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3 Apr 2008 : Column 1274W—continued
Railways: Accidents
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) railway and (b) aircraft accidents were attended by fire and rescue services in each fire authority area in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [198062]
Mr. Dhanda: The requested information has been deposited in the Library of the House.
Regional Government: Ministers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Taunton of 10 March 2008, Official Report, column 65W, on regional government: Ministers, what the (a) date and (b) purpose was of each visit listed. [197526]
Mr. Dhanda: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) on 11 March 2008, Official Report, column 236W. Providing further details of meetings would incur disproportionate costs.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what criteria each regional Minister uses to decide whether to visit areas in their region. [196647]
Mr. Dhanda: In addition to the normal criteria applied to ministerial invitations, Regional Ministers also consider how each invitation relates to their role as outlined in the “Governance of Britain Green Paper” to be a visible presence in, and provide a clear strategic direction for, the region by:
representing their region’s interests in the formulation of central Government policy relevant to economic growth and sustainable development in areas that have not been devolved to the RDAs;
facilitating a joined up approach across government to enable the effective delivery of the single regional strategy; and
championing the region via high profile projects and high level events.
Regional Planning and Development
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the process is for (a) the Secretary of State and (b) the relevant Government office for the region to approve each local development framework. [194262]
Mr. Iain Wright: The provisions for approving each development plan document in the framework are set out in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (2004) and the accompanying Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) Regulations (2004). Each local authority is required to submit to the Secretary of State the development plan document they propose to adopt, which is then subject to an independent examination by a Planning Inspector, appointed by the Secretary of State. There will be a hearing into the ‘soundness’ of the plan, where any person who has requested to be heard may appear before the Inspector. The Inspector must consider all representations received on the plan, and will then issue a report, the recommendations of which are binding on the local authority. If the Inspector recommends the plan is sound, it must then be adopted by the local authority.
Roads: Accidents
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many road accidents the Fire and Rescue Service attended in each fire authority area in each year since 1994; and how many people were rescued by the Fire Service from their vehicles in each year. [197958]
Mr. Dhanda: Available information, for the period 1995 to 2006, has been deposited in the Library of the House.
This information includes the number of incidents where people were extricated from vehicles. Information on the number of people rescued from these incidences is not held centrally.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many road accidents involving the rescue of a person or persons were carried out in each fire authority area in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [198063]
Mr. Dhanda: The requested information has been deposited in the Library of the House.
Slavery: Anniversaries
Harry Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 7 November 2006, Official Report, column 1007W, to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside, on the slave trade, what funding was allocated to (a) local authorities and (b) local
communities or organisations to provide for the commemoration of the abolition of the Slave Trade Act; and if she will make a statement. [198114]
Mr. Dhanda: Throughout 2007 the Government worked closely with stakeholders from local authorities, the media, faith groups and the voluntary and community sectors to galvanise activity to mark the 2007 Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act. The Government’s approach was not to direct, organise or control commemorations, but to encourage and empower grassroots organisations, local authorities, faith groups and national organisations to mark the bicentenary in a way that was appropriate to their communities.
Heritage Lottery Fund provided funding to support heritage and commemorative projects. In total Heritage Lottery Fund awarded over £15 million to more than 180 projects across the country related to the bicentenary and the slave trade. The funding was provided to a range of organisations including local authorities, community organisations, voluntary groups and cultural bodies. Many of the awards were to Black Voluntary and Community Sector groups. Information on the precise breakdown of the Heritage Lottery funding awarded to local authorities and community organisations is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The Department for Communities and Local Government also provided funding to support bicentenary-related projects under its Connecting Communities Plus Grants Programme. This funding was exclusively for community organisations—overall 41 organisations received a total of £364,825.92 for bicentenary-related projects.
The Government want to ensure that we continue to mark this important part of our history, therefore their announced on 13 December 2007 that they will, in future, adopt the 23 August—the UNESCO day for the International Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition—as the focal date for national commemorations. Community groups will be able to apply to the Heritage Lottery Fund for support for heritage projects linked to commemoration and will also be able to apply to the Big Lottery Fund and Arts Council England.
Supporting People Programme: Essex
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been paid to local authorities in Essex under her Department’s Supporting People budget; and what proportion of this was spent on people with learning disabilities in each of the last four years. [197639]
Mr. Iain Wright:
The Supporting People programme is administered at the local level by the relevant administering authority. It is for the authority to decide which services to fund, informed by the local needs and priorities identified in their five year Supporting People Strategies. The following table sets out the amount allocated to Essex county council and the proportion of each year’s allocation that funded Supporting People services for people with a learning disability (as reported to the Department by the authority). It will not identify all funding spent on people with a learning disability who access Supporting People services: some
may have a different service classification (for example, people with a learning disability may access support from Supporting People services that help them move on from domestic violence or homelessness).
| Essex county council total supporting people allocation (£) | Proportion of each year’s allocation reported as spent on services for people with a learning disability (Percentage) | |
Information for 2007-08 is not yet available.
Supporting People Programme: Gloucestershire
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much has been paid to local authorities in Gloucestershire under her Department's Supporting People budget for each of the last three years. [198070]
Mr. Iain Wright: Supporting People funding is paid to upper-tier local authorities. In the county of Gloucestershire, this includes Gloucestershire county council and South Gloucestershire council. Authorities receive two separate funding streams related to Supporting People—the Supporting People Programme Grant and the Supporting People Administration Grant, which is paid towards an authority's costs in administering the programme. Details of the relevant allocations for the last three years are set out in the following tables.
| Gloucestershire county council | ||
| £ | ||
| Supporting People — Programme Grant allocation | Supporting People— Administration Grant allocation | |
| South Gloucestershire council | ||
| £ | ||
| Supporting People—Programme Grant allocation | Supporting People—Administration Grant allocation | |
Supporting People Programme: Leicestershire
Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding her Department has allocated to Leicestershire County Council for the Supporting People programme in each of the last three financial years. [198084]
Mr. Iain Wright:
Authorities receive two separate funding streams related to Supporting People—the Supporting People Programme Grant and the Supporting
People Administration Grant, which is paid towards an authority's costs in administering the programme. Details of the allocations for the last three years are set out in the following table:
| Leicestershire county council | ||
| £ | ||
| Supporting People Programme Grant allocation | Supporting People Administration Grant allocation | |
Tenants’ and Residents’ Association of England: Conferences
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding her Department provided for the Tenants’ and Residents’ Association of England’s conference in Liverpool on Saturday 15 March. [198086]
Mr. Iain Wright: TAROE received a grant of £25,000 from the Department's Tenant Empowerment programme for their second annual conference which was held in Liverpool on 15 March 2008.
Travelling People: Shipton-on-Stour
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what (a) representations her Department has received from and (b) discussions her Department has had with Stratford-on-Avon district council on the unauthorised development of a Traveller camp at Darlingscott, near Shipton-on-Stour in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement. [198670]
Mr. Iain Wright: I cannot comment on the merits of any planning application or enforcement action that might be taken by the local authority given the quasi-judicial role of the Secretary of State. No formal representations have been received by the Department on the camp at Darlingscott. Officials from Stratford-on-Avon district council have provided a brief update to officials in my Department on the action the council has taken, but it is for local authorities to decide whether to enforce against breaches of development control.
Waste Management: Gloucestershire
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions Gloucestershire County Council has had with her Department on its proposals for Javelin Park, off Junction 12 of the M5, to situate a major waste facility there. [198071]
Mr. Iain Wright:
Gloucestershire county council has recently resolved to acquire land at Javelin park. The council is preparing its waste core strategy and officials
at Government office for the south west have discussed the strategy with council officers. However, these discussions did not specifically cover any proposals for Javelin park
Wind Power: Planning Permission
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities have made objections to new or expanded wind farms during the formal planning process in the last 12 months. [197470]
Mr. Iain Wright: Records for objections made by local authorities on applications made under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and determined by local planning authorities are not held centrally. No authorities in England have objected to applications which have been called-in or recovered by the Secretary of State. The Planning Inspectorate do not hold this information in the form requested in relation to appeals.
In respect of applications in England made under s36 of the Electricity Act 1989, the following authorities have objected to applications:
Tynedale district council objected to the Steadings wind farm on 23 May 2007 (and again on 17 October 2007 following revisions to the proposal).
Tynedale district council objected to the Ray wind farm on 21 March 2007.
Norfolk county council objected to the proposed Lincolnshire Offshore Wind Farm on 28 March 2007.
Health
Abortion
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research has been (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated by his Department on the reasons for repeat abortions; and if he will make a statement. [197810]
Dawn Primarolo: No specific research has been commissioned or evaluated on the reasons for repeat abortions to date. The Department recently announced £26.8 million funding for 2008-09 to improve access to contraception, and some of this funding will be used to improve care pathways between abortion and contraceptive services to reduce repeat abortions.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions have been performed in each licensed abortion clinic since each was licensed. [197868]
Dawn Primarolo: Data on the place of termination has been withheld in order to protect individuals’ confidentiality. This is in line with the Office for National Statistics’ guidance on the disclosure of abortion statistics, 2005.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the abortion rates were among people aged under (a) 18 and (b) 16 years in each of the last five years, broken down by region. [198215]
Dawn Primarolo: The data are shown in the following tables.
| Abortion rates( 1) for women age under 16 and under 18 by region of residence, 2002-06 | ||||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | ||||
| Rate per 1,000 women | Rate per 1,000 women | Rate per 1,000 women | ||||
| Region (strategic health authority (SHA)) 2002-2005 | Under 16 | Under 18 | Under 16 | Under 18 | Under 16 | Under 18 |
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