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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 19 February 1990
ENVIRONMENT
Competitive Tendering
Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what savings have been made across local government as a whole as a result of subjecting local authority contracts to competitive tendering.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : No precise figures are available at present. However, the Audit Commission's occasional paper "Preparing for Compulsory Competition" pub-lished in January last year indicated that local authorities can obtain savings of 20 per cent. or more in contract price, irrespective of whether work has been won by the private sector or by an authority's own work force.
PSA and Crown Suppliers
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the progress of financial decisions relating to the privatisation of the Property Services Agency and the Crown Suppliers.
Mr. Chope : Financial decisions in relation to the Crown Suppliers privatisation are expected to be taken in the first half of this year. It is too early to say when those in relation to PSA privatisation will be taken.
Global Warming
Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what the Government are doing through their various agencies to combat global warming ; and what is the total sum spent on this in the current year.
Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action his Department is taking, through its various agencies, to combat global warming ; and what is the total to be spent on this in the current year.
Mr. Trippier : Among many initiatives, the Government actively support the work of the inter-governmental panel on climate change and are leading efforts to gain support for an international framework convention on climate change. We have also taken the lead in international initiatives to phase out the production and consumption of CFCs which are important greenhouse gases. We have amended the Building Regulations to improve the energy efficiency of new houses and announced the establishment of a new centre for the prediction of climate change. In 1990-91 my Department expects to spend over £6 million on climate change-related research and we are contributing £750,000 to the work of the inter-governmental panel on climate change. Other Departments also have important programmes on global warming, for example, the Overseas Development
Administration's support for projects to conserve the tropical forests and the research funded by the Department of Education and Science through the research councils.
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Local Government Finance
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list in order of percentage loss or gain the grant- related expenditure for the standard spending assessments allocations for all English districts in 1989-90 and 1990-91 ; and if he will list for each the proportion of the population of each authority living in urban areas.
Mr. Chope : I have today placed in the Library a table showing the information requested on grant-related expenditure assessments and standard spending assessments for all non-metropolitan districts in England. I cannot provide information on the proportion of the population living in urban areas as there is no standard way of classifying such areas.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report the rate proposed for 1990-91 and the average rate per head payable in the current year for Castle Point district council.
Mr. Chope : I estimate that the average domestic rate bill per adult for Castle Point is about £318 in 1989-90. I have no firm information on the proposed community charge for 1990-91.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report the rate proposed for 1990-91 and the average rate per head payable in the current year in Southend-on-Sea.
Mr. Chope : I estimate that the average domestic rate bill per adult for Southend-on-Sea is about £363 in 1989-90. I have no firm information on the proposed community charge for 1990-91.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report the rate proposed for 1990-91 and the average rate per head payable in the current year for Wealden district council.
Mr. Chope : I estimate that the average domestic rate bill per adult for Wealden is about £292 in 1989-90. I have no firm information on the proposed community charge for 1990-91.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what considerations informed the decision to treat business and domestic property in a different manner in respect of rates.
Mr. Chope : I refer the hon. Member to our Green Paper "Paying for Local Government" (Cmnd. 9714) published in January 1986, and our explanations during parliamentary consideration of what is now the Local Government Finance Act 1988.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will provide figures for inner London and outer London of the amount of poll tax payable in 1990-91 per adult as against rates, together with the contribution made by the safety net.
Mr. Chope : I have no information on 1990-91 community charges payable in inner or outer London. Tables showing the information requested but based on assumed community charges were placed in the Library on 11 January.
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Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how, with reference to paragraph 3.36 of his Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England), the figure of £59.11 is arrived at ; how poll tax payers and council officials can check its validity ; and what effect the choice of this figure has on the standard spending assessment arrived at for Grimsby.Mr. Chope : The figure referred to in the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England) was determined by my right hon. Friend after full consultation with local authority representatives. It accounts for £82 per adult of Great Grimsby's SSA.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how, with reference to paragraph 3.40 of his Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England), the figure of £5.56 is arrived at ; how poll tax payers and council officials may check its validity ; and what effect the choice of this figure has on the SSA arrived at for Grimsby ;
(2) how, with reference to paragraph 3.40 of his Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England), the figure of £9.56 is arrived at ; how poll tax payers and council officials may check its validity ; and what effect the choice of this figure has on the SSA arrived at for Grimsby ;
(3) how, with reference to paragraph 3.40 of his Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England), the figure of £4.35 is arrived at ; how poll tax payers and council officials may check its validity ; and what effect the choice of this figure has on the SSA arrived at for Grimsby.
Mr. Chope : The figures referred to in the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England) were determined by my right hon. Friend after full consultation with local authority representatives. They are used to calculate the other services SSA element for county councils. Following this calculation, there is a transfer of £1 per adult to all districts in the county of Humberside, including Great Grimsby.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the total poll tax figure appropriate to Grimsby ; and what account he has taken of (a) the kind of service, (b) the social and economic problems of the area, (c) the state of housing stock and (d) levels of unemployment, poverty, single-parent families and homelessness in arriving at it.
Mr. Chope : All charging authorities, including Grimsby, could set a community charge of £278 (before the safety net and special grants) in 1990-91 if they and the authorities precepting on the collection fund in their area spent at the level of their standard spending assessments. The assessment for each notifiable authority takes account of the services provided by that authority as set out in the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England). That report also sets out the indicators used to calculate SSAs, such as social conditions (including housing conditions), low incomes and single-parent families, and the weight given to each.
Mr. Fraser : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much Lambeth council will receive from the uniform business rate, revenue grant and other non-poll tax sources of revenue for 1990-91.
Mr. Chope : Lambeth charge payers will benefit from revenue support grant, business rates and inner London
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education grant paid to help meet the cost of services provided by Lambeth, the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority and the Metropolitan police. In 1990-91 these will amount to £174,276,383, £50,465,924 and £9,475,207, respectively.Lambeth council will also receive specific grants from the Government to help meet specific expenditure. Lambeth can raise revenue through its own fees and charges for services provided. Some charge payers in Lambeth will pay a reduced community charge as a result of community charge benefit and transitional relief, which will be paid for by the Government.
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received in the past 12 months from officials or members of Suffolk county council relating to the size of Government grant for 1990-91 ; and what inquiries his Department has made to date into the spending plans of Suffolk for 1990-91.
Mr. Chope : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State received two written representations from members of Suffolk county council ; one in July 1989 concerning total standard spending, grant distribution and the safety net ; the other in November 1989 concerning Suffolk's standard spending assessment, new duties of local authorities and the safety net. In addition, I met my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney (Mr. Porter) to discuss Suffolk's representations.
No inquiries have been made specifically to Suffolk county council about its spending plans for 1990-91, but all authorities have been requested to supply to the Department details of their budgets within seven days of their budget decision.
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a breakdown of his figure of £176.40 per head for Tonbridge and Malling, given in his reply to the right hon. Member for Tonbridge and Malling on 30 January, Official Report, column 178, into its main components.
Mr. David Hunt : It is not possible to provide the breakdown requested. There are no components of revenue support grant. Grant is unhypothecated and is paid to receiving authorities in support of the revenue expenditure of authorities in their area.
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Durham, North-West on 5 February, Official Report, columns 431-32, what is the corresponding amount and proportion of the education component of grant-related expenditure assessments 1989-90 for each authority which derives from the operation of factors relating to the payment of London weighting and other cost differences between London and surrounding areas and the rest of the United Kingdom.
Mr. Chope : The information requested is shown in the table :
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Amount and proportion of the 1989-90 education grant
related expenditure assessment (adjusted for changes in
function between 1989-90 and 1990-91) deriving from the
London based area cost adjustment factor
Authority |Amount of education |Percentage of
|GRE derived from |education GRE
|the area cost |derived from the
|adjustment in |area cost adjustment
|£ millions
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
City of London |0.054 |9.1
Camden |3.455 |9.1
Greenwich |5.386 |9.1
Hackney |5.976 |9.1
Hammersmith and
Fulham |2.986 |9.1
Islington |4.204 |9.1
Kensington and
Chelsea |1.950 |9.1
Lambeth |6.907 |9.1
Lewisham |5.632 |9.1
Southwark |5.577 |9.1
Tower Hamlets |5.978 |9.1
Wandsworth |5.510 |9.1
Westminster |2.802 |9.1
Barking and
Dagenham |3.683 |8.6
Barnet |4.767 |6.3
Bexley |3.986 |6.3
Brent |7.617 |8.6
Bromley |4.613 |6.3
Croydon |5.591 |6.3
Ealing |7.373 |8.6
Enfield |4.925 |6.3
Haringey |5.332 |8.6
Harrow |3.479 |6.3
Havering |4.294 |6.3
Hillingdon |3.958 |6.3
Hounslow |3.761 |6.3
Kingston upon
Thames |2.106 |6.3
Merton |3.538 |8.6
Newham |7.011 |8.6
Redbridge |4.000 |6.3
Richmond upon
Thames |2.020 |6.3
Sutton |2.777 |6.3
Waltham Forest |4.232 |6.3
Berkshire |2.584 |1.2
Buckinghamshire |1.245 |0.7
Essex |4.251 |1.0
Hertfordshire |5.785 |2.1
Kent |1.366 |0.3
Surrey |6.239 |2.6
West Sussex |0.734 |0.4
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will set out a table showing for each year since 1979 the direct total grants made to Waveney district council in (a) cash terms, (b) constant price terms and (c) cash terms per head of population ;
(2) if he will set out a table showing for each year since 1981 the direct total grants made to Suffolk county council in (a) cash terms, (b) constant price terms and (c) cash terms per head of population.
Mr. Chope : The information is as follows :
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Direct Revenue Grants-<1>Waveney
|Cash Terms<1> |Constant Price |Cash Terms
|(£ million) |Terms 1981-82<2>|per Head of
|(£ million) |Population £
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1981-82 |3.308 |3.308 |33
1982-83 |3.611 |3.368 |36
1983-84 |3.947 |3.517 |39
1984-85 |4.298 |3.649 |42
1985-86 |4.416 |3.570 |43
1986-87 |4.862 |3.789 |46
1987-88 |5.216 |3.860 |49
1988-89 |5.382 |3.714 |51
1989-90 |5.815 |3.750 |55
<1> Excluding Domestic Rate Relief Grant.
<2> Using GDP Deflator.
Direct Revenue Grants-- Suffolk
Cash Terms (£ million) Constant Price Terms 1981-82 (£ million) Cash Terms per Head of Population £
1981-82 90.036 90.036 150
1982-83 93.920 87.599 155
1983-84 94.948 84.608 155
1984-85 97.534 82.797 158
1985-86 90.914 73.240 146
1986-87 92.285 71.927 147
1987-88 98.124 72.622 155
1988-89 104.403 72.049 163
1989-90 99.397 64.101 156
Excluding Domestic Rate Relief Grant.
Using GDP Deflator.
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will set out a table showing for each year since 1979 the expenditure of Waveney district council in (a) cash terms, (b) constant price terms and (c) cash terms per head of population ;
(2) if he will set out a table showing for each year since 1981 the expenditure of Suffolk county council in (a) cash terms, (b) constant price terms and (c) cash terms per head of population.
Mr. Chope : The information is as follows :
Net current expenditure-Waveney
|Cash terms |Real terms |Cash terms
|1981-82 |per head<2>
|prices<1>
|£ million |£ million |£
------------------------------------------------------------
1981-82 |3.360 |3.360 |34
1982-83 |3.815 |3.558 |38
1983-84 |4.299 |3.831 |42
1984-85 |4.437 |3.767 |43
1985-86 |4.820 |3.883 |47
1986-87 |5.204 |4.056 |50
1987-88 |5.524 |4.088 |52
1988-89 |5.905 |4.075 |55
1989-90 |6.694 |4.316 |63
Net current expenditure-Suffolk
|Cash terms |Real terms |Cash terms
|1981-82 |per head<2>
|prices<1>
|£ million |£ million |£
------------------------------------------------------------
1981-82 |161.042 |161.042 |268
1982-83 |175.258 |163.463 |289
1983-84 |186.098 |165.832 |304
1984-85 |195.393 |165.869 |317
1985-86 |205.461 |165.519 |329
1986-87 |223.867 |174.482 |356
1987-88 |243.835 |180.462 |384
1988-89 |266.449 |183.876 |417
1989-90 |280.023 |180.587 |438
<1> Using the gross domestic product deflator to convert
from cash values to constant prices.
<2> Population figures used to derive per capita values are
latest available Office of Population Censuses and Surveys
mid year estimates of total population.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the standard spending assessment totals for 1990-91 for each service within (a) the district other services block and (b) the county other services block for the London borough of Westminster ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : Neither the SSA element for the district other services block nor the SSA element for the county other services block is broken down between sub-services within the element. The services covered by each element are listed in annex D to the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England). The figures for the two elements for Westminster are :
|£ million
--------------------------------------------
District level services |51.583
County level services |14.819
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether his plans for regulations concerning the disclosure of anonymous poll tax data will give community charges registration offices the option of whether to disclose data ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : The limited amount of personal information that may be disclosed and the circumstances in which such information may not be disclosed are prescribed in part II of the Community Charges (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1989.
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) on 12 February, Official Report, column 56, if he will make an estimate of the monetary value of the shift in the burden of business rates from the north to (a) the London boroughs and (b) the London borough of Hillingdon.
Mr. Chope : I estimate that as a result of the revaluation and move to a uniform poundage, the non-domestic rate burden in the north will reduce substantially. The table below shows the aggregate reduction at 1989 -90 prices in rate bills in the northern regions and the corresponding increases in London. The figures make no allowance for the effect of the transitional arrangements and are based on the rating lists deposited on 20 December 1989.
Change in non-domestic rate burden
|£ million
----------------------------------------------------
North West region |290
Northern region |140
Yorkshire and Humberside region |150
Inner London authorities |610
Outer London boroughs |20
On the same basis, I estimate that non-domestic ratepayers in Hillingdon will face increases of about £13 million.
Mr. Knapman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place in the Library a revised
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version of table 5 in the analysis of the effect of the new business rating system published by his Department on 20 December 1989, showing changes in rate bills by English region for the property of private business and nationalised industries.Mr. Chope : The analysis to which my hon. Friend refers, a copy of which is in the Library (Deposited Paper NS 5522), relates to properties occupied by private businesses and nationalised industries. Table 5 of the paper, unlike the other tables, inadvertently included property occupied by local authorities. I am therefore, as my hon. Friend asks, placing in the Library a revised table covering the property of private businesses and nationalised industries only.
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what reply is being sent to the letter to the Minister for Local Government and Inner Cities of 29 January on Manchester and the poll tax from the leader of Manchester city council.
Mr. David Hunt [holding answer 13 February 1990] : I have replied to the letter of 29 January from the leader of Manchester city council making clear that high community charges in Manchester would not be the result of our settlement but due solely to the council's own budget decisions. I have pointed out to Mr. Stringer that a community charge of £700 plus which he has argued would be needed to keep services in Manchester running at this year's level implies expenditure in 1990-91 more than 40 per cent. higher than the comparable amount for this year. Even charges of £450 or a little below would imply increases in spending approaching some 20 per cent. Under the settlement Manchester receives an increase in SSA over GRE of 13.3 per cent.--the highest increase for all metropolitan districts.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will issue guidance to those responsible for administering the community charge in Bradford and elsewhere that application forms for rebates should be made available in bulk to local advice agencies, including citizens advice bureaux and law centres.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I have been asked to reply.
Local authorities have statutory responsibility for the administration of the community charge benefit. It is for each authority to decide where claim forms should be made available.
Local Government Staffing
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out a table showing for each year since 1979 the (a) full- time, (b) part-time and (c) total staffing levels of Waveney district council.
Mr. Chope : The information is as follows :
Waveney district council: staffing levels at June
|Full-Time|Part-Time|Total
--------------------------------------------------
1979 |819 |79 |898
1980 |746 |74 |820
1981 |742 |86 |828
1982 |725 |74 |799
1983 |750 |103 |853
1984 |722 |87 |809
1985 |743 |110 |853
1986 |773 |108 |881
1987 |778 |115 |893
1988 |789 |113 |902
1989 |781 |129 |910
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out a table showing for each year since 1981 (a) full-time, (b) part-time and (c) total staffing levels of Suffolk county council.
Mr. Chope : The information is as follows :
Suffolk County Council: Staffing Levels at June
|Full-time|Part-time|Total
--------------------------------------------------
1981 |11,625 |9,868 |21,493
1982 |11,479 |9,504 |20,983
1983 |11,595 |9,929 |21,524
1984 |11,521 |10,169 |21,690
1985 |11,463 |10,371 |21,834
1986 |11,394 |10,954 |22,348
1987 |11,463 |11,598 |23,061
1988 |11,397 |12,338 |23,735
1989 |11,207 |12,017 |23,224
Sites of Special Scientific Interest
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his policy on the payment of grants to owners of sites of special scientific interest for the purposes of (a) preventing damage to, and (b) enhancing, the nature conservation interest of the land.
Mr. Trippier : The Government encourage the Nature Conservancy Council to use the powers set out in section 15 of the Countryside Act 1968 to protect and enhance the nature conservation interest of sites of special scientific interest and its powers to assist financially any person to carry out any project which is conducive to nature conservation interests.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the current statutory seaward limit of sites of special scientific interest in tidal waters.
Mr. Trippier : I will write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to increase the sentences and penalties available to magistrates courts under part 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in line with the proposals contained in the recent White Paper on criminal justice.
Mr. Trippier : There are at present no plans to do so. The level of fine on summary conviction for offences under part 1 of the Act against the most vulnerable species is set out at the current statutory maximum.
Large Combustion Plants
Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the targets set by the European Community directive on large combustion plants.
Mr. Trippier : The Government have agreed to the European Community directive on large combustion plants. It commits us to reducing sulphur dioxide
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emissions from existing plants by 20 per cent. by 1993, 40 per cent. by 1998 and 60 per cent. by 2003 from their 1980 base line, and emissions of nitrogen oxides by 15 per cent. by 1993 and 30 per cent. by 1998, as well as setting stringent emissions standards for new plants. My Department issued a consultation paper on 31 August 1989 explaining in detail our proposals for implementing the directive. A copy of the paper is in the Library of the House.Gipsies
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment for what reasons he issued a direction in November 1989 under section 9 of the Caravan Sites Act 1968 to Hertfordshire county council requiring it to provide sites for a further 110 caravans for gipsies residing in or resorting to the county ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment directed Hertfordshire, in November 1988, because of the county council's lack of progress in making adequate site provision for those gipsies residing in, or resorting to, its area.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has written to local authorities drawing their attention to the direction issued to Hertfordshire county council under section 9 of the Caravan Sites Act 1968.
Mr. Chope : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment has written to other poor-performing local authorities drawing their attention to the direction issued to Hertfordshire, and has since directed Surrey county council in similar terms.
Wild Birds
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will publish such records as are kept of the numbers of protected wild birds destroyed annually by those so authorised by him ;
(2) to what extent he authorises the destruction of wild birds from time to time that are otherwise protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act ; to whom such authorisations are granted ; and why the exemptions are made.
Mr. Trippier : Details of the numbers of birds killed under licences granted under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, where known, are included in the Government's annual reports to the European Commission of derogations made under the EEC directive on the conservation of wild birds. Copies of the reports are available in the Library and are circulated to interested bodies.
Licences to kill wild birds are granted to relevant individuals and authorities principally to preserve public health or public or air safety, to prevent the spread of disease, or to prevent serious damage to livestock, foodstuffs for livestock, crops, vegetables, fruit, growing timber or fisheries.
Beaches
Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the Government's current plans to deal with the pollution of Britain's beaches.
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Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : There are investment programmes totalling £1.4 billion at November 1989 prices to improve bathing water quality. It is expected that 95 per cent. of bathing waters will comply with EEC standards by the mid-1990s, and the full compliance programmes should be completed within 10 years.
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