| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
16 Jun 2010 : Column 447W—continued
Communities and Local Government
Councillors
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local councillors sit on both county councils and district councils. [2676]
Robert Neill: This information is not held by the Department.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the presumed minimum hours of work are for local councillors remunerated for cabinet responsibilities. [2677]
Robert Neill: My Department does not hold this information. Being a councillor is not a job, it is a vocation. Accordingly councillors do not receive salaries, rather they receive allowances designed to ensure that being a councillor does not leave them out of pocket. The roles of the councillor will vary from authority to authority, ward to ward and even person to person. It is for each authority to determine how best to organise their meetings and for each councillor to determine how best to organise his or her work-load.
The working practices of councillors who are members of a local authority's cabinet are therefore a matter for that authority.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local councillors hold five or more paid public sector positions. [2678]
Robert Neill: This information is not held centrally.
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which 10 local councillors receive the highest remuneration from the public purse. [2679]
Robert Neill: My Department does not hold this information. Each council makes available locally for public inspection the allowances paid to each of their councillors. We will be ensuring these data are published in an open and standardised format to facilitate greater public scrutiny.
Departmental Internet
Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the URL is of each website managed by (a) his Department and (b) each non-departmental public body and agency for which his Department is responsible. [2362]
Robert Neill: The following websites are managed by the Department for Communities and Local Government:
The following websites are managed by non-departmental public bodies and agencies, for which the Department for Communities and Local Government is responsible:
Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation:
West Northamptonshire Development Corporation:
Community Development Foundation:
Infrastructure Planning Commission:
Architects Registration Board:
Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre:
Residential Property Tribunal Service:
Departmental Official Cars
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) make, (b) model and (c) place of manufacture is of the car allocated for the use of each Minister in his Department. [1475]
Robert Neill: The Department of Communities and Local Government inherited six allocated cars. One is a Jaguar XJ TDVi Sovereign, manufactured in the UK; one is a Toyota Avensis T4, manufactured in the UK; one is a Honda Civic Hybrid, manufactured in the UK; and three are a Toyota Prius T3, manufactured in Japan.
These arrangements are changing following the publication of the new Ministerial Code which contains changes that affect ministerial entitlement to travel by Government car. The Code states that
"the number of Ministers with allocated cars and drivers will be kept to a minimum, taking into account security and other relevant considerations. Other Ministers will be entitled to use cars from the Government Car Service Pool as needed".
Cabinet Office has provided clarification on how the Code should be interpreted. The expectation is that Ministers not in the Cabinet will use the pool service and that Cabinet Ministers who have an allocated car will wish to consider how that car might be utilised by other Ministers within the Department before calls are made on the Government Car Service Pool.
The Department for Transport and its Government Car and Despatch Agency are working with departments to effect the transition to the new arrangements.
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his policy is on the use by Ministers in his Department of cars allocated from (a) his Department's pool and (b) the Government car pool which are manufactured in the UK; whether Ministers in his Department are entitled to request the use of a car manufactured in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [2413]
Robert Neill: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning) on 14 June 2010, Official Report, columns 290-91W.
Departmental Translation Services
Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what (a) documents and (b) other information for which (i) his Department and (ii) its associated public bodies are responsible are published or provided in the UK in languages other than English; for what reason each such publication is required to be made available in a language or languages other than English; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the translation work so incurred in the latest period for which figures are available. [1781]
Robert Neill:
The Department does not generally make documents and information available in languages other than English. In the financial year 2009-10, the Department's central Communication Directorate made available some documents, primarily related to the fire
and rescue service, in non-English languages as both printed materials and electronic documents. These are listed as follows:
The total cost to the public purse to print the above printed materials was £85,701. No central record exists of individual translation costs involved, and such costs could only be compiled at disproportionate cost. No cost to the public purse was incurred in 2009-10 to make the electronic materials available.
Campaign material was made available to local fire and rescue services in languages other than English to assist them in promoting fire safety and recruitment messages amongst communities where English is commonly not spoken as a first language.
Information on translated documents provided by our ALBs could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Departmental Travel
Mr Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the (a) name and (b) version is of each computer software package used by his Department to calculate its expenditure on travel. [2268]
Robert Neill: CLG records and calculates travel expenditure on its central financial, procurement and reporting system-SAP ERP (version:-ECC 5.0, SP 21).
Derelict Land and Green Belt: Thanet
Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the acreage of (a) brownfield and (b) greenfield land in South Thanet constituency was (i) in 1997 and (ii) on the latest date for which information is available. [2685]
Robert Neill: Information is available for the local authority areas of Dover and Thanet and not at constituency level.
Estimates are available on the amount of previously-developed land that may be available for redevelopment for 1998 to 2008, from the National Land Use Database of Previously-Developed Land. There are no comparable estimates of greenfield land on a comparable basis.
The table provided shows the estimates for the amount of previously-developed land, by land type category, in Thanet and Dover for the years 1998 and 2008.
| Table: Previously-developed land by land type, 1998 and 2008 | ||||||
| H ectares | ||||||
| Authority | Vacant land | Vacant buildings | Derelict land and buildings | Currently in use with planning allocation or permission for development( 1) | Currently in use with redevelopment potential | |
| (1) The definition changed from 2001 to include sites use with planning permission for all uses (not just housing) and to achieve more comprehensive coverage. (2) Not published. Source: National Land Use Database of Previously-Developed Land | ||||||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |