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6 May 2009 : Column 232W—continued
Council Tax
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people in each local authority area in (a) Wales and (b) England have been prosecuted for non-payment of council tax in each year since 1999. [272911]
John Healey: The administration of council tax is a matter for individual local authorities and data on prosecutions for non-payment in England are not collected centrally. Council tax policy in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government.
Councillors
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 17 March 2009, Official Report, column 1101W, on councillors: Arun, whether the Audit Commission plans to require local authorities to disclose the bank account details of councillors held in their payroll databases as part of the National Fraud Initiative exercise for 2010-11. [273473]
Mr. Khan: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
Letter from Steve Bundred, 6 May 2009:
Your Parliamentary question outlined above has been passed to me to reply.
The 2010/11 National Fraud Initiative will collect data from local authorities beginning in October 2010. All local authorities are required to submit payroll data for all of their employees and councillors and the data fields submitted will include bank account numbers and sort codes. This information is used to detect undeclared bank accounts in circumstances where for example a benefit claimant has failed to declare income, but the actual account details are not disclosed. Data matches merely indicate whether two bank accounts are the same or different and neither the sort code or the account number is reproduced.
A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.
Departmental Air Conditioning
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been spent by her Department on carrying out inspections of air conditioning systems within departmental buildings in accordance with the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007. [272132]
Mr. Khan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 27 April 2009, Official Report, column 1104W.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many of her Department’s buildings are equipped with air conditioning systems with output greater than 250kW; how many of these systems have been inspected under the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 since the regulations came into force; and if she will place in the Library a copy of each inspection report. [272140]
Mr. Khan: The Department for Communities and Local Government occupies one building, Eland House, which has an air conditioning system with an output greater than 250 kW, where the Department has responsibility for inspecting and controlling the equipment in line with the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007. The Department holds a current inspection report for this system and a copy of the document will be placed in the Library.
Departmental Assets
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when her Department last reviewed its assets and land and property holdings with a view to identifying and disposing of surpluses. [269850]
Mr. Khan: I refer the hon. Member to the Department for Communities and Local Government's Property Asset Management Plan published in March 2009, which sets out an overarching five year vision for corporate property assets and property services across the Department's group, comprising our central headquarters, the Government office network and all our other arm’s length bodies (ALBs). The plan is formally reviewed annually and is available on the CLG website:
I also refer the hon. Member to the Operational Efficiency Programme final report:
which identifies the further work to be undertaken on the QEII Conference Centre.
Departmental Consultants
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much (a) her Department and (b) its executive agencies spent on consultancy contracts in 2008-09. [272585]
Mr. Khan: This information will be available in the Department's annual report which will be published in June.
Departmental Furniture
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 10 March 2009, Official Report, column 313W, on departmental furniture, how many chairs were ordered from Herman Miller in 2007-08; and what the model and cost of each was, including value added tax. [272541]
Mr. Khan: Pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson) of 10 March 2009, Official Report, column 313W, on departmental furniture, the number, model and cost of the chairs, including VAT, ordered from Herman Miller by the Department for Communities and Local Government in 2007-08 are detailed as follows.
| Model | Quantity | Unit cost( 1 ) (£) |
| (1) Inclusive of VAT | ||
Departmental ICT
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what estimate she has made of the (a) energy consumed by, (b) energy cost of and (c) carbon dioxide emissions from each category of IT device in each division of her Department in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement; [269549]
(2) what the average server capacity utilisation by each division of her Department was in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement; [269584]
(3) how many (a) printers and (b) multi-function devices with printing functions were in use in each division of her Department in each of the last five years; how many such devices had a function enabling two-sided printing; and if she will make a statement; [269606]
(4) how many and what proportion of IT products in each category procured for each division of her Department were compliant with the Government's Buy Sustainable-Quick Win standard in the latest year for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [269629]
Mr. Khan: Communities and Local Government (CLG), in line with the approach adopted by the cross-Government Chief Information Officers (CIO) Council, has produced a ‘CIO Green ICT Roadmap’ which my Department will be following to deliver against the 18 target improvement areas outlined in the Greening Government ICT Strategy.
The Greening Government ICT strategy has been established to:
make energy consumption of our ICT systems carbon neutral by 2012, and
make them carbon neutral across their lifetime (including manufacture and disposal) by 2020.
CLG is in the process of introducing the basic Quick Wins steps into our procurement strategies and this will assist our procurement officers moving forward.
A full Report of the CIO Council Green ICT Roadmaps is scheduled to be made available by the Cabinet Office in May featuring the action plans of all Departments (including CLG) involved in this initiative.
CLG operates a large-scale, multi-vendor supply chain delivering a wide range of ICT categories. Obtaining the level of specific detail requested in these PQs would be likely to have significant cost implications and involve removing key staff from urgent delivery programmes.
Departmental Internet
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department spent on maintaining its website in the last 12 months. [273092]
Mr. Khan: We do not hold the information in the format required. The Department pays for its intranet, corporate site and info4local on the same contracts and is not able to break this cost down further. Across all three websites we paid £446,124 in 2008-09 for annual hosting charges, licensing, application support and maintenance and development.
Eco-Towns: Marston Vale
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the report prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers for her Department on the Marston Vale eco-town proposal. [272344]
Margaret Beckett: The promoters of Marston Vale eco-town withdrew their proposals in early February 2009 and are no longer part of the Eco-towns Programme. Therefore they were not included in the Financial Viability Study of the Eco-towns Programme which we published on 5 March 2009.
Eco-Towns: Public Consultation
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which organisations have responded to the Government’s consultation on the draft planning policy statement on eco-towns. [272154]
Margaret Beckett: The consultation on the eco-towns programme, including the draft Planning Policy Statement closed on 30 April 2009. Following our review of the consultation responses we will publish a Government response together with consultation summary report of responses received, including a list of organisations that responded to the consultation.
Empty Property: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many of the new houses completed in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point constituency between 2003 and 2008 were vacant in October 2008. [273371]
Mr. Iain Wright: The information requested is not held centrally.
The Council Tax Base and Council Tax-Base supplementary (CTB1 and CTB1S) return, reported by local authorities to CLG, includes the total number of long term and short term vacancies in a local authority area.
The following table gives the total number of vacant dwellings in Castle Point district authority and Essex at 6 October 2008, the latest date for which figures are available.
| County/local authority | Number of long term empty dwellings (empty for more than six months) | Total number of empty dwellings |
| Source: Council Taxbase and Council Taxbase Supplementary (CTB1 and CTB1S) returns from local authorities. | ||
Those dwellings vacant for less than six months are more likely to be empty for a short period following a sale before the new owner occupies it, where the property needs work to be carried out before it can be occupied, or where the property is in probate and are seen as ‘transactional’ vacant dwellings and are thus a characteristic of the housing market.
It is therefore sometimes more appropriate to look at long term vacancies rather than the total number of vacant dwellings.
European Union
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on how many occasions she has visited Brussels on official business in the last 12 months. [272876]
Mr. Khan: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has been to Brussels once on official business in the last 12 months.
Fire Services
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) original estimated and (b) current estimated (i) cost and (ii) completion date is of the (A) Durham, (B) Warrington, (C) Wakefield, (D) Castle Donington, (E) Wolverhampton, (F) Cambridge, (G) Taunton, (H) Fareham and (I) Morden regional control centre of the FiReControl project; and if she will make a statement. [272604]
Mr. Khan: There was no capital outlay for the buildings as the Department procured them through a private developer scheme. The lease cost was established through the procurement. The risk of construction costs rested with the developer. The FiReControl Business Case Part 2, published in November 2008, available in the House Library outlines lease costs.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) on 27 January 2009, Official Report, column 346W, which outlines the practical completion date for each region.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many fire engines have (a) entered and (b) left service in the last 12 months. [272871]
Mr. Khan: The number of fire engines which have entered and left service in the last 12 months is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Fire Services: Closures
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many fire stations have closed in the last 12 months. [273093]
Mr. Khan: This information is reported in annual returns to the Department, and the latest data show that one fire station closed in England in 2007-08.
Fire Services: Death
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many firefighters have died in the last 12 months as a result of injuries sustained in the course of their duties. [272873]
Mr. Khan: No firefighters died as a result of injuries sustained in the course of duty in 2008-09.
Fire Services: Industrial Disputes
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 10 March 2009, Official Report, column 316W, on fire services: industrial disputes, whether (a) her Department and (b) the Government Offices for the Regions hold copies of the contingency plans of fire and rescue authorities in the event of industrial action in the fire service. [272329]
Mr. Khan: We do not hold copies of the contingency plans prepared by fire and rescue authorities in relation to industrial action.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what arrangements are in place for the provision of fire cover in the event of national industrial action by firefighters. [272426]
Mr. Khan: The provision of fire cover within a fire and rescue authority in the event of industrial action is the responsibility of that fire and rescue authority, whether the dispute is local or national in extent.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether firefighters from other fire and rescue authorities will be asked to cross picket lines to provide emergency fire cover in the event of localised industrial action in a fire and rescue authority. [272442]
Mr. Khan: The question of whether firefighters from another fire and rescue authority would be asked to cross any particular picket line would be a matter for the respective fire and rescue authorities.
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