To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much Advantage West Midlands has disbursed in (a) revenue and (b) capital allocations in each financial year since 1998-99. (272063)

The revenue and capital expenditure of Advantage West Midlands since 1998-99 has been as follows:

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what Community Investment Fund projects each regional development agency carried out in each year since 2000. (265272)

Tables showing the Community Investment Fund projects carried out by the RDAs since 2000 will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (1) what categories of personal information about members of the public are contained on each relevant database managed by his Department and its agencies; on what date each category of information began to be collected; and if he will make a statement; (274174)

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform does not hold any protected personal information about members of the public in any of its databases.

I have asked the Chief Executives of Companies House and the Insolvency Service to respond to the hon. Member directly.

Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 15 May 2009:

The Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has asked me to reply to you directly on behalf of The Insolvency Service on what categories of his personal information about members of the public are contained on each relevant database managed by his Department and its agencies; on what date each category of information began to be collected; and if he will make a statement.

The requested details for the databases managed by the Insolvency Service Agency are contained in the following table:

Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 15 May 2009:

The Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has asked me to reply to you directly on behalf of The Insolvency Service on what databases managed by his Department and its agencies hold personal information on individual members of the public; on what date each such database became operational; and if he will make a statement.

The requested details for the databases managed by the Insolvency Service Agency are contained in the following table:

Letter from Gareth Jones, dated 15 May 2009:

I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 6 May 2009, UIN 274174, to the Minister of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

Companies House is required by legislation to hold the following personal information about members of the public:

Names, addresses and dates of birth of company directors.

Names and addresses of company secretaries.

Names and addresses of company shareholders.

This information has been collected under various Companies Acts since 1844 but has only been held on an electronic database since 1986.

Letter from Gareth Jones, dated 15 May 2009:

I am replying on behalf of Companies House to your Parliamentary Question tabled on 6 May 2009, UIN 274175, to the Minister of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

The current register of companies database (known as CHIPS) became operational on 25 February 2008, superseding the previous version of the database (known as STEM), which had been operational since 1986. There is also an image database, holding electronic images of documents filed, which became operational in 1995. All these databases hold personal information, most of which is publicly available.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many questions tabled to his Department for ordinary written answer in Session 2007-08 were (a) answered (i) in up to three days, (ii) in between four days and two weeks, (iii) in between two weeks and one month, (iv) in between one month and two months and (v) two months or more after tabling and (b) were not answered. (268661)

The information requested is not available in a format to reply without incurring disproportionate cost. This applies equally to researching the House "Parliamentary Information Management System".

However, in the three-month period from December 2008 to February 2009, the Department received a total of 566 ordinary written parliamentary questions of which 225 were answered within five sitting days. Of the 566, a total of 20 remain to be answered.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many questions tabled to his Department for named day written answer in Session 2007-08 (a) received a substantive answer (i) on the day named and (ii) (A) in up to three days, (B) in between four days and two weeks, (C) in between two weeks and one month, (D) in between one and two months and (E) more than two months after the day named and (b) were not answered. (268662)

The information requested is not available in a format to reply without incurring disproportionate cost. This applies equally to researching the House "Parliamentary Information Management System".

However, in the three-month period from December 2008 to February 2009, the Department received a total of 188 named day parliamentary questions (including first order questions which could not be answered in the Chamber). Of the 188, a total of 52 were answered on the date specified. A total of five remain to be answered.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what his policy is on its payment of wage contributions to workers in the automotive industry on short-time working who are undertaking retraining in their own time. (275131)

The Government fully appreciate the difficulties that the automotive industry is experiencing during the current economic downturn.

While we are supporting a range of automotive support initiatives, we do not believe that introducing a general wage subsidy for all employers is a feasible, cost effective and sustainable option for the UK. Past experience in the UK when running a wage subsidy programme in the 1970s was that wage subsidies acted to create distortions and perverse incentives for other sectors and companies to bargain for subsidies.

We believe that the future success of British industry will be based on a highly skilled workforce, and where production is being reduced we are helping business train their workforces to ensure they emerge from the economic downturn in the best possible shape to compete in the future.

Automotive companies can access funding for training from Government and the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies. Following demand from the automotive industry for this support, funding under the “Train To Gain” scheme for the sector has been increased substantially up to £100 million from the original budget of £65 million.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps his Department takes to monitor the effectiveness of spending by regional development agencies on the development of the tourism industry. (270403)

BERR and other Government Departments are involved in development of each RDA’s Regional Economic Strategy (RES) and in approving each region’s Corporate Plan. The plans are reviewed to ensure that the RDAs deliver against ministerial priorities and priorities identified in the RES.

The RDAs took on strategic responsibility for tourism development in the regions in 2003, and have developed tourism strategies and delivery structures in line with their RES. DCMS works with the RDAs in advancing and assessing progress on key strategic objectives through:

the 2012 Ministerial Advisory Group, which guides the delivery of the national tourism strategy (“Winning: A tourism strategy for 2012 and beyond”);

the Ministerial Monitoring and Implementation Group, which guides the delivery of the national skills strategy;

the Welcome to Britain Group, which is working to improve the overall visitor welcome and experience;

Partners for England, which focuses on improved resource and policy co-ordination at national, regional and local levels;

the RDA Tourism Leads group, which provides a forum for cross-regional co-operation, collaboration and leadership.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the average (a) infant, (b) primary and (c) secondary class sizes in the 20 local authority areas of (i) highest and (ii) lowest deprivation in the last period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. (262821)

The requested information is shown in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding his Department plans to allocate to each local authority for discharging responsibilities which were formerly those of the Learning and Skills Council in each of the next five years. (275072)

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 5 May 2009, Official Report, columns 150-54W. This set out the number of posts we expect to transfer to each local authority from the Learning and Skills Council, subject to the passage of the Apprenticeships, Learning and Skills Bill. We are currently working with the LSC to determine how much funding will transfer to local authorities with each post from April 2010.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the cost to his Department of examination fees for each type of examination in maintained schools was in each of the last 10 years. (274582)

The Department began collecting information in sufficient detail to answer this question in 2002-03. No comparable data are available for previous years. The information in the table covers the combined costs of all relevant examination entry fees, including GCSEs, A/AS-levels and GNVQs, and any accreditation costs related to pupils. We do not collect separate data on each type of exam.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills on the merits of transferring the multi-professional education and training budget from that Department to the Higher Education Funding Council for England. (275654)

I have been asked to reply.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is the responsibility of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. As such it would be for this Department to discuss the transfer of this budget from the Department of Health. However, there have been no discussions on this subject in recent years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many foster parents have fostered (a) trafficked children, (b) unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and (c) children from other EU countries in each of the last three years. (275847)

Information about the numbers of foster carers who have fostered children in the three categories listed is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils eligible for free school meals sat (a) mathematics and (b) further mathematics A-level in each of the last five years. (268490)

The answer is provided in the following table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of pupils in maintained schools who gained five or more GCSEs at grade A or A* in 2006 who gained three or more A-levels at Grade A in 2008. (260540)

The most readily available analysis is given in the following table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 29 April 2009, Official Report, column 1387W, on the General Certificate of Secondary Education: young offender institutions, how many young people housed in young offender institutions achieved (a) one A* to G grade, (b) five A* to G grades, (c) five A* to C grades and (d) five A* to C grades, including English and mathematics at GCSE in each year for which the Learning and Skills Council holds figures. (273426)

[holding answer 7 May 2009]: The individualised learning record (ILR) data LSC collected for 2006/07 do not allow us to answer the specific questions on the range of grades achieved. However these data show that during the 2006/07 academic year there were a total of 68 GCSE achievements by 15 to 17-year-olds in Prison Service YOIs, of which:

19 people achieved one GCSE;

Five people achieved two GCSEs;

13 people achieved three GCSEs;

The LSC’s young persons’ learning 1 (YOL1) data show that during the 2007/08 academic year, for young people under the age of 18, there were 106 GCSE achievements between grades A and C, and 159 GCSE achievements below grade C. However the data set allowing us to break this down into the number of people achieving different numbers of GCSEs (i.e. ILR) is not yet available for the 2007/08 academic year.

Also, note that the figures quoted will not include all of the GCSEs achieved by young people in juvenile custody, as some young people in custody are still registered at schools and colleges and any GCSEs that they achieve while in custody will be reflected in achievement figures of schools and colleges, rather than the figures reported by the LSC in these statistics.

Also, many young people stay in custody only for a very short time, and therefore it is not realistic for them to achieve long-term qualifications while they are in custody, especially as GCSEs can only be taken at certain points of the year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire dated 27 March 2009, transferred from the Home Office on 2 April 2009, reference: M7547/9, on a nationwide database of children. (275842)

A response to the letter, from Baroness Delyth Morgan, was sent to the hon. Member on 5 May 2009.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many pupils in receipt of free school meals achieved level (a) 7 and (b) 8 in Key Stage 3 examinations in (i) English, (ii) mathematics and (iii) science in (A) 1997, (B) 2002, (C) 2005 and (D) the latest year for which figures are available; (262262)

The requested information is not available for 1997 as prior to 2002 individual pupil characteristic information was not collected. The introduction of the Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC) in January 2002, which collects such information, meant that from 2002, pupil characteristic data could be matched to attainment data, allowing analyses of different groups of pupils.

The 2002 information is shown as follows:

The 2005 information is shown as follows:

The 2006 information is shown as follows:

The 2007 information is shown as follows:

From 2003, level 8 can be achieved only in mathematics following the end of extension papers at KS3.

National Curriculum Assessment and GCSE/GNVQ Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2002 (final) and 2003 (provisional) can be found in SFR04/2004, at:

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000448/index.shtml

The National Curriculum Assessments by Pupil Characteristics, GCSE and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2005 can be found in SFR09/2006, at:

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000640/index.shtml

The National Curriculum Assessments by Pupil Characteristics, GCSE and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2005/06 (Provisional) can be found in SFR46/2006, at:

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000693/index.shtml

The National Curriculum Assessments by Pupil Characteristics, GCSE and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2006/07 can be found in SFR38/2007, at:

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000759/index.shtml

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department spent on capital expenditure on physical educational facilities in schools in (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2008-09; and what recent estimate he has made of such capital expenditure in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) 2011-12. (275189)

The Department relies on local authorities and schools to decide how much capital should be spent on physical educational facilities, and does not maintain central records of expenditure incurred or planned during the period 2007-08 to 2010-11. No financial commitment has been made by the Department beyond 31 March 2011.

In February 2008, the Secretary of State announced a capital programme to improve facilities for PE and sport at the most needy sports colleges. £10 million was allocated to sports colleges in 2008-09 and £21.5 million in 2009-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 22 April 2009, Official Report, columns 577-79W, on pupil referral units, in which local authority area each of the pupil referral units is located. (271834)

The local authority areas are shown against the pupil referral units (PRUs) and are listed as follows.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what guidance his Department provides to local authorities on the likely effects on school roll projections of changes in levels of immigration. (275999)

The Department does not provide guidance to local authorities on the likely effects on school roll projections of changes in levels of immigration. This is for authorities to determine, based on their knowledge of local demographics.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools he expects to close in each local authority area in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement. (275095)

School place planning is the statutory responsibility of individual local authorities (LAs). This includes making sure there are sufficient school places, and also removing surplus places when required. To facilitate this LAs have the power to propose the closure of maintained schools.

Where LAs propose to make any changes to local school provision, including closures, they must follow a statutory process, which is then decided under established local decision making arrangements. Ministers have no direct roll in the process.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what individual programmes and corresponding allocations are aggregated as other miscellaneous programmes for the year 2010-11 in the Schools section of Table 8.3 of his Department's 2008 Annual Report. (274273)

The Department's grants and programmes aggregated as within other miscellaneous programmes for 2010-11 are provided in the following table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what grants and corresponding allocations are aggregated as other standards funds for the years 2007-08 and 2010-11 in the Schools section of Table 8.3 of his Department’s 2008 Annual Report. (274274)

The Department’s grants and programmes aggregated as within other standards funds for (a) 2007-08 and (b) 2010-11 are provided in the following table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what grants and corresponding allocations are aggregated within area based grants for the year 2010-11 in the Schools section of Table 8.3 of his Department's 2008 Annual Report. (274275)

The Department's grants and programmes aggregated as within area based grants for 2010-11 are provided in the following table:

The total in this table contains figures that have been updated since the publication of the 2008 Departmental Report.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his Department's definition of community use in the Building Schools for the Future programme is in relation to sports facilities. (273470)

There is no strict definition of “community use” in the Building Schools for the Future Programme. As set out in the Extended Schools prospectus, published in June 2005, the Government have encouraged all schools to offer a core set of extended services by 2010, including wider community access to sports facilities. However, it is up to individual governing bodies to decide the extent to which they do this, since they are responsible for controlling the occupation and use of school premises both during and out of school hours. Governing bodies are also best placed to define what the community is that each school serves.

Secondary schools built or upgraded under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme must conform to the Department's Building Bulletin (BB) 98, "Briefing Framework for Secondary School Projects". This recommends that each school should have, as a minimum, a “four-court” sports hall designed to Sport England's specifications that cover community use. BB 98 also includes recommendations for outdoor sports pitches and games courts.

BSF investment is therefore ensuring that secondary schools will have sports facilities for use by the communities in which they are placed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of schools received a rating of inadequate in their Ofsted report for behaviour in each of the last five years. (274607)

[holding answer 11 May 2009]: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the House Libraries.

Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 8 May 2009:

Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, for reply.

The ‘inadequate’ inspection outcome was introduced in September 2005 as part of a four-point scale: outstanding, good, satisfactory, inadequate. Table A shows the outcome of the behaviour judgement for maintained schools inspected in each academic year since September 2005.

A copy of this reply has been sent to Rt Hon Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools and Learners, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of children who (a) cycle and (b) walk to school. (272867)

The requested information is shown in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Teach Next programme; and if he will make a statement. (275056)

We have more teachers in the classroom than in 1997. We have a range of routes for people who want to change career into teaching and these can be accessed direct or via transition to teaching. Most take up either postgraduate certificates in education (PGCE) or the employment-based Graduate Teacher programme.

The Becoming a Teacher evaluation (Hobson et al., 2006) found that 97 per cent. of survey respondents reported feeling ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ confident that their ITT programme had prepared them to be an effective teacher. However, a higher proportion of employment-based trainees, and a lower proportion of PGCE trainees, than those following other routes reported feeling ‘very confident’ that their ITT route had prepared them to be an effective teacher.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of Graduate Teacher Programme places made available by the Training and Development Agency for Schools in 2008-09 were eligible for a salary grant. (274584)

There were 4,335 salary and training grant places allocated by the Training and Development Agency for Schools and these represent 93 per cent. of all Graduate Teacher Programme places in academic year 2008/09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many trainees have failed initial teacher training in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. (275034)

Information about trainees who did not gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) is only available for trainees in their final year of training. The tables show the number of final year ITT trainees for each academic year between 1998/99 and 2006/07 who did not gain QTS in their final year of training and of these the number who left their course before completion and the number where the outcome of QTS is unknown for:

1. Postgraduate ITT trainees

2. Undergraduate ITT trainees

3. Employment Based Routes (EBR) trainees

Information relating to the number of trainees through mainstream courses gaining QTS is only available from 1998/99 onwards. The same information for trainees on employment based routes was only collected from 2001/02 onwards. Figures relating to 2007/08 will be available in July 2009.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what meetings Ministers in her Department have had with the British Humanist Association in the last 36 months. (274781)

I met the British Humanist Association on 10 February 2009 to discuss a range of issues. My predecessor, the hon. Member for Gloucester (Mr. Dhanda), met the organisation on 12 November 2007.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost to her Department of the Office of the local government ombudsman has been in each of the last five years. (274779)

The amount of grant paid by this Department to the local government ombudsman from 2004-05 to 2008-09 is set out in the Local Government Finance Report and is as follows:

For 2009-10 we have made provision in the Main Estimates of £16,155,000 for grants to the local government ombudsman, including a provision for possible future redundancies and a provision to fund the additional remit the ombudsman will have for schools and health matters, if and when the relevant provisions in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill and Health Bill currently before Parliament are enacted and come into force.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what was the (a) percentage and (b) cash rise in (i) average B and D council tax in England and (ii) average council tax per dwelling in England in (A) absolute and (B) real terms in each year since 1997-98. (274768)

Information on the change in both percentage and cash terms in the average band D council tax in England and the average council tax per dwelling in England in both absolute and real terms in each year since 1997-98 is shown in the tables.

The real terms change data for 2009-10 will not be available until after the publication of the April RPI figure on 19 May 2009.

Amounts shown are calculated on headline taxes and before benefits. Where indicated the figures are calculated after the designation of authorities that required them to recalculate their budget requirement and council tax.

The data are taken from the annual council tax base forms completed by all billing authorities in England and the Budget requirement forms completed by all billing and precepting authorities in England.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make an assessment of the (a) feasibility and (b) likely effect on the economy of replacing council tax with a local income tax. (275818)

No. The Government agree with Sir Michael Lyons’s conclusion, following his inquiry into local government, that council tax is broadly sound and should be retained. In his report Sir Michael concluded that a local income tax would result in a “significant rebalancing of the tax burden”.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2009, Official Report, column 765W, on council tax: valuation, when she plans to place in the Library a copy of the information referred to in the answer. (274706)

A copy of the information referred to has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department has spent on the maintenance of its IT equipment in the last 12 months. (272875)

Communities and Local Government has outsourced its corporate IT service to Steria Limited and costs of maintaining IT equipment are absorbed into the annual cost of the service. The service cost for financial year April 2008 to March 2009 for that service was £4.5 million. Information on the cost of maintenance of other IT systems in the Department is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she has taken to reduce the level of carbon dioxide emissions arising from the operation of ICT systems in her Department under the Greening Government ICT Strategy. (273552)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 May 2009, Official Report, column 234W to the hon. Member for Cardiff, Central (Jenny Willott).

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) BlackBerry devices and (b) mobile telephones have been lost by (i) Ministers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) civil servants in her Department and its predecessor in each year since 2005. (274461)

There have been no BlackBerry devices or mobile telephones reported as lost by Ministers, or special advisers in Communities and Local Government, which was created in May 2006 or its predecessor, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, in any of the years since 2005.

However, one mobile phone was reported as lost by a civil servant in Communities and Local Government in the year 2008-09.

This answer does not include Government offices for the regions who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what timetable her Department has set for the publication of its evidence and innovation strategy. (272342)

The Department for Communities and Local Government intends to publish an evidence and innovation strategy in late 2009.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department has spent on branded stationery and gifts for (a) internal and (b) external promotional use in each of the last five years. (273777)

Communities and Local Government Department was established in May 2006. Since that time the Department has spent the following on branded stationery:

For information relating to the amount spent on promotional materials for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister between 2002 and the abolition of the Department in 2006, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25 October 2006, Official Report, column 1934W.

Since the establishment of the Department for Communities and Local Government the costs of gifts for internal and external promotion are not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what estimate she has made of the administrative cost to the public purse of the operation of the right to buy scheme in each year since 1997; (274844)

A local authority is permitted to fund its administrative costs incidental to and of a right to buy (RTB) disposal from the receipt arising from that disposal.

A local authority's other administrative costs relating to RTB are required to be charged to its housing revenue account.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what role her Department will have in oversight of the Local Authority Leaders’ Forums. (274818)

The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill provides for the Government to establish and fund the activities of the Local Authority Leaders’ Boards in relation to work on the preparation, drafting and implementation of the Regional Strategy.

The Department will be responsible for agreeing the scheme under which the Leaders’ Board in each region will be established and also for ensuring that value for money is obtained through agreement of business plans.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 29 October 2007, Official Report, columns 667-68W, on local authorities: grants, what the grant per capita to each local authority was in (a) 2008-09 and (b) 2009-10; and what the average grant per capita to (i) district councils, (ii) unitary councils, (iii) county councils, (iv) metropolitan councils and (v) London boroughs was in (A) 2008-09 and (B) 2009-10. (274714)

1 refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) on 19 January 2009, Official Report, column 1074W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which shire counties do not levy a separate fire precept. (274769)

No shire counties levy a separate fire precept.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much debt each local authority had in the most recent year for which figures are available. (274786)

I have today placed in the Library of the House, a table containing details of the gross debt that each local authority in England had at 31 March 2008.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for how long local authorities retain revenue raised through reductions in council tax discounts on (a) empty and (b) second homes before equalisation processes in the calculation of Government grants are applied. (274790)

The distribution of formula grant to local authorities in England takes account of the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the authority, together with its relative ability to raise council tax, expressed in terms of the council tax base. We then ensure that every authority receives at least a minimum percentage increase (the ‘floor’) year-on-year on a like-for-like basis. In order to pay for the cost of the floor, we scale back the increase in grant above the floor for other authorities.

Since the introduction of multi-year settlements, we have used projected tax base data in the calculation of formula grant. The starting point for the tax base projections used in the current three-year settlement, covering 2008-09 to 2010-11, is the tax base as at 8 October 2007 adjusted for student exemptions. This is then increased annually by the Secretary of State’s estimate of the average annual increase in the tax base for the authority between 10 October 2005 and 8 October 2007.

The actual discount applied to long-term empty homes is applied for all authorities in calculating the tax base for the purposes of distributing formula grant. Any reduction in the discount applied to long-term empty homes commencing after 8 October 2007, will not be reflected in the projected taxbase calculations until the 2011-12 settlement.

Since 1 April 2004, although billing authorities have been able to reduce the council tax discount for second homes in their area (to between 10 and 50 per cent.), a discount of 50 per cent. has continued to be assumed for all authorities in calculating the tax base for the purposes of distributing formula grant.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the reasons are for the time taken to publish the outcomes of the Place Survey. (274912)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 7 May 2009, Official Report, column 396W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the effect on her Department's expenditure in 2009-10 of local government restructuring. (274744)

The Department's running cost budget for 2009-10 includes provision of £1.57 million for work on local governance, including work on any reorganisations of local authorities. As required by the affordability criterion for the unitary bids, implementing the unitary proposals is self-financing, and the savings generated by the new unitary councils are available to be invested in front-line services or to reduce the pressure on council tax; hence, implementing a unitary council has no additional impact on departmental expenditure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent steps her Department has taken to monitor the performance of local authorities. (275412)

The final results from the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) were published by the Audit Commission in March 2009. These showed the highest ever number of top-performing councils, with more than ever before assessed as ‘improving strongly’.

On 1 April we introduced the new system for assessment and inspection of local outcomes, Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA), as part of the new local performance framework. CAA builds and improves on CPA, covering outcomes delivered by local authorities acting alone or in partnership, and is carried out jointly by six local public service inspectorates. The first CAA reports will be published in November 2009. For each local area the reports will comprise an area assessment—which looks at how well local public services are delivering local priorities and how likely they are to improve in the future—and organisational assessments of individual local public bodies, including local authorities.

Ahead of CAA, following sign-off of the new Local Area Agreements (LAAs) in June 2008, a review of local areas’ initial efforts to prepare for LAA delivery was carried out by the Government Offices earlier this year. The review indicated that local authorities and their partners were progressing well with their LAAs, with the vast majority of areas strengthening partnership and delivery arrangements to enhance their ability to meet improvement targets.

Where performance issues are not being addressed sufficiently quickly or effectively in local areas, Government Offices will work with local partners and central Government to provide challenge, broker appropriate action, and monitor improvement. This may range from additional support from the local government sector, to consultancy support, inspection, or ultimately formal intervention action.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she plans to publish a summary of the responses to the consultation on Changing Council Governance Arrangements. (275544)

As we indicated in our consultation document on Changing Council Governance Arrangements, we will produce a summary of responses within three months of the close of the consultation— 13 March 2009. This will be published on the Department’s website.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate her Department has made of the average (a) business rate bill and (b) aggregate business rate revenue at (i) the end of transitional relief period in 2009-10 and (ii) the point at which the 5 per cent. rise in the multiplier will be applied in 2009-10. (274750)

No information is held centrally on individual businesses' bills; therefore the average change in business rates bills cannot be calculated.

The reduction in rate yield due to full rate increases being deferred for 2008-09 was £106 million. The net change in yield as a result of transitional relief in 2008-09 was £69.4 million. Data for 2009-10 are not yet available.

In 2009-10 businesses will be able to defer a proportion of their business rates bill increase. Following is a link to an announcement of the Government's plans for deferral, which includes an estimate of the cost of the proposal:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/localgovernment/1191049

This estimate will be updated in the impact assessment that will be undertaken and published as part of the process of making the necessary secondary legislation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many hereditaments in each Government office region have a rateable value of less than £10,000. (274752)

The numbers of hereditaments with a rateable value of less than £10,000, by Government office region, are shown in the following table.

The data are as at 31 March 2009 and are from the Valuation Office Agency.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the gross cost before the application of downward phasing was of providing transitional relief in respect of business rate revaluation in England in each year from 2005-06. (274753)

The reduction in rate yield on the local list due to full rate increases being deferred for each year from 2005-06 is shown in the table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make it her policy to (a) undertake and (b) publish a (i) small firms and (ii) privacy impact assessment in respect of the 2010 business rate revaluation. (274909)

The 2010 business rates revaluation takes effect from 1 April 2010. We will publish a draft impact assessment alongside our proposals for transitional arrangements to phase in changes in rate bills as a result of the revaluation later in the summer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government by what date businesses must apply in order to be eligible for the deferral of 2009-10 business rate increases. (274910)

The Government are currently considering the further detail and administrative arrangements for the business rates deferral scheme, working collaboratively with the local government sector and business to ensure ease of implementation.

The regulations authorising the scheme are planned to come into effect this summer and will set out in detail the application process and timetable. Businesses will be contacted by their billing authority and invited to apply for the scheme shortly after the regulations come into effect.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) of 5 June 2008, Official Report, columns 1067-68W, on non-domestic rates, what estimate her Department has made of the maximum revenue that would be raised in England from supplementary business rates based on (a) 2009 rateable values and (b) 2010 rateable values post-revaluation calculated on the same basis as the estimates provided for maximum revenue based on 2007 rateable values in Table 3.4 of Business Rate Supplements: A White Paper. (274935)

The Department has not made any further calculations of possible future revenues from supplementary business rates beyond those based on 2007 rateable values and published in Table 3.4 of Business Rate Supplements: A White Paper.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will end the target rent scheme in 2009-10. (275838)

No. Future rents policy is tied in with work currently being undertaken as part of the Review of Council Housing Finance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the most recent edition of the Valuation Office Agency's zoning of shops valuation handbook. (274911)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 8 January 2008, Official Report, column 510W.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many items from the Government Art Collection are in (a) departmental offices, (b) ministerial residences, (c) offices of non-departmental public bodies, (d) public galleries, (e) embassies overseas, (f) storage and (g) elsewhere. (271210)

[holding answer 27 April 2009]: The Government Art Collection comprises some 13,700 works of art. Its main purpose is to promote Britain by the acquisition and display of works of art (mostly by British artists) in the representational areas of major British Government buildings in the UK and abroad, where they are seen by thousands of visitors every year. At any one time some 70 per cent. of the collection is out on display, and the figures given here change on a daily basis.

The latest figures available are:

(a) 2,043 Government Art Collection (GAC) works of art in departmental offices.

(b) 560 in ministerial residences (including the whole of 10 and 11 Downing Street).

(c) 187 in offices of non-departmental public bodies and similar.

(d) 69 on loan to public galleries (including loans to temporary exhibitions).

(e) 5,404 in embassies overseas.

(f) 4,535 currently at the GAC's premises and available for selection and display; 470 of these were earmarked for specific locations (i.e. selected and awaiting installation). Of the rest, three were in commercial storage and 23 were being conserved and/or reframed.

(g) 912 displayed elsewhere (i.e. to organisations which do not fall into the categories a-f, such as in London: Lancaster House, Marlborough House and the Somerset House Trust; and abroad: the Offices of the Council of Europe in Paris and the European Commission Offices in Brussels).

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the performing arts on age discrimination in respect of performers in theatre, film, radio and television; and if he will make a statement. (274810)

I have had no recent discussions of this nature. DCMS is committed to promoting equality of opportunity and we encourage our sectors to make the most of the full range of talent available to them.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what his policy is on the use of web-based e-mail accounts on computers in 10 Downing Street. (275112)

The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of Cabinet Office and therefore follows its guidelines and policies in the use of ICT. The policy for the current Cabinet Office systems does not allow for any web- based e-mail accounts. Web-based e-mail accounts are permitted on a new pilot system, due to the increased security measures we are able to apply. If the system is rolled out, the Cabinet Office will reconsider its policy on web-based e-mails.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what budget has been allocated to the generation of outputs from the 2011 Census. (274196)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated May 2009:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what budget has been allocated to the generation of outputs from the 2011 Census. (274196)

The purpose of conducting a Census is to generate statistics and over the period 2005-2016 the budget for the Census as a whole is £482 million. Provision of £450 million for the cost of the Census has been made up to the period 2011-12. Of this £450 million, £7.5 million has been allocated to the early development of Census outputs. Provision for later years from 2012/13 will be subject to future spending reviews and will cover the final stages of data and output processing, preparing, publishing and disseminating outputs, and a number of subsequent output services and releases. This is set out in paragraphs 1.28 and 1.29 of the 2011 Census White Paper ‘Helping to shape tomorrow’ which was published in December 2008. A copy was placed in the House of Commons library and is also available on the website at

http://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011-census/2011-census-project/legislation/index.html

Final decisions have not yet been made about how the statistics are disseminated. We are at present conducting consultation with census users on their requirements for types of statistics and area levels and the ways in which they will be made available.