§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many parish clerks are employed in England. [80628]
§ Mr. LeslieThe information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance he has issued on the training of parish clerks. [80629]
§ Mr. LeslieWe have not issued any guidance on the training of parish clerks, although the National Training Strategy has introduced a training package for parish clerks, prepared by the Countryside Agency and NALC. The Government strongly support this initiative and are contributing £2 million over three years.
§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the remuneration of parish clerks. [80630]
§ Mr. LeslieWe have not made any assessment of the remuneration of parish clerks.
§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of change in nature of the work of parish clerks. [80631]
§ Mr. LeslieWe recognise the implications that the new measures to strengthen the parish tier of local 89W government have for parish clerks. The new Training Strategy which has been prepared by the Countryside Agency and NALC, to which the Government is contributing £2 million over three years, reflects the current role of clerks.
§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the parish clerk workforce in terms of(a) age, (b) gender and (c) ethnicity. [80635]
§ Mr. LeslieThe Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not made any assessment of the parish clerk workforce recently. However, research undertaken in 1991 for the then Department of Environment sampled 1,000 parish councils in England. The research found that 59 per cent. of all clerks were female and employed part-time. However, this proportion decreases with the increase in the size of the council. The research found that in councils for parishes with a population of over 10,000 only 25 per cent. were female.
Income from parking for the London authorities £000 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 City of London 10,948 11,082 12,702 12,815 12,213 Inner London boroughs Camden 16,975 18,647 21,286 24,535 25,742 Greenwich 3,029 4,706 5,570 4,797 5,066 Hackney 3,643 4,790 3,473 4,617 4,946 Hammersmith and Fulham 9,313 11,043 13,194 14,633 21,815 Islington 4,170 4,584 5,793 5,812 7,234 Kensington and Chelsea 22,756 24,820 25,946 30,434 30,836 Lambeth 2,676 2,983 5,476 10,663 9,817 Lewisham 1,145 1,149 1,338 1,616 2,563 Southwark 2,801 3,815 4,749 6,209 6,303 Tower Hamlets 3,708 6,455 7,469 11,847 9,825 Wandsworth 4,900 5,452 6,160 8,731 11,938 Westminster 91,572 101,919 76,794 88,020 89,397 Total inner London boroughs 166,688 190,363 177,248 211,914 225,482 Outer London boroughs Barking and Degenham 863 932 935 1,010 990 Barnet 2,528 2,421 3,060 3,893 3,815 Bexley 2,293 2,541 2,618 2,721 2,874 Brent 2,515 3,658 4,052 5,269 5,859 Bromley 4,554 5,026 5,404 5,945 6,074 Croydon 9,053 9,883 10,148 13,297 14,115 Ealing 2,552 3,042 3,120 4,268 5,619 Enfield 3,468 3,606 3,777 3,682 4,666 Haringey 2,039 2,679 4,129 4,228 5,438 Harrow 2,481 3,104 3,408 4,363 5,051 Havering 3,207 3,535 3,478 3,729 3,687 Hillingdon 2,530 2,676 3,192 3,504 4,442 Hounslow 2,621 2,879 3,339 3,407 4,676 Kingston upon Thames 4,450 4,398 4,775 5,295 6,193 Merton 1,900 2,258 2,365 2,714 3,104 Newham 1,934 2,168 2,542 3,093 3,930 Redbridge 2,147 1,852 2,312 2,857 3,346 Richmond upon Thames 5,039 5,963 5,561 6,330 7,076 Sutton 2,877 3,102 3,484 3,746 3,865 Waltham Forest 2,573 2,908 3,173 3,677 3,975 Total outer London boroughs 61,624 68,631 74,872 87,028 98,795 Total London 239,260 270,076 264,822 311,757 336,490 Source:
Revenue Summary Returns.
90W
§ Dr. MurrisonTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the workload of parish clerks. [80636]
§ Mr. LeslieWe have not made any assessment of the current workload of parish clerks generally, although in our consultation document "Quality Town and Parish Councils", published on 7 November 2001, we proposed a basis for assessing their competence.