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4 Jun 2008 : Column 990W—continued
Local Authority Business Growth Incentives Scheme
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 18 March 2008, Official Report, columns 974-5W, on the local authority business growth incentives (LABGI) scheme, how much will be provided to local authorities under the LABGI scheme in 2011-12; [207517]
(2) pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 23 April 2008, Official Report, column 2107W, on non-domestic rates, how much was provided to local authorities under the local authority business growth incentives scheme in (a) 2005-06, (b) 2006-07 and (c) 2007-08; [207518]
John Healey: To date, local authorities in England have received £149,704,135 for 2005-06 and £384,751,482 for 2006-07 under the three-year local authority business growth incentives scheme.
I announced provisional additional payments of £13,509,463 for 2005-06 and £37,348,549 for 2006-07, as well as provisional allocations of £246,075,319 for 2007- 08, on 2 April. We gave local authorities a period to raise queries on these provisional allocations, finishing on 16 May. I intend to announce the final allocations as soon as possible.
Decisions on public spending in 2011-12 will be made as part of the next spending review.
Planning Permission
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many planning decisions have been taken (a) by planning officers under delegated powers and (b) by planning committees in each year since 1997. [208451]
Mr. Iain Wright: The numbers of planning applications decided by planning officers under delegated powers and by planning committees are set out in the following table:
| Planning officers | Planning committees | |
| Source: Communities and Local Government Development Control Statistics returns | ||
Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many outstanding (a) enforcement notices and (b) planning appeals there are in each region; and how many there were in each year since 1997. [208452]
Mr. Iain Wright: Information on the number of enforcement notices which are outstanding in each region and how many have been issued is not held centrally.
Information on how many planning appeals there are in each region and on how many there were in each year since 2000-01 (the earliest date for which figures are available) can be found at:
Planning Permission: Gardens
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to prevent front and back gardens from being over-developed in the form of blocks of flats replacing gardens. [207561]
Caroline Flint: Planning Policy Statement 3 Housing (PPS3) expects local planning authorities and regions to take a positive, plan-led approach to providing the right quantity of housing to address need and demand in their areas, and the right quality and mix of housing for their communities, based on robust evidence based approach. This is why PPS3 asks local planning authorities to carry out strategic housing market assessments, which should then inform the planning process. PPS3 also gives local planning authorities the responsibility for deciding the most suitable locations for housing that they wish to see in their area and the ability to put in place local plan policies to address concerns around development on garden land in areas where it is a problem.
Local planning authorities should include appropriate policies in their local plans which will help deliver the amount of housing they need and decide where that housing should be located. It is for them to determine individual planning applications such as those for the development of flats on existing residential land, including considering whether it is a suitable location for such development, in accordance with their local plans, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
Political Extremism
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department's definition of political extremism is, as referred to in the guidance issued to local authorities on community cohesion contingency planning and tension monitoring. [208080]
Mr. Dhanda: ‘Guidance for Local Authorities on Community Cohesion Contingency Planning and Tension Monitoring’, published last month, reflects the reality that there are individuals and organisations in society, whose activities, motivated by extremist views, may have a negative impact on local community relations. We do not define political extremism as these issues need to be properly understood at the local level.
Regional Planning and Development: Eco-Towns
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effects of proposals for eco-towns in the North West of England on the rate of investment in the East and South East Leeds regeneration project; and if she will make a statement. [207290]
Caroline Flint: I understand that the hon. Member is referring to the proposals for eco-towns in Yorkshire and Humber rather than the North West. As set out in the consultation document—“Eco-towns—Living a greener future” we are undertaking further reviews of sites in Leeds city region. As part of the viability of a scheme it would need to be assessed against the eco-towns criteria, which includes how an eco-town can harness the employment potential of local areas.
Thames Gateway Bridge
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have had with Transport for London on the proposed Thames Gateway Bridge. [207362]
Caroline Flint: There have been no meetings at ministerial or official level with Transport for London on the proposed Thames Gateway Bridge since the mayoral elections.
Home Department
Airguns
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2008, Official Report, column 601W, on airguns, if she will breakdown the figures by (a) age of the victim, (b) age of the perpetrator and (c) police force area. [205821]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 15 May 2008]: Available data, relating to age of the victim and police force area, are shown in the following tables. Information about suspects is not collected centrally.
| Table A: Offences involving air weapons and BB guns/soft air weapons resulting in injury, by age of victim: England and Wales, 2002-03 to 2006-07 | ||||||||||
| 2002-03( 1) | 2003-04 | 2004-05( 2) | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | ||||||
| Age of victim | Air weapons( 3) | BB guns/soft air weapons( 4) | Air weapons( 3) | BB guns/soft air weapons( 4) | Air weapons | BB guns/soft air weapons | Air weapons | BB guns/soft air weapons | Air weapons | BB guns/soft air weapons |
| n/a = Not available (1) The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002. Figures for some crime categories may have been inflated by this. (2) More explicit guidelines for the classification of weapons, introduced on 1 April 2004, may have increased the recording of firearm offences, particularly those committed by imitation weapons. (3) The age of victims has been collected only since 1 April 2004. (4) Data for BB guns/soft air weapons have been separately collected only since 1 April 2004. Prior to that they were included within the ‘imitation weapons’ total. | ||||||||||
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