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24 Mar 2010 : Column 396W—continued
| Net current expenditure: England-Cash | ||||
| £ million | ||||
| Public conveniences( 2) | Waste collection | Street cleansing (not chargeable to h ighways) | Culture and heritage( 3) | |
The current expenditure defined here 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.
Figures from 2003-04 onwards are collected on a Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 17 basis.
The real-terms figures are calculated using the latest H M Treasury GDP deflator.
Local Government: East of England
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the letter to leaders of principal local authorities in Norfolk of 9 March 2010 from the Minister for Local Government, who will act as a champion in Whitehall for the Norfolk councils; and for what reasons other areas have not been given such a champion. [323527]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I look forward to a positive response from the local authorities in Norfolk to my letter of 9 March 2010. Should they seek a Whitehall champion, the details will be agreed following discussion with those councils.
Other areas in England have been offered similar "champions" during the local area agreement negotiations and the recent Total Place pilots.
Local Government: Fraud
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he has made an estimate of the monetary value of the potential frauds identified by the Audit Commission in its National Fraud Initiative since the inception of that initiative. [324014]
Barbara Follett: The Audit Commission requires all participants in the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) to report the levels of fraudulent and erroneous payments prevented and detected as a result of following up the data matches provided to them. The totals of fraudulent and erroneous payments are given in the national reports published at the end of each exercise. From its launch in 1996 to the end of the 2006/07 exercise, the cumulative reported outcomes from the NFI totalled some £450 million.
The report on the most recent completed exercise, NFI 2008-09, is scheduled for publication in May 2010, and the Audit Commission is confident that this figure will have increased significantly.
Mortgages: Government Assistance
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) how much funding his Department allocated under the Mortgage Rescue scheme in each region for the spending period 2008-11; [324144]
(2) how much funding his Department allocated under the Mortgage Rescue scheme in each region in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10; and how much such funding has been allocated for (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; [324146]
(3) how much funding the Homes and Communities Agency allocated for the Mortgage Rescue Scheme in the spending period 2008-11; [324150]
(4) what estimate he has made for the purposes of the allocation of regional funding by the Homes and Communities Agency of the number of households likely to accept offers on their homes under the Mortgage Rescue scheme in (a) 2010-11 and (b) the spending period 2008-11; [324154]
(5) what proportion of the Mortgage Rescue Scheme budget has been (a) allocated and (b) spent to date. [324156]
John Healey: The Mortgage Rescue Scheme is demand-led and targeted at the most vulnerable households. The scheme's financial framework allows for flexibility to direct the available resources to those areas with the greatest demand. This is kept under review based on scheme data published each quarter. The Homes and Communities Agency will report spend through the scheme in the normal way in their annual report for 2009-10.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average cost to a household of accepting an offer under the Mortgage Rescue Scheme has been since the scheme's inception; and if he will make a statement. [324155]
John Healey: The Homes and Communities Agency will report spend through the Mortgage Rescue Scheme in the normal way in their annual report for 2009-10.
Non-Domestic Rates: Appeals
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 9 December 2009, Official Report, column 399W, on non-domestic rates, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) number of appeals against rateable values, (b) number of such appeals which resulted in a reduction in rateable value and (c) resulting change in total rateable value in each region in each year from 2009-10 to 2014-15. [323655]
Barbara Follett:
No assumptions were made about the number of appeals or the number which resulted in a reduction in rateable value (RV). However, for the
purpose of modelling the 2010 transitional relief scheme, this Department has made an assumption about the total reduction in RV as a result of appeals.
The assumptions used for this modelling are detailed in the consultation document entitled 'The transitional arrangements for the non-domestic rating revaluation 2010 in England'. The methodology and assumptions can be found on page 49 of the consultation. A copy of the consultation document is available at the following link:
Parish Councils: Cost Effectiveness
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the recent changes to criteria for value for money audits of town and parish councils; and whether such changes were introduced on the initiative of (a) his Department and (b) the Audit Commission. [323359]
Ms Rosie Winterton: We have made no assessment of these changes, which have been introduced by the Audit Commission, and which will apply only to those town and parish councils with an annual spend exceeding £1 million.
Parking: Fees and Charges
Lembit Öpik: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what information his Department holds on the amount collected in parking fines in ( a) Montgomeryshire and (b) England in each year since 2005; and if he will make a statement. [323933]
Barbara Follett: The requested information for Montgomeryshire is a matter for Welsh Assembly Government.
For England information, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 5 January 2010, Official Report, column 240W.
Social Rented Housing: Rents
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 2 March 2010, Official Report, column 1160W, on social rented housing: rents, whether an impact assessment has been prepared for his Department's policy on the convergence of social rents. [323998]
John Healey: Government policy on rent restructuring, established in 2001, was subject to wide-ranging consultation over the summer of 2001. A further public consultation on the treatment of service charges under rent restructuring followed in 2002.
A three-year review of the policy was undertaken in 2004. This was subject to formal consultation including a specific race equality impact assessment. At that time there was no requirement for any other formal impact assessment.
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