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11 Mar 2010 : Column 418W—continued
Communities and Local Government
Birmingham City Council: Finance
Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions he has had with Birmingham city council on its financial situation. [321363]
Barbara Follett: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no recent discussions with Birmingham city council regarding its financial situation.
Community Development: Finance
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2010, Official Report, column 247W, on community development: finance, if he will place in the Library a copy of the (a) data and (b) plans used to determine the allocation of funding from the Connecting Communities Fund to each local authority. [319106]
Barbara Follett: The neighbourhoods which benefited from Connecting Communities funding were identified after a range of hard and soft data around cohesion, deprivation and crime, perceived unfairness in the allocation of resources had been carefully examined. Feedback was also given by people working locally. The plans for each area were decided after discussions between local authorities and their Government office about the support required. The data and the plans are specific to each local authority and may include sensitive information. The hon. Member may wish to contact Peterborough city council about the selection of areas and the activities taking place in his constituency.
Departmental Location
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department spent on the relocation of staff from posts in (a) Essex and (b) Castle Point constituency in each of the last five years. [321434]
Barbara Follett: Communities and Local Government has not relocated any posts from either Essex or the Castle Point constituency.
Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many full-time equivalent staff of each grade are employed by his Department to assist special advisers. [321131]
Barbara Follett: Two full-time and one 0.4 full-time equivalent civil servants support the special advisers in the offices of the Secretary of State and the Minister for Housing. All three civil servants provide support of a non-political nature, in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. They also provide support to Ministers' private offices.
Departmental Pay
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was paid in reimbursable expenses to special advisers in his Department in each of the last five years. [320476]
Barbara Follett: For information up to 2007-08, I refer the hon. Member to the answer he was given on 21 July 2008, Official Report, column 765W.
Since 2007-08, the information is as follows:
| £ | |
Procedures for reimbursing staff expenses are set out in the Department's staff handbook, and are in line with the provisions set out in the Civil Service Management Code.
Empty Dwelling Management Orders: Squatting
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance has been produced by his Department on whether an Empty Dwelling Management Order may be issued in respect of a property which is occupied by squatters. [319296]
Mr. Ian Austin: The Department issued a Guidance Note on Empty Dwelling Management Orders in July 2006 which can be downloaded from the Communities website:
An interim Empty Dwelling Management Order can be issued only by the Residential Property Tribunal Service if the dwelling has been wholly unoccupied (i.e. no part is occupied whether lawfully or unlawfully) for at least six months.
The issue of squatters is managed through separate provisions-other powers exist to evict squatters. The landlord must obtain an eviction order from a county court. The EDMO provisions can then be followed if required.
Fire Services: Finance
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent on the fire and rescue service per 100,000 population in each local authority area in the last 12 months. [321597]
Barbara Follett: The latest available outturn net current expenditure on the fire and rescue services per 100,000 of the population in each local authority in England is for 2008-09 and is tabled as follows:
Population figures used in the calculation are the Office for National Statistics' (ONS) Mid-Year Population estimates for 2008.
The current expenditure defined here is on a Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 17 basis and is the cost of running local authority services within the financial year. This includes the costs of staffing, heating, lighting and cleaning, together with expenditure on goods and services consumed within the year. This expenditure is offset by income from sales, fees and charges and other (non-grant) income, to give net current expenditure.
Greater Manchester
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will set out, with statistical information related as directly as possible to Manchester, Gorton constituency, the effects on that constituency of the policies of his Department and its predecessors since 1997. [322141]
Barbara Follett: My Department does not routinely collect information at constituency level but, as the constituency of Manchester, Gorton falls within the local authority of Manchester we have, where relevant, included information from them in this answer.
The Neighbourhood Statistics Service provides a wide range of statistical information at parliamentary constituency level, taken from the 2001 Census and other sources.
This service is available on the National Statistics website at:
Communities and Local Government statistical publications can be found at:
This includes time series data across the Department's remit at various geographic levels.
Details of research projects commissioned by Communities and Local Government and its predecessors are available from our Research Database (RD) at:
This includes evaluations of key policies.
Over the last year, Communities and Local Government has:
Played a critical role responding to the recession ensuring people, business and communities receive the practical help they need, including: helping people avoid repossession; Real Help Now; supporting the construction industry, critical regeneration projects, jobs through Future Jobs Fund; and businesses with the business rates deferral scheme.
Set in place a platform for greater local devolution for more effective decision making through local area agreements (LAAs)-including slashing central performance standards from over 1,200 to fewer than 200.
Continued building on this through Total Place pilots, leading innovation across public services-cutting out waste, overlap and duplication, meaning more and belter quality services at less cost to the taxpayer.
Established the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) set out in the Planning Act 2008-which will make the major Infrastructure Planning decisions for) the country, delivering a faster, fairer and more transparent planning regime.
Announced the £1.5 billion Housing Pledge to deliver an additional 20,000 units of affordable housing, creating 45,000 jobs in the construction industry over this year and next, including 1,300 new apprenticeship schemes.
Last year there were 330 additional affordable homes provided by Manchester local authority. See link for further information:
During the period since 1997, the Department's achievements include:
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