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16 July 2008 : Column 486W—continued


Ethnic Groups: Finance

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many black and minority ethnic organisations are receiving funding from local authorities in 2008-09; and what assessment she has made of recent trends in the number of black and minority ethnic organisations receiving such funding. [218914]

Mr. Dhanda: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Fire Services

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the research produced for her Department by the Centre for Economics and Business Research on the strategic review of fire and rescue services. [212726]

Mr. Dhanda: A summary of the research will be placed in the Library of the House.

Flood Control

Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to require local authorities to produce local surface water management plans. [215063]

Mr. Woolas: I have been asked to reply.

I refer the hon. Member to the statement made on 25 June 2008, Official Report, column 301, by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Hilary Benn).

Food

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much was spent by her Department on (a) food and (b) food of British origin in each of the last five years; [214885]

(2) from which five countries of origin the greatest amount of food was procured by her Department in the last year for which figures are available; and what the (a) cost and (b) quantity procured was in each case. [214886]

Mr. Dhanda: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Housing: Low Incomes

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many house sales have taken place under the HomeBuy scheme in each month since April 2006; and what the Government’s targets for sales in each month were. [218860]

Caroline Flint: The following table shows the number of homes sold under the HomeBuy scheme in each month since April 2006:

Open Market HomeBuy NewBuild HomeBuy/Shared Ownership Social HomeBuy

April 2006

38

0

0

May 2006

1

0

0

June 2006

44

0

0

July 2006

185

100

0

August 2006

377

151

0

September 2006

397

130

0

October 2006

372

87

0

November 2006

183

166

0

December 2006

166

374

0

January 2007

124

241

0

February 2007

211

282

17

March 2007

297

1492

30

April 2007

4

42

0

May 2007

230

55

0

June 2007

175

354

2

July 2007

171

296

11

August 2007

226

266

16

September 2007

161

676

10

October 2007

214

372

26

November 2007

213

418

8

December 2007

316

1367

18

January 2008

240

574

12

February 2008

341

1394

23

March 2008

585

4317

31

April 2008

31

126

2

May 2008

170

267

4

June 2008

439

705

20


We do not set individual monthly targets for Open Market HomeBuy or NewBuild HomeBuy to ensure flexibility within the programme. Social HomeBuy is a demand led product and as such no targets are associated with this programme.


16 July 2008 : Column 487W

Interreg Programme

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 14 May 2008, Official Report, column 1636W, on the Interreg Programme, if she will place in the Library a copy of the updated edition of the INTERACT Handbook that was produced for the Interinstitutional Conference on the European Grouping of Territorial Co-operation, held in Brussels in June 2008. [217823]

John Healey: I have placed a copy of the updated INTERACT Handbook on the European Grouping of Territorial Co-operation in the Library of the House.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 14 May 2008, Official Report, column 1636W, on the Interreg Programme, whether bodies set up under the provisions of European Grouping of Territorial Co-operation Regulations 2007, with a registered office in the United Kingdom, will be a public authority for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. [217824]

John Healey: For the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act, bodies with a registered office in the United Kingdom set up under the provisions of the European Grouping of Territorial Co-operation Regulations 2007 are not designated as public authorities.

Landfill Tax

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer of 21 May 2008, Official Report, column 318W, on landfill tax, what the notional amount of funding given to local authorities in each year since 2003 to compensate for rising landfill tax was, according to calculations held by her Department when drawing up the local government finance settlement. [217820]

John Healey: Formula Grant is not hypothecated. It is not therefore possible to identify an amount provided for a particular item of expenditure.

Local Government Finance

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment her Department has made of the effects of oil price changes on local authority costs. [217838]

John Healey: The Government have given local government the stability and certainty it asked for, in providing a three-year financial settlement for the period from 2008-09 to 2010-11. We have continued to provide real terms increases in funding for local government, with overall Government grant increasing by an annual average of 1.5 per cent. up to 2010-11. It is for local authorities, as for other organisations, to assess and manage in-year pressures on their budgets such as increases in fuel prices.


16 July 2008 : Column 488W

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the capacity of local authorities to increase their revenue through greater use of charging powers; and if she will make a statement. [217851]

John Healey: The need for consistent and creative approaches to charging was highlighted in the recent Audit Commission report “Positively Charged”. It showed that the approaches local authorities take to charging vary widely across the country and that the best authorities are using charges, with public backing, to improve services. The Government have made no separate assessment of local authorities’ capacity to increase revenue through their use of charging powers.

Local Government: Elections

Mrs. Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average turnout for local council elections in Halifax has been since 1988. [219061]

Mr. Dhanda: Since 1988, the average voter turnout for the Calderdale council wards falling wholly or mostly within the Halifax parliamentary constituency has been 36.62 per cent. Averages by year are:-

Average voter turnout

1988

35.81

1990

45.46

1991

41.37

1992

36.26

1994

40.72

1995

36.05

1996

32.55

1998

30.00

1999

29.06

2000

26.85

2002

30.65

2003

38.27

2004

49.96

2006

37.81

2007

37.53

2008

37.57


The Wards concerned are:-

1998 to 2003 election

2004 elections to present


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