House of Commons Hansard Debates for 21 Jan 1991

Local Government Manpower

Mr. Conway : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list in the Official Report the manpower statistics for Shropshire county council and Shrewsbury and Atcham borough council for 1978-79 and 1989-90.

Mr. Key : The information is as follows :--


Staffing levels at June                           

          |Full-time|Part-time|Total              

--------------------------------------------------

Shropshire County Council                         

1979<1>   |7,855    |6,341    |14,196             

1989      |7,381    |7,677    |15,058             

1990      |7,412    |8,371    |15,783             

                                                  

Shrewsbury and Atcham borough council             

1979<1>   |576      |104      |680                

1989      |635      |89       |724                

1990      |631      |87       |718                

Source: Joint Staffing Watch for England          

<1>Earliest available data.

Computers (Security)

Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what measures he is taking to ensure the security of (a) his Department's computers in-house and (b) lap-top personal computers when used by his civil servants outside his Department's offices.

Mr. Heseltine : It is not Government policy to disclose details of the protective security measures for safeguarding computers used for official purposes. To do so would be of assistance to potential attackers and therefore reduce the effectiveness of the measures. These measures are kept under review.

Rents into Mortgages

Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give details of his rents into mortgages scheme in Basildon ; if he will indicate the discount given in relation to size of mortgage ; and if he has made an assessment of the cost of implementing such a scheme across the United Kingdom at levels of take-up in 10 per cent. bands.

Mr. Yeo : The scheme is for tenants of the Commission for the New Towns at Basildon who would like to buy their home and who pay their full rent but cannot afford the right to buy. They can buy their home for a minimum initial payment of the amount they could borrow on a mortgage with repayments equivalent to their rent. This initial payment will attract discount in accordance with the right-to-buy rules ; tenants paying half the right-to-buy price will get half their right-to-buy discount.

The Commission will retain a charge over that part of the value of the property not covered by the tenant's payment and discount. The charge may be redeemed at any time, but must be redeemed if the property is sold or, normally, on the death of the purchaser. The amount needed to redeem the charge will be the appropriate proportion of the property's value at the time of redemption, normally less a discount of 20 per cent.

No proposal for a national scheme has been announced.

Landfill Sites

Mr. Lewis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the current advice given by his Department to local planning authorities on the control of new built development in the vicinity of existing and former landfill tips.

Mr. Yeo : The Government's advice to local planning authorities about planning control relating to landfill sites is set out in my Department's circular 17/89 "Landfill Sites : Development Control", issued in July 1989. This makes clear that authorities should exercise due caution in considering planning applications for development on or near such sites, and that in preparing and updating their

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development plans they should take full account of the implications of the presence of landfill sites for other types of development in the vicinity.

Household Incomes

Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is (a) the amount and (b) the proportion of net income after rebates, adjusted for family size, households paid in domestic rates in 1988-89 and pay in the community charge in 1990-91, broken down into (i) decile groups and (ii) bands of equivalent income.

Mr. Key : The information requested is not currently available. The analysis of domestic rates paid in 1988 should become avilable in the spring but the corresponding analysis of community charges paid by households over a full year will not be available until after the 1991 family expenditure survey has been processed.

Sand and Gravel

Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from county councils about the development of sand and gravel quarries in environmentally sensitive areas ; and what has been his response to such representations.

Mr. Yeo : No specific representations about this have been recently received from county councils. The Government policy and advice on mineral extraction in environmentally important areas is given in minerals planning guidance note 6 "Guidelines for Aggregates Provision in England and Wales."

Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the current forecasts for sand and gravel production for each year to the end of the century ; and what is the existing annual production.

Mr. Yeo : My Department does not produce annual forecasts for the production of sand and gravel. A long term national forecast of the demand for aggregates (which includes sand and gravel) was published in March 1989 in minerals planning guidance note 6. It is our intention to publish a revised forecast shortly.

Production of land-won sand and gravel in England and Wales in 1989 was 98.5 million tonnes.

Warwickshire County Council

Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what assessment he has made of the opportunities available to reduce the £2 million difference between Warwickshire police authority's plans for reduced spending in 1991-92 on the police service and the Department of the Environment's standard spending assessment for the police service in Warwickshire ;

(2) what assessment he has made of the opportunities available to reduce the £2.4 million difference between Warwickshire county council's plans for spending in 1991-92 on the fire and rescue service and his Department's standard spending assessment for the fire service in the county.

Mr. Key : Standard spending assessments are the Government's assessment of the appropriate amount of revenue expenditure by each local authority taking account of its physical, demographic and social

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characteristics, consistent with a standard level of service, and the Government's view of the appropriate amount of revenue expenditure for all local authorities. It is for each local authority to determine its own spending plans for particular services, bearing in mind its statutory responsibilities and the scope for greater efficiency.

Aggregates

Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he is taking to promote the development of mineral sidings in English counties to allow bulk haul of aggregates.

Mr. Yeo : The advice set out in minerals planning guidance note 6 is that rail transport can offer environmental advantages for long haul movements of aggregates. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport is able to make grants available under section 8 of the Railways Act 1974 to facilitate the transfer of aggregates traffic from road to rail.

Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he is taking to promote the exploitation of sea-based aggregates.

Mr. Yeo : The Government policy on the use of marine dredged sand and gravel is set out in minerals planning guidance note 6. This recognises that it has a very important role to play in maintaining supplies of aggregates and, as far as possible, its use should be encouraged.

For some years the Department, with the Crown Estate Office, has funded an ongoing programme of research to assess the availability of offshore sand and gravel resources around the coast of England and Wales. This will continue for some time to come.

Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will issue a circular to authorities administering building regulations supporting the use of sea-based aggregate.

Mr. Yeo : There is nothing in the building regulations to discourage the use of sea dredged aggregates provided the guidance in the British Standard BS 882 : 1983 (Specification for aggregates from natural sources for concrete) is followed.

Technical guidance about the acceptability of sea dredged aggregates in concrete was issued by the Building Research Establishment in July 1987. My Department has no plans to issue further specific guidance on this to authorities responsible for the administration of building regulations.

Mineral Sites

Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to encourage local authorities to include in their calculations in relation to landbanks mineral sites not currently being worked when planning permission for working exists.

Mr. Yeo : The advice given in minerals planning guidance note 6 is that a sufficient stock of permitted reserves--a landbank--should be maintained for all aggregate minerals. This landbank should be sufficient to provide for at least 10 years extraction unless exceptional circumstances prevail. All mineral sites with planning

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permission, regardless of whether they are in current production, should be taken into account in calculating this landbank.

Local Government Finance

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many appeals have been lodged to date against the uniform business rate in the Doncaster area.

Mr. Key : The Doncaster valuation officer had received by 31 December 1990, 4,490 proposals to alter the 1990 rating list.

Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what additional rate support grant Lambeth borough council received in 1985-86 by way of disregards in addition to those agreed before 1 April 1985 ; and how much of any additional grant related to the refusal by the council to set a rate in the first three months of the 1985-86 financial year.

Mr. Key : The categories of expenditure which were disregarded for the purpose of calculating grant abatement for 1985-86 are set out in annex VII to the "Rate Support Grant Supplementary Report (England) (No. 4) 1985- 86" (HC11) laid before the House on 19 December 1988. All these categories were determined after 1 April 1985. None is related to a delay in setting a rate. The aggregate of the amounts of disregards for Lambeth was £395,000. The effects on rate support grant cannot now be estimated without disproportionate costs.

Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Cox) on 14 January, Official Report , column 446 , if he will give the reasons for the level of revenue support grant and other items of external finance for the London borough of Wandsworth per adult as against the inner London average.

Mr. Key : Under the settlement for 1991-92 announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 17 January, Wandsworth will receive £1,192 per adult in external support compared with an inner London average of £1,397. This is made up of £711 per head in revenue support grant compared with the average for inner London boroughs of £940 reflecting through the standard spending assessments Wandsworth's social, demographic and geographical characteristics ; payments from the non-domestic rate pool at the national rate of £349 per adult ; inner London education grant at £40 per adult--the average for inner London- -to support education expenditure on responsibilities inherited from ILEA ; and £91 per adult in area protection grant--to protect charge payers from undue burdens arising from the change in the system of local government finance--which is £23 above the inner London average.

Rents

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how his Department defines an affordable rent for (a) local authority tenants, (b) private housing tenants and (c) housing association tenants.

Mr. Yeo : Housing benefit is available, generally up to the level of market rents, for those tenants who would otherwise have difficulty affording their rents. In addition,

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subsidies to local authorities and housing associations enable rents to be kept far below market rent levels in most areas.

Quarries

Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he is taking to promote the development of major quarries similar to Glensanda in Scotland where mineral can be bulk-hauled either by sea or rail.

Mr. Yeo : My Department is commissioning research which will shortly start to identify suitable locations for large scale coastal quarries and the potential contribution such quarries can make towards the demand for aggregates in the south-east of England in particular.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average length of time taken and the average cost involved of officials' time in his Department preparing ministerial briefs for oral parliamentary questions.

Mr. Heseltine : The time taken in preparing ministerial briefs for oral parliamentary questions is not routinely recorded in my Department. Estimates are however made where there is a likelihood of exceeding the disproportionate cost threshold (currently £250). However, following an inter-departmental exercise in 1972 an assessment was made of the average cost throughout all departments of answering an oral question. This assessment was based on staff time, using average rates of pay and associated costs for the grades concerned, together with a share of the cost of parliamentary sections and any substantial non-staff costs such as computer usage. This assessed figure is regularly updated and currently stands at £99.

Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what savings his Department would make were no notice given of oral questions to Ministers and they were answered without civil service time being used on briefings.

Mr. Heseltine : No savings would be made and costs would almost certainly increase significantly. If the oral question is known in advance briefing can be tightly focused, thus avoiding the cost of producing a detailed brief, covering all subjects that could possibly arise.

Sir Clifford Chetwood

Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will obtain for his departmental library a copy of the speech of Sir Clifford Chetwood, President of the Building Employers Confederation, on 4 December 1990.

Mr. Yeo : My Department has a copy.

Air Pollution

Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he has received any representations regarding (i) the adequacy of the proposed cost recovery provisions for authorisations for air pollution control and (ii) the adequacy of the preparations for implementation of part I of the Environmental Protection Act ;

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(2) what support and guidance will be given to local authorities and their officers for implementing the new controls over air pollution ;

(3) what steps he is taking to ensure that local authority officers are fully conversant with the new system of air pollution controls prior to implementation ;

(4) pursuant to his answer of 28 November 1990, Official Report, column 404, if it remains his target to issue the process specific guidance for block 1 of the local air processes under part I of the Environmental Protection Act in January 1991 and the general guidance in March 1991 ;

(5) what assessment he has made of the adequacy of progress on preparations for operating the new local authority controls for air pollution ;

(6) on what basis the level of fees for authorisations for local authority air processes and waste oil processes were determined.

Mr. Trippier : A liaison committee between Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution (HMIP) and the local authority associations was established in November 1989 to facilitate the smooth implementation and running of the new air pollution control system. It continues to meet frequently and has overseen the production of guidance notes both on the new system generally and on the processes to come under local authority control.

All the block 1 notes are now with the printers and should be published by early February. The general guidance notes remain on target for publication in March 1991. Once copy of each of the notes will be sent free of charge to each local authority and port health authority. Copies will also be on sale from HMSO.

The Department of the Environment and the Institution of Environmental Health Officers (IEHO) have jointly held a number of training courses around the country for local authorities and next month will be holding a two-day accreditation course for future trainers. The local authority unit of HMIP in Birmingham is also available for ad hoc advice. I am satisfied with what I hear from the unit and the local authority association liaison committee that adequate provision has been made to enable local authorities to prepare for the new system.

The level of fees was proposed after discussion with the local authority associations and industry on the basis of an assessment of the workload that would be incurred by local authorities in determining and enforcing authorisations. We are still considering the representations received and will in any case review the levels at the end of the first year of operation. Comments on the charging proposals were evenly split, with some local authorities claiming them to be inadequate (particularly in relation to enforcement costs) and some industrialists arguing that they were too high (particularly for waste oil burners). However, the National Society for Clean Air, the IEHO and the Association of District Councils supported them. Both industry and local authorities have commented on the preparations for implementation of the part I systems of air pollution and integrated pollution control ; to ensure a timely and orderly implementation of the latter we proposed on 9 August 1990 a revised timetable in relation to existing processes.

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Hylands Park, Chelmsford

Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the current status of negotiations on the planning application relating to Hylands park, Chelmsford.

Mr. Yeo : Negotiations on the revised proposals have not been completed.

Waste Incineration

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of waste incinerated within the United Kingdom is imported ; and what are the projected levels of such importation for the next decade.

Mr. Baldry : The Department's statistics on imports of waste relate only to hazardous waste imported under the Transfrontier Shipment of Hazardous Waste Regulations 1988. Imported hazardous waste accounted for about 5 per cent. of hazardous waste incinerated in England in 1989-90. The provision of similar information for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a matter for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland respectively. No estimate has been made of the levels of imports of hazardous waste for incineration for the next decade.

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has concerning the expansion rate of waste incineration projects and of the likely levels of air pollution resulting from such projects over the next 10 years.

Mr. Baldry : The Department is aware of 11 current proposals for new waste incinerators in England, including those for burning sewage sludge. However, these are at various stages of preparation, and there is no certainty that they will all go ahead. All new waste incinerators will be required to meet the very stringent emission standards of EC directive 89/369. Incinerators over one tonne per hour capacity will in addition require to be authorised by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution under the new integrated pollution control provisions in the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on proposals to build new incinerators for the purposes of burning toxic waste and as to how many of these devices are planned and where they are to be located.

Mr. Baldry : The Deparment is aware of proposals for five new incinerators for burning toxic waste in England, although these are all subject to planning permission. Their locations are :

Trafford Park (Greater Manchester)

Doncaster

Seal Sands (Cleveland)

Portrack (Cleveland)

Howden (Newcastle)

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what actions have been taken to investigate links between pollution emissions and medical conditions in humans and livestock arising out of the activities of the company ReChem ; (2) what research projects have been carried out (a) independently and (b) by his Department into the effects

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on human health of substances emitted from waste disposal incinerators ; and what was the cost of his Department's investigations.

Mr. Baldry : In 1984 my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland appointed an expert group to carry out an independent review of morbidity in the Bonnybridge/Denny area, in which a ReChem incinerator plant was located, under the chairmanship of Professor J. Lenihan. The review group's report was published by the Scottish Home and Health Departments in February 1985.

The Government are currently funding the independent small area health statistics unit at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to investigate possible links between pollution from industrial installations and ill-health in the local community. Specific types of installations being studied include municipal waste incinerators and waste oil and solvent incinerators. The results of the studies will be published in due course.

The cost of individual studies is not separately identified but the total cost of the small area health statistics unit is currently £448,000 per year, of which the Department contributes one third. A number of other studies have been made into levels of pollutants found in the vicinity of waste disposal incinerators, but they have not attempted to link any pollution with health. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales has recently appointed an independent adviser to specify such a study in the area surrounding the ReChem incinerator at Pontypool.

Toxic Waste

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what restrictions he plans to introduce in order to reduce the amount of imported toxic waste ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Baldry : The United Kingdom has taken the lead in the European Community and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in calling for all developed countries to become self-sufficient in disposing of their own waste. The United Kingdom is actively involved in negotiations for several international agreements which should help to reduce the amount of imported hazardous waste.

The proposed amendment to the EC framework directive on waste (75/442/EEC) agreed by the Environment Council in June 1990 refers to the objective of self-sufficiency in waste disposal both for the Community as a whole and for member states individually.

The proposed Council regulation on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community would introduce new controls on imports of hazardous waste. The draft OECD decision- recommendation on the reduction of transfrontier movements of waste includes provision for member countries to reduce transfrontier movements to the lowest possible level. Apart from these prospective international agreements the Environmental Protection Act 1990 gives the Secretary of State additional powers, should they be needed, to control imports of waste.

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the United Kingdom's position in the league table of European countries which import toxic waste ; and if he will make a statement.

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Mr. Baldry : There are at present no reliable comparable figures for imports of hazardous waste by European countries. However, figures are likely to be available in the future as a result of two prospective international agreements. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's draft decision-recommendation on the reduction of transfrontier movements of waste includes provision for member countries to co-operate in collecting and publishing data on waste imports and exports. The proposed European Council regulation on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community also includes provision for the collection and publication of information on imports and exports of waste. Imports of hazardous waste into the United Kingdom are not large : in 1989-90 they amounted to about 35,000 tonnes, less than 2 per cent. of the hazardous waste we produce ourselves. The Government are pleased that the trend is downward. Imports in 1989-90 were less than half those two years earlier.

Toxic Waste

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what quantity of waste, in the last year in which figures are available, was imported for direct landfill within the United Kingdom.

Mr. Baldry : The last year for which figures are available is 1 April 1989 to 31 March 1990 when 140 tonnes of hazardous waste were imported into England for direct landfill.

The provision of similar information for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Wales, the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland respectively.

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment in what quantities per nation annually European toxic waste has been imported by the United Kingdom for each year since 1979.

Mr. Baldry : Information on the importation of waste by country of origin into the United Kingdom is available only since the introduction of the Transfrontier Shipment of Hazardous Waste Regulations in October 1988.

The information in respect of imports of waste from European Community states through English ports for the financial years (1 April to 31 March) 1988-89 and 1989-90 is shown in the following table.


Country of origin            Waste imported (tonnes)

                            |1988-89|1989-90        

----------------------------------------------------

Belgium                     |3,961  |5,757          

Denmark                     |185    |49             

Federal Republic of Germany |0      |885            

France                      |0      |16             

Greece                      |0      |5              

Republic of Ireland         |261    |1,704          

Italy                       |273    |1,851          

Luxembourg                  |0      |17             

Netherlands                 |5,224  |10,663         

Portugal                    |0      |73             

Spain                       |0      |241

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Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what specific action he is taking to identify the nature of all waste in transit.

Mr. Baldry : The Transfrontier Shipment of Hazardous Waste Regulations 1988 control imports and exports. Under these regulations hazardous waste in transit must be accompanied by documents identifying the waste. The proposed European Council regulation on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community is expected to replace the 1988 regulations. The proposal covers all waste, except non-hazardous waste for recycling. The proposal includes provision for all waste in transit to be accompanied by identifying documents. Movements of special waste within England, Scotland and Wales are controlled under the Special Waste Regulations 1980. These regulations require that appropriate documents identify waste in transit. Under the new duty of care in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 adequate written descriptions will have to be transferred with all consignments of controlled waste (except for household waste produced in a domestic property).

Dioxin

Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he is taking to remove dioxin from the United Kingdom environment.

Mr. Baldry : The risks posed by the trace quantities of dioxins in the environment do not warrant any specific action to remove them. Dioxins in the environment tend to be absorbed onto soil particles and are gradually changed into other substances by the action of natural chemical, physical and biological processes. The Government's policy is to take action to reduce the levels of dioxins entering the environment from industrial and other sources. This will in due course result in lower levels of dioxins occurring in the environment.

Local Government

Mr. O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what reports he has received from the Boundary Commission to increase the number of parish, community or town councils ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Key : Two Local Government Boundary Commission reports before my right hon. Friend for his decision recommend the creation of new parishes. The reports concern the borough of Pendle in Lancashire, and the district of Derbyshire Dales.

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