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3 Nov 2008 : Column 130W—continued
Local Government: Standards
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many councils have made a net improvement in their comprehensive performance assessment (CPA) scores since CPA was introduced. [230685]
John Healey: For single tier authorities and county councils, 85 moved up by at least one category between 2002-04 and 51 moved up by at least one category between 2005-07.
For district councils, 42 councils improved performance by at least one category between 2006-08.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether anonymous complaints, which do not amount to an allegation of criminality, will be considered under the revised standards board regime. [230686]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 8 May 2008, Official Report, column 1077W.
Minister for the South East
Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the responsibilities are of the Minister for the South East; and if she will make a statement. [231552]
Mr. Khan: The Prime Minister appointed the Minister for the South East (along with Ministers for each of the other English regions) in June 2007. Their specific roles were specified in the “Governance of Britain” Green Paper, published on 3 July 2007. Their three key functions are to act as:
“Regional Leaders”: working with members, officials and colleagues from all sectors to get beneath the headlines and into the detail of the problems facing the region—and to look for the solutions.
“Government champions”: speaking at a number of key regional events to promote national policies, using these events also to explore how the region can draw on its experience to offer solutions back to Whitehall Departments.
“Regional Champions”: working with colleagues within Whitehall to promote the region’s successes; to champion the needs of the region and to ensure that the region's voice is heard—including membership on both the Regional Economic Council and the Council of Regional Ministers in response to the current economic situation.
National Policy Statements
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether national policy statements will be subject to parliamentary approval. [229695]
Mr. Khan: Under the provisions of the Planning Bill, draft national policy statements will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny. The Bill does not require parliamentary approval of national policy statements.
Planning
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the earliest date is on which national policy statements can come into force following Royal Assent to the Planning Bill. [230418]
John Healey: Before national policy statements can be designated, they must meet the requirements in the Bill: appraisal of sustainability, public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny. Given this, we believe that the earliest that NPSs are likely to be designated would be in the latter part of 2009.
Planning: Enforcement
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department provides to local authorities on how long their planning enforcement cases should take to be (a) investigated and (b) completed; and if she will make a statement. [232505]
Margaret Beckett: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Under-Secretary for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Wright) on 23 October 2008, Official Report, column 495W.
Rural Areas
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in respect of which of her Department’s public service agreements rural proofing of departmental policies is stipulated. [230744]
Mr. Khan: Communities and Local Government leads on two cross-government Public Service Agreements (PSA 20, “Increase long term housing supply and affordability” and PSA 21, “Build more cohesive, empowered and active communities)”. Communities and Local Government also contributes to a number of PSAs led by other Government Departments as set out in the relevant PSA Delivery Agreements. It is a requirement for all new policies and programmes to be subject to an impact assessment which includes rural proofing.
Small Business: Tax Allowances
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what the estimated aggregate monetary value is of unclaimed small business rate relief in England in the last year for which figures are available; [230539]
(2) what estimate she has made of the value of small business rate relief that was unclaimed in the latest year for which figures are available. [230701]
John Healey:
Without a ratepayer making a claim for the relief it is not always possible to establish whether
all the eligibility criteria, including whether the ratepayer occupies only one property in England, have been met. Therefore there is no estimated value of unclaimed small business rate relief.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether small business rate relief applies to business rate liability for an empty property. [230689]
John Healey: No. Small business rate relief applies to occupied properties only.
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what the estimated yearly cost to the public purse of small business rate relief was in the latest period for which figures are available; [230691]
(2) what the estimated gross yearly revenue is from the extra business rates multiplier on medium-sized and large firms to fund small business rate relief. [230875]
John Healey: The small business rate relief scheme is designed to operate at no cost to the public purse. A supplement on the multiplier, used to calculate the rate bills of those not receiving the relief, is set before the start of each year. The supplement is set at a level which attempts to eliminate any surpluses or deficits in previous years.
Figures showing the net effect of the small business rate relief scheme on local authorities' contributions to the national non-domestic rates pool were published in a statistical release on 17 September 2008 and can be found on the Communities and Local Government website
In 2007-08, local authorities reported that they raised £133 million from the supplement on the multiplier to fund small business rate relief.
Standards Board for England: Finance
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 19 October 2007, Official Report, column 1343W, on the Standards Board for England: finance, whether a decision has been taken on the total grant to be allocated to the Standards Board and Adjudication Panel for 2008-09. [230568]
John Healey: The grant allocation to the Standards Board for England, including the Adjudication Panel, for 2008-09, is £8.285 million.
Stonemasons
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether qualified stonemasons who are not on the British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons may be employed by local authorities to carry out stonemasonry work. [229647]
Mr. Khan: I am not aware of any requirement for qualified stonemasons employed by local authorities to be on the British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons.
Northern Ireland
Departmental Pensions
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department are members of the (a) Classic, (b) Classic Plus, (c) NUVOS and (d) Premium civil service pension schemes. [229527]
Mr. Woodward: The information requested is shown in the following table.
| Number | Percentage | |
Departmental Recruitment
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many civil servants in his Department were recruited through the fast stream; and what the average salary of those officials is. [229189]
Paul Goggins: There are 20 staff currently employed within the Northern Ireland Office who were recruited through the fast stream process. The current average salary of these officials is £38,000. This figure does not include staff who were recruited into the fast stream prior to joining the Northern Ireland Office.
Mr. Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many vacant posts in his Department were advertised in each of the last three years; and at what cost. [230601]
Paul Goggins: Open recruitment is used in the Northern Ireland Office to fill individual posts where the skills and qualifications required are not available from within the civil service. It is also used for basic entry level recruitment, such as officer grades in the Northern Ireland Prison Service. The following table provides details of the number of posts advertised along with advertising costs for each of the years requested.
| NIO Core Department | NIO Agencies | |||
| Number of posts | Advertising costs (£) | Number of posts | Advertising costs (£) | |
Departmental Security
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many security passes have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen by staff in (i) his Department and (ii) agencies sponsored by his Department in each year since 2001. [228893]
Paul Goggins: The information requested is detailed in the following table:
| Lost | Stolen | Recovered | ||||
| NIO | Agencies | NIO | Agencies | NIO | Agencies | |
The loss of a pass, by whatever means, must be reported to the issuing office, the relevant building security and the Police Service of Northern Ireland. As soon as a pass is reported missing it is electronically deactivated and cannot be used.
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