many people as part of the process of policy development and advice. It is not the usual practice of Government to disclose details of such meetings.
Planning
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department has issued to planning authorities on the relative account to be taken of (a) supplementary planning guidance and (b) a design brief without supplementary planning document status. [178741]
Mr. Iain Wright: Supplementary planning documents (SPDs) may contain policies which expand or supplement the policies in development plan documents. They form part of the local development framework. Since the new planning system was introduced in 2004, the Government have advised that local planning authorities should not produce supplementary guidance other than supplementary planning documents, in order to ensure that guidance follows minimum standards of consultation and appraisal. If any supplementary guidance has been drawn up other than as an SPD, it does not have a defined role and the weight to be afforded it will depend on the circumstances of the case. No guidance has been issued on this matter.
An exception to this concerns supplementary material produced before 2004: Paragraph 5.23 of Planning Policy Statement 12 “Local Development Frameworks” states that:
‘On commencement of the new planning system, existing supplementary planning guidance will not automatically lose its status and will continue to exist as non-statutory guidance whilst the relevant saved policies are in place’.
Plastic Bags
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many branded plastic bags (a) her Department, (b) the Audit Commission, (c) the Housing Corporation and (d) the Standards Board for England have procured in the last 24 months; and at what cost. [178655]
Mr. Dhanda: Departmental records show that there have been two orders placed in the last 24 months for 300,000 bags for the Fire Kills campaign which has helped reduce the number of deaths from fires, costing in total £19,550 excluding vat.
The Audit Commission has not acquired any branded plastic bags in the last 24 months.
The Housing Corporation has had no expenditure on these types of products.
Standards Board for England did not procure any branded plastic bags in the last 24 months.
Press Releases: Minister for the West Midlands
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many press releases the Minister for the West Midlands has issued in his capacity as a regional Minister since he was appointed. [180839]
Mr. Dhanda: The Minister for the West Midlands has issued 16 press releases in his capacity as a Regional Minister as follows:
Liam Byrne MP, West Midlands Minister, To visit Ludlow, Shropshire on Monday, 16 July 2007;
Liam Byrne—Challenges Region's Public Services on British Jobs For British Workers;
Liam Byrne Challenges Region's Public Services on British Jobs In Britain;
Liam Byrne—Brings the 'Ideas People' Together;
Liam Byrne—Brings the 'Ideas People' Together;
West Midlands Leadership Group to Drive New Jobs and New Homes;
Liam Byrne, Welcomes Climate Change Action Plan;
Liam Byrne—Visits Bromyard, Herefordshire;
Birmingham Can Be One of Europe's Global Gateways;
Regional Minister Liam Byrne Meets Top Birmingham Exporters;
Ministers Lead Summit on Culture And Regional Image;
Regional Strategies Show the Way To Jobs, Homes And Prosperity For The West Midlands;
Liam Byrne visits Stoke-on-Trent And Staffordshire;
£4.3 Million Funding Milestone For University Quarter In Stoke-on-Trent;
Liam Byrne Backs Black Country Big Lottery Bid; and
Ministers Challenge Region's Universities To Make West Midlands Number One Choice For Students.
Property Development: Dunsfold Park
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations her Department has received from representatives of Dunsfold Park Ltd in relation to the proposed development in Dunsfold Park, Surrey; and what meetings her Department's representatives have had with that company. [182597]
Caroline Flint: Several representations have been received from Dunsfold Park Limited and its advisers in support of its plans for the former Dunsfold Aerodrome. A number of meetings have also been held with officials in the Department and the Government office for the south-east since July 2005 to clarify aspects of national planning policy that would apply to any such development.
As one of a number of housing initiatives under way, the Government are considering eco-towns and, as part of this, has sought expressions of interest from developers and local authorities. To reveal the details of recent meetings and representations from developers when this process is underway would have the potential to be detrimental to the process, and those that have put forward eco-towns proposals.
Regeneration: Manchester
Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of her report to the Prime Minister on regeneration strategies for East Manchester not based on a super casino. [184110]
John Healey: In July, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said that the Government would look at 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 east Manchester—it applies to deprived areas more broadly.
Copies of our conclusions will be placed in the Library of the House upon publication.
Sleeping Rough
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people were sleeping rough in (a) England, (b) London, (c) Northamptonshire and (d) Wellingborough constituency in each of the last five years. [183966]
Mr. Iain Wright [holding answer 1 February 2008]: The following table shows the number of people found sleeping rough on local authority street counts in (a) England, (b) London, (c) Northamptonshire and (d) Wellingborough in each of the last five years. Data have been drawn from local authority Housing Strategy and Statistical Appendix (HSSA) returns.
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | |
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate her Department has made of the level of rough sleeping unrecorded by annual street counts; and if she will make a statement. [184392]
Mr. Iain Wright: Local authority rough sleeping counts are conducted in accordance with methodology agreed with and independently verified by the voluntary sector. We recognise that those counted on a single night do not represent all those who may have experienced sleeping rough over the course of a year, but street counts enable effective measurement of trends in rough sleeping over time and across regions. CHAIN (Combined Homelessness and Information Network) is another valuable source of rough sleeping information which is based on outreach team contact with rough sleepers in London.
Unitary Councils
Dr. Murrison:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2008, Official Report,
column 120W, on unitary councils, when she will place the information cited in the Library; if she will ensure that the information is placed in the Library before the relevant Statutory Instrument is considered in the House; if she will list the categories of information to be placed in the Library; and why there has been a delay in placing the information in the Library. [183838]
John Healey: All the councils concerned placed on their websites details of the further information sought from them on their unitary proposals. There are a large number of separate documents involved and so I have first placed copies of the information in the Library for those proposals in relation to the statutory instruments that will be considered shortly in the House. This information falls into the following categories:
(1) the questions DCLG posed to the local authorities in February 2007;
(2) the written responses to those questions received in February 2007;
(3) notes of the meetings to discuss the questions;
(4) the further questions DCLG posed to the local authorities in March 2007; and
(5) the written responses to those questions received in March 2007.
I will place in the Library of the House similar information on the remaining proposals in due course and before the relevant statutory instruments are debated.
Work and Pensions
Child Support: Lone Parents
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of single mothers receiving child support in the London borough of Bexley. [182095]
Mr. Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the chief executive.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of single mothers receiving child support in the London borough of Bexley. [182095]
At the end of September 2007, there were 1,040 female parents with care with an address in the London borough of Bexley that were receiving child support. Not all of these will be single mothers as some may have re-partnered or re-married. The management information held by the Agency does not record if the parents with care are single.
Cases have been allocated to a local authority (borough) using the Office for National Statistics Postcode Directory. There will be a small number of cases where the postcode is unknown or not recorded and therefore cannot be allocated to a local authority.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |