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23 Jun 2009 : Column 836W—continued
Local Government: Public Participation
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent research his Department has commissioned on public involvement in its policy formulation at a local and regional level; and what steps his Department is taking to increase public involvement in its policy formulation. [280741]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Details of research projects commissioned by Communities and Local Government and its predecessors are available from our research database (RD) at
The database provides information on projects commissioned by Communities and Local Government and predecessor Departments going back to 30 November 2001. This includes the subject and cost of each research contract.
The Department involves the public in policy development in those public policy areas where we lead. This includes a range of methods including public
consultation, market research, polling, and focus groups. More generally, it has been this Department’s policy to increase public engagement and involvement with decision making at each level of Government. The first major government policy statement on empowering people (“Communities in control: real people, real power” White Paper, published in July 2008) has been a very significant step in transferring power to citizens and communities. The recently published Communities progress report provides a summary of the progress made in delivering the various White Paper commitments and the actions that are still to be implemented. This document can be found at
Mayors
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent assessment he has made of the merits of direct elections of local authority mayors. [281414]
Ms Rosie Winterton: On 5 October 2007, the Department published the final report of the five year Evaluating Local Governance (ELG) research, which looked at the impact of the changes introduced in the Local Government Act 2000—including the directly elected mayoral model of governance.
Mortgages: Government Assistance
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have (a) applied for and (b) been refused assistance through the Mortgage Rescue Scheme in each month since its inception. [280675]
John Healey: The Mortgage Rescue Scheme has been operational across England since January 2009. As part of the monitoring arrangements for the scheme, headline data for January-April 2009, provided by local authorities operating the scheme and broken down by Government office region, are available on the Department’s website. The figures can be assessed using the following link:
At Budget 2009 it was announced that the Mortgage Rescue Scheme would be expanded to include some households previously excluded due to negative equity. We have also reviewed and raised the regional property price caps. These changes came into effect from 1 May.
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of people who qualify for homeowner mortgage support but do not receive such assistance. [280676]
John Healey:
The aim of Homeowners Mortgage Support is to prevent repossessions, where households suffer a temporary income shock. After taking money advice, homeowners apply to their lenders to join the scheme, which allows them to defer up to 70 per cent. of the interest due. The Government have published an impact assessment, which estimates the number of
borrowers that could be eligible. Official figures on the number of households entering the scheme will be published later this year.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have (a) applied for, (b) been granted and (c) been refused assistance under the Mortgage Rescue Scheme in (i) England and (ii) Peterborough constituency in each month since its inception. [281912]
John Healey: The Mortgage Rescue Scheme has been operational across England since January 2009. As part of the monitoring arrangements for the scheme, headline data for January-April 2009, provided by local authorities operating the scheme and broken down by Government office region, are available on the Department’s website. The figures can be assessed using the following link:
At Budget 2009 it was announced that the Mortgage Rescue Scheme would be expanded to include some households previously excluded due to negative equity. We have also reviewed and raised the regional property price caps. These changes came into effect from 1 May.
According to our records, Peterborough city council has not submitted monitoring statistics since the inception of the scheme in January 2009, so we are unable to provide the information requested about Peterborough at this time.
Non-Domestic Rates
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the basis was for the information contained in the August 2004 National Non-Domestic Rates Transitional Arrangements Consultation, on the proportion of properties with capped increases in business rates bills under transitional relief schemes of one to five years in each year from 2005-06 to 2009-10 and the revenue implications of each scheme. [281761]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The information used for the August 2004 National Non-Domestic Rates Transitional Arrangements Consultation was an analysis of the comparison between the 2000 Rating List and the unpublished 2005 Ratings List.
Non-domestic Rates: Greater London
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many businesses in (a) the London Borough of Bexley and (b) Greater London receive small business rate relief; [280650]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of businesses in (a) the London Borough of Bexley and (b) Greater London which qualify for but do not claim small business rate relief. [280651]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The number of businesses receiving small business rate relief as at 31 December 2006, the latest date for which data are available, in the London borough of Bexley was 1,350. At the same date, the number of businesses in Greater London receiving small business rate relief was 43,100.
We have not made an estimate of the number of businesses in the London borough of Bexley or Greater London which qualify for small business rate relief but do not claim it.
Planning Obligations
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make it his policy to instruct local authorities to make public (a) monies received through planning obligations and (b) the distribution of such funding. [281972]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Government already recommends, through policy on the use of planning obligations set out in “Circular 05/2005: Planning Obligations” and in related guidance “Planning Obligations: Practice Guidance”, that local planning authorities should keep accurate records of developer contributions which can be used to provide information to the public. Both publications are available on the Department’s website.
Private Rented Housing
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to adopt a national registration scheme for private rented accommodation; and if he will make a statement. [281588]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Department is currently consulting on proposals for a national register of private landlords following the Rugg Review of the private rented sector.
A copy of the consultation document can be found at:
Responses are invited by 7 August 2009.
Regional Government: Manpower
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff there were in each (a) policy and (b) locality division in each regional Government office in each year from 2001-02 to 2008-09; and how much was paid in bonuses to staff in each such division in each of those years. [281758]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We cannot provide the requested breakdown of Government Office staff numbers or paid staff bonuses as this information has not been collected at divisional level.
We can provide a breakdown of the total number of staff in each regional Government Office per financial year from 2001-02 to 2008-09.
| (a) Staff numbers | ||||||||
| GO (April) | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
The following table details the amount paid in staff bonuses in the regional Government Offices for the financial years 2004-05 to 2008-09. Staff bonus information for the financial years 2001-02 to 2003-04 is not available as it pre-dates our current accounting system.
| (b) Staff bonuses paid | |||||
| £ | |||||
| GO | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 |
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