Former Labour MP for Norwich South
The hon. Gentleman has said that he will use his powers to block the proposal in whatever way he can. Does he accept that in so doing, he will be explicitly going against the positions of the Liberal Democrat candidate in Norwich, South and the leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Norwich city council?
I am delighted that this debate is taking place. First of all, and following the remarks of the Chair of the Select Committee, it is important to say that it directly affects the constituents of just three constituencies-my constituency of Norwich, South, and the constituencies of Norwich, North and of Exeter. There may be indirect effects on other constituencies, and the hon. Member for...
For three reasons. First, as I said, it will be a new council-that is important-all-out elected in 2011, with new chief officers and a new situation. Secondly, I believe that there will be genuine economies in various areas as a result of a unitary authority with services working together. Thirdly, the performance of the city council over recent years has been improving significantly from a...
I am glad the hon. Gentleman has made that clear. I thought that with great subtlety he had ducked the point and not carried it through. I thought there had been a shift of policy, so I am glad he has clarified that. The reason for unitary local government is that it is much more efficient than two-tier government. It is far more effectively co-ordinated and coherent. The value for money that...
I beg your pardon. The Tory county council has decided to ask the director of planning, Mike Jackson, to take the decisions because it wants to run away from the responsibilities. It is extraordinary. My final point is that Norwich is already among the top five shopping centres in the country, and we want to achieve even better shopping centres, so the decision is taken-recommended by that...
I put a simple challenge to the Opposition parties. Let us add up the votes cast on general election day for the candidates in Norwich, South and Norwich, North, according to their attitude on unitary status. I predict we will find that the overwhelming majority of votes have been cast for candidates who support unitary status in Norwich. I hope that will be honoured. That is a central point...
The hon. Gentleman talks about attitudes to this issue and the idea of having a convention, so does he concede that the leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Norwich city council, Councillor Brian Watkins, and his colleagues, and my Lib Dem political opponent at the general election, Simon Wright-this is the 24th Lib Dem target seat in the country-both strongly support the unitary option...
Can my right hon. Friend confirm that, in the city of Norwich at the moment, public workers work either for the county or for the city, so there are two separate human resources functions, two separate finance functions and two separate PR functions? People in planning are working entirely in parallel, and social services and social care overlap in a wide variety of ways. Despite the merit of...
The Government have put into place policies in the areas of crime reduction, antisocial behaviour, policing and active communities that are yielding considerable benefits for the constituency. Between March 1997 and March 2005 the number of police officers in the Metropolitan Police area increased by 4,396 from 26,677 to 31,073. The Government's introduction of community support officers...
The Government have put into place policies in the areas of crime reduction, antisocial behaviour, policing and active communities that are yielding considerable benefits for the constituency. Between March 1997 and March 2005 the number of police officers in the Lancashire Police area increased by 339 from 3,247 to 3,586. The Government's introduction of Community Support Officers (CSOs) in...
Costs for refreshments and working lunches are combined and the total since 1997 is provided in the following table. Refreshments and working lunches are offered as courtesy to visitors or to facilitate the efficient management of meetings. The rise in expenditure reflects an increase in training courses and implementation of new policies and systems. Overall expenditure for 1998 was...
The Home Office is committed to achieving the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate energy targets; namely to reduce absolute carbon, from fuel and electricity used in buildings on our estate, by 12.5 per cent. by 2010–11, relative to 1999–2000 and to increase the energy efficiency of the buildings on our estate, measured in terms of kWh of fuel and electricity...
The Home Office expects to let all its contracts in accordance with ethical principles and would consider any case where evidence to the contrary was presented. There is published internal guidance on principles of ethical behaviour in procurement, which all staff engaged in tendering for services and other contracts must follow. Under EU procurement rules there is scope to incorporate...
The total number of cars owned or leased by the Department as at the end of February 2006 was: Total owned Total leased Diesel 384 39 Petrol 2 4 MPG range 22–59 8–54.30 Full details of make, model and fuel efficiency are shown in the following table. Table A: Cars owned by the Department Make Model Fuel type Combined imperial MPG Audi A4 Avant...
We do not have the information requested. However some information on illegal income among arrested drug users in a sample of 16 custody suites is provided in research published by the Home Office in 2004 from the New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Programme (NEW ADAM). The report of the survey is available on the Home Office website...
The Home Office has since 2003 undertaken regular equal pay audits of its pay systems. These audits are undertaken on an annual basis following the implementation of pay awards. In addition, a more comprehensive equality proofing exercise of reward policies and practices are undertaken every three years. The findings of the equal pay audits and equality proofing exercises are shared with...
