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Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will give an estimate of the proportion of construction jobs in the London Docklands Development Corporation area in 1988 that are held by residents of Tower Hamlets, Southwark, Newham, Lewisham and Greenwich ;
(2) how many of the newly created jobs in the London Docklands Development Corporation area since 1981 have been taken by (i) women, (ii) people from ethnic minority groups and (iii) people who were previously unemployed ; and how many are part-time jobs ;
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(3) how many of the jobs lost in Docklands since 1981 were held by residents of Tower Hamlets, Southwark, Newham, Lewisham and Greenwich.Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the business establishments in the London Docklands urban development area that have been relocated by the London Docklands Development Corporation ; and for each of these establishments what is (a) the date of relocation, (b) the employment level at relocation, (c) the location prior to relocation, (d) the reason for relocation, (e) the predicted costs to the London Docklands Development Corporation of relocation, (f) the actual costs to the London Docklands Development Corporation of relocation, (g) the level of compensation paid, (h) the location after relocation and (j) the current level of employment if still operating.
Mr. Trippier : This information is not collected, or could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) from which economic sectors jobs have been lost in the London Docklands Development Corporation area since 1981 ;
(2) how many of the jobs newly created in the London Docklands Development Corporation area since 1981 have been taken by the residents of Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Newham, Lewisham and Greenwich ;
(3) what is the breakdown of newly created jobs in the London Docklands Development Corporation area since 1981, by economic sector ;
(4) what is the breakdown of transferred jobs in the London Docklands Development Corporation area since 1981, by economic sector ;
(5) if he will give a breakdown by type of industry of new jobs in London Docklands since 1981 ;
(6) how many new jobs in London Docklands since 1981 have been in the construction sector ;
(7) how many of the jobs created in Docklands since 1981 are located in the Isle of Dogs enterprise zone.
Mr. Trippier : Most of this information will be available shortly, when the corporation completes work on a survey of employment in docklands. I shall write to the hon. Member when details are available.
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many jobs have been lost in the London Docklands Development Corporation area since 1981 ;
(2) what is the latest estimate of net job creation in the London Docklands Development Corporation area since 1981 ;
(3) how many jobs have been created in the London Docklands Development Corporation area since 1981 ; how many are transfers from outside the urban development area ; and how many are newly created.
Mr. Trippier : The information requested is as follows :
London Docklands Urban Development Area
1981-87
|Number
-----------------------------------------
Jobs lost to the area |11,145
Jobs created and attracted |20,315
Net increase in jobs |9,172
Details of the breakdown between jobs created and those transferred will be available shortly. I shall write to the hon. Member.
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Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many business establishments, with what levels of employment, the London Docklands Development Corporation is currently attempting to relocate ; and how many it proposes to relocate by the end of 1992.
Mr. Trippier : I shall write to the hon. Member.
Isle of Dogs
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total amount of rate allowance claimed so far in the Isle of Dogs enterprise zone.
Mr. Trippier : Schedule 32 of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 provides that my right hon. Friend shall make grants to rating authorities who lose revenue from properties within enterprise zones that are exempt from the payment of rates. To date, the rating authorities affected by the Isle of Dogs enterprise zone have claimed £37,764,136.
Amusement Arcades
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent discussions he has had with London borough councils as to granting such local authorities greater control over the operation of amusement arcades in their borough ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : I have not discussed this subject with any London borough council. Powers to regulate the operation of amusement arcades are primarily the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary.
Nuclear Waste
Mr. McGrady : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to when the Nuclear Industry Radioactive Waste Executive will publish its report on sites for the storage of radioactive waste ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State expects to receive a report from Nirex shortly. No decision has yet been taken on publication.
Rating Reform
Sir Eldon Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what indications he has to date of local authorities increasing or decreasing the number of staff they employ to collect community charge as compared with the number they employed to collect rates ;
(2) how he intends to monitor the progress of implementation by local authorities of their arrangements for the collection of community charge ; and if the timetable and checklists to be sent to all authorities following receipt of part II of the Price Waterhouse report on this matter are the basis for this monitoring.
Mr. Gummer : We are monitoring progress through visits and other contacts with charging authorities, and have asked for a short summary of progress so far from each community charges registration officer. This will be followed up with a more detailed questionnaire in the spring. The timetable and checklist in the Price
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Waterhouse report will be of assistance in the monitoring process. It is hoped that the summaries of progress which have been requested will give a preliminary indication of charging authorities' proposals for the use of staff in comparison with the numbers of staff now working on rating.Mr. Robert G. Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what a typical ward sister would pay (a) in rates, (b) in community charge and (c) in a system of capital value rates plus local income tax paid in the proportions of 80-20, respectively, if she lived in a typical one bedroom flat in Streatham.
Mr. Gummer : A ward sister earning £15,000, living in a flat in Streatham worth £60,000 with a rateable value of £250, would pay a rates bill of £648, a community charge of £490 (disregarding the transitional safety net), and £1,325 under a system of capital value rates plus local income tax.
Dr. John Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what response he has had to his Department's letter of December 1988 to chief finance officers of metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts and London boroughs asking for a progress report on the implementation of the community charge ; and whether he will (a) publish the results of his survey and (b) place copies of the individual responses in the Library.
Mr. Ridley : We have so far received responses from around half of the 366 charging authorities. When a more complete set of responses has been analysed, I shall place a summary in the Library. Authorities were not informed that the responses themselves would be made public and it will be necessary to ask them, at the next suitable opportunity, whether they are content for them to be placed in the Library.
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he took into account from Scotland's poll tax registration process undertaken during April-May 1988 when deciding to defer the commencement date of the community charges regulations to 22 May 1989.
Mr. Ridley [holding answer 20 January 1989] : The equivalent Scottish regulations came into force on 1 April 1988, and Scottish registers had to be compiled by 1 October, a period of exactly six months. Registers in England and Wales have to be compiled by 1 December 1989. Bringing the regulations into force on 22 May will therefore allow a slightly longer period for registration than in Scotland. I have no doubt that the registration process can be carried out as successfully in England and Wales as it has been in Scotland.
Housing
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list by year for the last 15 years for which figures are available the annual number of completions, within North East Derbyshire district council area of (a) private sector houses and flats, (b) council houses and flats and (c) housing association housing and flats.
Mr. Trippier : Housebuilding completions, as reported by North East Derbyshire district council, for years as
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from 1980 appear in table 1 of "Housebuilding in England by Local Authority Areas : 1980 to 1987". For earlier years figures appear in the following issues of "Local Housing Statistics" :
|Issue number|Table
----------------------------------------------------
1974 |33 |5
1975 |37 |5
1976 |41 |5
1977 |45 |5
1978 |49 |5
1979 |59 |4(a)
Copies of these publications are available in the Library. Comparable figures for 1973 are not available because of the reorganisation of local government in 1974.
Planning Permission
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to seek to make it an offence to start building works prior to obtaining planning permission.
Mr. Chope : This is one of the issues being considered by Mr. Robert Carnwath QC in his current review of local planning authorities' planning enforcement powers. My right hon. Friend will consider whether any amendment should be made in the light of Mr. Carnwath's recommendation on this issue.
Caravan Sites Act 1968
Mr. Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received about the Caravan Sites Act 1968 ; and if he has any plans to seek to repeal the Act.
Mr. Trippier : I receive occasional correspondence on the subject. I have no plans to repeal the Act. A review of policy was completed only two years ago and the conclusions were announced by my right hon. Friend in a reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Sir H. Rossi) on 6 February 1987.
Nuclear Waste (Liverpool Bay)
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on the Nuclear Industry Radioactive Waste Executive proposal to site a dump for nuclear waste in Liverpool bay ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment is not aware of any proposal by Nirex to site a radioactive waste repository in Liverpool bay. Until Nirex's proposals have been received and a decision is made, no part of the country can be ruled out.
Dogs
Mr. Gale : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will bring forward proposals to achieve a reduction in the numbers of dogs that are at present destroyed annually in the United Kingdom.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : There are no plans to do so.
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Mr. Gale : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to exercise the powers granted to him under the Local Government Act 1988 to introduce a national dog registration scheme.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We have no plans to do so.
Deadline"
Mr. Gale : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has received a copy of the RSPCA film entitled, "Deadline" ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : No copy has been received.
Football Spectators Bill
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will seek to exempt Wales from the Football Spectators Bill ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Moynihan : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales on 17 January to my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, North (Mr. Jones) at column 146 .
Spectator Control
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if his Department has made any study examining methods used for spectator control at large sporting events in the United States of America, or any other foreign country ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Moynihan : No. We have studied the final report of the committee of inquiry into crowd safety and control at sports grounds, chaired by Mr. Justice Popplewell. I commend it to the hon. Member.
Water
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the cost and proportion of annual expenditure spent on advertising and publicity by each water authority for the last five years.
Mr. Ridley [holding answer 19 January 1989] : This information is not held centrally. I suggest that the hon. Gentleman writes to each water authority.
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment in the light of his policy for comparative competition within the water industry, if he will indicate the main financial indicators of cost comparison he has already applied to regional water authorities, and if he will publish a table in the Official Report showing their respective performance for the latest convenient financial year, in pence per thousand gallons.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 19 January 1989] : The Government have set performance aims for the water authorities' real terms operating costs for three consecutive three year periods, the last ending in 1989-90. Performance against the aims is reported in the authorities' annual reports and accounts which are laid before Parliament. In setting the Performance aims the Government make use of a series of performance indicators which standardise operating cost measures in terms of equivalent population in each water authority.
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The performance indicators are published as a five-year rolling series in the water authorities' annual reports and in Waterfacts which is also available in the Library. Performance indicators in terms of pence per thousand gallons are not available.Ms. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he intends to take to reduce the aluminium content in the water supplied to consumers in Halifax.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 19 January 1989] : Last year three of the water supplies to Halifax exceeded the aluminium standard in the EC drinking water directive. One of these supplies now complies and the other two should comply by 1990. Current aluminium concentrations are not considered to be a health risk.
Housing (London)
Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on the relative efficiency in terms of price and build time of the private sector and direct labour organisations building houses in inner London.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 19 January 1989] : This information is not available in the form requested. Under the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 direct labour organisations are required to make a rate of return of 5 per cent. on capital employed, my right hon. Friend has given directions to Lambeth and Hackney borough councils to cease from undertaking works of new construction in the light of their failure to achieve this rate of return.
Protection of Birds
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his reply of 10 January, Official Report, column 510, if he will report on the progress made by the RSPCA and RSPB in rescuing birds affected by the recent oil pollution in the Channel ; and what is his latest estimate of damage caused to seabird populations.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 19 January 1989] : I understand that so far this month the RSPCA, assisted by local volunteer members of the RSPB, have in the course of sea and beach patrols responded to five separate incidents involving a total of about 500 birds affected by oil. Many of the affected birds have been taken for cleaning at RSPCA and private centres. It is estimated that while up to 1,000 birds may have died, a further 1,000 affected birds will survive.
Domestic (Water Supplies Disconnections)
Mr. Rowlands : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will meet the chairmen of the water authorities to discuss improvements to a code of conduct relating to the disconnection of domestic water supplies.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 17 January 1989] : My right hon. Friend regularly meets the chairmen of the water authorities to discuss a number of issues. His officials are at present discussing with the water industry additional customer safeguards that might be inserted into the code of practice relating to the disconnection of domestic water supplies.
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Football Statistics
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, pursuant to his answer on football statistics, Official Report, 19 December 1988, columns 55 to 60, he will show in similar tables the average arrests per match by division in conjunction with the average arrest figures for football clubs in the Professional Footballers Association community programme scheme.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 13 January 1989] : The following information relates to Football League matches played in the 1987-88 season. The clubs listed are those which operated the PFA community programme scheme throughout that season.
|Average arrests per match
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Division 1
Everton |1.20
Liverpool |1.65
For Division |5.3
Division 2
Blackburn Rovers |3.6
Manchester City |1.59
Oldham Athletic |0.86
For Division |4.2
Division 3
Blackpool |1.6
Bury |0.2
Chester City |0.96
Preston North End |0.9
Wigan Athletic |0.17
For Division |1.5
Division 4
Bolton Wanderers |0.9
Burnley |3.9
Crewe Alexandra |1.9
Rochdale |1.4
For Division |1.7
Football Matches (Arrests)
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will obtain details from the Association of Chief Police Officers of the categories of offences under which people were arrested at football league matches in England during the 1987-88 season, and the numbers in each category.
Mr. Douglas Hogg [holding answer 10 January 1989] : I have been asked to reply.
This information is not collected from individual police forces by the Association of Chief Police Officers.
Pollution
Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what figures he has for the volume of waste deposits dumped in internal waters behind the Oslo convention baselines in each of the last five years in the North sea.
Mr. Donald Thompson : I have been asked to reply.
The amount of material dumped in internal waters behind the Oslo convention baselines in the North sea by the United Kingdom in the last five years for which figures are available, are as follows :
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000's tonnes |Dredged spoil |Colliery minestone ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1983 |7,391 |3,830 1984 |10,371 |564 1985 |16,791 |2,262 1986 |12,429 |2,264 1987 |13,029 |2,037
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Comparable figures are not available for other North sea states as the Oslo convention does not yet include dumping in internal waters and there is therefore no common control and reporting procedure for such dumpings.The United Kingdom has been actively supporting proposals to extend the coverage of the Oslo convention to include internal waters and we hope that agreement on this will be reached soon.
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