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Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Answer

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 17 June 2004, Official Report, column 1031W, on meetings of the Home Buying and Selling Advisory Group, what the (a) remit, (b) planned work load for the next two years, (c) total budget for 2004-05, (d) cost to his Department for 2004-05, (e) staff cost for 2004-05 and (f) administration costs for 2004-05 are for (i) the Home Buying and Selling Forum and (ii) the Central Stakeholder Group; and if he will make a statement. [180286] Keith Hill: The Home Buying and Selling Forum is primarily a discussion group, which allows the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to update a wide range of stakeholders on the progress of home information packs and gain their views on the programme of work leading up to implementation. It is envisaged that this group will meet approximately every three months for two hours. The Central Stakeholder Group is a small group of key industry and consumer stakeholders who are tasked with advising the Programme Board and the Ministerial Task Group on the programme of work required for the successful implementation of home information packs. It is envisaged that this group will meet approximately every two months for two hours. Meetings of both groups are hosted by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister which take place in one of our buildings and the costs fall within our general administration and staff budget, there is no separate budget for these groups. We estimate that the total cost to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is approximately £1,000 per Home Buying and Selling Forum meeting and £720 per Central Stakeholder Group meeting, this includes staff and administration costs. This reorganisation of stakeholder involvement in the home buying and selling reform programme will help ensure that everything is in place for the smooth introduction of home information packs throughout England and Wales.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

180286; 423 c294W

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Administration Costs Housing Finance Staff Sales Home Buying and Selling Forum Home Buying and Selling Advisory Group Central Stakeholders Group

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk