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143W
Written Answers
26 OCTOBER 2009
Written Answers
144W
Attached are two tables providing the audit and inspection fees
the Audit Commission has charged to each principal local authority
in England in each of the last three years (2006/07, 2007/08 and
2008/09).
The lists of bodies are different as not all local authorities (as
defined by section 270 of the Local Government Act 1972) are
subject to the Audit Commission’s inspection powers.
Audit fees (Table 1)—tables available in the Library of the House.
The audit fees provided exclude some 9,500 parish and town
councils. The vast majority of these have income or expenditure
below £1 million and are subject to the limited assurance audit
approach set out in Schedule 1 to the statutory Code of Audit
Practice. They have fixed audit fees based on the income or
expenditure and we have excluded the fees as it would take a
disproportionate amount of time to collate the information requested.
The final audit fees for:
the audit of the 2008/09 accounts; and
nine 2007/08 audits, which have yet to be certified as completed
(marked by *);
have not yet been determined by the Commission (as required
by section 7 of the Audit Commission Act 1998) as not all
audits have been completed. We expect the fees to be determined
early in 2010.
Inspection fees (Table 2)
The inspection fees provided relate to the Comprehensive
Performance Assessment (CPA) system. Comprehensive Area
Assessment (CAA) was introduced from 1 April 2009; and with
the introduction of CAA, the Commission’s income from inspection
fees has reduced significantly. Comparing the final full year of
CPA (2007/08) with the first year of CAA (2009/10), inspection
fee income from local authorities has reduced from £11.6 million
to £6.7 million.
A copy of this letter has been placed in Hansard.
Local Government Services
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State
for Communities and Local Government what his
Department’s policy on the Total Place initiative is;
and how many councils he expects to participate in
pilot schemes under the initiative. [294880]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Total Place is an ambitious
initiative that will consider how a ‘whole area’ approach
to public services can lead to better services at less cost
through 13 pilot areas covering 63 councils from across
England.
This work forms part of the Operational Efficiency
programme (OEP) strand led by Sir Michael Bichard
which seeks to create the environment where collaboration
and innovation on the frontline leads to reduced costs
and new ways of working.
Each of the pilots have picked at least one particular
theme to explore in detail how delivery partners in the
pilot area will work together, to identify innovative
ways to deliver better, customer-led services for less. It
will help them to bring together the evidence on the
needs of their customers, and on what is being spent, by
which agencies, and on what services, to address those
needs.
Local Government Services: Religion
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for
Communities and Local Government whether his
Department has issued any recent guidance to local
authorities on (a) religious segregation in municipal
facilities and (b) compulsory dress codes in swimming
pools. [292698]
Mr. Malik: The Department has issued neither type
of guidance.
Local Government: Elections
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for
Communities and Local Government whether his
Department has performed an impact assessment in
relation to the proposals contained in its consultation
paper on Changing council government arrangements:
for mayors and indirectly elected leaders. [294512]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The focus of the Changing
Council Governance Arrangements consultation were
proposals set out in the white paper, “Communities in
Control: Real People, Real Power.”An impact assessment
for those proposals was published on the Department’s
website on 9 July 2008 and can be found at:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/
communitiesincontrol6
Local Government: Pensions
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for
Communities and Local Government what consideration
he has given to addressing a deficit in the Local Government
Pension Scheme through (a) raising the retirement age
and (b) increasing employee contributions. [294566]
Barbara Follett: The Local Government Pension Scheme
is regularly reviewed to ensure it remains affordable,
viable and fair to taxpayers. A new-look scheme became
fully operational on 1 April 2008.
Its arrangements are being monitored and the next
actuarial valuation exercise, as at 31 March 2010, will
further assist in the scheme’s stewardship.
Local Government: Publicity
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for
Communities and Local Government what assessment
he has made of the effects of the changes made to the
Code of Conduct on Local Authority Publicity in 2001
on the content, publication and distribution of local
authority unsolicited newspapers. [294514]
Ms Rosie Winterton: The Department has made no
assessment of the effect of the changes made in 2001 to
the code of recommended practice on local authority
publicity. However our consultation on the code earlier
this year invited views on how the code might be revised
and we shall be publishing our response to the over 300
comments we received before the end of the year.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for
Communities and Local Government (1) if he will
amend the Code of Conduct on Local Authority Publicity
to prevent local authorities publishing newspapers which
directly compete with commercial local newspapers by
incorporating similar content; [294522]
(2) what progress has been made in the revision of
the Code of Recommended Practice on Local
Authority Publicity. [294597]
Ms Rosie Winterton: Later this year we will be publishing
our response to the over 300 representations we received
on our consultation earlier this year about possible