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7 May 2009 : Column 385W—continued
Departmental Consultants
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 1102W, on departmental consultants, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the high-level seminar to engage senior leaders organised by McKinsey and Company. [273362]
Mr. Khan: The Communities High-Level Seminar (and the follow up work arising from the event) made a significant contribution to the successful development and implementation of the new local performance framework. This included the introduction of the National Indicator Set; publication of the National Improvement and Efficiency Strategy; agreement of 150 Local Area Agreements and the introduction of the Comprehensive Area Assessment.
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 1102W, on departmental consultants, how much her Department has paid to McKinsey and Company in the last 36 months; and for what projects. [273363]
Mr. Khan: In addition to the work set out in the answer given to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 17 March 2009, McKinsey and Company also undertook two other pieces of work for the Department during this period:
A Review of DCLG Communications (July 2006). The value of this contract was £93,500 excluding VAT;
A Study of Local Strategic Partnership Performance and Capacity Building (September 2006). The value of this contract was £93,500 excluding VAT.
Departmental Manpower
Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she plans to reduce the use of (a) agency staff, (b) interim staff, (c) contractors, (d) consultants, (e) inward secondments and (f) outward secondments in her Department’s headquarters building in the next six months. [273297]
Mr. Khan: In 2009-10 as in the previous year, our Administration Budget is planned to fall by 5 per cent. in real terms. Against this background, the Department will continue looking at the scope for making reductions in these areas and will take action where appropriate to reduce use of these staff. We currently have no plans to reduce the number of inward and outward secondments taking place.
The use of these groups of staff is appropriate in certain circumstances as a temporary measure. For example, agency and interim staff can be used to provide short-term additional support during heavy periods of work in key areas. Contractors or consultants may be used as and when specialised skills—not easily found within the Department—are required for time-specific projects.
There are controls in place within HR and Procurement to ensure that all recruitment takes place in accordance with the Department’s business needs and in line with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department's end year flexibility entitlement was in 2008-09; what percentage of that entitlement has been taken up; for what programmes that funding will be used; and how much funding has been allocated to each programme. [273415]
Mr. Khan: The following tables set out the Department's End Year Flexibility entitlement for 2008-09 for each of its two departmental expenditure limits (DEL) and the take up of end year flexibility during the year.
| Main programmes departmental expenditure limit (DEL) | ||
| £ million | ||
| Resource | Capital | |
|
Take up of EYF—Winter supplementary estimates central administration costs | ||
On Local Government DEL, the resource EYF from 2007-08 was understated by £10 million due to an error in the published version of the Public Expenditure Provisional Outturn White Paper.
Departmental Visits Abroad
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many overseas visits were made by staff in her Department in the last 12 months; and what the (a) destination and (b) purpose was in each case. [272459]
Mr. Khan: In the 12 months to 31 March 2009 there have been 582 overseas trips undertaken by Communities and Local Government staff. Of the 582 trips there were 529 to Europe; 27 trips to North America, six trips to Australia and 20 trips to Asia.
The purpose of these journeys was to represent the Department and provide expert advice on policy/subject issues.
All travel is undertaken in accordance with the civil service management code.
District Councils
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether her Department has commissioned any recent research on the financial viability of district councils in two-tier areas. [272417]
John Healey: While the Department has not commissioned any such research, in our 2006 Local Government White Paper—Strong and Prosperous Communities—we recognised that some district councils are too small to have the capacity to secure efficiency, drive change and provide strong leadership.
Economic Situation
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield of 18 March 2009, Official Report, column 1174W, on the economic situation, if she will place in the Library a copy of the presentation and handouts provided at the event held on (a) 7 January 2009, (b) 5 February 2009 and (c) 26-27 February 2009. [273365]
Mr. Khan: One departmental presentation was made at the Home Builders Federation seminar held on 7 January 2009. A copy of this presentation will be placed in the Library. The other speakers at these events were from external stakeholders, who are responsible for their own presentations and handouts
One presentation was made at the Homeowners Mortgage Support scheme development workshop on 5 February 2009. A copy of this presentation will be placed in the Library.
A range of speakers from external stakeholders were invited to present their views at the Housing Roundtables held on 26-27 January 2009. External stakeholders are responsible for their own presentations and handouts.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield of 2 April 2009, Official Report, columns 1498-502W, on departmental conferences, if she will place in the Library a copy of the presentations and handouts produced for the Arms-Length Bodies in Finance networking event on 4 December 2008. [273458]
Mr. Khan: Two presentations were made at the Arms-Length Bodies in Finance networking event on 4 December 2008. Copies of the presentations will be placed in the Library.
Empty Dwelling Management Orders
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield of 24 February 2009, Official Report, columns 543-4W, on empty dwelling management orders, if she will place in the Library a copy of each ruling of the Residential Property Tribunal Service in relation to the issuing of each of the interim empty dwelling management orders with sensitive personal data redacted. [273450]
Mr. Iain Wright: Copies of the rulings of the Residential Property Tribunal Service (RPTS) in relation to all applications for interim empty dwelling management orders have been placed in the Library. 24 interim orders have now been approved and seven applications for interim orders have been rejected. The rulings are in the public domain and can be viewed on the RPTS website at:
European Commission
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department and its predecessors have paid in financial corrections to the European Commission since May 1997. [272456]
John Healey: The Department has incurred €51 million in financial corrections since 1997 on European programmes worth over €11 billion to England.
Fire Alarms
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what criteria apply in the valuation of fire alarms for ratings purposes in the 2010 rates revaluation. [272432]
John Healey: A hereditament is rateable to the extent that it comprises land, buildings and rateable plant and machinery.
Plant and machinery items deemed rateable must be named in the Valuation for Rating (Plant and Machinery) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/540), which can be found at:
Food
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make an estimate of the (a) monetary value and (b) quantity of waste food disposed of from her Department's premises in the last 12 months. [273441]
Mr. Khan: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not dispose of waste food. The Department operates a food waste composting scheme in its main headquarter building, Eland House, and during the last 12 months the scheme avoided the disposal of 25 tonnes of food waste from the general waste stream. The waste food was instead sent for composting and re-use as organic material.
The Department does not hold sufficient data to estimate the monetary value of waste food redirected in the last 12 months.
Geographical Information Systems
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps the Valuation Office Agency is taking to comply with the recommendations contained in the report, Place matters: the location strategy for the United Kingdom. [272458]
John Healey: There are no recommendations in the report that require specific steps to be taken by the Valuation Office Agency.
Housing
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she plans to publish the Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix returns for 2008-09; and if she will make a statement. [272113]
Mr. Iain Wright: The provisional publication date for the Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix returns for 2008-09 is for November/December 2009.
Housing
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what external (a) companies and (b) consultants have been contracted by her Department to promote housing market renewal pathfinders; and how much had been spent on such contracts on the latest date for which figures are available. [273335]
Mr. Iain Wright: CLG has not contracted external companies or consultants to promote HMR pathfinders. It is for individual pathfinders to decide if they wish to promote their own activity and this information is not held centrally.
Housing: Low Incomes
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many social tenants in each local authority area have bought a share in their home through the Social HomeBuy scheme to date. [271628]
Margaret Beckett: The following table shows the number of Social HomeBuy sales in each local authority area between April 2006 and March 2009. Social HomeBuy is a voluntary and demand-led scheme in which only some social landlords chose to participate. It is one of a suite of options designed to help social tenants into home ownership. Purchasers can buy shares of between 25 and 100 per cent.
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