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15 May 2008 : Column 1684W—continued
Collection of council tax continues once the financial year to which the tax relates has ended. This means that the final amount uncollected is somewhere between the figures shown here and zero.
The data are derived from data reported on QRC4 forms submitted annually by all billing authorities to Communities and Local Government and its predecessor Departments.
Departmental Pay
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost of (a) salaries for permanent civil service posts, (b) salaries for permanent non-civil service posts and (c) payments to temporary or agency workers in her Department was in each month since May 2005. [199626]
Mr. Dhanda: The following table outlines recorded expenditure on (a) salaries for permanent civil service posts, (b) salaries for permanent non-civil service posts and (c) payments to temporary or agency workers in the Department for each month since May 2005.
| Month | (a) Salaries for permanent civil service posts | (b) Salaries for permanent non-civil service posts | (c) Payments to temporary or agency workers |
| Notes: 1. The costs only cover expenditure for CLG central (not Government offices, who perform tasks for 10 Government Departments or executive agencies). 2. Salary costs for permanent civil servants and non-civil servants include costs for salary including arrears, ERNIC, superannuation, overtime, travel time, temporary responsibility allowances, bonuses, and other pay allowances. 3. There are some monthly negative totals in the agency and interim staff figures. These are explained by accruals/journals at year end or following a period of larger than normal expenditure from the previous month. | |||
Departmental Procurement
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether her Department’s departmental purchase orders are recorded in an electronic database. [202595]
Mr. Dhanda: All departmental purchase orders are recorded on a database within the enterprise resource planning software (SAP) that forms the Department’s finance system.
Departmental Public Participation
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department spent on (a) written consultation, (b) consultation roadshows and (c) stakeholder focus groups in each of the last three years. [205848]
Mr. Dhanda: Over each of the past three calendar years to December 2007, Communities and Local Government and my predecessor Department undertook respectively:
57 public consultations (ODPM 2005)
34 public consultations (Communities and Local Government 2006)
48 public consultations (Communities and Local Government 2007)
These consultations were launched in order to inform the Department’s policy development. Information on how much the Department has spent on written consultation, consultation roadshows and stakeholder focus groups in each of the last three years could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Consultation exercises form an integral part of policymaking and as such are funded from policy teams’ budgets rather than a consultation budget and so a total cannot be provided.
Floods: EU Grants and Loans
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effects of the difference between the amount expected and the amount received from the European Solidarity Fund for flood recovery; what consequential adjustments she plans to make to spending priorities; and if she will make a statement. [204751]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement I made on 6 May 2008, Official Report, columns 18-19WS.
Housing: Databases
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2008, Official Report, column 2501W, on housing: databases, (1) what the Unique Property Reference Number is of (a) the official ministerial residence of 10 Downing street, (b) the official ministerial residence of 11 Downing street and (c) each of the three ministerial residences in Admiralty House, Whitehall, according to the records held by the Valuation Office Agency; [202473]
(2) how many domestic dwellings in England have now been allocated a Unique Property Reference Number. [202474]
John Healey: Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) are allocated to individual properties by the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG), which is the responsibility of the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA). Any questions about UPRNs should therefore be directed to the IDeA.
Unitary Councils: Council Tax
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effects of unitary local government arrangements on the local level of council tax. [197331]
John Healey: The level of council tax is a matter for individual local authorities. We have assessed, on the basis of councils’ own estimates, that the new unitary local government arrangements that we are establishing, including the creation of nine new unitary councils, will allow in total savings of over £100 million annually to be realised. With such savings, the average equivalent annual reduction in band D council tax could be of the order of £90, although of course it is for each council to decide whether to use these savings on improving services or on reducing council tax.
Keeping council tax under control remains a priority for the Government and we will not hesitate to use our capping powers as necessary to protect council tax payers from excessive increases.
Culture, Media and Sport
Cricket: Broadcasting
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions with representatives of the English Cricket Board he has had on the broadcasting of Test match cricket for the period from 2010. [204510]
Andy Burnham: I have had no discussions with representatives of the English Cricket Board over broadcasting of Test match cricket.
Departmental Cost Effectiveness
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what efficiency savings (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies it sponsors have made in each of the last five years; [204142]
(2) what progress his Department has made in implementing the recommendations of the Gershon efficiency review; and if he will make a statement. [204143]
Andy Burnham: DCMS has three targets for implementing the Gershon efficiency review: deliver £262 million efficiency savings by 2007-08, reduce headcount by 27 posts by 2008 and relocate 600 posts in its NDPBs outside London and the South East by 2010.
| Latest efficiency savings figures | ||||
| £ million | ||||
| 2005-06 gains | 2006-07 gains | 2007-08 provisional gains | 2007-08 target | |
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