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ENVIRONMENT
Construction Works
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement regarding progress on construction of the two-stream nuclear refitting and refuelling complex at Rosyth.
Mr. Chope : Works currently in construction are of a preparatory nature and are on programme.
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the current state of progress of Cementation Construction Ltd. in meeting acceptance, availability and safety standards for the construction of the shiplift at Faslane.
Mr. Chope : Acceptance of the shiplift depends upon stringent availability and safety standards being met to the satisfaction of the nuclear safety and quality assurance authorities at all stages of the contract. This is being done.
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the current state of progress of construction of the floating jetty at Faslane.
Mr. Chope : The timetable is very tight, but construction is still on programme to meet the requirements of Trident.
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what extensions of time have been awarded by the Property Services Agency to Cementation Construction on the contract for the shiplift at the submarine operating base at Faslane ; (2) what extensions of time have been awarded by the Property Services Agency to Tarmac Construction on the following contracts at the submarine operating base at Faslane : (a) asbestos
decontamination and (b) north and south fences ;
(3) what extensions of time have been granted by the Property Services Agency to Tarmac Construction on the contracts at RNAD Coulport for (a) jetty shore area and associated road, (b) explosives area and (c) advanced works.
Mr. Chope : Any extensions of time granted to the contractors have been in accordance with the terms and conditions of their contracts. Details of actual extensions of time are commercial and confidential.
Walkers and Climbers
Dr. Kim Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many walkers and climbers are estimated to have spent time on the paths, hillsides and crags of (a) the Brecon Beacons national park, (b) the Snowdonia national park, and (c) National Trust coastlines of Pembrokeshire and the Gower in 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990.
Mr. Roberts [holding answer 27 March 1990] : I have been asked to reply. The information requested is not collected.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate for each district council in Lancashire the levels of local income tax that would result in order to maintain the revenue raised by the community charge in 1990-91.
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Mr. Chope : The information requested is not available.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the Government, in deciding to replace rates by the poll tax, took into account the administrative cost ; and if he will publish in the Official Report the latest estimate of the cost of administering the poll tax and rates as a percentage of the revenue yield to one place of decimals.
Mr. Chope : Administrative costs were taken into account in introducing the new arrangements. The latest estimate of the cost of administering the community charge and the national non-domestic rates as a percentage of the revenue yield is 1.9 per cent.
Mr. Gould : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, in calculating Brighton's standard spending assessment, what account was taken of (a) community charge collection costs, (b) inflation and (c) the population increase between 1989-90 and 1990-91.
Mr. Chris Patten : The standard spending assessment (SSA) for Brighton was calculated in the same way as that for all other authorities. The method of calculation is set out in section 3 of the Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England), which has been approved by the House. Community charge collection costs are included in the all other services block, the calculation of which is described in part VI of annex A to the report. SSAs are scaled to the control totals shown in annex B to the report (net total standard spending). These, together with specific grants, amount to total standard spending of £32.8 billion, an increase of 11 per cent. over the equivalent figure for 1989-90. Population assumptions were based on the most recent estimates from the Registrar General for England and Wales.
Mr. Gould : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Dagenham of 22 February on the difference between Brighton council's grant-related expenditure for 1989-90 and its standard spending assessment for 1990-91, whether he will publish a table in the Official Report giving this figure for all councils.
Mr. Chris Patten : I have today placed a table in the Library showing the information requested.
Mr. Gould : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the reasons for the net reduction in real terms in Government grant paid to Brighton council.
Mr. Chris Patten : External finance to local authorities in 1990-91 is designed to enable authorities to set a community charge of about £278 (subject to the safety net) if they spend at the level of their standard spending assessments (SSAs). This is as true for Brighton as it is for all other local authorities. Previous levels of grant are not one of the factors used in calculating SSAs, and there is no reason why grant calculated under the new system should bear any specific relationship to grant under the old. What is important is the level of expenditure which will enable an authority to provide a standard level of service. It is worth noting, however, that under the new system (which is based on population rather than rateable values) Brighton has to bear a smaller percentage of the county precept, and to that extent its grant requirement is less.
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Mr. Gould : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what would Brighton's grant-related expenditure for 1989-90 have been had it been calculated on his Department's present criteria.Mr. Chris Patten : It is not possible to calculate the figure requested. Many of the necessary factors are either not available in the form required, or do not exist.
Ballykelly (Fraud)
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, further to the answer to the hon. Member for Londonderry, East of 20 March, when the possibility of a fraud squad operating at Ballykelly was brought to the notice of the Royal Ulster Constabulary ; when it began its investigations ; when he expects those investigations to be completed ; when he was informed of the police investigation ; and whether any investigations were carried out by the military police or any other military body before the Royal Ulster Constabulary was informed of possible fraud.
Mr. Chope : I have nothing to add to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member on 20 March 1990 at column 600 .
Council Housing
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the relative state of repair of council housing (a) currently and (b) in 1980.
Mr. Chope : Assessments of the state of repair of council housing currently and in 1980 are not available. Estimates provided by the quinquennial English house condition survey show 76,000 local authority and new town dwellings in serious disrepair in 1981 and 85, 000 in 1986. These figures represent 1.5 per cent. and 1.9 per cent. of the local authority and new town stock in these years.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has any plans to review the Government's new financial regime for local authority housing.
Mr. Michael Spicer : No fundamental review is necessary. We are committed however to developing certain aspects of the policy further ; we will, for example, consult on proposals to define more closely the items in the housing revenue account (HRA) and to target HRA subsidy on management and maintenance needs. We shall also follow the customary practice with a new policy of evaluating its effect over the first few years.
Grants, St. Helens
Mr. Butler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the totals of (a) urban development grant and (b) derelict land grants in the borough of St. Helens in each of the last five years.
Mr. Moynihan : No project in St. Helens had received an urban development grant (UDG) by the time of the cessation of UDG in May 1988. Under the successor to UDG, city grant, I approved a grant of £6.33 million in October 1989 for a scheme to reclaim a derelict and contaminated site for a new housing development close to the town centre. This is the largest city grant so far awarded.
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The totals of derelict land grant are as follows :
|£ million
------------------------------
1984-85 |0.455
1985-86 |0.694
1986-87 |0.007
1987-88 |0.498
1988-89 |0.405
Sewage
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report a list of those viruses that are not destroyed by passing through a sewage treatment works.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The best estimates that we have are that primary treatment removes up to 50 per cent. of viruses and that secondary treatment removes up to 99 per cent. of viruses from sewage effluent.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what provisions the new EEC draft directive on waste water contains on discharges in sewer outfalls in coastal waters within 5 km of bathing beaches.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The EC proposed municipal waste water treatment directive generally requires secondary treatment of sewage prior to discharge, but primary treatment may suffice for coastal discharges where it can be shown that there is no adverse environmental effect. These requirements are in line with my right hon. Friend's statement on sewage treatment policy on 5 March at column 452. A copy of the explanatory memorandum on the municipal waste water directive is in the Library.
Planning
Sir Gerard Vaughan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list each instance when a Secretary of State has re- examined a planning decision once granted as the result of local public opposition, other than as the result of a court decision.
Mr. Michael Spicer : Once my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has issued a decision on a planning application or appeal, his jurisdiction ends. He can re-determine a planning decision taken by himself only if that decision is quashed by the courts. The Secretary of State has powers to revoke a planning permission under section 276 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971. My rt. hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard), then Minister for Housing and Planning, set out the Government's policy on revocation in his answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Gainsborough and Horncastle (Mr. Leigh) on 20 December 1989 at column 329.
Mr Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what response his Department has received on the draft planning policy guidance consultation on (i) housing, (ii) regional guidance and structure plans and (iii) the countryside and the rural economy.
Mr. Moynihan : Several hundred responses have been received to each of these draft guidance notes. Comments are now being analysed, and final versions of the notes will be issued in the spring or early summer.
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Efficiency Scrutiny
Mr. Carrington : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the efficiency scrutiny of the control of administrative costs of sponsored bodies ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chris Patten : I am today publishing the report of this efficiency scrutiny into administrative costs of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and my Department's response to it. Copies of both documents have been placed in the Library of the House and are being sent to the NDPBs concerned.
This scrutiny was set up to look into current systems of contol over staffing and administrative costs in NDPBs, and to bring forward proposals which would enable more flexible and efficient use of administrative resources by NDPBs whilst still retaining an appropriate degree of departmental control.
The scrutiny's main finding, which the Department accepts, is that direct controls on manpower and administrative expenditure should be removed in favour of a system of strategic control, provided that the body's internal control mechanisms are sufficient to ensure that such strategic control would be effective. A single cash ceiling on administrative running costs should be introduced and rolled forward each year. This will provide NDPBs with an opportunity for more freedom to manage their own affairs and scope for greater administrative efficiency.
The action plan in the Department's response will be implemented primarily in the current round of financial management and policy reviews of NDPBs over the next three years.
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Housing Improvement Programme (Liverpool)
Mr. Loyden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what was the amount of Liverpool city council's bid for its housing improvement programme ;
(2) what was the amount of the Liverpool city council's allocation of housing improvement grant.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 27 March 1990] : If the hon. Member intended to refer to the housing investment programme, the answer is that the bid was for £155.077 million and the allocation was £33.687 million--the third highest in the country.
Voluntary Organisations, Islington
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all those voluntary organisations in the London borough of Islington serving the needs of the ethnic minority communities which have been agreed by his Department in the past four years for funding under partnership arrangements ; and if he will indicate the amount of Government contribution in each case.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 26 March 1990] : Voluntary organisations play a major role in the delivery of urban programme and partnership objectives, especially for ethnic minorities, one of the Department's target groups for urban programme support. Urban programmes are critically examined before being approved by my Department. The local authority is required both to monitor the performance and output of all approved projects and to evaluate each project in detail at least once during its lifetime.
The following is the information requested showing the full cost of support through the Islington partnership urban programme. The Government's contribution is 75 per cent. of these amounts. Of the 40 schemes listed 22 are being supported in the financial year 1989-90.
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|c|Urban programme schemes where at least 30 per cent. of the benefits of the project will go to ethnic
minority groups|c|
Name of group |1986-87 |1987-88 |1988-89 |1989-90
|£000s |£000s |£000s |£000s
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ujima Housing Association (3 projects) |100.0 |43.4 |13.0 |35.0
Multi-racial Society for Asian Children |37.0 |39.0 |39.0 |41.0
Factory Community Centre-Education |22.0 |99.0 |n/a |15.0
project
Multi-ethnic Communication-Befriending |27.5 |n/a |n/a |n/a
Project
Muslim Welfare Centre |42.0 |5.5 |6.0 |6.0
Bangladesh Womens Association |39.0 |30.5 |n/a |34.0
Union of Turkish Workers |33.0 |2.0 |n/a |n/a
Unity Association (Arts and Music |40.0 |n/a |54.0 |56.0
Project)
West Indians Community Association |40.0 |44.5 |46.0 |n/a
Turkish Education Group |45.0 |25.0 |25.0 |n/a
Project Fullemploy-New Technology |20.0 |32.0 |n/a |n/a
Project Fullemploy-Minority Business |5.8 |32.0 |n/a |n/a
Advice
Day Centre for the Greek Cypriot Elderly |67.0 |10.0 |n/a |n/a
Islington People's Rights (Independent |1.0 |n/a |n/a |21.8
Welfare Rights Agency)
Nafsiyat al atma (Inter-cultural therapy |41.5 |43.5 |n/a |n/a
centre)
Ghana Union Printing Project |13.0 |14.0 |42.0 |38.5
Community of Refugees from Vietnam |26.1 |31.0 |32.0 |n/a
Group
Anglo-Akanthou Community Association |n/a |31.5 |33.0
(plus building scheme shared with |(224.0) |(19.0)
Islington African project)
Asian Resource Centre |n/a |41.0 |n/a |n/a
Islington Muslim Association |32.0 |91.0 |5.0 |n/a
Iscinin Sesi (Turkish Community) Library |34.0 |36.0 |38.0 |n/a
Hi-Fashion Music Co-operative |35.0 |36.5 |49.0 |n/a
Patidar Samaj (National Association for |37.0 |10.5 |11.0 |n/a
the Gujerati community)
North London Bengali Association |5.7 |6.0 |16.0 |n/a
Islington Chinese Group Chinese Centre |14.5 |44.5 |26.0 |27.0
Kokayi Supplementary School (African |38.5 |56.0 |72.5 |18.0
and West Indian community)
St. Gabriels Youth Club-Endeavour |27.5 |12.0 |n/a |n/a
Project
MENCAP-Beacon Youth Club |n/a |74.0 |n/a |n/a
Mayville Youth Club Music Workshop |n/a |10.0 |11.0 |11.5
Holloway Youth Workshops Limited |n/a |88.0 |n/a |19.0
Rockinghorse Playgroup |n/a |12.0 |n/a |n/a
North London Bangladesh Welfare |13.0 |7.0 |n/a |n/a
Association
Holloway Neighbourhood Group |n/a |44.0 |49.5 |39.0
(Mayton Street Community and
Youth Centre
The Angel Project Inner City Action on |16.0 |17.0 |32.0 |33.8
Drugs
SCOPE Christian Action |4.0 |5.0 |5.5 |5.5
Anglo-Hellenic Association |n/a |20.0 |24.0 |32.5
Pharos Association (Employment |n/a |n/a |6.0 |9.0
Worker)
Islington Project-Youth Worker with |n/a |12.5 |14.0 |14.7
Greek girls
Pakistan Womens Welfare Association |21.5 |12.5 |12.0 |12.5
Newington Green Black Pensioners |n/a |4.5 |5.0 |5.0
(previously Mildmay Grove
Pensioners)
Finsbury Park Community Trust (Asian |n/a |n/a |n/a |12.0
Women's Employment Project)
|------- |------- |------- |-------
Totals |878.6 |1,122.9 |890.5 |505.8
Source: London Borough of Islington. Urban Programme Project Information forms.
Shopping Centre, Trafford Park
Mr. Churchill : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is now in a position to announce his decision in respect of the proposed regional shopping centre at Dumplington Circle, Trafford park ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Moynihan [holding answer 20 March 1990] : No. Before reaching a final decision my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State must fully consider the traffic implications of this scheme, and other retail proposals, now before him. He cannot at this stage express any view about the likely outcome.
EC Environmental Matters
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals for environmental directives he has received from Directorate General XI on (a) environmental protection and pollution, (b) consumer protection from contamination and (c) nuclear safety since 1 January.
Mr. Trippier : Proposals from the European Commission for Council directives are deposited in Parliament. The following environmental proposals have been deposited since 1 January :
4353/90 Proposals for a Council directive amending for the 11th time directive 76/769/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the member states relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations.
8065/88 Amendment to a proposal for a Council decision authorising the Commission to negotiate and
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approve on behalf of the Community certain measures as part of the implementation of international agreements of a regional nature relating to environmental protection to which the Community is a contracting party.4467/90 Proposals for a Council directive amending for the seventh time directive 67/548/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances. 4733/90 Amendment of the proposal for a Council directive concerning the protection of fresh, coastal and marine waters against pollution caused by nitrates from diffuse sources.
4704/90 Proposal for a Council directive amending directive 70/220/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the member states relating to measures to be taken against air pollution by emissions from motor vehicles.
4822/90 Proposal for a Council directive amending directive 76/464/EEC on pollution caused by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment of the Community (Article 12).
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what reports on environmental matters produced by the European Parliament he has received since 1 January ; and what responses he has made to them.
Mr. Trippier : The European Parliament has delivered opinions to the Council of Ministers on the following environmental matters since 1 January :
Proposal for a Council regulation on the establishment of the European Environment Agency and the European environment monitoring and information network.
Proposal for a Council decision amending a Council decision (85/338/EEC) in order to provide for the continuation of the Commission work programme concerning an experimental project for gathering,
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co-ordinating and ensuring the consistency of information on the state of the environment and natural resources in the Community. (CORINE)Proposal for a Council directive on the contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms.
Proposal for a Council directive on the deliberate release of genetically modified micro-organisms.
In addition, the Parliament has delivered a report on a programme of regional actions to be initiated by the Commission on the subject of the environment. (ENVIREG).
Opinions and reports delivered by the Parliament are taken into account in discussions in the Council of Ministers.
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the outcome of European Council decision 85/338/EEC, the CORINE programme on data collection on the state of the environment in the European Community ; and what support was afforded to CORINE by the United Kingdom.
Mr. Trippier : Following the European Council decision (85/338/EEC), the CORINE experimental project for gathering, co-ordinating and ensuring consistency of information on the state of the environment and natural resources in the Community was set up. The project was due to run for four years, but the Environment Council agreed on 22 March 1990 to extend it for a further two years to consolidate the progress made and to prepare for the transfer of the work to the proposed European Environment Agency. An interim report on the progress of the project was published in 1988.
United Kingdom consultants have played a leading role in developing the project, both in terms of the required computerised system and in individual topic areas. Officials from the Department of the Environment are members of a committee of national experts which oversees and steers the project.
Rainham Marshes
Dr. Thomas : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has concerning the radioactive contamination of Rainham marshes in Essex.
Mr. Trippier : Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution has investigated the suggestion that radioactive waste was disposed of in Rainham marshes in the early 1960s. Any disposals before the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 came into force on 1 December 1963 would not have required authorisation under the Act. There is no record of any subsequent authorised disposals.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Income Support
15. Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a further statement on the arrangements for income support payments to persons in residential homes.
Mr. Newton : I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Oxford, East (Mr. Smith) earlier today.
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Mr. Jack : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to review income support regulations as they affect elderly people seeking to enter nursing or rest homes.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Oxford, East (Mr. Smith) earlier today.
Residential Homes
16. Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a list showing the average proportion of private sector nursing home costs that can be met by his Department in the major cities of the United Kingdom.
Mr. Newton : As I informed the House on 28 March, I accept the need for more and better information about the true costs of running residential care and nursing homes and I hope to approve the commissioning of the necessary research in the near future. Meanwhile, I have to say that the information sought by my hon. Friend is not available.
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what specific items in his Department's budget for 1990-91 will be reduced ; and what is the saving on each, in order to fund the extra £25 million he has made available to meet increased income support limits for residential and nursing homes.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : No specific new action to make reductions is required. Review of current evidence on actual expenditure, and of the effectiveness of existing control mechanisms, shows that it will be possible to accommodate with the Department's planned total expenditure of £55.6 billion in 1990-91 the £22 million expenditure on increased limits which will not be met from the reserve.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to the reply of 26 March, Official Report, column 77, how many of his Department's staff have, since 1979, been given permission exceptionally to hold a financial interest in private residential or nursing homes ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : Authority to deal with requests for permission to take up private activities or occupations is delegated to local management. Records are not held centrally.
Benefit Fraud
17. Mr. Dickens : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the success rate of detecting those making fake claims for benefit and still working within the black economy ; how many officers are deployed nationwide on these duties ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : We do not record as a separate category the number of successful fraud investigations against claimants working in the black economy. However, I can say that in 1988-89, the total of successful social security benefit fraud investigations was 238, 255, the majority of which involved claimants who were concealing their employment. That effort produced estimated benefit savings of £343 million which reflects the commitment of
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both this Department and the Department of Employment to maintain a vigorous campaign against those who defraud the social security system.The number of full-time equivalent posts engaged in the investigation of benefit fraud in both Departments in 1988-89 was 4, 310.
For 1990-91 DSS has set an overall benefit savings target of £320 million against £280 million for the current year. DE has set an investment return target of £3.00 to £3.40 benefit savings for each £1 expended on fraud investigations.
Over-80s
18. Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he has received any recent representations about the 25p increase in the state pension for the over-80s ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Gillian Shephard : In the last 12 months 164 representations have been received on the subject of the age addition to retirement pensions for over-80s.
The Way Ahead"
19. Mr. Favell : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people will benefit from the proposals set out in "The Way Ahead".
Mr. Scott : The proposals set out in "The Way Ahead" (Cm 917) and the interim measures that we announced in October 1989 will give extra help to an estimated 850,000 people.
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