§ Mr. HayesTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what the names and functions are of the organisations and agencies within his Office that relate to housing and planning; what budget is allocated to each; how the efficiency of the different organisations and agencies within his Office that relate to housing and planning is evaluated; and what the efficiency rating is of each such organisation and agency; [166339]
647W(2) what mergers of organisations and agencies there have been since 1997 within his Office that relate to housing and planning; what evaluation has been made of the effectiveness of such mergers; and what the results were; [166340]
(3) how many staff were employed in 1997 in organisations and agencies relate to housing and planning; and how many staff are employed now in organisations and agencies within his Office that relate to housing and planning. [166341]
§ Keith HillAn organisational chart showing the current structure and complements of the directorates dealing with housing, planning and related issues in the Sustainable Communities Delivery Unit within the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has been made available in the Library of the House.
The allocation for the Housing Directorate's administration expenditure for 2001–05 is £7.216 million. The allocation for Planning is £6.774 million.
There have been separate housing and planning directorates throughout the period since 1997, although the directorates work very closely together within the Sustainable Communities Delivery Unit.
The efficiency of these directorates is measured by the progress made against the public service agreement targets for which they are chiefly responsible. This is reported in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's annual report.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was established on 29 May 2002. Information prior to this date is not available. On 1 April 2004, there were 281.14 full time equivalent staff working in the housing and planning directorates.
§ Mr. HayesTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many PFI projects have been undertaken within the remit of the housing and planning section of his Office since private finance initiative projects were introduced. [166342]
§ Keith HillSince the introduction of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects, the Office of the Deputy prime Minister has undertaken 28 Housing PFI projects of which nine are signed, and a further 19 are in procurement.
Under the Planning section, the Office has not undertaken any PFI projects to date.
§ Mr. HayesTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what functions the EU requires his Office to undertake with regard to housing and planning. [166343]
§ Keith HillHousing and planning are not areas for which the EU has competence. However, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Planning Directorate has policy responsibility for the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive and the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive.