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made representations about the collection of community charges. My right hon. Friend considered all relevant information including any representations made by authorities before taking his decisions on the final caps, which were approved by the House on 12 July.Mr. Canavan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make a statement about proposed amendments to the operation of the poll tax.
Mr. Nicholls : My right hon. Friend did so on 19 July.
Mr. Richard Shepherd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his reply of 6 July, if he will publish the overall percentage increase in rate bills in 1990-91 as against 1989-90 of (a) shops, (b) factories, (c) hotels and boarding houses, (d) offices and (e) mines, in total, by economic regions, and for Walsall metropolitan borough council (i) including the effects of transitional relief and (ii) excluding the effects of transitional relief.
Mr. Nicholls : The percentage change represented by the figures given in my reply of 6 July, with the addition of similar information in respect of Walsall metropolitan borough council, is shown in the table.
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Shops Offices Factories Hotels and Boarding Mines
Houses
Region |Without |With |Without |With |Without |With |Without |With |Without |With
|transition|transition|transition|transition|transition|transition|transition|transition|transition|transition
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Northern |-14 |-4 |-36 |-9 |-49 |-11 |28 |5 |9 |4
Yorkshire and
Humberside |-3 |-3 |-27 |-8 |-37 |-9 |39 |12 |115 |17
East Midlands |-1 |0 |-22 |-6 |-35 |-9 |64 |15 |67 |14
East Anglia |31 |10 |5 |2 |-11 |-4 |64 |16 |- |-
Inner London |74 |14 |23 |9 |6 |0 |146 |20 |- |-
Outer London |26 |7 |-0 |1 |-19 |-6 |59 |17 |- |-
Rest of South East |33 |10 |30 |10 |-12 |-4 |82 |16 |39 |20
South West |34 |9 |12 |5 |-15 |-5 |36 |8 |-25 |-7
West Midlands |-14 |-4 |-23 |-7 |-47 |-10 |56 |15 |113 |20
North West |-15 |-4 |-35 |-8 |-46 |-10 |30 |10 |49 |17
England |19 |4 |12 |5 |-30 |-7 |80 |15 |74 |14
Walsall MBC |-37 |-11 |-44 |-12 |-56 |-11 |21 |7 |- |-
Note: The totals for England may not sum due to rounding.
Mr. Squire : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidance the Government have issued in respect of the treatment by charging authorities of teachers in boarding schools who occupy tied accommodation in performance of their job for community charge purposes in respect of that accommodation ; and whether this position is affected in any way by the designation given to such a teacher's own and separate property.
Mr. Nicholls : Guidance has been given to local authorities on the interpretation of sole or main residence in community charge practice note No. 9. Guidance was also given last year on the scope of local authorities' discretion to specify their own classes of standard charge property. One example given of possible additional classes was property which is empty because the owner is required to live elsewhere as a condition of his or her employment. However, we have now proposed that the Government should prescribe centrally such a class of property, limiting the maximum multiplier an authority may set to one times the personal charge. Our proposals are contained in the
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consultation paper "The Standard Community Charge and Other Matters", copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House.Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those local authorities whose expenditure per capita for the current year is less than the level of central support received by (a) Westminster and (b) Wandsworth, expressed as a per capita figure.
Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 23 July 1990] : Since most authorities' spending per capita is less than central Government support per capita for Westminster and Wandsworth the question has been answered in terms of local authorities whose expenditure per capita exceeds or is equal to the level of central Government support per capita for Westminster and Wandsworth. The authorities are as follows :
(a) Authorities whose expenditure per capita is greater than or equal to central Government support received by Westminster. City of London
Tower Hamlets
Islington
Manchester
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Kensington and ChelseaCamden
Newham
Brent
Liverpool
Westminster
Birmingham
Wandsworth
Waltham Forest
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
Knowsley
Ealing
Wolverhampton
Salford
Coventry
Sandwell
Bradford
Walsall
Wirral
Gateshead
Calderdale
Oldham
Kirklees
South Tyneside
(b) Authorities whose expenditure per capita is greater than or equal to central Government support received by Wandsworth. Bolton
Sunderland
Richmond-Upon-Thames
Sheffield
Wigan
Enfield
Tameside
Merton
Cleveland
Rotherham
Barking and Dagenham
Kingston-Upon-Thames
Trafford
Leeds
Croydon
Sefton
Bury
Harrow
Stockport
All other authorities receive less.
Mr. Madel : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total sum that would have been raised by councils in England in 1990 -91 from the community charge if Government guidelines had been followed ; what information he has as to the total sum that will be raised ; what was the total sum raised from domestic rates in England in 1989-90 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 23 July 1990] : Had authorities spent at the level of their standard spending assessments they would have raised £7.9 billion from personal and collective charges. Authorities have budgeted to receive £10.5 billion from charges. These figures exclude community charge benefits and transitional relief. Net domestic rate income in 1989-90 was £8.4 billion. It is for local authorities to justify their levels of spending to their charge payers.
Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many people in the population the Government estimate to be eligible to pay 20 per cent. of their poll tax bill ; how many such people are on the poll tax registers ; and how many he estimates will pay their 20 per cent. ;
(2) what is the estimated revenue that will be received in 1990-91 from those who are required to pay 20 per cent. of their poll tax.
Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 23 July 1990] : Some 4.5 million people are estimated to be paying 20 per cent. of the personal community charge. Community charges registration officers have a duty to maintain an accurate register of those subject to the charge. All of those liable are obliged to contribute towards the costs of local services.
No separate estimates of revenue received from such charge payers have been made.
Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list in descending order from highest to lowest the demand on the collection fund per adult as shown on the community charge bill for each borough or district council in Essex.
Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 19 July 1990] : The information is given in the table :
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Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the review of the community charge arrangements as they affect small bed-and-breakfast establishments.
Mr. Nicholls [holding answer 17 July 1990] : I refer to the statement made on 19 July by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment, Official Report, columns 1185-89.
Commons
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his written answer of 27 November 1989 to the hon. Member for Harborough (Sir J. Farr), when he proposes to introduce legislation to deal with the acknowledged deficiencies in the Commons Registration Act 1965 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State, the Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory), to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Ms. Walley) on 18 July, Official Report, column 562.
Japanese Knotweed
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has concerning the extent, environmental impact and rate of spread of Japanese knotweed ; whether he is currently funding any relevant research ; and whether he has any proposals to control its rate of spread.
Mr. Trippier : Japanese knotweed is regarded as a troublesome pest in much of Wales and parts of north-west and south-east England. I am advised that Welsh Water has conducted field trials on methods of controlling this species and that the Nature Conservancy Council takes steps to control it on sites important to wildlife. The most effective chemical treatments are picloram and glyphosate--only glyphosate should be used on sites adjacent to water. Uprooting small plants and regular cutting or mowing also help to deter the plant's growth and spread over particular sites.
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Sewerage System
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much was spent on repairs and modernisation of the sewerage system in the 1980s.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : In England between 1980-81 and 1988-89 the then regional water authorities spent £2,899 million, in November 1989 prices, on sewerage services.
Hazardous Waste
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give details of the nature of the hazardous waste shipped to England for disposal from United States military bases in Turkey, Greece, the Azores and Iceland during the last 10 years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : Records of imports of hazardous waste from United States military bases in these countries consigned under the Control of Pollution (Special Waste) Regulations 1980 are kept by the disposal authorities concerned. The Department of the Environment has no record of any such imports being notified under the Transfrontier Shipment of Hazardous Waste Regulations introduced in 1988. The Government are discussing with the United States authorities whether disposal in the United Kingdom should continue to be an option in the future.
Government Advertising
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much the Government have spent on poll tax advertisements (a) during the Bill's passage through Parliament and (b) since, on (i) television, (ii) radio, (iii) newspapers, (iv) leaflets and (v) magazines.
Mr. Chris Patten : The Government have commissioned no advertisements for the community charge, either during or since the parliamentary passage of the Local Government Finance Act 1988, to which I assume the hon. Member refers.
Since enactment, my Department has, however, produced and maintained a range of leaflets on individuals' rights and duties under the community charge system, which are available free on request ; distributed a leaflet to all households in England when most councils started to compile their registers last year, and took advertising to draw attention to the leaflet ; and mounted an information campaign earlier this year to draw people's attention to the availability of community charge benefit and transitional relief, and how to claim them. The rounded costs involved are set out in the table :
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|£'000
------------------------------------------------------------------
Television advertising |1,624
Radio advertising |282
Newpapers (including freesheets and minority language
papers) |1,563
Leaflets (including the household leaflet) |1,645
Magazines |266
In addition the cost of distributing the household leaflet was £301,000.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security has more recently commissioned newspaper advertisements publicising the increased capital limit for community charge benefit announced in the Budget and reminding people of the time limit for making backdated claims and of the income levels likely to entitle people to benefit. My right hon. Friend has also produced free leaflets and a poster on how to claim community charge benefit and on the increased capital limits for income-related benefits.
Beaches
Mrs. Wise : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list in the Official Report those bathing beaches which did reach an EEC satisfactory standard at the most recent test report, covering 1988 ;
(2) if he will list in the Official Report those bathing beaches which did not reach the EEC satisfactory standard at the most recent test report, covering 1988.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : The results for the 1988 bathing season were placed in the Library on 21 February 1989. The results for the 1989 bathing season were placed in the Library on 25 January 1990.
Local Government Expenditure
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his present estimate of the level of inflation which will apply or be assumed to be likely to apply to local government expenditure in 1991-92.
Mr. Chope : The proposals for local authority spending in 1991-92 announced by my right hon. Friend on 19 July were not based on any particular estimate of inflation, but reflected a judgment about the appropriate level of spending taking account of all relevant factors.
Building Firms (Contracts)
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what contracts were given to Messrs. Wimpeys, Mowlems, Taylor Woodrow, Tarmac, Kier Construction, Laings, Balfour Beatty and Eden Construction in excess of £1 million by value in the years 1985-86, 1987-88 and 1989.
Mr. Nicholls : The number of contracts in each of the years referred to, and their aggregate value, was :
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?
£ million
|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90
---------------------------------------------------------------
Wimpeys |3-8.9 |2-22.0 |5-22.6 |2-14.6 |4-7.8
Mowlems |9-52.3 |4-12.6 |8-16.2 |5-12.5 |4-63.9
Taylor Woodrow |- |3-10.1 |3-34.3 |- |5-65.6
Tarmac |9-82.0 |4-27.2 |4-96.8 |6-17.1 |8-67.4
Kier |4-8.4 |5-13.7 |7-19.0 |5-48.8 |5-16.1
Laings |4-14.4 |6-23.9 |10-57.7|2-95.2 |4-22.3
Balfour Beatty |7-46.1 |5-19.4 |4-20.8 |2-5.2 |8-21.7
Eden Construction Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lilley plc and no separate contracts were entered into with Eden Construction during the years referred to. Lilley plc was awarded four contracts with an aggregate value of some £5.8 million.
Small Businesses
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the achievements of (a) his policies and (b) his Department in helping small businesses over the last 12 months as against the previous 12 months ; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.
Mr. Chris Patten : The Government have continued to place a high priority on helping small businesses, through improvements to the business climate, through deregulation and other measures, and through specific programmes of support and assistance. While separate information on small businesses is not available in my Department, the major deregulation initiatives affecting all businesses were set out in the White Paper "Releasing Enterprise" (Cm 512). These included simplification and clarification of the building regulations to limit requirements to those essential for securing the health and safety of people and for the protection of the environment ; and to introduce a greater degree of flexibility.
I have also proposed a series of changes to the planning system designed to simplify procedures. In particular, specific relaxations of permitted development rights for commercial and other uses under the general development order are currently the subject of consultation. The Government have also asked that local authorities deal promptly and positively with planning proposals from small businesses.
Proposals to establish the system of integrated pollution control were also set out in the White Paper : this will be less administratively burdensome to industry than the arrangements it replaces. IPC will be given statutory force by the Environmental Protection Bill.
Habitat Protection
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the extent within the United Kingdom of the habitats listed in annex 4 to the proposal for a Council directive on the protection of natural and semi-natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora which was issued by the European Commission on 30 March ; to what extent the habitats listed in the annex are already covered by notified sites of special scientific interest ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Trippier : We are taking advice from the Nature Conservancy Council as and when necessary on technical matters relating to the proposed EC habitats directive. However, no realistic assessment of the implications for the United Kingdom of the proposed annex 4 can be made until the current confusion over annex 5 (criteria for designation) has been resolved. We continue to press the Commission for clarification on this point.
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