To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2008, Official Report, columns 582-83W, on community relations, (1) what steps her Department has taken in response to the observations on page 6 of the report on the learning and development exercise issued by the Audit Commission and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary; (262007)

In responding to the observations in the “Preventing Violent Extremism: Learning and Development Exercise” report relating to assessing success, my Department has responded by commissioning research from the Tavistock Institute and De Montfort University to investigate the national and international contributing factors to violent extremism. On 10 December 2008 the Secretary of State announced that we would be working to establish a national ‘centre of excellence’ that local areas can access for practical advice on Prevent; and we have published guidance produced jointly between Communities and Local Government, the Home Office and the Office for Public Management to assist local authorities and the police in reporting outcomes linked to National Indicator 35 (NI 35). Currently 19 local authorities have selected NI 35 as a priority indicator as part of their local area agreements. Progress against NI 35 for 2008-09 will be reported from April 2009.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2008, Official Report, columns 583-84W, on community relations, how many area-based grants have been made by her Department; which other departments have made area-based grants; and how much her Department has spent on area-based grants in each year since 2006. (262009)

Area Based Grant was introduced in April 2008 and is a single grant paid to local authorities. Details of all area based grant allocations made for 2008-09 and 2009-10 are available at:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/localgovernmentfinance/areabasedgrant/

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to her Department's report Preventing violent extremism: next steps for communities, how much of the £80 million for community-led work to tackle violent extremism will be allocated to (a) national projects, (b) the Community Leadership Fund and (c) local authorities in (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10 and (iii) 2010-11. (262477)

Our overall budget for this Comprehensive Spending Review period (2008-11) is £84.5 million (£20.5 million/£27.5 million/£36.5 million). Over the CSR period, £45 million of this funding will be paid through the area based grant to local authorities, and £5.1 million will be allocated through the community leadership fund.

The Department has budgeted to spend £8.5 million on Prevent related projects in the financial year 2008-09. The budget allocation split for the following two years 2009-11 has not yet been finalised, but we expect to support national projects in a number of areas including: theological understanding; building community resilience; engaging and empowering young Muslims and Muslim women; local partnerships and delivery; faith institutions; campaigns; and research and evaluation.