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7 Dec 2009 : Column 64W—continued
Revenue expenditure figures are produced on a non Financial Reporting Standard 17 (FRS17) basis.
Government grants within revenue expenditure are defined here as the sum of revenue support grant, area based grant and specific grants inside aggregate external finance (AEF) i.e. revenue grants paid for authorities' core services.
"Other" within revenue expenditure financing includes: transfers and adjustments; appropriations to/from revenue reserves; collection fund surpluses/deficits; and community charge amounts transferred to/from collection fund.
Local authority council tax requirement is the council tax available to finance revenue expenditure, not council tax collected.
Revenue figures exclude grants outside AEF (i.e. where funding is not for authorities' core services but is passed to a third party e.g. rent allowances and rebates), funding for the local authorities' housing management responsibilities and those grant programmes (such as European funding) where authorities are simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area.
Comparisons across years may not be valid owing to changing local authority responsibilities.
"Other" within capital expenditure financing includes grants and contributions from outside government (e.g. private developers, national lottery), revenue financing and borrowing.
Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007
David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he expects to implement Part 6 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. [303758]
Ms Rosie Winterton:
Our response, published on 27 October 2009, to the consultation paper 'The making and enforcement of byelaws' made clear our intention
to implement the new regime for the making and enforcement of byelaws, which we are minded to do early in the new year.
Local Government Finance
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what percentage of the external finance in each local authority in England was generated from (a) fees and charges, (b) council tax and (c) central Government funding in (i) 1992, (ii) 1997 and (iii) 2007; [302117]
(2) if he will rank each English London local authority in order of the percentage of total income generated from council tax in 2008-09. [302118]
Barbara Follett: I have today placed in the Library of the House a table that gives, by each local authority in England, the percentage of income generated from (a) fees and charges, (b) council tax and (c) central Government funding in 2007-08.
Estimates for 1992-93 and 1997-98 are not available as they could be made only at disproportionate cost.
Information on some of the elements of total income required to produce estimates for 2008-09 has not yet been compiled.
Local Government: ICT
Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will commission a report on the role of Liverpool Direct Ltd. in Liverpool city council's ICT strategy; and if he will make a statement. [302767]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This is a matter for Liverpool city council. Local authorities have a duty to secure continuous improvement in the way in which they exercise their functions, having regard to a combination of economy, effectiveness and efficiency.
Local Government: Procurement
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department publishes on local authority commissioning of goods and services; how many local authorities have been required under that guidance to tender for services being conducted in house, or by existing providers in the last 12 months. [303356]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Guidance on securing positive outcomes and best value through commissioning was set out in paragraphs 6.4 to 6.17 of "Creating Strong, Safe and Prosperous Communities: Statutory Guidance" (Communities and Local Government, 9 July 2008). The guidance is available at:
Information on how many authorities have tendered for services in the last 12 months is not held centrally.
Non-Domestic Rates
Justine Greening:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 26 November 2009, Official Report, columns
312-13W, on non-domestic rates, what the estimated net collectable debt in respect of non-domestic rates was for each local authority in the (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10 tax year. [304232]
Barbara Follett: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 26 November 2009, Official Report, columns 312-13W and in particular column 2 of the table that was placed in the Library of the House.
Parking: Fees and Charges
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what (a) the total reserve in its Parking Places Revenue Account and (b) the annual income from parking charges was of each local authority in each of the last five years. [302116]
Barbara Follett: I have today placed in the Library of the House a table that gives, by each local authority in England, the annual revenue raised by local authorities from all parking charges in each year from 2005-06 to 2008-09.
Information about local authorities' Parking Places Revenue Account is not collected centrally.
Planning Permission: Appeals
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent guidelines his Department has issued to planning inspectors in respect of planning appeals. [304724]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Department has not recently issued any guidelines specifically to planning inspectors. In determining cases, planning inspectors must take account, where relevant, of Planning Policy statements and any associated material such as circulars and guidance issued by my Department. All such material is in the public domain.
Sheltered Housing
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the benefits to residents of sheltered accommodation of the provision of services by wardens who work a 34-hour week; and what assessment he has made of the likely effects on such residents of changes in the working patterns of such wardens. [303811]
Barbara Follett: There has been no central assessment of the benefits to residents of having warden services within sheltered accommodation. When reviewing services local authorities should take account of residents views on the services being provided and the benefits received. We expect every service user to have a full risk and needs assessment undertaken and an appropriate support plan put in place. It is a local decision as to how to best meet the needs identified.
Social Rented Housing: Equality
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how many employment tribunal claims have been brought against (a) local authorities and (b) registered social landlords in each of the last five years; [304537]
(2) how many cases have been brought against (a) local authorities and (b) registered social landlords in respect of alleged breaches of equalities legislation in each of the last five years; [304535]
(3) how many legal cases have been brought in respect of racial discrimination allegations against (a) local authorities and (b) registered social landlords in each of the last five years. [304536]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Social Rented Housing: Regulation
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of local authority regulation of registered social landlords; what estimate he has made of the cost to local authorities of such regulation in 2008-09; and if he will make a statement. [304522]
John Healey: Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) in England are regulated by the Tenant Services Authority (TSA), the independent social housing regulator. Local authorities are not responsible for regulating RSLs.
Tenant Services Agency
Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of (a) setting up and (b) operating for the first year the (i) Tenant Services Agency and (ii) the Homes and Communities Agency. [304521]
John Healey: The set up costs of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and Tenant Services Authority (TSA) are set out in the Housing and Regeneration Bill-Impact Assessment, a copy of which is in the House Library
The running costs for both the HCA and the TSA can be found in the published financial statements for 2008-09.
Home Department
Asylum
Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many outstanding asylum appeals there were on 1 November 2009. [301283]
Bridget Prentice: I have been asked to reply.
The number of outstanding asylum appeals as of 1 November 2009 is as follows:
| Number of cases | |
| (1) Initial appeal of Home Office decision. (2) The application to review whether a reconsideration of the case is appropriate because of an error of law (3) Reconsideration of case because of an error of law. | |
Chris Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to which countries children seeking asylum aged (a) 17, (b) 12 to 16, (c) five to 11 and (d) under five years old have been deported in each year since 1997. [302884]
Alan Johnson: The requested information is not available prior to 2004; however, the following table shows the number of removals and voluntary departures of children asylum cases under the age of 18, including dependants, from the United Kingdom between 2004 and 2008, by age group and country of destination.
The figures provided include children in family groups. Where they have been found by the UK Border Agency and the independent courts to have no basis of stay in the UK they are expected to leave the country or face an enforced removal. Wherever possible they are given the opportunity to make a voluntary departure. The UK Border Agency only consider returning an unaccompanied child with no legal right to remain in the UK to their country of origin if safe and adequate reception arrangements are in place.
Published statistics on immigration and asylum are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
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