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District Housing Authorities
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on his Department's support for smaller district housing authorities, with specific reference to the selling up of arm's-length companies. [8531]
Ms Keeble: It is open to any authority, large or small, to seek a share of the additional resources announced in the Spending Review 2000 for authorities which establish arm's length housing management and demonstrate high standards. We have published detailed guidance which is available on the Department's website, and my officials will be happy to supplement this as necessary.
Abandoned Vehicles
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when his Department's investigation into the problem of dumped vehicles will report. [8560]
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Mr. Jamieson: My right hon. Friend expects to make an announcement by 31 October.
Council Tax
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on his policy of a re-banding exercise for council tax. [8587]
Dr. Whitehead: We have announced our intention to conduct a council tax revaluation in England. Properties will be placed into updated valuation bands according to their values on 1 April 2005, and changes will first impact on council tax bills in 2007. Revaluation should not, of course, lead to any overall increase or decrease in the council tax yield. Decisions on the band thresholds will be taken closer to the time of revaluation, when we will know more about the distribution of property values across England.
Transport Commissioners
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will investigate the role of the Transport Commissioners and their ability to impose particular conditions in the operation of the rural transport grant. [8530]
Ms Keeble: Rural bus services supported by grants from my Department are provided by operators under contracts to local authorities who specify and enforce the terms of the contract. There is no specific role for the Traffic Commissioners on such services. However, all local bus services must register route and timetable with the Traffic Commissioner who can take disciplinary action if the service is not run reliably according to those details. Traffic Commissioners, at the request of the local authority, can also impose conditions on bus operators on the grounds of reducing danger to road users, congestion or pollution.
Unitary Local Authorities
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the Government's proposals regarding unitary local authorities. [8488]
Dr. Whitehead: We have no plans for moving now to more unitary local authorities. As previously announced by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister, we intend to publish a Regional Governance White Paper, and this will set out how we plan to take forward our Manifesto commitment that
- "provision should be made for directly elected regional government to go ahead in regions where people decided in a referendum to support it and where predominantly unitary local government is established".
Public Interest Trusts
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he last met representatives of the Institute of Public Policy Research to discuss (a) Project Ariel and (b) public interest trusts. [8189]
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Mr. Jamieson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions has had no such meetings.
Birchwood Park, Warrington
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he expects the Highways Agency to lift its holding directive in order to allow Warrington borough council to determine the planning application for the re-development of Birchwood Park. [8203]
Mr. Jamieson: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Tim Matthews, to write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Ginny Clarke to Helen Jones, dated 18 October 2001:
- The Roads Minister, David Jamieson, has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Holding Direction issued to Warrington Borough Council by the Highways Agency on 27 June this year, in respect of the Birchwood Park Outline Planning Application.
- The Minister's letter of 11 October in reply to yours of 18 September (copies enclosed), explained why the Direction was issued and the prerequisites for the Direction to be lifted. Since then we have now presented the independent study document to the Developer and his consultants. We hope it will form a basis for us, the local Highway Authority and the Developer to discuss the likely impact of the development on the surrounding highway network, and to determine the necessary measures to cater for that impact.
- We do not wish to delay this proposal, but we must ensure that its traffic implications are properly assessed. Progress towards lifting the Direction is dependent on the Developer's consultant presenting suitable measures to provide for the impact on the trunk road and motorway network.
- I am sorry that I cannot, at the moment, say when the Holding Direction will be lifted. If you would like any further information about this scheme, you may wish to contact the Agency's Development Control Officer for this particular application, Tony McVay, Room 710, Sunley Tower, Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester, M1 4BE (telephone 0161 930 5764).
Wind Turbines
Mr. Pickthall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will take action to limit construction of wind turbines in upland areas close to national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty. [4696]
Ms Keeble: Planning policy guidance for renewable energy projects is set out in Planning Policy Guidance note (PPG) 22: Renewable Energy. This gives guidance to local planning authorities on the siting of renewable energy projects.
We have no proposals to bring in specific planning controls, beyond those of normal development control, to protect the visual amenity of views looking out from National Parks and Areas Of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
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The guiding principle in countryside planning policies is that development should both benefit economic activity and maintain or enhance the environment. The key aim is to get the right amount of development of the right quality in the right places.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Special Constables (Thames Valley)
Mr. Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables there were in the Thames Valley Police Force in (a) 1996, (b) 1997, (c) 1998, (d) 1999 and (e) 2000. [5758]
Mr. Denham: The number of serving special constables in Thames Valley Police force from 30 September 1996 to 30 September 2000 are set out in the table:
| Year | Numbers |
|---|---|
| 1996 | 731 |
| 1997 | 694 |
| 1998 | 587 |
| 1999 | 514 |
| 2000 | 463 |
Statistics provided by Research, Development and Statistics department.
The Government are committed to increasing the special constabulary and we are looking at radical improvements in their management, welfare and deployment as part of the police reform process.
Drugs
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the proportion of people under 25 reporting use of illegal drugs (a) in the last month and (b) in the last 12 months in each year since 1997. [5884]
Mr. Denham: The British Crime Survey provides data on the levels of self-reported drug use among a representative sample of the general population in England and Wales. The survey of smoking, drinking and drug use among school children provides equivalent data for those aged 11 to 15 years.
Table 1 provides the relevant data for 1998 and 2000 for those aged 16 to 24 years. Table 2 provides the equivalent data for 11 to 15-year-olds.
| Last year | Last month | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 29 | 19 |
| 2000 | 29 | 18 |
Bases:
1998 = 1,296; 2000 = 1,517
Source:
Drug Misuse Declared in 2000; results from the British Crime Survey, Home Office Research Study 224
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| Last year | Last month | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 11 | 7 |
| 1999 | 12 | 7 |
| 2000 | 14 | 9 |
Bases:
1998 = 4,647; 1999 = 9,053; 2000 = 6,855
Source:
Department of Health Statistical Press Notice, July 2001. Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2000
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of people under 25 who were using heroin in 1998, and in each subsequent year to date. [5760]
Mr. Denham: The British Crime Survey provides data on the levels of self-reported drug use among a representative sample of the general population in England and Wales. The table provides data for 1998 and 2000 on the proportion of 16 to 24-year-olds who have used heroin and the estimated number of 16 to 24-year-olds who have used heroin. Further information on population estimates and how these have been calculated is available in Chapter 5 of the main report (referenced in the table).
Estimated numbers for the younger age group (11 to 15-year-olds) are not available.
| 1998 | 2000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Proportion using heroin in the last year | 0.30 | 0.80 |
| Estimated numbers | 17,000 | 46,000 |
| Proportion using heroin in the last month | 0.27 | 0.32 |
| Estimated numbers | 15,000 | 18,000 |
Bases:
1998 = 1,296; 2,000 = 1,517
Source:
Drug Misuse Declared in 2000; results from the British Crime Survey, Home Office Research Study 224
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