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26 Jan 2009 : Column 114W—continued
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the start-up costs of the Homes and Communities Agency were; and if she will give a breakdown of the cost of its administration in its first year since establishment. [250471]
Margaret Beckett: The costs of the Homes and Communities Agency are set out in the Housing and Regeneration Bill-Impact Assessment, a copy of which is in the House Library. This states that the one-off cost of setting up the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) will be £20 million over three years.
A break down of the 2008-09 administration running costs of the HCA is provided in the following table. This gives the full HCA budget for 2008-09 for the reason set out in my response to the hon. Member on 19 January 2009, Official Report, column 1076.
| 2008-09 (12 months) (£ million) | |
Homes and Communities Agency: Pay
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what role she has in monitoring increases in salaries of staff of the Homes and Communities Agency. [248753]
Margaret Beckett: The Secretary of State's role is to approve the overall annual pay proposals for the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) bearing in mind the terms of the annual guidance on pay for civil and public servants issued by Her Majesty's Treasury. It is then for individual non departmental public bodies (NDPBs), including the HCA, to determine pay and conditions for their staff.
The Secretary of State also approves the annual inflation increase for the Chief Executives of Communities and Local Government's NDPBs, including for the HCA. The Chairman of the HCA also confers with my
Department if the Board is minded to award an annual performance bonus to the Chief Executive.
Furthermore, the HCA will consult my Department on any proposed major structural changes to the HCA's pay and grading systems, and on the pay for any appointments made at Director level or above, including the Chief Executive.
Infrastructure Planning Commission
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the composition of the Infrastructure Planning Commission will be announced; how it will be determined; and what consultation will take place with representatives of relevant industries. [249766]
John Healey: Recruitment of the chair of the new Infrastructure Planning Commission has already commenced. The process of recruiting the other members of the Commission will follow shortly. These are all public appointments and the recruitment is being carried out in accordance with the rules of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) with an independent OCPA assessor supervising the process. In addition, the appointments of the chair and deputy chairs will be subject to the pre-appointment hearing by the relevant Parliamentary Select Committee. It is open to anyone who considers they meet the essential criteria to apply for the posts.
Mr. Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions her Department has had with the Railfreight Interchange Investment Group on the composition of the Infrastructure Planning Commission. [249768]
John Healey: There have been no discussions with Railfreight Interchange Investment Group and the Department of Communities and Local Government on the composition of the Infrastructure Planning Commission.
Local Government Finance
Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2008, Official Report, column 1049W, on local government finance, what estimate she has made of the resources required by local authorities in England to carry out their proposed new responsibilities for strategic commissioning of education for 16 to 18-year-olds; and what discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues in the Department for Children, Schools and Families on the matter. [247762]
John Healey: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 18 December 2008, Official Report, column 1049W. My Department maintains a regular dialogue with other Departments at both ministerial and official level on policies which affect local government, including resource implications.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what local authority revenue was provided from (a) central Government, (b) council tax revenues and (c) special grants for each region in each of the last 12 years, ranked in descending order according to the size of increase. [250719] [Official Report, 24 February 2009, Vol. 488, c. 1-2MC.]
John Healey: Details of local authority funding provided by central Government, council tax revenues and specific and special revenue grants for each region in England in each of the last 12 years are shown in the following tables.
| Central Government grant | ||||||||||
| £ million | ||||||||||
| North East | North West( 1) | Yorks and Humber | East Midlands | West Midlands | East of England | Lon don | South East | South West | Total England | |
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