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19 Mar 2008 : Column 1207W—continued
INTERREG Programme
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the consultation documents produced by her Department as part of the Interreg IVA 2 Seas Operational Programme. [193812]
John Healey: I have placed a copy of the consultation letter and draft operational programme on which it invited comments in the Library of the House.
Licensed Premises: Planning
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what changes have been made to the planning regime affecting premises licensed to sell alcohol since May 1997. [194816]
Mr. Iain Wright: The Government have made significant changes to the planning system since May 1997. Of particular relevance to premises licensed to sell alcohol are the changes which the Government have made to the Use Classes Order and the Government’s planning policy for town centre development.
Changes to the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 came into force on 21 April 2005, as set out in Circular 03/2005. This amended Order disaggregated the former A3: Food and Drink use Class into three separate use classes to give local planning authorities more influence over the number, size, range and distribution of premises licensed to sell alcohol in their areas. The new A4: “Drinking Establishments” class caters specifically for pubs and bars i.e. places where the primary purpose is the sale and consumption of alcoholic drink on the premises.
The Government’s key planning policy, which applies to premises licensed to sell alcohol, is Planning Policy Statement 6: “Planning for Town Centres” (PPS6), published in 2005, which replaces Planning Policy Guidance Note 6 (DoE, 1996). PPS6 applies to a broad range of uses, including bars, pubs, night-clubs and other leisure uses. It contains specific policy on how to manage evening and night-time economy uses. It should be taken into account by planning authorities in the preparation of local planning policies and in the consideration of planning applications.
PPS6 should be read alongside other relevant statements of national planning policy which have been published since 1997, in particular “Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development”, which is the Government’s overarching planning policy and which includes policy on design and crime prevention, and “Planning Policy Guidance Note 13: Transport” which includes guidance on how local planning authorities should manage travel demand.
Lichfield District Council: Council Tax
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the ratio of central Government funding council tax revenue for Lichfield district council was in each of the last eight years. [193728]
John Healey: The ratios between central Government funding and council tax requirement for Lichfield district council are shown in the following table.
| Central Government funding (£000) | Council tax requirement (£000) | Ratio | |
| Source: Communities and Local Government Revenue Outturn (RO) returns | |||
Local authority council tax requirement is the council tax available to finance revenue expenditure, not council tax collected.
Central Government funding is defined here as the sum of Formula grant (Revenue Support Grant and redistributed non-domestic rates) and Specific grants inside Aggregate External Finance (AEF), i.e. revenue grants paid for council's core services.
Figures exclude grants outside AEF (i.e. where funding is not for authorities' core services, but is passed to a third party, for example, rent allowances and rebates), capital grants, funding for the local authorities' housing management responsibilities and those grant programmes (such as European funding) where authorities are simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area.
Comparisons across years may not be valid owing to changing local authority responsibilities.
Local Authorities: Contract Compliance
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department and its predecessors have issued to local authorities on (a) misfeasance, (b) nonfeasance and (c) malfeasance in the last five years. [193996]
John Healey: No guidance has been issued on these matters in the last five years.
Local Government Finance: Landfill Tax
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether payments will be made to local authorities over each of the next three years in relation to the costs of the landfill tax. [193780]
John Healey:
The Government worked closely with local authorities to identify the cost pressures on local authorities resulting from their waste management responsibilities over the next three financial years, including the pressure created by the increase in the
landfill tax escalator announced in Budget 2007, in the context of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007. These were taken into account in the Formula Grant settlement for 2008-09 to 2010-11. This funding is not hypothecated to a particular service or in respect to a particular cost.
Local Government Finance: Newcastle-under-Lyme
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government at what level within her Department the misallocation of Local Authority Business Growth Incentive funds to Newcastle-under-Lyme was authorised. [194592]
John Healey: Payments under the Local Authority Business Growth Incentives scheme (LABGI) are made by means of a grant determination under section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003. Each grant determination is made by a Minister and signed on his or her behalf by a senior civil servant.
Local Government: Pay
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average change in local government employee wages was in each year since 1996-97; and what the cost of the local government wage bill was in each of those years. [193782]
John Healey: Information on local government wages is not held centrally. Information on local government pay is published in “Local Government Finance Statistics”, at:
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what role her Department has in relation to the national pay review of local authority officers. [194821]
John Healey: National pay agreements are negotiated in the National Joint Council between trade unions and the local government employers. I am not aware of any national pay review of local authority officers.
London Thames Gateway Development Corporation: Public Appointments
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what role her Department has played in the appointment of individuals to the planning committee of the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation. [193681]
Caroline Flint: The London Thames Gateway Development Corporation Planning Committee currently consists of nine members. Seven of these members are members of the Corporation Board. They were appointed to the Planning Committee by the chairman of the Corporation.
Two members of the Planning Committee are co-opted and are not members of the Corporation Board. They were also appointed by the chairman of the board with the consent of the Secretary of state, following advertising the positions, shortlisting and interviews. The Department
approved the design of the appointment process. The process itself, including the shortlisting and interviews, was run by the Corporation.
London Thames Gateway Development Corporation: Public Participation
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what role (a) her Department or its predecessor, (b) her Department's agencies and (c) the Government Office for London played in the appointment of Mr Alan Clark to the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation. [193784]
Caroline Flint: Mr Alan Clark was appointed to the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation Board by the chairman of the Corporation following an appointment process involving advertising the position, short listing and interview. The Secretary of State gave her consent to the appointment following this process. The process was approved by the department and run by the Corporation itself.
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