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Mr. Peter Lloyd : Whether the plastic national insurance number card has the capacity to be adapted to this purpose has not been tested, but we have already made it clear that there are no plans to consider such a use for the card.
Social Fund
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the amount of money paid out of the social fund since its inception, both in terms of cash and as a percentage of the social fund budget as a whole, from the following offices : Bolton, Bury, Crewe, Manchester (Sale), Preston (North), Preston (South) St. Helens, Warrington, Widnes and Wigan.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Such information is available from the details held in the Library.
Rating Reform
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what advice he is offering housing authorities in Scotland on the need to make fresh assessments of current claims from private tenants to ensure landlords reduce rate and rent charges to reflect the abolition of rates from 1 April.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Local authorities in Scotland have been advised that housing benefit should be assessed on the basis of the amount of rent the tenant is contractually liable to pay to occupy his home. After 1 April, when domestic rates are abolished in Scotland, local authorities will no longer be obliged to apportion rent between rent and rates in cases where the tenant has no personal liability to pay rates but pays an inclusive sum to his landlord. In such cases, the maximum housing benefit payable will therefore be 100 per cent. of the global sum as opposed to 100 per cent. of the amount apportioned as rent plus 80 per cent. of the amount apportioned as rates. Landlords will no doubt take the reduction in their overheads as a result of the abolition of domestic rates into account in setting the level of rents. Local authorities have powers to restrict the amount of housing benefit payable where the rent charged is unreasonably high.
Family Credit
Mr. Kennedy : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to be in a position to respond to the letter from the honourable Member for Ross, Cromarty and Skye concerning the application for family credit from the Reverend John Macleod, Porthahomack, Ross-shire ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Peter Lloyd : A reply was sent on 8 March.
Mr. Robin Cook : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many families are now receiving family credit.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : At the end of February 254,000 families were receiving family credit, and a further 42,400 claims were awaiting determination.
Transitional Protection
Mrs. Beckett : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of the following categories of claimants in receipt of income support will receive no increase in their benefit payments as a result of the current year's uprating because of the effect of transitional additions : (a) pensioners, (b) persons in receipt of a disability premium, (c) single parents, (d) unemployed married couples, (e) unemployed single people, (f) unemployed with children, and (g) others.
Mr. Peter Lloyd [holding answer 6 March 1989] : Precise information is not available. The estimated number of claimants in each of the categories listed who will receive no increase in benefit at this year's uprating is as follows :
|Number
---------------------------------------------------------
Pensioners |200,000
Persons in receipt of disability premium |10,000
Lone parents |40,000
Unemployed couples without children |10,000
Unemployed single people |190,000
Unemployed couples with children |10,000
Others |110,000
|-------
Total |570,000
ENVIRONMENT
River Pollution
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all those firms which have been prosecuted for pollution offences in respect of rivers in each year since 1980 ; which were convicted ; and what was the penalty in each case.
Mr. Howard : This information is not held by the Department. However, the new National Rivers Authority will in future enforce water pollution controls on a
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national and more consistent basis as a result of which information of this nature should become more readily available.Grants
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to shorten the time taken to process applications by the private sector for city grant.
Mr. Trippier : With the introduction of city grant in May 1988 new procedures were adopted to help reduce the time taken to process applications. These include more thorough pre-application discussions to assist developers in producing workable proposals, a streamlined application procedure and a commitment by the Department to provide an early indication of the progress of each application. There are no plans to revise the procedures but they are kept under review.
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many staff in his Department in London and in each regional office have been allocated to processing applications from the private sector for urban development grant and city grant for each of the last five years.
Mr. Trippier : Urban development grant (UDG) applications were and city grant (CG) applications are handled by regional and centrally located staff who are involved in various aspects of urban renewal work. It is not possible to give a figure for staff devoted solely to UDG and CG work.
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many successful applications by the private sector have been made, broken down by Department of Environment region, for urban development grant and city grant in each of the last five years ; (2) what has been the allocation and expenditure, by Department of Environment region, for urban development grant and city grant for each of the last five years ;
(3) what is the total value of projects, broken down by Department of the Environment region, that are dependent on urban development grant or city grant for each of the last five years ; and what is his estimate for 1989- 90.
Mr. Trippier : There are no regional allocations for city grant and there were no such allocations for urban development grant. The tables show the figures requested by region for schemes approved in each year.
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|c|Urban Development Grant|c|
Department of Environment |Number of Schemes |Approved Grant |Value of Schemes Approved|Grant<1> Expenditure
Region |Approved
|£ million |£ million |£ million
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1984-85
West Midlands |13 |1.934 |8.330 |3.275
North West |9 |5.786 |34.856 |1.632
Northern |7 |3.154 |10.460 |1.464
Yorkshire and Humberside |10 |2.186 |13.124 |0.582
London |4 |7.982 |35.295 |4.605
East Midlands |3 |1.104 |6.316 |0.614
Merseyside |3 |0.419 |1.685 |0.917
South West |0 |0 |0 |0
South East |0 |0 |0 |0
|---- |---- |---- |----
Totals |55 |22.565 |110.066 |13.089
1985-86
West Midlands |9 |2.063 |8.955 |4.589
North West |10 |6.427 |30.887 |5.671
Northern |8 |1.225 |5.511 |2.637
Yorkshire and Humberside |13 |4.263 |13.886 |1.498
London |5 |5.576 |19.967 |4.655
East Midlands |1 |0.460 |5.213 |0.900
Merseyside |1 |0.164 |1.999 |1.614
South West |0 |0 |0 |0
South East |0 |0 |0 |0
|---- |---- |---- |----
Totals |47 |20.178 |86.418 |21.564
|---- |---- |---- |----
1986-87
West Midlands |13 |12.421 |67.746 |4.581
North West |10 |1.531 |5.535 |4.196
Northern |10 |3.039 |10.780 |2.010
Yorkshire and Humberside |8 |2.092 |7.129 |4.912
London |7 |4.551 |29.702 |4.609
East Midlands |6 |3.250 |12.638 |0.452
Merseyside |4 |6.093 |33.397 |0.546
South West |0 |0 |0 |0
South East |0 |0 |0 |0
|---- |---- |---- |----
Totals |58 |32.977 |166.927 |21.036
|---- |---- |---- |----
1987-88
West Midlands |5 |0.550 |2.664 |5.943
North West |11 |2.596 |14.189 |4.038
Northern |5 |5.240 |18.278 |3.154
Yorkshire and Humberside |10 |3.626 |13.454 |2.480
London |4 |2.097 |8.657 |5.956
East Midlands |6 |3.358 |21.280 |1.972
Merseyside |2 |0.433 |1.247 |0.713
South West |0 |0 |0 |0
South East |1 |0.249 |1.118 |0.090
|---- |---- |---- |----
Totals |44 |18.149 |80.887 |24.346
|---- |---- |---- |----
1988-89 (to date)
West Midlands |6 |2.182 |8.610 |5.236
North West |5 |2.557 |15.156 |3.048
Northern |4 |1.115 |4.828 |2.389
Yorkshire and Humberside |8 |5.008 |20.994 |3.538
London |4 |2.143 |12.100 |2.378
East Midlands |2 |0.222 |1.033 |3.463
Merseyside |2 |0.455 |1.972 |3.813
South West |1 |0.098 |1.447 |0.049
South East |0 |0 |0 |0.159
|---- |---- |---- |----
Totals |32 |13.770 |66.140 |24.073
<1> Expenditure in any year depends upon the progress on schemes approved in several previous years.
|c|City Grant (Scheme began May 1988)|c|
1988-89 (to date) |Number of Schemes |Approved Grant |Value of Schemes Approved|Grant Expenditure
|Approved
|£ million |£ million |£ million
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOE Region
West Midlands |7 |5.368 |27.922 |0.714
North West |7 |5.559 |27.151 |0.109
Northern |3 |0.579 |2.841 |0
Yorkshire and Humberside |4 |0.784 |4.210 |0
London |5 |5.570 |28.648 |0
East Midlands |9 |8.802 |38.144 |0.152
Merseyside |1 |0.168 |2.468 |0
South West |1 |0.145 |0.485 |0
South East |0 |0 |0 |0
|- |--- |---- |---
Totals |37 |26.975 |131.869 |0.435
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) when the processing of city grant was delegated to his Department's regional offices ;
(2) by what criteria applications for city grant are referred to be processed by his Department in London.
Mr. Trippier : Regional offices are responsible for dealing with proposals and inquiries from developers at the pre-application stage and for receiving and checking formal applications. Complete applications are passed to a city grant appraiser based in London. It is then the responsibility of the Department's central inner cities division to progress the application through to a decision by Ministers.
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much clawback of urban development grant and city grant has been obtained by his Department from the private sector in each of the last five years ; and what is his estimate for 1989-90.
Mr. Trippier : The following amounts of urban development grant have been clawed back to date :
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|c|Average processing time for applications approved (in days)|c| |c|Urban Development Grant|c| DOE Region |1984-85 |1985-86 |1986-87 |1987-88 |1988-89 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- West Midlands |162 |142 |182 |246 |110 North West |142 |126 |187 |150 |68 Northern |147 |152 |109 |182 |100 Yorkshire and Humberside |173 |114 |148 |170 |120 London |135 |143 |147 |184 |96 East Midlands |0 |257 |160 |153 |32 Merseyside |116 |137 |299 |172 |70 South West |0 |0 |0 |0 |61 South East |0 |552 |0 |0 |0
No city grant schemes have yet been completed and thus no grant has been clawed back.
No accurate estimate is possible for 1989-90.
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the average time taken, by Department of the Environment regions, to process private sector applications for (a) urban development grant and (b) city grant for each of the last five years.
Mr. Trippier : The figures for the processing time of applications are set out in the tables according to the year in which a decision was given. The times for UDG schemes do no include the processing of the application by the local authority before submission to the Department. The times for city grant exclude periods when schemes are, with the agreement of the applicant, held in abeyance.
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|c|Average processing time for applications approved (in days)|c| |c|Urban Development Grant|c| DOE Region |1984-85 |1985-86 |1986-87 |1987-88 |1988-89 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- West Midlands |162 |142 |182 |246 |110 North West |142 |126 |187 |150 |68 Northern |147 |152 |109 |182 |100 Yorkshire and Humberside |173 |114 |148 |170 |120 London |135 |143 |147 |184 |96 East Midlands |0 |257 |160 |153 |32 Merseyside |116 |137 |299 |172 |70 South West |0 |0 |0 |0 |61 South East |0 |552 |0 |0 |0
|c|Average processing time for all applications decided (in days)|c| |c|City grant (scheme began May 1988)|c| DOE region |1988-89 West Midlands |118 North West |92 Northern |62 Yorkshire and Humberside |93 London |64 East Midlands |72 Merseyside |162 South West |56 South East |-
Storm Damage
Mr. Salmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total amount of Government assistance given for repairs and compensation following the storms of October 1987 ; and if he will give a breakdown of the figure.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : To 7 March 1989 the Department has given financial assistance to local authorities totalling £21,311,968 under the Bellwin scheme announced on 21 October 1987. The authorities concerned are listed in the table. Payments to authorities on list A are based on final audited claims. Those in list B are based on 90 per cent. of the amounts in authorities' initial claims. Final settlement will be on the basis of audited claims.
Column 664
|c|List A|c|
|£
------------------------------------------
Adur |164,733
Arun |55,824
Ashford |<1>73,825
Babergh |57,502
Bracknell |35,126
Brighton |250,651
Bromley |994,042
Canterbury |297,901
Chelmsford |64,434
Dover |30,050
East Hampshire |13,400
East Hertfordshire |15,733
Eastleigh |<1>5,339
Forest Heath |10,561
Gillingham |50,512
Gosport |113,702
Gravesham |80,718
Harlow |<1>3,138
Hastings |<1>77,708
Havant |18,581
Hove |125,262
Isle of Wight |30,617
Lewes |34,859
Medina |33,178
Mid Suffolk |10,092
Mid Sussex |382,468
Mole Valley |58,275
New Forest |41,141
North Hertfordshire |<1>1,137
Reigate and Banstead |<1>8,963
Rochford |45,502
Rother |20,431
Rushmoor |20,237
Sevenoaks |334,928
Spelthorne |<1>4,526
Stevenage |12,715
Suffolk Coast |21,013
Surrey Heath |18,519
Tendring |15,111
Tonbridge and Malling |35,449
Tunbridge Wells |250,483
Wandsworth |394,797
Waverley |40,205
Wealden |66,118
Welwyn Hatfield |15,143
West Sussex |4,021,001
|-----
|8,455,650
<1> Amount paid on the basis of initial
claim net of amount to be recovered as a
result of final audited claims.
|c|List B|c|
|£
-----------------------------------------------
Barking and Dagenham |340,200
Basildon |35,000
Basingstoke |29,700
Bexley |347,600
Braintree |101,000
Brentwood |210,000
Broxbourne |18,000
Castle Point |32,000
Colchester |17,000
Christchurch |74,925
Eastbourne |103,275
East Sussex |1,592,000
Edenbridge |210,600
Epsom and Ewel |21,600
Great Yarmouth |11,700
Greenwich |192,375
Hackney |235,575
Hammersmith and Fulham |28,000
Hertsmere |25,000
Horsham |119,475
Ipswich |168,075
Kent |3,364,200
Lewisham |138,375
Maidstone |148,500
Merton |222,750
Norwich |97,200
Poole |24,975
Portsmouth |64,125
Shepway |143,323
Southend on Sea |278,000
South Wight |178,200
Suffolk |47,700
Surrey |2,631,150
Sutton |297,500
Swale |153,000
Tandridge |247,050
Thanet |177,525
Thurrock |35,000
Tower Hamlets |303,345
Waltham Forest |259,000
Waveney |2,700
Woking |12,150
Worthing |117,450
|-------
Total |£12,856,318
Rating Reform
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will express the Ealing domestic rates of 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989 as a notional community charge ; and if he will make a statement.
Column 666
Mr. Gummer : The illustrative community charges published by the Department are based on local authority returns. The figures for Ealing from 1985-86 to 1988-89 are as follows.
|c|Illustrative
community
charge in
Ealing|c|
|£
----------------
1985-86 |172
1986-87 |164
1987-88 |278
1988-89 |234
Mr. Barry Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list in the Official Report the Department's estimate of the community charge for 1990 for the district authorities in (a) Merseyside, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) the London boroughs.
Mr. Gummer [holding answer 7 March 1989] : The Government have made no estimates of future community charges. Illustrative figures are published on 23 June showing what the community charge would have been in each area had the new system been in force in 1988-89. Those illustrative figures assume existing levels of spending and existing local authority responsibilities.
Mr. Franks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list in the Official Report the estimate of the community charge that his Department expects for each district in (a) Cumbria, (b) Merseyside and (c) the London boroughs.
Mr. Gummer : The Government have made no estimates of future community charges. Illustrative figures were published on 23 June showing what the community charge would have been in each area had the new system been in force in 1988-89. Those illustrative figures assume existing levels of spending and existing local authority responsibilities.
Interest Rates
Sir George Young : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the current standard national interest rate as defined in the Housing Act 1985, schedule 16(2) ; what were the monthly averages for (a) base rate, (b) average building society rate of interest and (c) standard national rate from the start date of the Housing Act 1985 ; and how he calculates the standard national interest rate.
Mr. Trippier : The current standard national rate, introduced on 6 February 1989, is 13.5 per cent. The standard national rate is calculated taking into account interest rates charged by building societies in the United Kingdom and any movement in those rates. The monthly averages requested are as follows :
|Base rates Selected |Average Building society |Standard National rate of
|retail banks |rate of interest |interest
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1986
April |10.5 |12.16 |12.65
May |10.0 |12.04 |12.00
June |10.0 |11.06 |11.00
July |10.0 |11.04 |11.00
August |10.0 |11.04 |11.00
September |10.0 |11.04 |11.00
October |11.0 |11.04 |11.00
November |11.0 |12.28 |11.00
December |11.0 |12.32 |12.30
1987
January |11.0 |12.32 |12.30
February |11.0 |12.32 |12.30
March |10.0 |12.32 |12.30
April |9.5 |12.31 |12.30
May |9.0 |11.47 |11.25
June |9.0 |11.28 |11.25
July |9.0 |11.27 |11.25
August |10.0 |11.27 |11.25
September |10.0 |11.28 |11.25
October |9.5 |11.28 |11.25
November |9.0 |11.27 |11.25
December |8.5 |10.34 |11.25
1988
January |8.5 |10.27 |10.25
February |9.0 |10.26 |10.25
March |8.5 |10.26 |10.25
April |8.0 |10.26 |10.25
May |7.5 |9.84 |10.25
June |9.5 |9.78 |9.75
July |10.5 |9.78 |9.75
August |12.0 |11.45 |10.34
September |12.0 |11.54 |11.50
October |12.0 |12.70 |11.98
November |13.0 |12.71 |12.75
December |n/a |12.75 |12.75
Sources:
Base rates-"Financial Statistics", table 13.10 (rate at end of period).
Building Society rates-"Financial Statistics", table 13.12.
Standard National rate-Department of the Environment.
Limehouse Link Road
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list those sites identified or currently being considered for replacement accommodation for tenants affected by the Limehouse link road, giving for each the size and number of units that could be provided ;
(2) where the London Docklands development corporation has purchased or is considering purchasing completed units in private housing developments in docklands in order to rehouse tenants affected by the Limehouse link road ; if he will give details of the developments involved including the numbers and types of units and the name of the development company ; whether the corporation will purchase units at, below or above prices currently being asked by developers on the open market ; and what mechanisms the corporation will adopt to ensure that any units purchased will be made available to tenants at affordable rents ;
(3) what consideration the London Docklands development corporation has given in order to rehouse tenants affected by the Limehouse link road, to purchasing completed units at the Ideal Homes Limited development at Timber Wharves Village, London E14.
Mr. Trippier : The LDDC has identified a number of sites for replacement housing including :
Timber Wharves, E14--up to 421 units of 2, 3, 4 and 5 bedroom accommodation.
Devons road, E3--70 units of 3, 4, 5 and 6 bedroom houses. Lukin street, E1 --30 units of 3, 4, 5 and 6 bedroom houses.
Column 668
The LDDC recently announced its intention to purchase Timber Wharves, which is a development by Ideal Homes (London) Ltd. The prices paid for acquisitions are a matter of commercial confidentiality, but are subject to certification by independent valuers and will reflect the benefits of bulk purchase where appropriate. The corporation will assist the housing associations who will manage the properties to ensure that rents are set at levels which the tenants can afford.Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the latest available estimate for the total cost of rehousing tenants affected by the Limehouse link road.
Mr. Trippier : Under the LDDC's accord with the London borough of Tower Hamlets, at least 400 households would be rehoused. The LDDC currently estimates that the average cost per household would be £142,000. This is based on assumptions about tenants' choices as between new housing association dwellings and existing council dwellings and about construction costs and so on. It would be offset by the LDDC's receipts from the eventual disposal of property released by rehousing.
Hazardous Waste
Mr. Gordon Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will update the figures on imports of special waste given in the answer to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Dr. Thomas) on 28 October 1988, Official Report, column 427.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : It is not yet possible to update the information given in reply to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Dr. Thomas) on 28 October 1988. Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution expects to have the information from the waste disposal authorities later this year.
Mr. Gordon Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide figures for the tonnage of special waste, both indigenous and imported, disposed of in the United Kingdom in each year from 1978 to the most recent year for which figures are available.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Records of imported special wastes have been gathered by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution (and its predecessors) only since the financial year 1981-82. This information was provided in my answer to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Dr. Thomas) on 28 October 1988, Official Report, column 427. Figures for indigenous special waste arisings have been given in the hazardous waste inspectorate's three reports which have been placed in the Library. Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution advises that the total of special waste (indigenous and imported) for financial year 1987-88 is 1,845,833 tonnes.
Select Committee Recommendations
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many Select Committee recommendations have been made about, and how many accepted by, his Department since June 1987.
Mr. Ridley : Copies of the Select Committee reports made since June 1987 which contain recommendations for my Department, and copies of the responses made by the Government, are available in the Library of the House.
Column 669
London Docklands Development Corporation
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects a reply to be sent by the London Docklands development corporation to the letter from the hon. Member for Newham, North-East, of 22 February addressed to Mr. Michael Honey.
Mr. Trippier : I understand that Mr. Honey will reply this week.
Voluntary Organisations (Bradford)
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the withdrawal of urban programme funding for voluntary organisations in Bradford, and as to what steps he is taking to ameliorate the effects of discontinuing such funds.
Mr. Trippier : I have made no decisions yet on Bradford's urban programme for 1989-90. I hope to do so shortly. I should point out that there are proposals within the programme for the funding of voluntary sector schemes to the extent of £1.29 million. I understand that several projects which have reached the end of their approved funding period, and which were not included in next year's programme, may come forward for consideration. I will of course examine these very closely.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make additional funds available to Bradford metropolitan district council to enable voluntary oranisations currently funded both by public agencies and by the council, to continue to receive funding at current levels.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : We have no plans to do so. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him today by my hon. Friend the Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Mr. Trippier) about urban programme funding in Bradford.
Rent Officers
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will make a statement on the role of the rent officer under the Housing Act 1988 ;
(2) what guidance is given on the criteria by which the rent officers will decide market rents.
Mr. Trippier : Under the draft orders laid before Parliament last month, rent officers would, from 1 April, have the function of assessing whether the rents paid by housing benefit claimants in the deregulated private rented sector are reasonable for housing benefit subsidy purposes, and whether claimants are occupying over-large accommodation. The draft orders specify the criteria to be applied. Rent officers will be required to compare the rent paid by a benefit claimant with the rents paid in the open market by tenants who are not receiving benefit.
Chlorofluorocarbons
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any proposals for the recovery of chlorofluorocarbons currently in use for domestic or commercial refrigeration.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Both United Kingdom manufacturers of CFCs as well as some refrigeration
Column 670
companies offer a recycling service for used refrigerants. At least one retailer of domestic refrigerators and freezers has agreed to remove old appliances free of charge to extract the refrigerant for recycling.Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any proposals to prohibit the release of CFCs into the atmosphere.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Overall production and consumption of cholorofluorocarbons (CFCs) is controlled within the European Community by the EC regulation implementing the Montreal protocol. Within that framework we are strongly encouraging action on a voluntary basis to reduce CFC use to the maximum possible extent by such measures as use of alternative substances, products and processes, prevention of leaks and wastage, and recovery and recycling. The steps already being taken by all sectors of industry will ensure that the United Kingdom will more than halve its consumption of CFCs by the end of 1989--10 years ahead of the protocol requirement. Following the initiative of the United Kingdom, EC Environment Ministers agreed on 2 March on the need to reduce CFC production and consumption by at least 85 per cent. as soon as possible with a view to a complete phase out by the end of the century, and to strengthen the protocol accordingly. The "Saving the Ozone Layer" London conference on 5 to 7 March underlined the need for tougher international measures. The United Kingdom hopes that such action will be agreed when the parties to the protocol meet in London 1990.
Water Pollution (Oxfordshire)
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people have been affected by the impure water supply in Oxfordshire.
Mr. Howard : The diarrhoeal illness cryptosporidiosis is caused by the organism, cryptosporidium, which is widespread in the environment. It is not therefore known how many of the 69 people so far identified this year as affected by the illness in Oxfordshire were infected through the water supply. However, as the organism was positively identified in the water supply to areas where there was a higher incidence of the illness than normal, precautionary advice was given that water to be used by children under two and
immuno-compromised adults should be boiled for one minute.
Badgers
Mr. Ron Davis To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has concerning the changes in the numbers and distribution of badgers in the wild following the passing of the Badgers Act 1973.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The first reliable national survey of the badger population in Great Britain was commissioned by the Nature Conservancy Council and carried out between 1985 and 1988 by Bristol university and the Mammal Society. The initial findings are that there are approximately 42,000 main setts or social groups in Great Britain, equivalent to a population of approximately 240,000 animals. The final results of this study will be used as a baseline for future surveys. It is not possible accurately to assess changes in the British badger population since 1973.
Column 671
East Thames-side
Mr. Baldry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make a statement on his consultancy study of the housing potential of the five large sites in East Thames-side.
Mr. Ridley : The study has provided information on the potential of the five areas in east London for housing development. A copy of the study report is in the Library. It is clear these areas at the Greenwich peninsula, Beckton, Barking reach, the lower Lea Valley and Stratford can make an important contribution towards meeting the pressing housing needs of east London.
The capacity of the areas considered developable depends on many factors, not least decisions on a balance of land uses and the chosen density of housing development. The five areas are substantially owned by local authorities, other public bodies or recently privatised industries. Although parts are in useful occupation, within the areas extensive sites remain undeveloped or underused. To a considerable extent their lack of productive use has been the result of prolonged designation as operational land despite a lack of specific plans for their actual development. Realisation of the unsatisfactory nature of this situation has been growing among those directly concerned. The reasons are, principally, pressure from Government, the rising value of the asset and the opportunity cost of its underuse, and initiative in some cases by local planning authorities. Each of the five areas will require a different solution. To prosper they will need concerted and co-ordinated action by the local authorities, landowners and developers.
There is now enormous scope for mixed housing for at least 20,000 new homes including low-cost dwellings. The study and the Government's new initiatives to improve transport for Docklands and East Thames-side have now helped to bring the prospect of development nearer.
Ancient Monuments
Mr. Key : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the protection available for ancient monuments in the light of the recent decision at Gloucester Crown court relating to Condicote Henge.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Our 13,000 scheduled ancient monuments are an important part of our heritage. Monuments entered on the statutory schedule of ancient monuments are fully protected. English Heritage will continue to press vigorously for prosecution in cases of wilful damage to such monuments.
The recent prosecution at Gloucester Crown court failed because the court was not satisfied with the evidence produced in court that the particular monument was included in the schedule. Documentary evidence was available in the Department's offices in London, but the Department had not been invited to provide a witness. We understand that the question of an appeal is being considered.
Right to Buy
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will increase the maximum discount allowed to tenants exercising the right to buy their homes.
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Mr. Trippier : My hon. Friend and many other hon. Members have pointed out that the present limits work unfairly for tenants living in areas where property values are high. My right hon. Friend therefore proposes to lay before the House an order under section 131 of the Housing Act 1985, and regulations under section 171C, raising the limit to £50,000. The present limit of £35,000 was set in January 1987. I am sure the increase will be welcomed by the many tenants in London and the south-east who have not been able to exercise their right to buy with the present limit on discount.
Housing Act 1988
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much has been spent on press and public relations material and advertising in respect of the Housing Act 1988 in total ; what are future spending plans ; and how much has been spent on publicising (a) housing action trusts and (b) council estate ballots on opting out of council control.
Mr. Trippier [holding answer 8 March 1989] : Expenditure on informing people of their rights and opportunities under the provisions of the Housing Act 1988 amounts to about £84,000 to date of which £7,600 relates to housing action trusts including translation of material into ethnic minority languages. There has been no expenditure on publicising council estate ballots on council proposals to transfer their stock. Further expenditure of around £620,000 will be required to inform people about tenants' choice, and to report back to tenants in the proposed HAT areas the results of the consultants studies of their estates. For 1989-90 a total of £1 million has been earmarked for information directly related to recent changes in legislation and policy : the final breakdown has yet to be decided but the programme is likely to include material on housing associations, on tenants choice, on housing action trusts and on the proposed changes to the improvement grant system.
Capper Pass Works Humberside
Mr. Cran : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to publish the report from Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution on the subject of the emission of radiation from the Capper Pass works in North Humberside.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 8 March 1989] : Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution has now completed its report on emissions from the Capper Pass smelting works in north Humberside. I hope shortly to place copies in the Library of the House. I will ensure that a copy is also sent to my hon. Friend.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total final number of (a) countries, (b) international organisations and (c) other interested bodies who have accepted invitations to attend the conference on the ozone layer and chlorofluorocarbons in London on 5 to 7 March.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 6 March 1989] : A total of 123 countries and the European Community registered attendance at the "Saving the Ozone Layer" London conference on 5 to 7 March. In addition to the United Nations environment programme,
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four UN agencies accepted invitations to send an observer. Representatives of the Citizens' Symposium on CFCs also attended, and a large number of industrial companies, trade associations and scientific organisations provided speakers and technical experts.Rate Swap Arrangements
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all those local authorities which he knows to have entered into interest rate swap arrangements ; and if he will make a statement.
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