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30 Jun 2008 : Column 623W—continued
Council Housing: Sales
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what date the first unit of council housing was sold under the Housing Act 1980. [214453]
Mr. Iain Wright: It is not possible to identify whether the information requested is available or indeed was ever recorded without incurring disproportionate expense.
Chapter 1 of part 1 of the Housing Act 1980 (the right to buy) came into force on 8 October 1980. Between that date and 31 March 1981, 2,328 properties were sold under the scheme in England and 307 in Wales, a total of 2,635 properties.
County Councils: Marketing
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much each county council spent on communications and marketing in the last year for which figures are available. [213916]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally.
Departmental Contracts
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government who each of her Department's preferred contractors is. [213538]
Mr. Dhanda: The Department does not have any preferred suppliers because this would conflict with our obligation to procure in a non-discriminatory manner.
Departmental Home Working
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff in her Department are authorised to work from home. [212529]
Mr. Dhanda: The Department has no central record of requests to work from home as these arrangements are made by local agreement between individual staff and their line manager. Collection of this information from individual line managers would be at disproportionate cost.
The Department is committed to improving work/life balance. It values diversity and tries to accommodate different work patterns including the use of home working where operational/business constraints permit.
Departmental Manpower
Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many jobs her Department expects to relocate under the policy of civil service job dispersal. [213391]
Mr. Dhanda: Communities and Local Government have a target to relocate 240 full-time equivalent posts out of London and the greater south east by 2010.
Departmental Pay
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the average pay per hour worked by (a) permanent and (b) temporary staff in her Department in the last period for which figures are available, broken down by pay band. [212493]
Mr. Dhanda: The average pay per hour worked by permanent and temporary staff in the Department is shown in the following table (shown to two decimal places).
| Average pay per hour | ||
| Pay band | Permanent staff (£) | Temporary staff (£) |
The Department’s hourly rate is calculated as annual salary (plus reckonable allowances) divided by 52 (weeks) multiplied by the net weekly conditioned hours. For the purposes of this answer, temporary staff have been defined as those employees who are directly employed by the Department for fixed period of time.
Departmental Public Expenditure
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department and its predecessor spent on (a) new furnishings, (b) art and (c) new vehicles in each of the last three years. [213686]
Mr. Dhanda: Communities and Local Government was created on 5 May 2006. The information that follows therefore includes both CLG and its predecessor Department ODPM.
In relation to expenditure on new furnishings, I refer to the answer given to the hon. Member for Fareham on 24 June 2008, Official Report, column 260W.
The Department has not incurred any expenditure on works of art. Those works displayed within HQ buildings are on loan from the Government Art Collection.
In relation to expenditure on new vehicles, I refer to the answer given to the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Browne) on 18 February 2008, Official Report, column 15W.
Departmental Vetting
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what procedures her Department follows for checking the criminal records of employees; and if she will make a statement. [213137]
Mr. Dhanda: All new entrants to the Department are required to complete a Baseline Security Standard Criminal Record Declaration Form. The Department is registered with Disclosure Scotland to carry out one in five criminal record checks on our behalf and we are working towards carrying out 100 per cent. checks.
100 per cent. checks are carried out on employees in posts where national security vetting is applied.
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what percentage of successful applicants for jobs in her Department are subjected to a criminal records check; how many (a) successful applicants and (b) criminal records checks there were in each of the last 10 years; how many successful applicants were found to have a criminal record after a criminal records check took place in each of the last 10 years; whether the selection of successful candidates to be subjected to a criminal records check is random or targeted; and if she will make a statement. [213157]
Mr. Dhanda:
All new entrants to the Department are required to complete a Baseline Security Standard Criminal Record Declaration Form. The Department registered with Disclosure Scotland on 20 May 2008 to carry out random one in five criminal record checks on
our behalf and we are working towards carrying out 100 per cent. checks. 100 per cent. checks are carried out on employees in posts where national security vetting is applied.
Information on numbers of successful candidates, criminal record checks and applicants found to have a criminal record in the past 10 years is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Disadvantaged: Chorley
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when Chorley borough council entered into partnership with NCH for delivery of the vulnerable families scheme; and what progress has been made in identifying vulnerable families in the Chorley area under the scheme. [214203]
Mr. Dhanda: The Vulnerable Households project is run in partnership between Chorley and South Ribble LSPs (Local Strategic Partnerships). It moved into partnership with NCH during the development phase of the project at the outset the 2007-08 financial year.
The project is currently moving into its second phase of development which is focused on identifying families for support, with the intention to identify 15 families in Chorley and another 15 in South Ribble. These families are being selected using Common Assessment Framework (CAF) methodology based on their impact on local communities and the demands which they are currently placing on public services.
Eco-towns
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which of the proposed eco-town bids involve development of (a) open fields and (b) woodland. [212729]
Caroline Flint: Summary descriptions for each of the shortlisted eco-towns locations are set out in the consultation document, Eco-towns—Living a greener future, and further information about the schemes, including the site are available through the Department's website. Many of the shortlisted bids make significant use of previously developed (brownfield) land. However, in some cases development on greenfield land may be appropriate.
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government who will be providing ecological expertise and advice to the panel assessing eco-town proposals. [213614]
Caroline Flint [holding answer 26 June 2008]: The members of the Eco-towns Challenge were announced by press releases on 9 April and 19 May. They have expertise in sustainable development, design, environment, green living and energy and their role is to work with bidders to help them develop and improve their plans. Feedback from the panel's first round of meetings has been published on my Department's website and shows that they are challenging bidders on biodiversity and green infrastructure where they think this is an issue with the scheme.
Eco-towns Challenge Panel: Business Interests
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 19 May 2008, Official Report, column 38W, on the Eco-towns Challenge Panel: political impartiality, whether the members of the panel are required to declare other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests. [212667]
Caroline Flint: All members of the Eco-towns Challenge Panel were asked to declare pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in the shortlisted locations ahead of their participation. The panel will work with bidders to help them develop and improve their plans and have no responsibility for assessing proposals—this will be the responsibility of Government, and Ministers will make the final decision on locations with potential to go forward as eco-towns.
Eco-Towns: Planning Permission
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for the successful eco-town bidders to be announced. [212675]
Caroline Flint: Following further consultation and assessment over the summer we expect to announce the final shortlist of locations with potential to go forward as an eco-town later in the year. Schemes will then need to be taken forward into the local planning process, where they will undergo further testing and consultation.
Emergency Services: Fuels
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance she has issued to emergency planning departments on the provision of fuel to essential users during times of shortage. [211519]
Malcolm Wicks: I have been asked to reply.
Contingency plans are in place at local level to deal with fuel shortages resulting from events such as industrial action. The National Emergency Plan for Fuel (NEP-F) provides guidance to those responsible for emergency planning on the provision of fuel to essential users such as the emergency services and other essential service providers in the event of a significant disruption to fuel supplies.
Empty Properties: Charities
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether charities which own property that they lease or rent out, but do not occupy for charitable work, are liable for empty property rates when that property is empty. [213535]
John Healey: Where the liable ratepayer of an empty property is a charity the property will be exempt from empty property rates if it appears that when next in use the property will be wholly or mainly used for a charitable purpose.
Fire Service College
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the job specification of the Chief Executive of the Fire Service College is. [213825]
Mr. Dhanda: The role and responsibilities of the chief executive of the Fire Service College are as set out in the 2005 Framework Document. The chief executive is responsible for the day-to-day running of the agency, its overall performance and the efficiencies of its operations. As the accounting officer for the college's Trading Fund, the chief executive is responsible for ensuring that proper procedures are followed for securing the propriety and regularity of the public funds for which he or she is responsible.
Fire Service College: Finance
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department's medium-term financial strategy for the Fire Service College. [213824]
Mr. Dhanda: The Department's medium-term financial strategy for the Fire Service College is to ensure that it can consistently fulfil its obligations as a trading fund to cover its costs and achieve a return of 4 per cent. on capital employed. The Department is working with the college to achieve this.
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