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10 Dec 2008 : Column 140W—continued
Right to Buy Scheme: Yorkshire and the Humber
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much local authority stock in (a) North Yorkshire and (b) Vale of York constituency was sold under the Right to Buy scheme in each year since 1997. [241973]
Mr. Iain Wright: The following table shows the number of local authority Right to Buy sales in North Yorkshire and in the City of York, for each year since 1997-98. We have taken North Yorkshire to comprise the districts of Selby, Harrogate, Craven, Richmondshire, Hambleton, Ryedale, Scarborough and York. Information on Right to Buy sales by constituency is not available centrally, but as Vale of York constituency includes the City of York we have included sales figures for York as well.
| North Yorkshire | City of York | |
| (1) Data not reported for all four quarters of the financial year, therefore figure cannot be used for comparison over time or with other areas. The 1998-99 figure for the City of York is from three quarterly returns, the 1999-2000 figures from two quarterly returns. Note: The figures shown for the City of York are as reported, and do not include estimates for missing returns. Figures for North Yorkshire include imputed figures for missing quarterly returns from any of the local authorities in North Yorkshire. Source: Quarterly P1B returns from Local Authorities | ||
Four of the North Yorkshire local districts have transferred their housing stock to registered social landlords, and consequently do not have any housing stock to sell through the Right to Buy scheme. Hambleton and Ryedale transferred their stock before 1997-98, Craven in March 2003, and Scarborough in December 2003.
Women and Equality
Discrimination
Mr. Harper: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality if she will place in the Library a copy of each response to the discrimination law review consultation. [240817]
Maria Eagle: We received over 4,000 responses to our consultation “A Framework for Fairness: Proposals for a Single Equality Bill for Great Britain”, which were carefully considered. The Government's response to the consultation (Cm 7454) provides a summary of the responses and sets out the measures we intend to include in the Equality Bill. The response was published on 21 July 2008. A copy is available on the website of the Government Equalities Office at the following web address:
The responses to the consultation received from organisations have also been published on the GEO website.
Domestic Violence
Anne Moffat: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what steps the Government is taking to reduce levels of domestic violence. [240280]
Maria Eagle: The Government have produced a cross-Government National Domestic Violence Delivery Plan which provides a strategic framework to address domestic violence. We have taken a range of action to reduce levels of domestic violence including establishing 104 Specialist Domestic Violence Courts (SDVCs) and plan to reach 128 by 2011. We have provided over £6 million this financial year to support the roll-out of Independent Domestic Violence Advisors and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences across England and Wales linked to these SDVCs. IDVAs provide invaluable support to victims of domestic violence. Evidence shows that incidents of victimisation decrease and victims are less likely to withdraw from cases.
There has been significant progress in reducing the levels of domestic violence. There has been a 58 per cent. decline in the incidence of domestic violence between 1997 and 2007-08, as measured by the British Crime Survey. Further, the success rate on prosecuting domestic violence continues to improve. In December 2003 only 46 per cent. of domestic violence prosecutions resulted in conviction. By September 2008 this figure had increased to 72.1 per cent.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Departmental Rail Travel
Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on what date the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform last used a train in the course of his official duties. [242622]
Mr. McFadden: 4 December 2008. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.
Insolvency: Hotels
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) hotels and (b) bed and breakfast establishments that have declared themselves insolvent since 2003; and if he will make a statement. [240335]
Mr. McFadden: Statistics are only available for “Hotels” and only available from Q3 2007 on a consistent basis. The following table records the number of “hotels” that have entered into an insolvency procedure in each quarter since 2007 Q3 in England and Wales.
Insolvency: Leisure
Mr. Hunt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many companies involved in the leisure industry went into (a) compulsory and (b) voluntary (i) administration and (ii) liquidation in each region of England and Wales in each of the last five years. [240653]
Mr. McFadden: There is insufficient, detailed information held centrally, and in a readily available format, to provide an answer to this question. This is because:
(1) Corporate insolvency statistics are not currently available for Government office regions within England and Wales.
(2) There is no consistent information on the industry sector of insolvent companies for the period requested.
(3) Corporate insolvency information has more than one source, and there are differences between these in the information available for industry sectors.
(4) The current standard industrial classification (SIC) does not enable the “leisure industry” to be readily defined.
Members: Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire, dated 30 October 2008 and transferred to his Department on 4 November, on the Employment Bill. [241385]
Mr. McFadden [holding answer 9 December 2008]: I responded to the hon. Member on 12 November.
Office of Fair Trading: Complaints
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on how many occasions since June 2003 the Office of Fair Trading has not responded to a super complaint within 90 days. [241616]
Mr. Thomas: This is a matter for the independent Office of Fair Trading. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member directly.
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) how much and what proportion of the Office of Fair Trading’s budget was spent on the investigation of super complaints in each of the last three years; [241650]
(2) which super complaints have been made to the Office of Fair Trading under section 11 of the Enterprise Act 2002 in each calendar year since June 2003; what estimate he has made of the cost of investigating each complaint in each such year; how long each investigation took; what the outcome of each investigation was; and what subsequent action was taken. [241651]
Mr. Thomas [holding answer 9 December 2008]: These are matters for the independent Office of Fair Trading. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member directly.
Office of Fair Trading: Research
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) what estimate his Department has made of the cost to individual businesses of being involved in Office of Fair Trading market studies; and if he will make a statement; [242090]
(2) what percentage of the Office of Fair Trading's current workload is comprised of market studies; and what proportion of its budget was spent on such studies in the last 12 months; [242091]
(3) how many market studies of public sector activities have been undertaken by the Office of Fair Trading since 2003; [242092]
(4) how many market studies have been undertaken by the Office of Fair Trading since January 2003, broken down by market; what the cost was of each study; and what the outcomes were of each study. [242284]
Mr. Thomas: These are matters for the independent Office of Fair Trading. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member directly.
Trade Unions
Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Chichester of 22 July 2008, Official Report, column 1149W, on trade unions, if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of the meeting of 26 June. [242038]
Mr. McFadden: It is not the practice of the Department to place the minutes of private meetings with business or other organisations in the House Libraries.
Solicitor-General
Departmental Official Hospitality
David Simpson: To ask the Solicitor-General what records her Office maintains of its expenditure on (a) official hospitality and (b) alcohol for official hospitality. [240460]
The Solicitor-General: The Attorney-General’s Office records its expenditure on official hospitality on our accounts system and copies of relevant receipts and invoices are filed. Separate records are not kept for alcohol nor individual items.
Essex Crown Prosecution Service: Complaints
Mr. Amess: To ask the Solicitor-General how many complaints have been made against Essex Crown Prosecution Service in each year since 1997. [241160]
The Solicitor-General: The number of complaints recorded by CPS Essex each year since 1998 is shown in the following table. Complete figures are not available for 1997. The figures shown represent all the letters of complaint received and replied to by CPS Essex. They do not indicate the outcome of the complaint, whether the CPS was at fault or whether the correspondence was forwarded to another appropriate agency to deal with.
| CPS Prosecution Service( 1) | 42 areas | CPS Essex | |
| (1) Incl. Casework Directorate | |||
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