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29 Jan 2010 : Column 1134W—continued
£388,000 to the Salvation Army's Malawi Anti-Child Trafficking Project which aims to improve knowledge of and access to rights for children in Malawi who have been trafficked or are vulnerable to being trafficked.
£1.6 million to the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) to improve the incomes, working conditions and respect for the rights of millions of poor workers who are employed by suppliers of ETI member companies. All member companies agree to adopt the 'Base Code of Labour Practice' which prohibits forced labour and child labour.
In Bangladesh DFID has also supported the establishment of a specialised police unit for combating human trafficking.
Stabilisation Unit
Mr. Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff of his Department's Stabilisation Unit are employed to manage that Unit's database of (a) deployable civilian experts and (b) the Civil Service Stabilisation Cadre. [314366]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: Three Stabilisation Unit staff are currently employed to manage the Civilian Stabilisation Group, which consists of over 800 Deployable Civilian Experts and over 200 members of the Civil Service Stabilisation Cadre. A small number of additional staff are responsible for administrative tasks associated with the recruitment, training and deployment of members of the Group.
Communities and Local Government
Audit Commission: Internet
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will ensure that the Comprehensive Area Assessment Oneplace website includes data on the frequency of collection of household waste by local authorities. [313811]
Barbara Follett: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission, and I will ask the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct.
Your Parliamentary Question outlined above has been passed to me to reply.
The Oneplace website currently includes performance indicators on the amount of waste collected, recycled and landfilled as well as a range of measures of residents' satisfaction with these services.
The Audit Commission is discussing with DEFRA the availability of reliable data on the frequency of household waste and recycling collection with a view to including this data on the website as soon as possible.
A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.
Chorley
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will set out, with statistical information as closely related to Chorley constituency as possible, the effect on that constituency of the policies of his Department and its predecessors since 1997. [314229]
Barbara Follett: The information requested is not available. The Department evaluates the impact of major programmes and policies. We do not assess the specific impacts on individual areas.
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 details of evaluations.
Council Tax
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much each local authority has received in fines relating to late payment of council tax in each of the last 10 years. [314380]
Barbara Follett: This information is not collected centrally.
Departmental Disclosure of Information
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether (a) agencies and (b) non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible sell information on a commercial basis to (i) companies or individuals in the private sector and (ii) other organisations. [313220]
Barbara Follett: Government Departments and agencies make most of their information available for free re-use under the Public Sector Information (PSI) Click-Use Licence. CLG's executive NDPBs make relevant information freely available by publishing it on their websites. CLG's trading funds; the Ordnance Survey, the Fire Service College and the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre can charge for the services they provide in order to cover their costs. This includes information supplied to other public bodies, commercial organisations and individuals. In common with other Government policy, some information is sold as priced publications.
Departmental Manpower
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many layers of management reporting from the most senior to the most junior there are in his Department and each of its agencies; how many officials are employed in each such layer; and how much was spent on salaries and associated employment costs of staff at each such layer in the latest year for which information is available. [312825]
Barbara Follett: In the Department for Communities and Local Government uniform layers of management do not exist across the organisation. Instead, different arrangements are made by each area to meet its business needs. At present employees in pay range 3 and above can be responsible for line management.
The following table shows total employment costs for pay ranges 3 and above for 2008-09 although it should be noted that not all these employees will have line management responsibilities. Total employment costs include salaries, non-consolidated performance awards, employer's national insurance payments, overtime and
employer's pension costs. The provision of total pay costs excluding non-line managers could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
| Pay range | Number of staff (headcount) | Total annual employment costs 2008-09 (£) |
Departmental NDPBs
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for how many non-departmental public bodies his Department is responsible. [314250]
Barbara Follett: 22 in total as at January 2010. The Department sponsors 12 executive NDPBs, five advisory NDPBs and two tribunal NDPBs, as well as two other public bodies classified as Public Corporations and a public body which does not have a formal classification. The bodies are listed as follows.
Community Development Foundation
Firebuy
Homes and Communities Agency
Independent Housing Ombudsman Limited
Infrastructure Planning Commission
Leasehold Advisory Service
London Thames Gateway Development Corporation
Standards for England
Tenant Services Authority
Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation
Valuation Tribunal Service
West Northants Development Corporation
Advisory Panel for the Local Innovation Awards
Advisory Panel on Standards for the Planning Inspectorate
Building Regulations Advisory Committee
National Community Forum
National Housing and Planning Advice Unit
Rent Assessment Panels under the Residential Property Tribunal Service
Valuation Tribunal for England
Architects Registration Board
Audit Commission
Local Government Ombudsman/Commission for Local Administration
Departmental Written Questions
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 26 January 2010, Official Report, columns 769-70W, on Departmental written questions, what mechanisms are in place for monitoring his Department's performance in answering parliamentary questions for written answer; and what targets he has set for the time taken to answer such questions. [314469]
Barbara Follett: The Department's performance in answering parliamentary questions is monitored by its Management Board.
In CLG, Ministers endeavour to provide hon. Members with a substantive response to their named day question on the date specified, and to answer ordinary written questions within a working week of being tabled. In 2009, CLG Ministers received:
862 questions for answer on a named day of which 708 (82 per cent.) received a substantive answer on the due date; and
4,853 ordinary written questions of which 4,112 (85 per cent.) were answered within a working week.
Doncaster Council
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he expects the Audit Commission to publish the findings of its corporate governance inspection of Doncaster Council. [314325]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission, and I will ask the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to the hon. Member direct. As the Audit Commission has already made clear, the inspection will take place as soon as the necessary arrangements can be made and we are keen to see the findings as soon as possible. However, it is important that the inspection is robust as the findings will inform any further package of support offered to the council. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has confirmed that we are prepared to use the powers he has to tackle any issues identified by the Audit Commission which require government action.
Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 29 January 2010:
Your Parliamentary Question outlined above has been passed to me to reply.
The planning for the inspection of Doncaster Council is well advanced and the necessary fieldwork will be completed as soon as possible. The inspection report (including recommendations) will be published as soon as it is complete but at this stage it is not possible to give a firm date.
A copy of this letter will be placed in Hansard.
Mortgages: Repossession Orders
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to his Department's consultation document, "Lender repossession of residential property: protection of tenants", when he expects to announce each of the preferred options. [313809]
Mr. Ian Austin:
CLG's consultation on "Lender repossession of residential property: protection of tenants", which considered options for closing a gap in legal
protection for tenants who suffer short notice eviction as a result of landlord eviction, closed on 14 October 2009. The consultation document stated that the Government's preferred approach was to ensure tenants received adequate notice if they needed to move by giving courts the power to delay possession and introducing a new notice of intention to enforce possession. These measures are now being taken forward by Dr. Brian Iddon in a private Members Bill, The Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants etc) Bill, which is to receive its second reading on 29 January.
Non-domestic Rates
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many hereditaments in England he expects to claim small business rate relief in 2009-10. [314207]
Barbara Follett: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 5 January 2009, Official Report, column 230W.
Non-domestic Rates: Fines
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much each local authority has collected in fines relating to late payment of business rates in each of the last 10 years. [314381]
Barbara Follett: There are no fines for late payment within the business rates system.
Non-domestic Rates: Garages and Petrol Stations
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many supermarket petrol retail outlets have been notified that their rateable value (a) has been reduced, (b) remains unchanged and (c) has risen by over (i) 10 per cent., (ii) 50 per cent., (iii) 100 per cent. (iv) 150 per cent., (v) 200 per cent., (vi) 250 per cent., (vii) 300 per cent. and (viii) 350 per cent. for the purpose of calculating the business rate to come into effect on 1 April 2010. [311057]
Barbara Follett: All supermarkets have been sent summary valuation calculations notifying the occupiers of their new rateable value (RV), and have been invited to contact their local valuation officer if they think the change in their RV may be incorrect.
The RV for a supermarket petrol retail outlet forms part of the overall rateable value of the supermarket. The SCAT codes do not allow us to separately identify supermarkets with petrol retails outlets from supermarkets without petrol retail outlets. Therefore, information on the distribution of supermarket petrol retail outlets by change in RV is not held centrally.
The five-yearly business rates revaluations make sure each business pays its fair contribution and no more. The 2010 revaluation will not raise a single extra penny for Government and over a million properties will see their business rate liabilities come down as a result of revaluation.
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