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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 | |
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.
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.
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 | |
Illingworth
Mixenden
Northowram and Shelf
Ovenden
St. John's
Skircoat
Sowerby Bridge
Town
Warley
Illingworth and Mixenden
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