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22 Oct 2009 : Column 1641W—continued
Departmental Travel
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department and its predecessor spent on (a) car hire, (b) train travel, (c) air travel and (d) hotels for (i) Ministers and (ii) staff in his Department in each of the last five years. [289978]
Barbara Follett: Figures for the Department's expenditure on (a) car hire, (b) train travel, (c) air travel and (d) hotels for the last three years is tabled as follows. Figures for earlier years could be extracted only at disproportionate cost.
| £ | |||
| 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
Figures for Ministers could be disaggregated from these totals only at disproportionate cost.
Travel by Ministers and civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the "Ministerial Code" and the "Civil Service Management Code" respectively, and all spending on official entertainment is made in accordance with the principles set out in "Managing Public Money".
Later this year the Department will begin releasing the details of business expenses and hospitality received by senior officials. These will be published on our website on a quarterly basis.
The Cabinet Office also publish an annual list of overseas travel over £500 undertaken by Ministers. The 2008-09 list can be viewed at:
Departmental Visits Abroad
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has spent on overnight accommodation for (a) Ministers and (b) officials while overseas in each of the last three years. [294683]
Barbara Follett: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given today to the hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening) to question 289978. Details of overnight accommodation overseas could be disaggregated only at disproportionate cost.
However, the Cabinet Office publishes an annual list of overseas travel over £500 undertaken by Ministers. The 2008-09 list can be viewed at
Disabled Facilities Grants
Jim Cousins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much (a) Government funding and (b) total expenditure there
has been on disabled facilities grants in England in each year since 2004-05; and how many such grants were awarded in each of those years. [293186]
Mr. Ian Austin: The following table shows the total expenditure on disabled facilities grants in England since 2004-05 and the funding contribution made by Government. Further details can be found on the Communities and Local Government website at:
| Disabled facilities grant | |||
| Government contribution (£) | Total expenditure including LA contribution (£) | Total number grants completed | |
| (1) Not yet published. | |||
EC Grants and Loans
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 7 May 2009, Official Report, column 389W, on the European Commission, what the sterling equivalent is of the totals provided in euros in the answer. [294085]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The sterling equivalent was £23 million.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the size of the financial correction likely to be imposed by the European Commission in respect of irregularities in management of European funds in relation to those (a) 1997-99 programmes and (b) 2000-06 programmes for which his Department has responsibility. [294098]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The financial correction imposed earlier this year by the Commission in respect of error rates found in two English 1997-99 programmes was £26 million. The departmental accounts for 2008-9 show (at note 29) a contingent liability of £215 million in respect of the 2000-2006 programmes. These liabilities are unlikely to be realised in full and the Department is taking steps to make sure that they are minimised. Only when all open audits are concluded and the programme closure reports have been submitted to the Commission on 31 March 2010, will we be able to assess what provision may be required against possible corrections by the European Commission.
Fire Brigades Union
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what meetings Ministers in his Department have had with representatives of the Fire Brigades Union in the last 12 months; on what date each meeting was held; and whether the Fireguard project was discussed. [292880]
Mr. Malik: Ministers met formally with the representative of the Fire Brigades Union to discuss fire related issues on 22 October 2008; 17 December 2008; 9 March 2009; 5 May 2009 and the 8 July 2009. There is no record of the Fireguard project being discussed.
Fire Services
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent guidance his Department has issued to fire and rescue authorities on the re-configuration of fire services in terms of the location of fire stations and fire appliances. [292573]
Mr. Malik: Decisions on operational issues such as the location of fire stations and fire appliances are taken by individual Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) as part of the Integrated Risk Management Planning process.
FRAs are required by the Fire and Rescue Service National Framework to have in place and maintain an Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) which reflects local need and sets out plans to tackle effectively both existing and potential risks to communities. The IRMP enables the authority to tailor cover for fire and other incidents to local circumstances-evaluating where risk is greatest and allocating resource accordingly.
A range of guidance on the drawing up of IRMPs has been issued to FRAs and is available on the Communities and Local Government website. The only recent change has been the revision of IRPM Guidance Note 4, which is not relevant to the location of fire stations and fire appliances.
Fire Services: Finance
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent estimate he has made of the total cost of delivery of the FiReControl project; and what estimates were made in (a) 2004, (b) 2005, (c) 2006, (d) 2007 and (e) 2008. [293319]
Mr. Malik: The current estimated overall cost of delivery of the FiReControl Project for (a) 2004 was £120 million; (b) 2005-£160 million; (c) 2006-£190 million; (d) 2007-£360 million; and (e) 2008-£380 million.
Early estimates of project costs did not include the funding that has been provided to FRAs to support local and regional implementation activity, the costs of the RCC building leases and the costs of equipment that will be installed in every fire station in England to support improved mobilisation.
Housing: Lighting
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether recent restrictions on the sale of incandescent light bulbs prohibit the sale of such bulbs for hereditaments which are not domestic dwellings. [294626]
Dan Norris: I have been asked to reply.
EC Regulation 244/2009 under the Eco-design for Energy-using Products Framework Directive sets eco-design requirements on non-directional household lamps, including when they are marketed for non-household use.
The measure effectively prevents incandescent lamps from being placed on the market over a three year period that began in September 2009; although retailers will be able to continue to sell any existing stock. As well as energy-efficient Compact Fluorescent Lamps, other non-directional lamps such as LED and halogen lamps are to remain on the market as alternatives. These are available to fit existing fittings.
Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the likely timetable is for the commencement of each provision of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill if enacted. [294082]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The arrangements for commencement of provisions contained in the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill are set out in clauses 144 and 145 of the Bill. A number of the provisions contained in the Bill will come into force on a day specified by the Secretary of State. In these cases, as I informed the House in the context of Part 1 of the Bill ( Official Report, 13 October 2008, column 237) the Government are keeping all options for commencement open, including bringing provisions into force in April 2010.
Local Government Finance
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what data sets on (a) council tax collection, (b) business rate collection and (c) other matters not contained in the national indicator set local authorities are required to provide to his Department. [294131]
Barbara Follett: The following data set on the collection of (a) council tax and (b) business rates by local authorities are collected by the Local Government Finance directorate in Communities and Local Government:
BR-Budget Requirement
NNDR-Non Domestic Rates Pool
QRC-Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rate Collections
CTB-Council Tax Base.
Examples of the forms used to collect the data from local authorities can be found on the Department's website at:
(c) Communities and Local Government does not hold a central register of information and datasets collected from local authorities and to produce a definitive list of such collections would involve disproportionate cost. However, where it has been possible to readily identify such collections, these are in the following list.
In addition to council tax and business rates information, the following finance information is collected:
CER-Capital Estimates Return
RA, SG and BID-Revenue Account Budgets and Business Improvement District Revenue Account Transactions
CPR-Capital Payments and Receipts
QB-Quarterly Borrowing and Lending
QRW-Quarterly Return of Wages and Salaries
MB-Monthly Borrowing and Lending
RO-Revenue Outturn Suite
COR-Capital Outturn Suite
WGA-Whole of Government Accounts
SF3-Pension Funds Account
CFR-Capital Forecast Return
BR-Budget Requirement.
Local authorities voluntarily provide the Department with the following data returns, which are collected for uses such as to inform national policy direction. Those with an asterisk include some information which is used to calculate national indicators:
P2 Quarterly Housebuilding*
P1B-Sales of Council Dwellings (quarterly)
PIE-Households affected by Homeless provisions of 1996 housing act (quarterly)*
PSF-Combined development control PS1/PS2/FEE1 (quarterly)
CPS1/2 and FEE2-General Development Control and Fees received for planning applications (quarterly)
GTCC_M-Gypsy and Traveller Caravan Count (collected bi-annually)
AGB-Annual Green Belt (annual)
HFR-Housing Flows Reconciliation (annual)
HSSA-Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (annual)
BPAM-Business Plan Annual Monitoring (annual)
NROSH-National Register of Social Housing
ROHLMO-Register of Homes of Multiple Occupation
ESEH-Electronic Survey of Empty Homes
Mortgage Rescue Scheme return
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