Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 9 October 2008
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Departmental Databases
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what use (a) his Department and (b) its agencies make of (i) MOSAIC and (ii) ACORN data. [222053]
Mr. Thomas: The Department does not make any direct use of (i) MOSAIC data or (ii) ACORN data. The Department has used data that has been extracted by an independent company from M0SAIC for the purpose of segmenting audiences during the National Minimum Wage campaign.
I have asked the chief executives of the Department’s agencies to respond direct to the hon. Member.
Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 9 October 2008:
The Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has asked me to reply to you directly on behalf of The Insolvency Service in respect of your question (2008/3618) asking what use (a) his Department and (b) its agencies make of (i) MOSAIC data and (ii) ACORN data.
The Agency does not make any direct use of (i) Mosaic data or (ii) Acorn data.
Letter from Gareth Jones, dated 6 O ctober 2008:
I am responding on behalf of Companies House to your recently tabled Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Companies House do not use MOSAIC or ACORN data.
Excel Airways
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he was informed that KPMG had resigned as auditors to Excel Airways Group PLC in October 2006; what steps he and the regulator took to investigate the reasons for this resignation; and if he will set up an investigation into the financial affairs of Excel and the successor XL Leisure Group. [224686]
Mr. McFadden: Companies House received KPMG's letter and statutory statement on 31 October 2006, and registered it on 7 November 2006. Companies House performed its statutory function of registering the document and placing it on the public record, but it had no duty, or power, to act on the contents of the document.
The administrators of XL Leisure Group plc, formerly called Excel Airways Group plc appointed on 12 September, have a duty to make a report within six months to the Secretary of State under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 on the conduct of its directors. In any event, the Insolvency Service, to which the administrators' report will be referred, is considering whether a Companies Act investigation is merited.
Post Offices: Fees and Charges
Justine Greening: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) what the range in rates of the Annual Service Provision Cost (Franchise Fee) paid by branches of the Post Office is; [224852]
(2) how many franchised branches of the Post Office pay an annual service provision cost (franchise fee) in the range of (a) £0 to 10,000, (b) £10,001 to £20,000, (c) £20,001 to £30,000, (d) £30,001 to £40,000, (e) £40,001 to £50,000, (f) £50,001 to £60,000 and (g) £60,001 and above; [224853]
(3) on what basis the annual service provision cost franchise fee paid by branches of the Post Office is calculated; [225152]
(4) what criteria are used to set the annual service provision cost franchise fee paid by branches of the Post Office; [225153]
(5) what the annual percentage increase in the annual service provision cost franchise fee paid by branches of the Post Office was in each year since 2002. [225154]
Mr. McFadden: These are operational matters for Post Office Ltd (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, managing director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Royal Mail: North West
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the economic impact on the City of Liverpool of Royal Mail's proposal to close the Coppers Hill mail sorting office; and if he will make a statement. [225742]
Mr. McFadden: The decision to close the Coppers Hill mail centre was an operational decision by Royal Mail management. While Royal Mail intends to close this centre, it will be opening three new delivery offices in Liverpool. The Government fully appreciates that the closure of mail centres or other Royal Mail facilities creates uncertainty for Royal Mail employees and their families. I understand that Royal Mail is discussing the impact of their proposals and decisions with employees and will work with them individually to understand their preferences for future employment within the business.
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether he was consulted on Royal Mail's review of mail sorting offices in the North West; and whether similar reviews are being carried out in other regions. [225743]
Mr. McFadden: The Review of the mail centres in the North West is an operational matter for Royal Mail. Ministers were not consulted about the specific decisions taken as it is for the Royal Mail management to decide how to run its operations efficiently. It is also for Royal Mail to decide how and when it should review its operations in other regions.
Communities and Local Government
Council Housing: Construction
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether local housing companies will be allowed to build directly managed council houses with secure tenancies and council set rents. [221048]
Mr. Iain Wright [holding answer 22 July 2008]: The corporate aims and activities of individual local housing companies (LHC) will be decided by local authorities in agreement with their private sector partners. However, in general terms, LHCs are likely to be housing development, and possibly management, companies that build homes having a mix of tenures and types. It will be possible for LHCs to transfer homes into local authority ownership for them to manage and let on secure tenancies at rents set by the authority, if that is what they wish to do.
Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effects of targeting national indicator 191 on residual household waste on local authorities’ propensity to adopt fortnightly rubbish collections. [222717]
Hilary Benn: I have been asked to reply.
No assessment has been made of the effect of targeting national indicator 191 on residual household waste on local authorities’ propensity to adopt alternate weekly collections of residual waste. Such decisions are entirely a matter for local authorities themselves.
Dorneywood
James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 19 June 2008, Official Report, column 1187W, on Dorneywood: official hospitality, what use her Department has made of Dorneywood for official engagements in the last 12 months. [221977]
Local Government Services: Public Participation
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps the Government has taken to encourage local authorities to open their facilities to the public. [225339]
John Healey: The Government are keen for local authorities to make available their facilities to local people. How this is achieved is a matter for local discretion.
Mortgages: Repossession Orders
Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of how many repossessions were avoided by the Government’s mortgage rescue service in 2007-08. [225745]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Government’s £200 million mortgage rescue scheme was announced by the Prime Minister on 2 September. It is anticipated that the scheme will be open for business by January 2009.
The scheme builds on existing Government initiatives aimed at supporting homeowners in financial difficulty and at risk of repossession. It is expected to assist up to 6,000 of the most vulnerable households, in England, likely to need state assistance were they to be repossessed.
Rodents: Pest Control
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what information her Department holds on the number of complaints to local authorities about rodent problems in each of the last 10 years. [222465]
Hilary Benn: I have been asked to reply.
Neither DEFRA nor Communities and Local Government hold any records on the number of complaints to local authorities about rodent problems.
Waste Management: Contracts
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the account taken of competition issues and open tendering in the processes adopted by local authorities in selecting partnership agreements with private sector companies on waste management; and if she will make a statement. [222865]
Hilary Benn: I have been asked to reply.
The procurement of local authority contracts is the responsibility of the individual authority and must follow EU procurement rules which promote competitive tendering. DEFRA’s Waste Infrastructure Delivery Programme (WIDP) offers PFI credits and transactor support as well as best practice guidance to authorities procuring residual waste infrastructure. WIDP always encourages authorities to structure their procurements to encourage competition in order to achieve value for money.
Waste Management: Liverpool
Mr. Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions she has had with Liverpool City Council on the selection of their private sector waste management partner. [222866]
Hilary Benn: I have been asked to reply.
DEFRA has not had any discussions with Liverpool city council on the selection of their private sector waste management partner.
Culture, Media and Sport
Sports: Greater London
Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much public money was spent on grassroots sports in the London boroughs of
(a) Southwark, (b) Lambeth, (c) Lewisham, (d) Newham, (e) Hackney, (f) Waltham Forest, (g) Tower Hamlets and (h) Greenwich in each of the last five years. [224186]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Funding for grassroots sport in London is available from a number of sources including local authority expenditure, Exchequer funding from DCMS via Sport England, and lottery funding via Sport England. The following figures do not include funding for national schemes that may have been spent within these boroughs. This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost. We do not hold information on local authority expenditure in the boroughs listed, but Sport England has advised that the amounts of Exchequer and lottery funding spent on grassroots sports in each borough, in each year of the last five years are as follows:
| London borough/year | Lottery (£) | Exchequer (£) |
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