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15 July 2009 : Column 482W—continued
Public Expenditure
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the components are of the other spending line in Table 4.1, Spending Projection, on page 36 of the Long-term Public Finance Report of March 2008, identifying the components of the totals for each of the years given in the columns. [282219]
Mr. Byrne: The Long-term Public Finance Report provides a comprehensive analysis of long-term demographic developments, and their likely impact on the public finances, based on long-term projections of public spending and revenues. The latest publication, as well as previous reports, can be found on HM Treasury's website at:
Travel: Insurance
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received from representatives of those with serious medical conditions and disabilities on the availability of travel insurance; and if he will make a statement. [286258]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations.
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the average proportion of the cost of travel insurance to the consumer accounted for by premium insurance tax; and if he will make a statement. [286259]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Travel insurance premiums are subject to the higher rate of insurance premium tax at 17.5 per cent. Insurance premium tax therefore accounts for 14.9 per cent of the total price paid by a customer for travel insurance.
Communities and Local Government
Allotments
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research his Department has assessed on the effect of allotments on the environment and local communities. [285423]
Mr. Malik: CLG and DEFRA officials have started discussions about jointly commissioning research to identify and collect evidence on how communities can be engaged and empowered to realise the benefits of urban green spaces (including allotments), which align with key Government priorities.
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many complaints have been submitted to the local government ombudsman on maladministration in the provision of allotments in the last five years. [285427]
Mr. Malik: The information requested is not held centrally. The Local Government Ombudsman do not record complaints regarding allotment provision separately, they fall within a wider leisure and culture category on their complaints database.
Allotments: Lancashire
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many allotments are provided by each district authority in Lancashire. [286688]
Mr. Malik: Information on the number of allotments provided by each local authority is not held centrally.
Collective Worship
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people attended Church of England services in each of the last 30 years. [286291]
Mr. Malik: This information is not collected by Government.
Community Relations
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps have been taken to tackle caste discrimination in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [285341]
Mr. Malik: Officials have been considering the issue of caste based discrimination and Communities and Local Government are currently engaged in a series of meetings with interested parties on the subject within the context of the Equality Bill currently before Parliament.
Council Housing: Finance
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 30 June 2009, Official Report, columns 7-10WS, on housing, for how long the consultation on council housing finance will last; and when he expects it to report. [287033]
Mr. Ian Austin: The consultation will be for a minimum of 12 weeks in accordance with the Government's code of practice on consultation. The Government response to the consultation will be published early next year.
Council Tax
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government by how much council tax (a) bills and (b) receipts increased in (i) absolute percentage terms and (ii) real terms in England between 1997-98 and 2009-10 according to figures held by the Office for National Statistics. [285249]
Ms Rosie Winterton: According to statistical returns made to Communities and Local Government, between 1997-98 and 2009-10, average council tax bills for a band-D property in England rose by 106 per cent. in absolute terms and by 52 per cent. in real terms. Decisions about the level of council tax are a matter for individual local authorities and will rightly reflect the priorities of their local communities.
Between 1997-98 and 2008-09 receipts of council tax in England increased by 125 per cent. in absolute terms and by 66 per cent. in real terms. Data for 2009-10 are not yet available.
The Office for National Statistics does not collect information about council tax.
Between 1997-98 and 2007-08 central Government grants, consisting of revenue support grant, redistributed national non-domestic rates, police grant, general GLA grant and special and specific grants, to local authorities in England increased by 96 per cent. in absolute terms and by 45 per cent. in real terms. Data for 2008-09 and 2009-10 are not yet available.
Departmental Accountancy
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he expects to publish his Department's resource accounts for 2008-09. [287339]
Mr. Malik: Communities and Local Government laid their resource accounts before Parliament on 14 July 2009.
Departmental Contracts
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will make an assessment of the standard of service provided to his Department and its agencies by contractors appointed by reverse auction. [285220]
Mr. Malik: The Department and its agencies have not appointed any suppliers by reverse auction.
Departmental Internet
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when his Department plans to update its web browsers from Internet Explorer 6. [285020]
Mr. Malik: CLG currently has no plans to upgrade from Internet Explorer 6. CLG will consider upgrading when the benefits for doing so outweigh any disbenefit or cost. Reasons for upgrading might include withdrawal of support by Microsoft, or significant dependencies on other versions of internet explorer by other key CLG systems.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
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 of 8 June 2009, Official Report, column 755W, on official hospitality, what the monetary value is above which special advisers in his Department are required to declare (a) hospitality and (b) gifts. [283979]
Mr. Malik: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Tooting (Mr. Khan) to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) on 8 June 2009, Official Report, columns 755-56W.
Departmental Publications
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) original budget for and (b) outturn cost of production of his Department's report Getting it right, and righting the wrongs was. [284694]
Mr. Malik: The information is as follows.
(a) £100,000 was allocated to the independent Review of Redress in each of 2008-09 and 2009-10. This covered the full costs of the review, including production of the final report.
(b) Costs for the design, printing and typesetting of the "Getting it right and righting the wrongs" report and the accompanying practitioners' toolkit were £23,046 excluding VAT.
Departmental Secondment
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many employees of his Department and its predecessors have been posted to work in offices of hon. Members of each political party in each of the last five years. [284976]
Mr. Malik: Civil servants are required to act in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Service Code. Civil servants may shadow MPs as part of a programme run by the Industry and Parliament Trust. Details on numbers of civil servants from this Department who have had such an attachment are not held centrally.
Departmental Work Experience
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) paid and (b) unpaid graduate internships his Department has awarded in each of the last six months. [281512]
Mr. Malik: The Department of Communities and Local Government has not awarded any paid or unpaid graduate internships in the last six months.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many interns work in his Department; what terms of reference apply to their appointment; what remuneration they receive; and how long on average an intern appointment lasts. [286826]
Mr. Malik: The Department for Communities and Local Government currently has 12 interns working in the Department. Details of the different terms of reference, remuneration and the length of the appointment on offer are set out as follows.
There are four interns from this programme. All are on a training contract, with remuneration of £24,951 per annum (pro rata). The placements last on average six weeks.
There are two interns from this programme. All are on causal contracts, with remuneration of £22,540 per annum (pro rata). The placements last on average six weeks.
There are six interns from this programme. All are on causal contracts, with remuneration of £180 per week. The placements last two weeks.
Deposit Protection Service
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) if he will place in the Library a copy of the Deposit Protection Service's most recent monthly performance report; [286955]
(2) which key performance indicators are used by his Department to measure the performance of the Deposit Protection Service; and if he will make a statement; [286969]
(3) what rating was reported by the Deposit Protection Service in relation to each of its key performance indicators in each of the last six months. [286971]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Deposit Protection Service (DPS) is required to submit monthly reports on 11 key performance indicators, listed as follows, under the terms of its contract with Communities and Local Government. The reports are commercially confidential and will not be placed in the Library. However, I can report that in each of the last six months, the DPS met or exceeded all of the performance targets.
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