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14 Mar 2008 : Column 698W—continued
Community Relations: Democracy
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for the publication of a White Paper on democracy and community engagement; and if she will make a statement. [194296]
Mr. Dhanda: The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced, on 5 March, proposals to prepare a White Paper on plans to unlock talent in local communities and give people a real say on improving local services and promoting active citizenship. We will be developing a range of proposals over the coming months, and plan to publish the White Paper in the summer. We want a wide range of people to contribute to the thinking that goes into the White Paper, including practitioners and community activists, local government, trade unions and people in the public services.
Council Tax: Second Homes
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what constraints there are on local authorities on how they use the revenue from council tax levied on second homes. [193241]
John Healey: There are no constraints on how a local authority uses council tax revenue other than the need to satisfy itself that it is operating within the powers conferred on it by Parliament.
Councillors: Pay
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to introduce a national pay system for local government councillors. [193833]
Mr. Dhanda: The Secretary of State will be publishing the Government’s response to the Councillors Commission report, (which included a recommendation on a National Framework of Allowances for councillors), later in the spring, following consultation with other Government Departments and key partners.
Departmental Carbon Emissions
Mr. Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she has taken to reduce her Department’s carbon dioxide emissions in the next financial year. [191019]
Mr. Dhanda: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 18 February 2008, Official Report, column 11W.
Departmental Official Visits
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost was of overnight accommodation for (a) civil servants, (b) special advisers and (c) Ministers in her Department staying overnight in (i) mainland Great Britain, (ii) Northern Ireland, (iii) the Republic of Ireland and (iv) other countries in the last 12 months. [193526]
Mr. Dhanda: The breakdown of information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
However, the following table sets out the overall UK and overseas accommodation expenditure incurred by Communities and Local Government (for civil servants and Ministers) in the last 12 months.
| 1 March 2007 to 29 February 2008 | £ |
All travel by civil servants and Ministers is conducted in accordance with requirements of the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code.
Departmental Plants
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department spent on pot plants in each of the last five years. [192052]
Mr. Dhanda: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 3 September 2007, Official Report, column 1644W. Since then the Department has purchased additional new plants at a cost of £845.00, during the period 1 July 2007 to 29 February 2008.
Departmental Property
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many residential properties her Department owns; how many of these are vacant; and how many of these have been vacant for longer than (a) three, (b) six and (c) 12 months. [192991]
Mr. Dhanda: Communities and Local Government owns 39 residential houses at the Fire Service College, one of our executive agencies. Five are currently vacant. Of these, one has been vacant for less than three months, three houses have been vacant for between six and 12 months and one for longer than 12 months. Two of the vacant houses will be occupied by mid-April 2008.
Departmental Public Participation: Opinion Research
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what payments her Department has made to opinion research companies or consultants in the last 24 months, other than to Ipsos MORI; at what cost; and for what purposes. [191645]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally and could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Empty Property: Rates and Rating
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the costs of (a) administration of and (b) collection of revenue from empty property rates. [193761]
John Healey: The impact assessment accompanying the Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (England) Regulations 2008 No. 386, which was laid before Parliament on the 26 February 2008 gives details and assessment of the net additional costs arising from the reform to empty property rates. It is anticipated that local government will face a one-off additional cost during 2007-08 totalling £1.66 million and the Government are in the process of preparing a funding package to ensure that cost is funded.
Fire Services
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many incidents on or near water were attended by the Fire Service in each year since 1994, broken down by (a) brigade and (b) region. [193026]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 10 March 2008]: The information requested is not held centrally.
Fire Services: Consultants
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Hendon of 18 December 2007, Official Report, column 1325-6W, on fire services: consultants, what the recent re-categorisation of costs referred to was. [192413]
Mr. Dhanda:
The re-categorisation of costs referred to was triggered by HM Treasury in November 2006. As well as setting in motion a detailed review of existing consultancy spend to ensure that it was correctly classified against programme and administration budgets, Departments were instructed to use the 2001 Office of Government Commerce (OGC) definition of consultancy and professional services. The OGC definition states that consultancy and professional services should not include staff
substitution or interim management nor steady state contractor or service provision. The common definitions for consultancy and professional services work were implemented to move towards consistent treatment and monitoring of such expenditure across all Government Departments.
Grassland: Fires
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many grassland and heathland fires there were in each year since 1986, broken down by (a) fire authority and (b) region. [R] [193024]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The following table provides figures for 1995 to 2006.
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