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12 Mar 2009 : Column 752W—continued
Non-Domestic Rates: Ports
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her most recent estimate is of the net rise in aggregate rateable values as a consequence of the new system of rating ports for business rates. [262136]
John Healey: The aggregate effect (net increase) of the review of ports in England at 1 April 2005 (from an original starting point of £201 million rateable value) is currently estimated to be around £9.8 million rateable value.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what dates the retrospective bills to ports firms will be issued following the introduction of the new system of rating ports for business rates. [262137]
John Healey: There has been no new system of rating applied to ports. The review in ports applied the current system of rates for all non-domestic property to properties in ports which had previously been included in the Port Operator assessment or omitted from the rating list, but which were liable for separate rating.
Local authorities are responsible for billing and collection of rates from individual businesses. The Non-domestic Rating (Collection and Enforcement) (Local list) Regulations require that demand notices are sent as soon as praticable.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether port operators will receive retrospective refunds as a result of the backdating of lower rateable values. [262383]
John Healey: Local authorities are responsible for billing and collection of rates from individual businesses.
If the ratepayer has made an overpayment in respect of any liability, the local billing authority will make a refund if the rate payer requires, or can create a credit against subsequent liability.
Non-Domestic Rates: Valuation
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many sub-locations there are in each billing authority in England outside Greater London. [261905]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 19 November 2008, Official Report, column 512W.
Planning Permission
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidelines are available for Ministers in her Department in respect of probity in planning. [263422]
Mr. Iain Wright: Ministers have the benefit of both the Cabinet Office ‘Ministerial Code’, which covers general principles regarding the conduct of their official duties, and more specific ‘Guidance on Planning Propriety Issues’ which is published on the CLG website. The planning propriety guidance is kept under regular review and was last updated in October 2008, mainly to reflect recent changes in arrangements for regional planning. The guidance covers ministerial decision making on all aspects of planning casework, including development plans, called-in planning applications and recovered appeals.
Private Rented Housing
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effect on investment activity in the buy-to-let sector of the abolition of dividend tax credits on pension funds. [262605]
Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.
The Treasury has made no such assessment. The decision in 1997 to abolish payable dividend tax credits
was taken to remove a distortion in the tax system, which had encouraged companies to pay out their profits in dividends, rather than retain them for reinvestment in the business. The measure was part of a wider package of measures designed to improve the climate for long-term investment in the UK.
Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the proposed timetable is for implementation of proposals arising from the review of the private rented housing sector. [263230]
Mr. Iain Wright: Following the publication of the Review of the Private Rented Sector on 23 October last year, we have been meeting with stakeholders and considering how to take forward the ideas raised. We propose to publish our initial response in the spring.
Publicity
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much the Audit Commission has spent on services procured from each of the external public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information’s Public Relations Framework in the last 36 months; [262590]
(2) how much the Planning Inspectorate has spent on services procured from each of the external public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information’s Public Relations Framework in the last 36 months; [262591]
(3) how much Ordnance Survey has spent on services procured from each of the external public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information’s Public Relations Framework in the last 36 months; [262592]
(4) how much (a) the Housing Corporation, (b) English Partnerships, (c) Firebuy and (d) the Standards Board for England has spent on services procured from each of the external public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information’s public relations framework in the last 36 months. [262658]
Mr. Khan: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I will ask the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member directly.
Planning Inspectorate, Ordnance Survey, Housing Corporation, English Partnerships, Firebuy and the Standards Board for England have not commissioned any work under the COI Public Relations Framework in the last 36 months.
Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 12 March 2009:
Parliamentary Question on how much the Audit Commission has spent on services procured from each of the external public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information’s Public Relations Framework in the last 36 months.
Your above Parliamentary Question has been passed to me for reply.
Over the last 36 months the Audit Commission has spent £325,200 on services procured from the external public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information’s Public Relations Framework. This expenditure was placed with three companies as detailed below:
| £ | |
| (1) Committed expenditure not yet paid. | |
A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.
Regeneration
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the Answer of 15 July 2002, Official Report, column 63W, on Treasury, how much has been allocated to revive (a) coalfield communities, (b) steel communities, (c) rural communities, (d) inner-city communities and (e) seaside towns for the latest period for which figures are available. [263152]
John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 12 January 2009, Official Report, column 340W.
Regional Assemblies: Finance
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding each regional assembly has given to regional health offices in Brussels. [262380]
John Healey: Regional assemblies have not provided any funding to regional health offices in Brussels.
Regional Ministers: Official Engagements
Mr. Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the official engagements of (a) the Minister for London, (b) the Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber, (c) the Minister for the South East, (d) the Minister for the North West, (e) the Minister for the East of England, (f) the Minister for the East Midlands, (g) the Minister for the South West, (h) the Minister for the North East and (i) the Minister for the West Midlands in their roles as Regional Ministers were between 1 February 2009 and 28 February 2009; and how long each spent on each engagement. [262966]
Mr. Khan: I am depositing a table of this information in the Library. Accurate information on the length of time spent on each engagement can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Regional Planning and Development: South East
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 28 January 2009, Official Report, column 643W, on regional planning and development: South East, if she will place in the Library a copy of the submissions from (a) the hon. Member for Eastleigh (Chris Huhne) of 22 October 2008, (b) Eastleigh borough council of 23 October 2008 and (c) Eastleigh borough council of June 2006. [262599]
Mr. Khan: The documents requested have now been placed in the Library.
Right To Buy Scheme
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many homes were sold under the provisions of right to buy in England in 2008; and what amount of capital receipts was received from such sales; [263024]
(2) what estimate she has made of the expected amount of capital receipts from sales of homes under right to buy provisions in (a) 2009 and (b) 2010. [263025]
Mr. Iain Wright: In the financial year 2007-08, there were 11,960 local authority right to buy (RTB) sales in England, with capital receipts of £934 million. There were also an additional 3,150 registered social landlord (RSL) preserved right to buy sales, with capital receipts of £197 million.
The Department has not estimated the value of receipts arising from RTB sales in 2009 and 2010.
Thames Gateway: Finance
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department has allocated to the Thames Gateway in each year since 2005-06; and what the projected allocation is in each of the next three years. [262681]
Margaret Beckett: The following table sets out the CLG Thames Gateway programme expenditure or budget (excluding non-cash) for each year:
| Programme capital and resource (cash only) | ||
| £ million | ||
| Financial year | Actual | Budget |
| (1 )Budgets include Thames Gateway project budget provision now managed by the Homes and Communities Agency on behalf of CLG. Note: 2011-12 falls outside the CSR period and no budget has therefore been set at this stage. | ||
Valuation Office: Rightmove
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Valuation Office Agency, or HM Revenue and Customs on its behalf, will pay to Rightmove.co.uk plc under the contract as extended in respect of (a) 2008-09, (b) 2009-10 and (c) 2010-11. [262607]
John Healey: Payments to third parties will be published in the Valuation Office Agency's report and accounts in due course.
Waste Disposal
Mr. Sanders:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities (a) collect on request, (b) charge for the
collection of and (c) have not established a policy on the collection of clinical waste arising from the management of diabetes. [261396]
Jane Kennedy: I have been asked to reply.
DEFRA does not hold the information requested.
Waste Disposal: Fees and Charges
Mr. Stewart Jackson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many
cases the local government ombudsman has ruled upon which relate directly to the issuing of fines by waste collection authorities for breaches of a local authority's waste collection rules in the last 12 months; on what dates such rulings were made; and to which waste collection authorities such rulings related. [262163]
John Healey: The local government ombudsman does not have a specific complaint category relating to the issuing of fines by waste collection authorities.
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