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Authority is currently carrying out a thorough investigation into the subject ; its report will be completed this summer.Boundary Commission
Mr. Wiggin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to receive the final recommendations from the Boundary Commission over the future of county boundaries ; and when he expects to legislate on any recommended changes.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is under a statutory duty to complete its review of county boundaries by 31 March 1992. Within this overall requirement, the timetable is a matter for the commission. My right hon. Friend may not make any order within six weeks of receiving a report (to permit time for further representations) but aims to complete his consideration within, a reasonable period after that. Orders to give effect to recommendations are usually made to take effect on 1 April after my right hon. Friend reaches his decision.
Building Maintenance Contracts
Mr. Thornton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the percentage of local authority contracts for day-to-day building maintenance which (a) are currently let to private contractors and (b) were let to private contractors in 1985.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : For the 342 local authorities required to report to the Secretary of State for the financial year 1985-86, the reported value of building maintenance work let to private contractors amounted to 45 per cent. of the total expenditure on building maintenance work by those authorities.
Information for 1989-90 is not available at present. The relevant annual reports are due to be submitted by 31 October of this year. Since the implementation of the relevant provisions of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 however, the proportion of work undertaken by private contractors has increased on average by about 1 per cent. per year. Recent changes in the legislation mean that more authorities with small direct labour organisations will come within scope of the Act, which may have the effect of increasing the proportion of work reported as allocated to private contractors.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate his Department has of the number of people employed in the assessment and collection of (a) the domestic rates in 1988 -89 and (b) the community charge in 1990-91.
Mr. Chope : Information on the number of people employed on domestic rates is not separately distinguishable in the available statistics. An assessment by Price Waterhouse in June 1988 commissioned by the Department suggested local authorities in England might employ between 10,500 and 13,100 staff on the community charge in 1990-91. Actual figures are not yet known.
Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will modify the administrative
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arrangement for the community charge so that individual local authorities collect only that part of the charge which relates to their own expenditure.Mr. Chope : No. Apportioning collection to each of district, county, fire and police authorities could only increase bureaucracy and costs.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is taking action to ensure that the levying of the poll tax is ratified by the Cornish Stannary Parliament ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : No, because such action is unnecessary.
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish all poll tax figures known to his Department throughout the United Kingdom where local authorities have to date settled the level for their area ; and by how much each figure diverges from the Government's proposed level.
Mr. David Hunt : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe) on 21 February, Official Report, column 741.
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will update the answer about the relationship of rates and community charge to net household income given to the hon. Member for Leeds, West (Mr. Battle) of 12 January 1989, Official Report, column 732-34.
Mr. Chope : The information requested is not at present available.
Mr. Madel : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidelines his Department issues as to whether people who choose to pay their community charge by monthly instalments and are themselves paid at the end of each month are able to opt to pay the community charge at the end of the month ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : Advice to charging authorities on the collection of the community charge is contained in practice note No. 12, copies of which are in the Library of the House. Section 4 of that note deals with the exercise of the charging authority's discretion to enter into flexible payment arrangements for chargepayers. There is nothing to prevent charging authorities and chargepayers entering into agreements to pay in the way suggested by my hon. Friend.
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, if he will assist local government authorities in England and Wales to issue their final and authoritative accounts for community charge payments by listing his decisions for and against community charge capping for each precepting authority.
Mr. Chope : My right hon. Friend has made it clear that he will not hesitate to cap any authorities in England budgeting excessively for 1990- 91. We are now looking at the precepts authorities have issued, but it would not be right for me to speculate on which authorities would be capped were we to introduce such a scheme. Welsh authorities are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
Mr. Roger King : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment at what level of current rate payment will a
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pensioner couple residing in Birmingham be eligible for transitional protection on a community charge of £406 per adult.Mr. Chope : In a property occupied by two chargepayers the community charge transitional relief scheme provides assistance where two assumed community charges are more than £156 above the current rates bill (defined as the rateable value multiplied by the average poundage). In Birmingham the assumed community charge is £248.14. This means that in a property occupied by two chargepayers transitional relief is payable where the current rates bill is less than £340.36. If a pensioner couple has not previously paid rates or rent, transitional relief is payable on the difference between the threshold of £156 and the assumed community charge.
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, pursuant to his reply of 5 March, Official Report, column 440, he will list the small minority of authorities for which he has information about the level of personal community charges.
Mr. Chope : Over two thirds of the 366 charging authorities in England have yet to provide this information to the Department. I intend to place a summary of the information returned in the Library of the House when information has been received from all authorities.
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to amend the transitional arrangements for the community charge to take account of the actual charge set ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : The community charge transitional scheme provides protection against increases in bills which would otherwise arise as a result of the structural change from the domestic rating system to the community charge. It is not designed to protect people from changes arising from individual authorities' spending decisions for which they are accountable to their electorates. The scheme therefore uses as a reference for the calculation of relief assumed community charges which are consistent with total standard spending of £32.8 billion in 1990-91. I have no plans to amend the scheme.
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will state the 1990-91 standard spending assessment per head of population for the Kent county council.
Mr. David Hunt : The standard spending assessment for Kent county council in 1990-91 is £671 per adult.
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make the assumed personal community charge in 1990-91 for each charging authority for the purposes of the community charge transitional relief scheme the same as its standard spending assessment figure per head where this is currently higher.
Mr. David Hunt [holding answer 7 March 1990] : I have already set out the assumed community charges to be used in the transitional relief scheme in the community charge transitional relief report (England) laid before the House on 15 February.
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Planning Appeals
Mr. Beith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many letters he has received in support of the principle that appellants should meet the costs of planning appeals and how many in opposition to this proposal.
Mr. Michael Spicer : The Department's consultation paper "Efficient Planning", issued last July, included a proposal to introduce fees for planning appeals. This proposal attracted 127 responses in favour and 185 against. We are now considering all the responses to the paper.
Correspondence
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will reply to the hon. Member for Rugby and Kenilworth's letter of 25 January referring to Mr. Dennis Haylock of Rugby.
Mr. Chope : I have written to my hon. Friend today.
Water Companies
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the water companies that have hon. Members on their boards.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : This is a matter for individual companies and individual hon. Members.
Women's Refuges
Mr. Murphy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if women's refuges are exempted from collective community charge ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : Any building may be designated for the purposes of the collective community charge if, in the opinion of the registration officer, it is used wholly or mainly as the sole or main residence of individuals most of whom stay for shot periods, and it would, accordingly, be difficult to register them individually. Whether a women's refuge could be designated, therefore, would depend on whether the majority of residents were considered to have changed their sole or main residence on moving into the refuge, or whether, in most cases, they had a sole or main residence elsewhere, from which they were only temporarily absent while in the refuge. It is for individual registration officers to take decisions on designation in the light of the facts of each case.
Radioactive Waste
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Gordon (Mr. Bruce) Official Report , 28 February, column 194, what are the reasons why low-level radioactive waste from outside the nuclear industry is stored for interim periods at Harwell ; what storage charges per kilogramme of waste are made ; and whether these vary over time of store.
Mr. Trippier : Low-level radioactive waste is currently stored at Harwell as part of the commercial activities of AEA Technology. Such storage is not subject to regulation
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by this Department. Questions relating to storage costs at Harwell are matters for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to the reply to the hon. Member for Gordon (Mr. Bruce), Official Report, 28 February, column 194, whether the data received by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution on the volume of wastes accumulated are publicly available ; and what plans there are to update the 1987 United Kingdom radioactive waste inventory to which he refers.
Mr. Trippier : This Department does not maintain a central record of local accumulations of radioactive waste authorised by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960. Records of such accumulations are kept by individual operators and are subject to scrutiny by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution inspectors but are not publicly available.
The 1989 United Kingdom radioactive waste inventory is in preparation and expected to be issued in about three months. A copy will be placed in the Library.
Commercial Development, Avebury
Mr. Cormack : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the cost of the public inquiries into the proposed commercial development at Avebury ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Moynihan : The payroll cost to the Department of providing an inspector to hold a public inquiry into various appeals against planning and listed building enforcement notices served by Kennet district council and involving land at Avebury Manor was £2,094. There were also costs incurred by the Department on administration and by other public bodies that were involved in the inquiry.
City of London Heliport
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 21 December 1989, Official Report, column 437, what progress he has made in considering the implications of the planning application for the proposed City of London heliport ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Moynihan : There has been no change in my position since my answer of 21 December, Official Report, column 437. The application is being considered by the Corporation of the City of London.
Drinking Water
Sir David Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the EEC countries which add artificial fluorides to drinking water.
Mr. Trippier : I understand that fluoridation of public water supplies is permissible in a number of European Community countries and is mandatory in Ireland. It is also currently carried out in the United Kingdom and Spain.
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Benzene
Ms. Quin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any proposals to reduce the emission of benzene from industrial sources along the lines of the rules introduced by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Mr. Trippier : The major potential industrial sources of benzene are already tightly controlled by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 ; as and when more effective controls become available British industry is required to use them. In this regard, we are co-operating closely with our partners in the European Community to identify the best available techniques not entailing excessive costs to minimise benzene emissions from a number of industrial sectors.
Earth Day 1990
Sir David Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what preparations Her Majesty's Government propose to undertake to celebrate and publicise the Earth Day 1990 campaign on 22 April.
Mr. Trippier : Organisation of events relating to Earth Day in this country is being handled by a range of environmental groups, including Friends of the Earth. We welcome all genuine efforts to improve public understanding of environmental issues, but we have no plans for direct Government involvement in Earth Day events.
Water Supplies
Sir David Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what the grant payment from central Government was under the Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Acts 1944 to 1970 and the Industrial Development Act 1982 for water supplies to England in the last and current financial years.
Mr. Trippier : The amounts paid under the Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Acts in respect of water supply schemes are as follows :
1988-89 |<1>1989-90 £ |£ --------------------------------- 215,403 |84,989 <1> to 5 March 1990
The majority of schemes supported by the Department under the Industrial Development Act 1982 contain both water supply and sewerage works and it is not possible to separate out the amounts paid in respect of water supply. The total amounts paid by the Department under the Act are as follows :
1988-89 |<1>1989-90 £ |£ --------------------------------- 1,245,864 |1,713,972 <1> to 5 March 1990
Customer Services Committees
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment who is the chairman of the customer services committee for the area of the West Kent company ; and what is the address at which he can be contacted in that capacity.
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Mr. Trippier : The Director General of Water Services has announced that he has allocated the West Kent Water Company to the Southern customer services committee and has appointed Professor Judith Rees to be chairman of this committee. She can be contacted at the offices of the committee at the following address :
Fourth Floor,
30-34 Albert Embankment,
London SE1 7TL
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment why he decided not to direct the Director General of Water Services to establish customer services committees under the Water Act 1989 prior to his announcing his proposals for the K factors for the statutory water companies on 7 February.
Mr. Trippier : I have no powers to direct the director general in such matters.
Nature Conservation
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what criteria are used when deciding whether or not revocation or discontinuance orders should be made in respect of planning permissions which give rise to conflict with national policy on nature conservation ;
(2) what guidance is available to local planning authorities on the use of revocation or discontinuance powers in cases where planning permission affects important nature conservation interests.
Mr. Michael Spicer [holding answer 7 March 1990] : The Government's policy on the use of powers to revoke planning permission was given in reply to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough and Horncastle (Mr. Leigh) by my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard), then Minister for Housing and Planning, on 20 December 1989, Official Report, columns 329-30.
Guidance on the use of discontinuance orders is given in planning policy guidance note 1 (PPG1), "General Policy and Principles", a copy of which is in the Library. Discontinuance orders and opposed revocation orders require the confirmation of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.
Sites of Special Scientific Interest
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has for limiting the timescale between revised planning applications relating to planning applications previously refused and which relate to a site of special scientific interest.
Mr. Michael Spicer [holding answer 7 March 1990] : The Department's consultation paper "Efficient Planning", issued last July, included a proposal to give local planning authorities the right to refuse to determine any application on the grounds that it was made within two years following an unsuccessful appeal and there had been no material change in circumstances. The responses to the consultation paper are being considered.
Internal Audit
Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many internal auditors are employed in those departments for which he is responsible and at what
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cost ; how many internal audit reports were produced in 1989 ; how many of these were drawn to the attention of a Minister in his Department ; and what internal audit work is sub-contracted to private firms and at what cost.Mr. David Hunt [holding answer 7 March 1990] : In 1989 there were 17 internal auditors in DoE (Central) together with three other staff at a cost of £356,000. The internal audit unit produced 28 reports, none of which was drawn to the attention of Ministers. No internal audit work was sub-contracted to private firms.
During the same period there were 72 auditors in the Property Services Agency and four support staff at a cost of £1,481,000. The internal audit unit produced 253 reports, none of which was drawn to the attention of Ministers. The PSA employed consultants for 244 days at a cost of £46,000.
North Sea Dumping
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent communications he has received from his Danish counterpart concerning United Kingdom policies over the disposal of industrial toxic waste in the North sea.
Mr. Trippier [holding answer 7 March 1990] : I received a letter from the Danish Environment Minister last week. The points raised by Ms. Dybkjaer have been covered in recent Government announcements which have been conveyed to her.
EMPLOYMENT
Youth Training
Mr. Blair : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how he intends to meet the objective that, by the end of 1992, no young person should be employed in a job without training.
Mr. Nicholls : Training and enterprise councils will be able to use youth training funding to develop partnerships between local businesses, education and training providers with the aim of ensuring that no young person should be employed in a job without training.
Mr. Blair : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to ensure that by the end of 1992, two thirds of young people have achieved National Council for Vocational Qualifications level 2 and one quarter have reached National Council for Vocational Qualifications level 3.
Mr. Nicholls : The new youth training arrangements to be introduced in May offer all young people in the labour market the opportunity to achieve qualifications which at a minimum are at or equivalent to level 2 in the framework established by the National Council for Vocational Qualifications. Targets will be agreed annually for progressive increases in the skills attainment of young people.
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. Blair : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether the objectives stated in the speech by his predecessor of 6 December 1989 remain the policy of Her Majesty's Government.
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Mr. Howard : My predecessor offered a framework of objectives for the development of training in the 1990s. Progress on meeting the objectives depends primarily on action by organisations outside Government ; they cannot be specific Government targets. I will be considering with those concerned the steps that need to be taken. With falling numbers of young people and increasing international competition, training is a key priority for the 1990s. That is why we are establishing training and enterprise councils across the country to improve our training effort and our competitive position.
Bellwin Scheme
Mr. Michael Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will consider widening the current provisions of the Bellwin scheme in respect of flood damage to reimburse local authorities for essential repairs and maintenance work in addition to that required to safeguard lives ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. David Hunt : The Bellwin scheme already encompasses work to safeguard property or prevent severe inconvenience in addition to work required to safeguard lives. It is not, however, our practice to include losses which are normally insurable.
Disabled People
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what discussions he has had with his European Community counterparts about forms of assistance provided to encourage the employment of disabled people.
Mr. Eggar : Officials are in regular contact with their European counterparts in the disability field and have access to information about provision in all EC countries. In addition, my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment, has recently had informal discussions with Belgian Se cre taire d'Etat for Public Health and Disablement Policy Mr. Roger Delize e.
Training Vouchers
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what recent representations he has received about training vouchers.
Mr. Nicholls : My right hon. Friend has received various representations on this subject.
TEC (West Lancashire)
Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps are being taken to establish a training and enterprise council in west Lancashire.
Mr. Eggar : Development funding has been approved to establish a training and enterprise council in west Lancashire.
Labour Statistics
Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the rate of unemployment and the number of unfilled vacancies in Southend-on-Sea at the most recent date for which figures are available.
Mr. Eggar : In January 1990 the unemployment rate for the Southend travel-to-work area was 4.7 per cent. and the
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number of unfilled vacancies at jobcentres was 2,090. Vacancies at jobcentres do not represent the total number of vacancies in the economy. The latest research shows that nationally only about one third of vacancies are notified to jobcentres.Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are his minimum and maximum estimates of the percentage of the British work force that is engaged in more than one job and is subsequently counted twice in the employment totals.
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