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Mr. Gummer : The Department is evaluating the results of the consultation. Responses to our proposals are still being received. We shall announce our conclusions as soon as possible.
Mr. Andrew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to ensure that following the introduction of the community charge, private landlords reduce the rents charged to tenants in respect of that element of their rents presently charged on account of the rates.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Department intends to publish a factsheet on community charge and rents inclusive of rates. This factsheet will be made widely available to landlords and tenants from a variety of sources.
Electoral Registration
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will consider legislation on other steps to encourage local authorities to request poll tax registration officers to help to improve the level of electoral registration throughout Britain as they contact members of the public ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Gummer : The Government have no plans to introduce a poll tax.
Section 29 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 empowers electoral registration officers to inspect community charges registers. This provision will ensure that the activities of community charges registration officers are of assistance to electoral registration officers in compiling electoral registers.
Quality of Life
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out in the Official Report details of those policies introduced by him since 1983 with the intention of improving the quality of life for the rural community.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Rural communities are benefiting along with urban communities from a wide range of policies introduced by the Department.
The farming and rural enterprise package launched in 1987 set out the Government's aims of protecting and enhancing the countryside while also enabling the development of a viable rural economy. These aims are achieved to a large extent through the activities of statutory bodies sponsored by the Department : the Countryside Commission, Nature Conservancy Council and Rural Development Commission.
In the planning field, the Department has given new guidance to encourage diversification of the rural economy, including advice on development involving agricultural land and the need for better standards of layout and landscaping for new housing in rural areas. The General Development Order that came into effect on 5 December 1988 extended specific planning control to proposed new livestock units and related structures such as slurry tanks within 400m of residential and other property.
A number of initiatives have also been taken to help increase the supply of low cost housing in rural areas for all sections of the community. These include :
--enabling the Housing Corporation to establish a special rural programme with a target of 1,100 units a year by 1991-92 ; --increased funding for the National Agricultural Centre Rural Trust's work in providing start-up support for rural housing associations in smaller villages ;
--changes to the planning rules to enable local authorities exceptionally to release small pockets of land, not previously designated for housing, for low cost schemes to meet the needs of local people ;
--changes to the rules governing publicly-funded shared ownership which give housing associations a pre-emption right to repurchase the property at market price once the shared owner has moved on.
Certification Officers (Educational Establishments)
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on progress made on the designation of certification officers in educational establishments in England and Wales.
Mr. Gummer : Regulations 4(1) of the Personal Community Charge (Students) Regulations 1989 (SI No. 443) provides that the certification officer as regards an educational establishment shall be the individual having responsibility for registering the enrolment of students to courses of education provided by that establishment. There is no provision and no need for certification officers to be designated.
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Housing (Rural Areas)
Mr. John Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what measures he proposes to ensure that local planning authorities encourage an adequate supply of low-cost housing in rural areas.
Mr. Chope : My right hon. Friend's reply of 3 February to the hon. Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell) explained the circumstances in which planning authorities may exceptionally wish to release sites not allocated for development in order to secure the provision of low cost housing in rural areas. That statement made clear that the case for releasing additional land for this purpose will be essentially a matter for local judgment. We have also announced a four-fold expansion in the Housing Corporation's funding programme for rural housing association schemes ; and tax changes announced in the Budget have removed uncertainties about the position of landowners who wish to make land available for such schemes. Taken together, these changes will, I believe, provide a real stimulus to the supply of low cost housing in rural areas.
Rate Precepts
Mr. Andrew Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will publish a league table of the 10 counties in England with the highest rate precepts from 1989-90.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The information requested is available on page 9 of the report on rates and expenditure of local authorities in England 1989-90, which was placed in the Library of the House earlier this month.
Dogs (Registration)
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many representations he has received in the current year on the matter of dog registration schemes ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : In the current year a number of letters have been received from hon. Members and others. The RSPCA also arranged for postcards to be sent to us.
Greater Manchester Residuary Body
Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the Minister for Local Government will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Stretford dated 19 January concerning his response to inquiries concerning the Greater Manchester residuary body.
Mr. Gummer : I will write to the hon. Member.
Crown Suppliers
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) which accommodation occupied by the Crown Suppliers will be available for sale, distinguishing between freehold and leasehold when invitations to purchase the Crown Suppliers are issued ; what is the latest assessment of their market value ; and which accommodation he intends to insist must be bought as a condition of sale ; (2) what furniture and furnishing designs owned by the Crown Suppliers will be available for sale when invitations
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to purchase the Crown Suppliers are issued ; and what the total sales of goods manufactured to these designs amounted to in each of the last two years.Mr. Chope : The detailed contents of the invitation to purchase are being considered.
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether Wellington house, the headquarters of the Crown Suppliers, is suffering from sick building syndrome.
Mr. Chope : Wellington house is one of a number of buildings which have been the subject of a study by the occupational chest unit of Wythenshawe hospital, Manchester, into the incidence of sickness among staff working in office buildings of different types. The final report and conclusions are awaited.
Battersea Power Station
Mr. Grylls : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when listed-building consent was given to the development of Battersea power station ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Listed building consent for the main scheme was given by Wandsworth borough council in June 1986. Listed building consents for minor works have been given subsequently.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Plants and Seeds
Mr. Gill : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what conclusions the Government have reached about the
recommendations in the report on the plant variety testing and seed certification systems in the United Kingdom issued in April 1988.
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Mr. MacGregor : My right hon. Friends and I have examined the recommendations in the light of the views expressed by individuals and organisations. We have decided that work on implementing the majority of the recommendations should now proceed and that a few should be deferred.I am placing a document in the Library of the House giving details of what the Government have decided on each recommendation.
Equal Opportunities
Mr. Janner : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many and what percentage of officers in grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, respectively, and overall in his Ministry are (a) women and (b) members of ethnic minorities.
Mr. Ryder : The information on women follows. Ethnic minority figures are based on replies from staff who have completed an ethnic origin questionnaire.
By Grade and Grade |Number of Women |Women as percentage of Equivalent |total staff -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 |- |- 2 |- |- 3 |1 |4 4 |- |- 5 |9 |8 6 |8 |8 7 |104 |11 All staff |4,445 |43
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By grade and grade |Total staff |Total respondents |Ethnic minority |Ethnic minority
equivalent |respondents |respondents as
|percentage of total
|respondents
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 |1 |1 |- |-
2 |5 |5 |- |-
3 |24 |20 |- |-
4 |16 |14 |- |-
5 |111 |96 |1 |1.04
6 |103 |88 |1 |1.13
7 |942 |776 |7 |0.90
All staff |10,331 |7,786 |295 |3.78
Mr. Janner : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when his Ministry last conducted a survey of the ethnic origin of its employees ; when it next plans to do so ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Ryder : My Department carried out ethnic origin surveys of all permanent staff-in-post during 1983-87 and all new entrants to my Department are asked to complete ethnic origin questionnaires when they apply for vacancies. We are also doing a follow-up survey of staff who have not provided information on their ethnic origin. For the latest available figures from the surveys I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him today in reply to another question.
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Mr. Janner : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he has taken to recruit members of ethnic minorities in top grades of employment at his Ministry.
Mr. Ryder : Recruitment of executive officers, equivalent grades, and above in my Department is normally done by the Civil Service Commission. My Department has assisted in the past with the Commission's campaigns to attract black and Asian applicants at the higher levels, and will continue to do so.
Pig Herds
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the average size of pig herd and the total number of herds for the years (a) 1960, (b) 1970, (c) 1980, (d) 1985, (e) 1986, (f) 1987 and (g) 1988.
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Mr. Ryder : The information requested is given in the table. The data covers England and Wales and is taken from the annual agricultural census.
|Number of holdings with|Number of pigs |Average number per
|pigs |holding
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1960 |110,664 |4,336,669 |39
1970 |59,853 |6,408,391 |107
1980 |22,973 |6,607,619 |288
1985 |17,961 |6,792,121 |378
1986 |17,446 |6,868,512 |394
1987 |16,865 |6,871,733 |407
1988 |15,960 |6,857,451 |430
Note:
The comparison between the 1970 and 1980 figures has been slightly affected by changes in the size threshold which
excluded very small holdings from the annual census from 1980 onwards.
Dairy Herds
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the average size of dairy herd and the total number of herds for the years (a) 1960, (b) 1970, (c) 1980, (d) 1985, (e) 1986, (f) 1987 and (g) 1988.
Mr. Ryder : The information requested is given in the table. The data cover England and Wales and are taken from the annual agricultural census.
|Number of holdings with|Number of dairy cows |Average number per
|dairy cows |holding
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1960 |140,109 |2,594,809 |19
1970 |84,891 |2,714,463 |32
1980 |49,118 |2,672,019 |54
1985 |42,351 |2,580,098 |61
1986 |41,055 |2,573,222 |63
1987 |39,188 |2,486,404 |63
1988 |37,524 |2,378,862 |63
Note:
The comparison between the 1970 and 1980 figures has been slightly affected by changes in the size threshold which
excluded very small holdings from the annual census from 1980 onwards.
Environmentally Sensitive Areas
Mr. John Greenway : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give details of the total land area designated as environmentally sensitive areas.
Mr. Ryder : The total area of land designated as environmentally sensitive areas in the United Kingdom is approximately 790,000 hectares of which 333,000 hectares are in England.
Horses
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects to introduce the Farm Animal Welfare Council's recommended code of practice for horse markets and sales ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Donald Thompson : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave him on 12 January at column 724 .
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