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16 Oct 2009 : Column 1126W—continued

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 11 March 2009, Official Report, columns 487-8W, on land: databases, what aerial and satellite photography members of the Pan-Government Agreement will have access to; and what associated photography products are provided by (a) Ordnance Survey, (b) Landmark and (c) Dotted Eyes. [292856]

Mr. Ian Austin: Members of the Pan-Government Agreement have access to a range of data from three suppliers (Landmark-Dotted Eyes, Next Perspectives and Ordnance Survey). The Next Perspectives consortium provides aerial photography (25 cm resolution colour imagery; colour infra-red data); and height data (contour and digital terrain models). Satellite data are not included.

There are no other suppliers of aerial photography products under the PGA. Ordnance Survey provides a range of products including large, medium and small scale data; transport; boundaries; address and gazetteer data. The Landmark-Dotted Eyes consortium supplies the PGA with postcodes and points of interest data.

Local Government Finance

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on their implementation of Financial Reporting Standard 12. [292737]


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Barbara Follett: The Department has not issued any guidance on Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 12. The application of FRS 12 to local authorities is governed by the 'Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom: A Statement of Recommended Practice', published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. This code is identified as a proper practice in relation to the accounts of local authorities by regulation 31 of the Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) Regulations 2003 (SI 2003 No 3146).

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the operation of their financial reserves. [292738]

Barbara Follett: The Department has not issued guidance to local authorities on the operation of their financial reserves. Decisions on the level of reserves are a matter for local authorities. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) publish professional guidance on the establishment and maintenance of local authority reserves.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to his Department's press release of 29 September 2009, on council efficiency, which local authorities reported efficiency savings in relation to (a) adopting alternate weekly refuse collections and (b) introducing wheeled refuse containers. [293023]

Barbara Follett: The Department does not collect information from councils on the value of efficiencies broken down by individual service sectors. Councils are required to report only the total net value of ongoing cash-releasing value for money gains that have impacted since the start of the 2008-09 financial year.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 21 May 2009, Official Report, column 1510W, on national insurance contributions: local authorities, whether the planned additional cost of national insurance contributions for local authorities will be treated as a new burden for the purposes of determining local authority grant. [293025]

Barbara Follett: The increase in national insurance contributions for employers announced in the pre-Budget report 2008 applies to all employers and does not impact disproportionately upon local authorities. Consequently, the new burdens doctrine does not apply.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of the International Financial Reporting Standard to local government on (a) staff leave costs in local government and (b) other local government costs. [293322]

Barbara Follett: The Department is currently assessing the financial implications of the introduction for local government of the International Financial Reporting
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Standards in financial year 2010-11. We are considering the effects in relation to staff leave costs as well as other costs and propose to consult local authorities shortly.

Local Government: Accountability

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) which local authorities have passed (a) delivery of and (b) ownership of services in respect of their duty to involve to social enterprises; and whether any such transfer has also involved a transfer of premises; [292646]

(2) what steps he is taking to assess the effectiveness of (a) local authorities and (b) other public agencies in discharging their obligations in respect of their (i) duty to promote democracy and (ii) duty to involve; [292647]

(3) what information his Department holds on those local authorities which have not yet put in place mechanisms in respect of their duty to (a) involve and (b) promote democracy obligations; and if he will make a statement; [292649]

(4) what information his Department holds on whether local authorities and other public agencies are engaging representatives of vulnerable persons as required under the provisions of the 7. [292650]

Barbara Follett: The duty to promote democracy is included in the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill currently in Parliament. It is not yet, therefore, a statutory duty.

In terms of the duty to involve, it is principally for local authorities and relevant public bodies to which this currently applies to assess for themselves the effectiveness of when and how they involve others, and how this improves services and community cohesion in an area. My Department does not collate and hold detailed information on how individual authorities are implementing the duty to involve, including any transfers of services to social enterprises. Under the new Comprehensive Area Assessment, the independent inspectorate of local services will be considering how well local authorities and partners understand and respond to the needs and aspirations of local people. The first set of CAA reports are due to be published on 10 December.

Inspectorates have made it clear that they will pay particular attention in their assessments to people whose personal circumstances present a risk to themselves or to others. They will report clearly where their needs are not being met or where they have concerns about them being met in future, allowing for the different levels of risk and urgency associated with such circumstances.

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding his Department has allocated to (a) local authorities and other public bodies and (b) other organisations in respect of their (i) duty to involve and (ii) duty to promote democracy obligations over the next three years. [292648]

Barbara Follett: The Department has not allocated additional funding for the duty to involve. Involving and consulting local people is not a new task. Better engagement of local people should help public bodies
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to deliver better and more efficient local services. It is reasonable to expect authorities to factor in value for money when considering the appropriate level of engagement.

The duty to promote democracy is included in the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill currently in Parliament. It is not yet, therefore, a statutory duty. Final decisions about funding allocations have not yet been made.

Local Government: Barnet

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding his Department has provided to the London borough of Barnet to test behavioural economics to date. [292883]

Barbara Follett: The Department gave £350,000 to the London borough of Barnet in 2008-09 for pilot projects on behavioural change on recycling.

Local Government: Influenza

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's pandemic influenza contingency plan. [293351]

Barbara Follett: A copy of the pandemic influenza contingency plan will be placed in the Library of the House.

Met Office

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department provides funding to the Met Office. [292663]

Barbara Follett: Communities and Local Government provides funding to the Met Office for the provision of the web-based FireMet service. FireMet is a weather system designed to provide the Fire and Rescue Service with the latest weather information to help them identify a safe approach when dealing with a major incident.

Funding provided to date is as follows and covers costs associated with the development of the FireMet system, associated training and operational delivery of the service.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding has been (a) distributed to each local authority through the Preventing Repossession Revenue Grant and (b) subsequently spent by each authority; how many people applied for grants; how many grants were issued in the ranges (i) £0 - £249, (ii) £250 - £499, (iii) £500 - £999, (iv) £1,000 - £1,999, (v) £2,000 - £2,999, (vi) £3,000 - £3,999, (vii) £4,000 - £4,999 and (viii) £5,000 or more; what assessment he has made of the effect of the scheme in preventing
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repossession or eviction in each year since the grant's inception; and what assessment he has made of the likely effects of the scheme in the next two years. [292082]

John Healey: The £20 million Preventing Repossessions Fund was announced by the Chancellor in the Budget to enable local authorities to offer small loans up to a maximum value of £5,000 to families at risk of homelessness through repossession or eviction. A list of allocations made in June 2009 to individual local authorities for 2009-10 has been placed in the House Library. Information about the use councils have made of this grant and number of households who have received a payment from the fund will be published later this year.

The fund forms part of the range of assistance that has been put in place at every stage to help struggling households. It provides additional support to local authorities in their work to prevent repossessions and eviction in difficult cases where households may have multiple debts or negative equity.

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what information was used to establish the areas where advertising for the Mortgage Help campaign was to be concentrated; and if he will make a statement. [292477]

John Healey: 22 priority areas were identified for additional targeting as part of the Mortgage Help campaign to help prevent repossessions by encouraging concerned homeowners to seek help and advice. These areas were identified as facing a greater risk of increased repossessions using labour market data and mortgage possession data.

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the annual budget for the Mortgage Help campaign is; and how much is expected to be spent on (a) campaign advertising and (b) the campaign's website in 2009-10. [292478]

John Healey: In the financial year 2009-10 the total allocated budget for the Mortgage Help campaign is £1.855 million. The campaign is still running, and so spend allocations for different aspects of the campaign have not yet been finalised. The Department will publish a breakdown of the actual campaign spend at the time of its next annual report.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to his Department's press release of 8 September 2009 on support for homeowners, what criteria were used to select the 22 hotspot areas; and what account was taken of mortgage repossession figures held by the Ministry of Justice in that selection. [293021]

John Healey: 22 priority areas were identified for additional targeting as part of the Mortgage Help campaign to help prevent repossessions by encouraging concerned homeowners to seek help and advice. These areas were identified as facing a greater risk of increased repossessions using labour market data and mortgage possession data.


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Non-Domestic Rates

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what statistics (a) his Department and (b) the Valuation Office Agency are compiling on the level of take-up of deferred business rates under his Department's scheme to allow partial deferral of 2009-10 increases. [292746]

Barbara Follett: On (a), the Department is planning to collect figures on the total number of deferrals granted and the total amount deferred for each local billing authority.

On (b), the Valuation Office Agency does not collect these data.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to reduce average business rate bills in April 2010 if retail price index inflation is negative in September 2009. [292884]

Barbara Follett: Under schedule 7 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 the increases in the business rates multipliers each year are capped by the previous September's RPI. Therefore the September 2009 RPI of -1.4 per cent. will exert a downward pressure on the multipliers and 2010-11 rates bills. Under the same legislation, the multipliers will also be adjusted to ensure that the overall tax yield does not increase as a result of the 2010 revaluation. The Government have no plans to amend the way that the multipliers are calculated.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessments have been made of the effects of the introduction of the new regime of empty property business rates to date. [293368]

Barbara Follett: An Impact Assessment was published with the Explanatory Memorandum to the Non-Domestic Ratings (Unoccupied Property) (England) Regulations 2009. It may be viewed on the Office of Public Sector Information website at the following address:

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