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Mr. George Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many requests he has received to set up housing action trusts by (a) local authorities, (b) resident associations, (c) tenants' groups or associations, (d) urban renewal agencies and (e) amenity groups ; and if he will list them.
Mr. Trippier : We have received a number of inquiries from local authorities, tenants and other residents interested in the establishment of housing action trusts. It is for them to decide whether to make their informal approaches public. The latest position on the currently proposed trusts was set out in my right hon. Friend's reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Wyre (Mr. Mans) on 16 March at column 322.
Mr. George Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many housing action trusts he expects to be in place in 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992.
Mr. Trippier : I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Wyre (Mr. Mans) on 16 March at column 322. It will be for the individual tenants to decide whether they want my right hon. Friend to seek Parliament's approval to orders setting up housing action trusts.
Property Services Agency
Mr. Redwood : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment why the Property Services Agency has recently paid £50 per sq ft to rent space at the Adelphi, the Strand.
Mr. Chope : The PSA acquired the Adelphi at the behest of the Departments of Health and Social Security as part of a major planned rationalisation of its London HQ accommodation.
Mr. Redwood : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the Property Services Agency has
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recently examined office properties in docklands, available at under £25 per sq ft, for the location of some central London staff in better and cheaper accommodation than in the west end.Mr. Chope : It is the Government's policy that Departments should review the location of their work with a view to selecting locations offering better value for money, easier recruitment and retention of staff and other advantages. PSA is currently assisting Departments in undertaking their reviews by giving relevant information on property in different locations, including docklands.
Docklands (Housing)
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the commitment by the London Docklands development corporation in the agreement with the London borough of Newham on affordable rented housing in the borough ; and what progress has been made in achieving this.
Mr. Trippier : The memorandum of agreement states that
"both authorities agree the objective to produce 1,500 social housing units to let at fair rent or thereabouts subject to its achievement being reasonably practicable in all the financial circumstances".
Negotiations are at a very advanced stage for the provision of approximately 500 units at Winsor park. Discussions are under way concerning further social housing units on other sites in the royal docks.
Housing Associations
Mr. George Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the number of housing association units of accommodation which will be financed by mixed housing association grant and private finance for the 12 months period commencing 1 April ; and if he will break down his estimates by Housing Corporation regions.
Mr. Trippier : This information will be available in full only when the Housing Corporation have completed the annual regional allocation process to associations. I have therefore asked the Housing Corporation to respond to the hon. Member direct as soon as that process is completed.
Housing Act 1988
Mr. George Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many requests he has received under the provisions of the Housing Act 1988 to activate the process of opting out of local authority control by (a) housing associations, (b) private landlords, (c) local authorities, (d) tenants' groups or associations and (e) registered housing co-operatives ; and if he will list them.
Mr. Trippier : None. The responsibility for approving landlords for the purposes of tenants' choice (part IV of the Act) lies with the Housing Corporation in England and with Housing for Wales in Wales.
Personal Data
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to introduce regulations
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under the Local Government Finance Act that will allow charging authorities and community charges registration officers to use or disclose personal data for purposes other than those directly related to the community charge ; and whether he will make a statement.Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will list the uses and disclosures of personal data that can currently be made by charging authorities and community charges registration officers for purposes other than those directly related to the community charge ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : An electoral registration officer may inspect the community charges register of any charging authority. Apart from that no personal data collected for the purposes of community charges registers may be disclosed for any purpose unconnected with the community charge.
Nuclear Waste (Imports)
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the countries that send civil nuclear waste to the United Kingdom ; and how such waste is moved in the United Kingdom.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : There are no countries that send civil nuclear waste to the United Kingdom.
Council House Sales
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many council properties have been sold to council house tenants in Doncaster metropolitan borough council as a whole since 1979 to date ; and what proportion of the total stock of council properties these sales represent in each year since 1979.
Mr. Trippier : From April 1979 to September 1988 Doncaster metropolitan borough council reported selling 8,289 dwellings to is tenants. The sales represented the following percentages of the estimated stock at the start of each financial year.
|Percentage of Stock Sold |to Sitting Tenants ---------------------------------------------------------------------------1979-80 |Nil 1980-81 |0.2 1981-82 |3.9 1982-83 |8.3 1983-84 |2.5 1984-85 |1.7 1985-86 |1.4 1986-87 |1.3 1987-88 |1.8 <1>1988-89 |1.2 <1> Six months only.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the annual cost since 1979 for South Yorkshire of the publicity material promoting the right to buy council housing and flats ; and if he will give in his answer the amount for each local authority.
Mr. Trippier : My answer of 6 March to the hon. Member for Newham, North-West (Mr. Banks) at column
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427, gave the costs of national publicity to draw the attention of tenants to their right to buy their homes. The expenditure cannot be attributed to particular areas.Rating Reform
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what response has he received from Nottingham city council to his request for a progress report on implementing the community charge ; if he will publish that response ; and whether he has received any request for a future survey of costs incurred by the council in implementing the poll tax.
Mr. Gummer : We have received a progress report dated 26 January from the Nottingham city treasurer. As requested, it outlines the council's plans for staffing, accommodation, computing, etc. On the question of publication, I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Copeland (Dr Cunningham) on 23 January 1989 at column 459 .
The Government have no plans to introduce a poll tax.
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the reasons for publishing community charge practice note No. 16 on joint and several liability before community charge practice note 15 on enforcement ; when practice note 15 will be published ; and what are the reasons for the delay.
Mr. Ridley : Practice notes are prepared jointly by the Government and the local authority associations. They are published as they become ready, and no reason was seen to delay the note on joint and several liability, which was numbered 16 on our provisional schedule, simply because No. 15 was not yet ready. Discussions on the practice note on enforcement are taking place in the normal way, and it will be published once these are complete.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the remainder of the leaflets listed in the booklet entitled "You and the Community Charge", dealing with (a) the rebate scheme, (b) students and the community charge, (c) the community charge and second homes, (d) the collective community charge, (e) the appeal system and (f) the business rate, are to be made available.
Mr. Gummer [holding answer 10 April 1989) : These are all in preparation and will be published variously over the next few weeks.
Colliery Slag Heaps
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what responsibility he has for the redevelopment of former colliery slag heaps.
Mr. Chope : Responsibility for the redevelopment of former colliery slag heaps is a matter for the developer, subject to the usual planning controls. The Department does provide financial assistance towards the reclamation of derelict spoil heaps in appropriate cases, through the derelict land grant system.
Littlewoods Cup Final
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will visit the Nottingham Forest v. Luton Littlewoods cup final on Sunday.
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Mr. Moynihan : My right hon. Friend did not attend the cup final. However, my hon. and learned Friend the Minister for Water and Planning and I were present.
Rates
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will print in the Official Report the percentage rate increase in each English shire county between 1984-85 and the latest year for which figures are available.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The information requested is as follows :
|c|County council precepts percentage increase 1984-85 to 1989-90|c| |Per cent. -------------------------------------------Avon |54.7 Bedfordshire |75.5 Berkshire |51.3 Buckinghamshire |71.4 Cambridgeshire |64.1 Cheshire |46.7 Cleveland |57.4 Cornwall |61.6 Cumbria |77.1 Derbyshire |64.0 Devon |59.6 Dorset |50.0 Durham |74.0 East Sussex |62.8 Essex |75.8 Gloucestershire |64.3 Hampshire |51.8 Hereford and Worcester |37.2 Hertfordshire |70.5 Humberside |73.6 Isle of Wight |71.2 Kent |52.3 Lancashire |69.7 Leicestershire |71.1 Lincolnshire |56.2 Norfolk |61.2 Northamptonshire |65.5 Northumberland |56.6 North Yorkshire |71.2 Nottinghamshire |52.8 Oxfordshire |77.2 Shropshire |67.9 Somerset |72.0 Staffordshire |53.2 Suffolk |53.5 Surrey |54.1 Warwickshire |76.1 West Sussex |54.2 Wiltshire |79.0
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list by county the percentage annual rate rise from 1981 to 1985 and from 1985 to 1989.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The information requested is as follows :
|c|County council precepts|c| |c|Average annual percentage increases|c| |1981-82 to 1985-86|1985-86 to 1989-90 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Avon |12.1 |9.8 Bedfordshire |7.1 |13.1 Berkshire |7.7 |9.4 Buckinghamshire |6.0 |12.8 Cambridgeshire |6.1 |12.4 Cheshire |9.0 |8.6 Cleveland |10.7 |9.2 Cornwall |7.6 |11.8 Cumbria |7.7 |12.1 Derbyshire |13.6 |11.8 Devon |8.0 |11.3 Dorset |5.8 |9.3 Durham |8.1 |12.4 East Sussex |6.9 |11.7 Essex |8.4 |13.1 Gloucestershire |6.2 |11.1 Hampshire |6.5 |9.3 Hereford and Worcester |6.7 |7.2 Hertfordshire |8.0 |12.5 Humberside |12.4 |13.4 Isle of Wight |8.4 |12.3 Kent |6.8 |9.7 Lancashire |6.9 |11.5 Leicestershire |10.2 |12.3 Lincolnshire |5.7 |10.5 Norfolk |7.4 |11.1 Northamptonshire |6.9 |11.9 Northumberland |8.8 |10.4 North Yorkshire |7.3 |12.0 Nottinghamshire |14.3 |8.9 Oxfordshire |6.6 |13.2 Shropshire |6.2 |12.0 Somerset |6.1 |13.7 Staffordshire |10.7 |8.7 Suffolk |6.0 |10.2 Surrey |8.2 |10.1 Warwickshire |6.8 |13.6 West Sussex |7.0 |9.4 Wiltshire |8.0 |13.4
Chlorofluorocarbons
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total amount of chlorofluorocarbons used in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years for which figures are available ; and what are the corresponding figures for
chlorofluorocarbons substitutes.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : I regret that this information is not available.
Sulphur Emissions
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what changes he expects in the levels of sulphur emissions in the United Kingdom as a whole over the coming decade ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Government are determined to cut sulphur emissions, the largest single source of which is electricity generation. We have a firm commitment, embodied in the European Community's large combustion plants directive, to reduce sulphur emissions from existing power stations by 40 per cent. of the 1980 level by 1998. We have also adopted stringent standards for new plants.
Local Development Projects
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what local development projects have been undertaken in England ; and what are their costs.
Mr. Trippier : "Local development projects" does not, in England, refer to any identifiable group of projects.
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Methane Gas (Landfill Sites)
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will name the landfill sites identified in the waste management paper No. 27 published in January where a potential danger from methane gas has been identified.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Waste management paper No. 27 is a technical memorandum on methods for dealing with landfill gas. A site survey is presently being conducted by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in conjunction with local authorities and results will be published as soon as possible.
Water Authority Land Holdings
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements have been made for a review of water authority land holdings.
Mr. Howard : My right hon. Friend has appointed, jointly with the nine water authorities in England, the following firms of surveyors, to carry out a review of land holdings :
Anglian water authority--Jones Lang Wootton
Northumbrian water authority--Sanderson Townend and Gilbert North West water authority--Grimley J. R. Eve
Severn Trent water authority--Bernard Thorpe and Partners Southern water authority--Hillier Parker
South West water authority--Chesterton
Thames water authority--Healey and Baker and St. Quintin Wessex water authority--J. P. Sturge and Sons
Yorkshire water authority--Savills
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales has appointed the firm of Gerald Eve, jointly with the Welsh water authority. This review will help ensure that the prospectuses of the new water public limited companies contain any information about the land which is relevant to investors' decisions on whether to apply for shares.
Water plcs (Share Applications)
Mr. Leigh : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to counter fraudulent applications for shares in the new water plcs.
Mr. Howard : My right hon. Friend has appointed the firm of Price Waterhouse to advise on procedures for preventing and detecting fraudulent share applications when the water authorities are privatised later this year.
North West Water Authority
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what representations he has received about the sale of the Turton/Belmont estate by the North West water authority ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) if he will make it his policy to make consent to the North West water authority sale of land on the Turton/Belmont Estate tenanted by the Dunscar Golf Club Ltd. for less than the best price conditional on the offer to that golf club of the parcel of land of which it is tenant for a commercially acceptable price.
Mr. Howard [holding answer 10 April 1989] : I have received five letters expressing concern about the sale. The authority does not need my consent if it obtains best price.
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Otherwise, it is for the authority concerned to apply for consent to dispose of land if it believes this is required. I have received no such application from North West water in respect of the Turton/Belmont estate.House Prices
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to what was the annual rate of increase for house prices in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) Calderdale in 1988.
Mr. Trippier [holding answer 10 April 1989] : Between the last quarters of 1987 and 1988 the price of houses bought with building society mortgages rose at an annual rate of 34 per cent. for the United Kingdom as a whole. Information is not available for Calderdale but the regional index for Yorkshire and Humberside rose by 39 per cent. over the same period.
Eastbourne Waterworks Company
Mr. Gow : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment by what amount the Eastbourne Waterworks Company has increased its charges since 1 January ; which water companies have increased their charges since that date by a larger amount ; what powers he has to afford protection to the customers of the Eastbourne Waterworks Company against the price increase ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Howard [holding answer 7 April 1989] : I am writing to my hon. Friend today.
London Residuary Body
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will remove Mr. Michael Roberts from his position as a part-time member of the London residuary body ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 7 April 1989] : No.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what qualifications he took into account when appointing Mr. Michael Roberts a part-time member of the London residuary body.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 7 April 1989] : Particular account was taken of Mr. Roberts' financial expertise.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment why he has refused to accept a nomination from the Association of London Authorities to membership of the London residuary body ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 7 April 1989] : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is not aware of any recent nomination from the Association of London Authorities. He is always prepared to consider suggestions for appointments.
Greater London Council Heritage Collection
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list the items proposed by the
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London residuary body to be transferred from the Greater London council's heritage collection to the corporation of the City of London ; and if he will make a statement ;(2) if his Department has given consent to the transfer of items from the Greater London council's heritage collection to the City of London under the terms of section 67(1)(b) of the Local Government Act 1985 as amended by section 162(2)(c) of the Education Reform Act 1988 ; and if he will make a statement ;
(3) what proposals he has received from the London residuary body in respect of the Greater London council's heritage collection under the terms of section 67(1)(b) of the Local Government Act 1985 as amended ; and what decisions he has made.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 4 April 1989] : The London residuary body has proposed the substantive transfer of portraits and paintings to the Corporation of the City of London. We have made no decisions yet.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the terms of the deed of gift made between the London residuary body and the City of London in respect of items transferred from the Greater London council's heritage collection.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 4 April 1989] : The Corporation of the City of London has agreed to make items reasonably available to the public either by display or, if stored, by inspection on request. Items may also be loaned for public exhibitions.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what advice was given by his Department to the London residuary body in respect of the transfer of items from the Greater London council's heritage collection to the City of London.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 4 April 1989] : No advice was sought or given.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the terms of the loan agreement between the London residuary body and the City of London in respect of items from the Greater London council's heritage collection.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 4 April 1989] : Terms relate inter alia, to insurance, safe custody, conservation, public display, inspection of stored items, loans for public exhibition and return to the LRB in the event of a permanent transfer not being effected.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what items have been transferred from the Greater London council's heritage collection by the London residuary body to the Victoria and Albert museum.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 4 April 1989] : Three items have been given to the Victoria and Albert museum : an embroidered panel entitled "Flint" by Diana Springall, a porcelain polar bear, and a Victorian carved corner chair.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give details of each item from the Greater London council's heritage collection sold by the London residuary body at auction : and how much was realised for each item and in total.
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Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 4 April 1989] : Four items realised in all a sum of £30,195 : an antique bookcase, an antique desk and two clocks.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give details of the items transferred from the Greater London council's heritage collection by the London residuary body to (a) the London borough of Bromley and (b) the Thames Water authority ; and what price was paid for each item in total.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 4 April 1989] : Trophies and memorabilia related to Crystal palace were given to the London borough of Bromley as functional successor to the GLC for Crystal palace. A painting of the Thames barrier was given to the Thames water authority as functional successor to the GLC for the Thames barrier.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list each of the bodies which have received or are likely to receive items from the Greater London council's heritage collection since 1 April 1986.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding reply 4 April 1989] : The London borough of Bromley, the Corporation of the City of London, the London borough of Harrow, the Inner London education authority, the London fire and civil defence authority, the Thames water authority, the Victoria and Albert museum, and the purchasers of items disposed of at auction.
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