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Year ------------------ 1982-83 |100 1983-84 |92 1984-85 |79 1985-86 |84 1986-87 |81 1982-83 = 100
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ENVIRONMENT
Rating Reform
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the additional powers poll tax registration officers have to the current rate collection system in terms of access and examination of personal details.
Mr. Gummer : The Government have no plans to introduce a poll tax and there will be no poll tax registration officers.
World Habitat Day
Dr. Hampson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what special steps are being taken by his Department to mark World Habitat Day.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Following the United Nations General Assembly adoption, in December 1988, of a global strategy for shelter to the year 2000, the Department will be preparing regular national monitoring reports, to be presented on World Habitat Day, on progress towards implementing the global strategy.
New Towns (Sale of Assets)
Mr. William Powell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list in the Official Report the total sum realised by sale of assets by the Commission for the New Towns for each year since 1979-80.
Mr. Trippier : The sums realised by the Commission for the New Towns are as follows :
Year |£ million
-------------------------------
1979-80 |6.43
1980-81 |29.61
1981-82 |61.85
1982-83 |51.18
1983-84 |55.25
1984-85 |57.59
1985-86 |78.67
1986-87 |169.31
1987-88 |216.66
<1>1988-89 |334.00
|-------
Total |1,060.55
<1> Provisional.
Figures are gross, before
deduction of selling expenses.
Chlorofluorocarbons
Dr. Michael Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he now expects the United Kingdom to meet the Montreal protocol target of a 50 per cent. reduction in the use of chlorofluorocarbons.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Montreal protocol requires consumption of chlorofluorocarbons to be cut to 50 per cent. of 1986 levels by 1999. We expect this to be achieved within the United Kingdom by the end of this year, 10 years ahead of the protocol timetable.
Water Pollution
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will ban the discharge of raw sewage into the Bristol channel ; when he expects these
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waters will meet EC bathing water standards ; and if he will seek a clean water policy for this waterway on the part of both English and Welsh water authorities.Mr. Howard : All the English and Welsh water authorities discharging into the Bristol channel have investment programmes to improve the quality of these waters, taking account of the best available technology. It is the Government's policy that all identified bathing waters should meet the standards set in the EC directive as soon as possible.
Domestic Rates
Mr. Hanley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing, in descending order, the domestic rate in the pound set by the London boroughs for (i) 1983-84 and (ii) 1989-90, showing for each borough the political control at each date.
Mr. Gummer : The information requested is as follows :
Domestic rate poundage and political control in London 1983-84 |Poundage (P) |Control at April 1983 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Haringey |242.5 |Labour Southwark |226.5 |Labour Brent |223.5 |Labour Greenwich |209.1 |Labour Islington |204.6 |Labour Lambeth |201.5 |Labour Lewisham |197.5 |Labour Hackney |196.5 |Labour Newham |189.0 |Labour Camden |188.4 |Labour Tower Hamlets |177.5 |Labour Waltham Forest |169.5 |No control Hammersmith and Fulham |167.2 |No control Harrow |157.0 |Conservative Hounslow |155.5 |Labour Bexley |145.7 |Conservative Hillingdon |145.7 |Conservative Havering |142.0 |Conservative Richmond-upon-Thames |140.3 |No control Merton |140.0 |Conservative Barking and Dagenham |137.5 |Labour Barnet |135.0 |Conservative Kensington and Chelsea |134.4 |Conservative Ealing |133.5 |Conservative Enfield |133.0 |Conservative Wandsworth |130.0 |Conservative Sutton |130.0 |Conservative Westminster |128.6 |Conservative Redbridge |128.5 |Conservative Bromley |127.5 |Conservative Kingston-upon-Thames |122.5 |Conservative City of London |117.0 |Independent Croydon |108.5 |Conservative
1989-90 |Poundage (P) |Control at April 1989 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Haringey |363.4 |Labour Brent |344.5 |Labour Newham |297.6 |Labour Hounslow |253.4 |Labour Waltham Forest |250.8 |Labour Greenwich |247.3 |Labour Ealing |235.0 |Labour Hammersmith and Fulham |234.9 |Labour Islington |224.4 |Labour Hillingdon |223.8 |No control Hackney |218.5 |Labour Enfield |217.0 |Conservative Richmond-upon-Thames |215.0 |Liberal Camden |210.7 |Labour Lambeth |209.4 |Labour Sutton |209.0 |Liberal Lewisham |207.2 |Labour Barking and Dagenham |205.4 |Labour Kingston-upon-Thames |203.2 |Conservative Harrow |200.5 |Conservative Bexley |197.0 |Conservative Barnet |195.2 |Conservative Southwark |193.5 |Labour Havering |184.5 |No control Merton |181.1 |Conservative Croydon |165.0 |Conservative Tower Hamlets |162.0 |Liberal Bromley |161.8 |Conservative Redbridge |159.0 |Conservative Westminster |143.2 |Conservative Wandsworth |142.6 |Conservative City of London |124.9 |Independent Kensington and Chelsea |103.7 |Conservative
Parkinson Houses
Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether an acceptable repair scheme for individual semi-detached Parkinson houses is in prospect.
Mr. Trippier : PRC Homes Ltd. licence No. 050 allows for the repair of individual semi-detached Parkinson houses, but access is needed to the adjoining property to carry out works to the party wall. It is for the individual owner of the property to decide whether this is acceptable.
Homelessness
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make any changes to his review of the legislation on homelessness as a result of the report published on 8 May by the London Boroughs Association.
Mr. Trippier : The review of homelessness legislation is not yet complete : the recommendations in the London Boroughs Association's report will be taken into consideration in drawing up our conclusions.
Water Authority Employees (Discussions)
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidance has been given to (a) senior management and (b) other employees of water authorities about the application of the terms of the Financial Services Act to their right to discuss matters relating to the industry.
Mr. Howard : Detailed guidelines on the implications of the Financial Services Act 1986 have been given to water authority chairmen. Guidance to their employees is a matter for them.
Mercury (River Yare)
Mr. John Garrett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide in the Official Report the most recent sampling data for medium, mean and maximum values of mercury in fish and eels downstream of the Whitlingham sewage treatment works in the River Yare, Norfolk.
Mr. Howard : The most recent analyses of mercury in fish flesh carried out by Anglian water authority were in 1985 and 1986. The results were :
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|December 1985 |December 1986
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sample Fish |Eels |Roach and Pike
Number of Samples |28 |17
Mean |0.48 |0.43
Maximum (mg/Kg wet flesh) |1.21 |2.35
The amount of mercury entering the river has been reduced considerably in recent years, and the concentrations in the water column of the river are now regularly below the limit of detection. The improvement can be illustrated by the decline in the concentration of mercury in sediment samples :
Year |Mean (mg/Kg) --------------------------------------- 1986 |6.5 1987 |3.2 1988 |0.5
A further survey of eels and fish is planned for later this year.
Bathing Waters
Mr. John Garrett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment why, contrary to the requirements of the EEC bathing water directive 76/160, no bathing waters in the United Kingdom are designated or monitored for directive compliance.
Mr. Howard : None of the United Kingdom's inland waters meet the criteria for identification set out in article 1(2)(a) of directive 76/464/EEC.
Mr. John Garrett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many United Kingdom bathing waters passed the EEC standards for enteroviruses and salmonella in 1988 ;
(2) how many bathing waters in the United Kingdom were monitored for salmonella in 1988 ; and how many failed the EEC standard for this parameter.
Mr. Howard : This information is contained in the reports on the 1988 survey of bathing water quality, which I placed in the Library. I also refer the hon. Gentleman to the answers given on 21 February 1989, column 572, and 14 April 1989, column 682.
Integrated Development Operation Programme
Mr. Duffy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much allocated aid South Yorkshire and Humberside will lose if funds currently available under the integrated development operation programme of the European Community are shared with other parts of Yorkshire and the north midlands.
Mr. Chope : Under new Community regulations the Government are shortly to submit to the European Commission the eastern England regional conversion plan and a decision on this plan is expected from the Commission in October 1989. In the plan, the United Kingdom will be seeking adequate provision for all existing and proposed programmes. I cannot anticipate what the outcome will be.
Mr. Duffy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the estimated cost of the eastern
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England plan by the European Commission ; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which it will delay the projects already earmarked under the integrated development operation programme scheme and affect their financing.Mr. Chope : The eastern England regional conversion plan is being finalised in consultation with the plan partners for submission to the Commission. This plan will propose provision for funding the Yorkshire and Humberside steel area IDO as well as all other existing and proposed programmes and other measures which are eligible for ERDF support.
I cannot anticipate what the Commission's decision on support will be.
Pesticides
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what research the Government are sponsoring into the effects of pesticide residues on British wildlife.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : A number of Government grant-aided bodies are undertaking or have commissioned research projects on the effect of pesticide residues on British wildlife. For example, a joint Nature Conservancy Council (NCC)/Vincent Wildlife Trust project on the effects of pesticide residues in otters is being undertaken by the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (ITE) ; the sea mammal research unit of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is conducting similar research on the effects on seals, and the NCC has commissioned research from NERC on the effects of pollution on birds.
I am also advised that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is currently sponsoring a number of projects including : Methods of assessing the effects of pesticides on wildlife. Indirect effects of pesticides on wildlife.
The economic and ecological effect of pest, disease and weed control in intensively produced cereals.
The ecological and economic effects of pest, disease, weed control and fertiliser inputs in crop rotations.
Deposition, activity and fate of agrochemicals applied to crops. Invertebrate fauna of cereal fields.
Small mammal studies.
Cereal pest--predator interactions.
Spatial and temporal consequences of the effects of insecticides on the non -target invertebrate fauna of winter wheat.
In addition, pesticides residues in wildlife are monitored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food working party on pesticide residues and all reported incidents suspected of involving pesticide poisoning in England and Wales are investigated under the wildlife incident scheme.
Community Charge
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total cost of the delivery of the Government's information leaflet on the community charge ; how many such leaflets were prepared for delivery ; and what was the unit cost of production and delivery.
Mr. Gummer : The total cost of production and distribution of the information leaflet on the community charge delivered to households in England is some £950,000, including the cost of display in post offices. A total of 23 million leaflets were produced at a unit cost for production and delivery of 4.1p.
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Mr. Grocott : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the estimated cost of storing the 21 million leaflets entitled "The Community Charge (The So-called Poll Tax) : How It Will Work For You."
Mr. Gummer [holding answer 17 May 1989] : The Central Office of Information is currently in negotiation with the Post Office, on behalf of my Department, in relation to any additional costs which may have been incurred as a result of the temporary suspension of the household distribution of the community charge leaflet.
Warrington and Runcorn Development Corporation (Housing)
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much the Main Group, Warrington housing association, Manchester and District housing association and the Grosvenor housing association are being paid to manage the Warrington and Runcorn development corporation rented housing.
Mr. Trippier : The agency fee was negotiated between the development corporation and the housing associations. The size of the fee is commercially confidential information.
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much of the rent increase imposed on Warrington and Runcorn development corporation tenants will go towards paying the management costs of the housing associations involved in managing the Warrington and Runcorn development corporation rented housing.
Mr. Trippier : The rents of tenants of all the English new town development corporations have recently increased. The percentage change of the average rent has been similar in each town. There is no connection between this general increase and the particular decision of the Warrington and Runcorn corporation to change its arrangements for managing its stock.
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment on what date Warrington and Runcorn development corporation tenants will be balloted about who their future landlords will be ; and if Warrington and Runcorn development corporation will be one of the names on the ballot paper.
Mr. Trippier : I can assure tenants that they will be given the opportunity to choose their new landlord at the earliest appropriate time. The provisions in the Local Government and Housing Bill for the transfer of ownership of new town housing enable the local district council and approved landlords to be the new landlords. The development corporation, or its successor the Commission for the New Towns, will not be a choice available to tenants.
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to ensure that between now and when the ballot is held the Warrington and Runcorn development corporation tenants will not be approached by the consortium of housing associations operating in Warrington under the tenants' choice provisions of the Housing Act 1988.
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Kent Structure Plan
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will publish his proposed modifications to the second review of the structure plan for Kent.
Mr. Chope : My right hon. Friend published his proposals today. Copies of his proposals and of the report of the panel which conducted an examination in public into selected matters arising from the review have been placed in the Library.
The review sets out the county council's policies for development in Kent up to the year 2001. My right hon. Friend supports its main objective, which is to stimulate economic developments in Kent without harming the environment ; he also supports its proposals for the growth of Ashford and for increased development of Dartford. As recommended by the panel, he proposes to increase the housing provision for the county up to the year 2001 to more than 89,000 houses, including 57,000 in the 1990s.
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he took the proposed high speed rail link from the Channel tunnel to London into his consideration of the second review of the structure plan for Kent.
Mr. Chope : No. As the review was submitted before British Rail put forward its proposals for a high-speed rail link from the Channel tunnel to London, the choice of route was not a matter for this review. It is for the county council to consider the strategic implications of any decision relating to the link and whether any further alterations to the structure plan to take account of this should be put forward in the future.
Water Privatisation
Mr. Mills : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the capital structure of water plcs to be created at flotation.
Mr. Howard : Subject to the approval by Parliament of the Water Bill, the Government will put in place new capital structures appropriate for the nominated holding companies in the private sector. This will be done in the run up to flotation and implemented by extinguishing all the national loans fund debt and taking new securities which may consist of both equity and new debt. The assets of the NLF will be reduced accordingly, but the Government will have new assets in the form of securities in the holding companies for England and Wales. The capital structure of each of the holding companies will be determined in the light of the circumstances of that company. It is too soon to say what the market value of the Government's securities in each holding company will be at the time of flotation. The total value of these securities implied by the share price of the equity sold, will depend on market conditions at the time. It may or may not cover the book value of funds now invested in each business. The Government will, however, choose a capital structure calculated to ensure a proper return to the Exchequer and hence the taxpayer and that the industry is in a position fully to meet its obligations. In the meantime the Government will continue to meet the industry's requirements for capital from the national loans fund.
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Rose Theatre
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to the answer of 21 February to the hon. Member for Caithness and Sutherland (Mr. Maclennan), Official Report, column 572, if he will take steps to ensure that the Rose theatre is available for the public to see as an interpretable monument.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 12 May 1989] : I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in the House on Monday 16 May.
Leaflets
Mr. Grocott : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what method his Department uses to destroy redundant leaflets ; and at what cost.
Mr. Gummer [holding answer 17 May 1989] : Surplus copies of leaflets are sold to the paper industry for recycling.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Consultants
Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the cost to his Department of employing (a) computer consultants and (b) management consultants for each financial year from 1983 to date.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The estimated total cost of employing computer and management consultants on social security matters since 1984-85 is as follows :
Year |Computer |Management
|£ million |£ million
--------------------------------------------
1984-85 |6.589 |0.959
1985-86 |10.223 |1.722
1986-87 |11.971 |0.976
1987-88 |21.930 |1.082
1988-89 |42.099 |1.203
Expenditure up to and including the 1988-89 financial year has been from a joint health and social security budget. Where appropriate the cost of projects has been apportioned when the work involved both social security and health aspects.
Expenditure by the DHSS on computer and management consultancy in 1983-84 amounted to £3.623 million, but it is not possible to apportion this between the two Departments with any accuracy, or to differentiate between computer and management consultancy.
Funeral Payments
Mr. Turner : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many funeral payments were made in 1988-89 and at what cost ; how much of this amount has been repaid ; and how much is regarded as recoverable.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information is as follows :
Year |Number of payments|Cost |Amount recovered
|£ |£
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1988-89 |<1>40,248 |<1>19,744,925 |<1>659,930
<1>Provisional figures.
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Separate data are not held on the extent to which payments made are regarded as recoverable.Income Support and Housing Benefit
Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many women aged 70 to 75 years receive (a) income support and (b) housing benefit ; and if he will state these figures as a proportion of the total number of women aged 70 to 75 years.
Mr. Peter Lloyd The latest estimate is that there are some 249, 000 women aged 70 to 74 (inclusive) dependent on income support. This represents 20 per cent. of all women in this age group.
I regret that similar information is not available for housing benefit.
Tax Statistics
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether, pursuant to his reply given to the hon. Member for Hornchurch (Mr. Squire) of 8 May, Official Report, column 309, he will give an estimate of the distribution of households facing marginal tax/benefit withdrawal rates of more than 40 per cent. in total and in each band stated by standard region.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Estimates of those working heads of tax units facing combined marginal withdrawal rates of over 40 per cent. are available only at national level.
Transitional Payments
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what guidance is given to adjudication officers by his Department as to eligibility for transitional payments ; and what steps have been taken to ensure that adjudication officers do not treat as an increase in income the restoration of full retirement pension to pensioners who were in receipt of reduced rate pensions during their attendance at hospital.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : Part 35 of the "Adjudication Officers Guide," a copy of which is in the Library, gives extensive guidance on the legislation which applies to income support transitional protection. Adjudication officers who follow the guidance will have no difficulty in handling these cases correctly.
Transitional Housing Benefit
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many staff are (a) on the establishment and (b) in post, together with relevant gradings, at the transitional housing benefit unit, Glasgow.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The staff in post on 15 May were as follows :
|Number
---------------------------------
Grade 6 |1
Grade 7 |1
SEO |1
HEO |12
EO |59
AO |169
AA |155
Personal secretary |1
Typist |4
Messenger |4
|--
Total |407
A detailed complement for the transitional protection unit--TPU--has not been laid down, but a budget of 160 man-years has been agreed for 1989-90 and reductions in staff during the year will ensure that the allocation is not exceeded.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications have been (a) received, (b) processed and (c) outstanding for each month of transitional housing benefit.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : The information requested is given in the table showing the cumulative position on the last working day of each month :
----------------------------------------------- July 1988 |135,433|8,434 |126,999 August 1988 |267,009|69,498 |197,511 September 1988 |316,473|117,638|198,835 October 1988 |359,866|235,753|124,113 November 1988 |390,942|296,931|94,011 December 1988 |400,584|333,254|67,330 January 1989 |415,065|372,844|42,221 February 1989 |436,681|397,669|39,012 March 1989 |463,751|416,194|47,557 April 1989 |472,243|433,002|39,241 Note: The majority of cases outstanding are where the TPU is awaiting the return of inquiry forms about housing benefit details from local authorities.
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in how many cases transitional housing benefit was sent to the wrong local authority by the transitional housing benefit payments unit.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : I regret that the information requested is not available.
Family Income Supplement
Mrs. Beckett : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many decisions were made on new claims for family income supplement and family credit ; and how many awards resulted in each month since April 1987.
Mr. Peter Lloyd [holding answer 15 May 1989] : The available information for all claims is as follows :
Claims dealt with<2> Awards
Month<1> |<4>New claims|<3>Total |<4>New claims|<3>Total
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Family Income Supplement
1987
April |20,337 |28,628 |8,868 |15,433
May |25,635 |37,195 |11,978 |21,308
June |21,907 |31,837 |10,143 |17,998
July |28,065 |39,814 |13,499 |23,007
August |20,387 |28,797 |9,830 |16,473
September |19,633 |28,534 |8,843 |15,893
October |21,217 |31,074 |10,281 |18,186
November |28,143 |42,004 |13,687 |24,598
December |19,332 |27,768 |9,199 |15,854
1988
January |17,789 |27,432 |8,130 |15,619
February |21,245 |31,904 |9,132 |17,454
March |20,913 |31,516 |9,384 |17,345
April |13,327 |18,886 |6,380 |10,346
May |5,613 |7,677 |3,424 |4,928
June |2,171 |3,066 |1,258 |1,905
July |2,383 |3,208 |1,076 |1,637
August |409 |692 |308 |485
September |207 |438 |148 |275
October |108 |176 |87 |145
November )
December )
) |57 |100 |57 |100
1989 )
January )
Family Credit
1988
April ) |- |64,269 |- |40,213
May )
June |- |52,867 |- |36,145
July |- |55,647 |- |37,912
August |- |58,275 |- |40,249
September |- |34,808 |- |24,158
October |- |62,838 |- |44,944
November |- |64,150 |- |46,234
December |- |50,947 |- |35,797
1989
January |- |62,029 |- |42,712
February |- |63,908 |- |45,180
March |- |66,652 |- |47,184
April |34,671 |62,465 |18,658 |43,300
<1> The figures are for the four or five weeks ending on the last Friday of the
month.
<2> The figures for claims dealt with include awards, disallowances, renewal claims
received more than four weeks before the expiry of an existing award (and therefore
invalid) and withdrawn claims.
<3> Includes claims made to renew an existing award on its expiry.
<4> A breakdown of the family credit figures between new claims and renewal claims
is not available for the period before April 1989.
DEFENCE
UDR and TA (Vetting)
22. Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Royal Ulster Constabulary will be revising vetting arrangements for recruits to the Ulster Defence Regiment and the Territorial Army in Northern Ireland to prevent infiltration by paramilitary members.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : We seek to exclude members of paramilitary and extremist organisations from any form of service in the armed forces. The procedures for achieving this are well established and are kept under constant review.
Short Brothers
23. Mr. Mullin : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what action he is taking to ensure that defence-related confidential information acquired in Short Bros., Belfast, is not transferred to foreign powers.
24. Mr. Winnick : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures he is taking to ensure that confidential information relating to defence is not transferred from Short Brothers, Belfast, to Armscor, South Africa.
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Mr. Archie Hamilton : It is the responsibility of firms which receive classified defence contracts to meet the security requirements specified by the Ministry of Defence and to facilitate inspection of their security arrangements. Given his general responsibilities for security, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland also maintains close contacts with the firm.
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