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Mr. Key : We propose to introduce a scheme under section 146 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 to compensate local authorities for the income forgone where service personnel normally resident in their area have been posted to the Gulf.
Under the proposed scheme, a special grant will be paid to local authorities in respect of service personnel who have ceased to be liable for the personal community charge because they have been posted to the Gulf. The grant will be paid if the income lost to the authority amounts to more than 0.25 per cent. of the total income from personal community charges for the period. Grant will be payable on the excess above this threshold, but will assume that the charge set by the authority was equal to the community charge for standard spending. Grant will be paid for the period beginning on 1 January 1991.
It will not be possible to calculate the full amount of the grant, or the precise amounts to be paid to individual charging authorities, until the duration of the absences of service personnel is known. When those details are available a report will be laid before the House setting out the purpose of the grant, the amount to be paid to each authority and an explanation of how the amounts were calculated.
The Department of the Environment is writing today to notify local authorities of the proposed scheme. The local authority associations are being invited to join in urgent discussions on the arrangements in detail. Local authorities should take these proposals into account when drawing up their budgets and setting their community charges for 1991-92.
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My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales and for Scotland intend to make similar arrangements for local authorities in Wales and Scotland.Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many cases are currently before the courts as a result of failure to pay the community charge ; and if he will estimate the costs involved in pursuing those who fail to pay their community charge.
Mr. Key : Information on community charge cases currently before the courts is not held centrally. Figures are not available for the costs of community charge enforcement.
Rent Arrears
Mr. William Powell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the number of public sector tenants in arrears with their rent in each district of Northamptonshire ; and if he will give it as a percentage of all tenants in each authority.
Mr. Yeo : The available information about the numbers of local authority tenants in arrears with their rent in Northamptonshire is in the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy publication, "Housing Rents Statistics at April 1990", a copy of which is in the Library.
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Nine Elms
Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received about the land occupied by the former Nine Elms cold store.
Mr. Yeo : No representations have been received. Since 1988 my Department has had five letters, all from one individual, asking whether there are any current proposals to develop the site.
Planning Policy
Mr. Brandon-Bravo : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a further statement on the strategic guidance which he gives to local planning authorities in former metropolitan counties.
Sir George Young : The Secretary of State has given strategic guidance for London and all the former metropolitan county areas to assist the London borough and metropolitan district councils in the preparation of their unitary development plans. The strategic guidance has been published in Department of the Environment planning policy guidance notes (PPGs) and regional policy guidance notes (RPGs) as follows :
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|Date
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PPG9 |Regional Guidance for the South East |February 1989
PPG10 |Strategic Guidance for the West Midlands |September 1988
PPG11 |Strategic Guidance for Merseyside |October 1988
RPG1 |Strategic Guidance for Tyne and Wear |June 1989
RPG2 |Strategic Guidance for West Yorkshire |September 1989
RPG3 |Strategic Guidance for London |September 1989
RPG4 |Strategic Guidance for Greater Manchester|December 1989
RPG5 |Strategic Guidance for South Yorkshire |December 1989
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many staff in his Department are involved in drawing up and issuing planning policy guidance notes.
Mr. Yeo : There are some 30 staff in the Department's development plans and development control policy divisions who will have some involvement with drawing up or issuing planning policy guidance notes from time to time. Staff in other policy divisions may also be involved, depending upon the subject of the note.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment who he consults before issuing planning policy guidance notes.
Mr. Yeo : It is departmental policy to seek the views of a wide range of national bodies, including, for example, local authority associations, professional bodies and conservation and amenity groups, when issuing draft planning policy guidance notes for public consultation. They are publicised and are available to anybody on request.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many planning policy guidance notes have been issued since 1985 ; and at what cost.
Mr. Yeo : The planning policy guidance note (PPG) series was introduced in 1988. There are currently 16 titles.
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Three give regional planning guidance, more recent regional planning guidance can be found in the regional planning guidance (RPG) series begun in 1989 which now has five titles. The total publication cost to the Department is £49,509 for the 16 PPGs and £11,553 for the five separate RPGs.Local Authority Companies
Sir Eldon Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report a list of the local authority-controlled and local authority-influenced companies, indentifying each by name.
Mr. Portillo : Part V of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, which establishes these definitions, is not yet in force. Even when it is, my Department has no plans to collect this information.
Planning Enforcement
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many staff in his Department deal with planning enforcement ; and at what cost.
Mr. Yeo : The numbers of staff and estimated expenditure, including overheads, for the current financial year are as follows : Policy issues arising under Part VII of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990
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1.25 staff units : £49,500Processing and deciding appeals to the Secretary of State under section 174 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990
92 staff units : £2.5 million
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the local authorities in England and Wales and the estimated cost of planning enforcement in each.
Mr. Yeo : This information is not available centrally. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy compiles annual planning and development statistics. At present, planning enforcement costs are aggregated within estimates of total expenditure on development control by planning authorities. For 1991-92, the institute will be requesting authorities to show estimates of enforcement expenditure separately.
EC Directives
Mr. Janman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) under what circumstances his Department would decline to exercise the power of derogation from EC directives which had been granted ; and if he will set out those circumstances ;
(2) if he will make a statement on his understanding of the difference between the power of derogation from EC directives and the implementation of derogation from EC directives.
Mr. Baldry : We exercise the right to seek and apply derogations from environmental directives when necessary and justified. We would seek a derogation only where we foresaw a clear possibility that it would need to be used.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Caborn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the amounts in cash terms for the York city council area (a) received from non-domestic rates in 1989-90, (b) due to be paid in uniform business rate in 1990-91 and in 1991-92 and (c) due from the non-domestic rate pool to York as a receiving authority in 1990-91 and in 1991-92.
Mr. Key : The information for York city council is as follows :
|Year |£ million
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) Receipts from non-domestic rates |1989-90 |18.3
(b) Estimated receipts from non-domestic rates in |1990-91 |16.6
|1991-92 |21.7
(c) Receipts from non-domestic rate pool in |1990-91 |23.1
|1991-92 |27.7
Figures for receipts of non-domestic rates in 1989-90 and the following years are not on a comparable basis because of extensive changes to the system of local government finance.
Mrs. Peacock : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the standard spending assessment for highways for Kirklees metropolitan council for 1991-92 : and what it was for 1990-91.
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Mr. Key [holding answer 15 February 1991] : The standard spending assessment for highway maintenance for Kirklees metropolitan council is £14.767 million for 1991-92. In 1990-91 it was £13.583 million.
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his reply of 1 February, Official Report, column 662, if he will outline why the proposed capital financing element of the standard spending assessment for Stoke-on-Trent was reduced by £407, 000.
Mr. Portillo [holding answer 18 February 1991] : The final capital financing SSA was £406,568 lower than the provisional figure issued at the time of consultation as a result of using later estimates of credit approvals for Stoke-on-Trent and all other authorities.
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement showing how the central Government increase of 23 per cent. in the standard spending assessment for personal social services is affected by the national inflation factor of 9 per cent. in the poll tax capping rules.
Mr. Key [holding answer 18 February 1991] : The increase in the standard spending assessments for personal social services reflects the Government's view of the amount of spending which is appropriate taking account of the pressures facing local authorities from service developments, demographic pressures and inflation and of what the country can afford. Under the intended criteria for charge capping, no authority would be capped if it spends at or below its SSA. The intended criteria do not depend on any "national inflation factor".
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on the effects of the community charge on private tenants' housing costs.
Mr. Key [holding answer 18 February 1991] : No such information is available.
County Hall, London
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what offers have been received by his Department and the London residuary body for the purchase or rental of county hall, London SE1.
Mr. Key : Such matters are for the London residuary body and prospective purchasers. No offers have been received by the Department.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will review his decision not to allow the London residuary body to consider the use of county hall, London SE1 for public sector purposes.
Mr. Key : It is the task of the London residuary body to dispose of surplus property. County hall is surplus. The residuary body is free to consider any means of disposal consistent with its obligation to London's community charge payers.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will consider the use of county hall, London SE1 for temporary accommodation of the homeless.
Mr. Yeo : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave yesterday to the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen), Official Report, Vol. 186, column 2.
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Greater London Council
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his current estimate of the financial and staff savings arising from the abolition of the GLC ; and when the figures were last assessed.
Mr. Key : It was estimated in 1987 that some 6,300 posts had been saved immediately following abolition of the GLC and the metropolitan county councils. The projected long-term annual savings were of some £100 million per annum resulting from staff reductions. Because of the difficulty in disaggregating data relating to functions inherited by successor authorities it is not practicable to produce revised estimates.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the functions and responsibilities currently undertaken by the City of London as a result of GLC abolition.
Mr. Key : Apart from those which fell to London boroughs and the City of London at GLC abolition, responsibilities which have since been transferred by the London residuary body to the City are those in relation to Hampstead Heath and ex-GLC and ex-LRB records.
Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of staff numbers in his Department involved in full or part-time work arising from responsibilities transferred from the GLC.
Mr. Key : No functions were transferred directly from the GLC to the Department of the Environment, but the Department has sponsorship responsibilities for certain bodies with functions arising wholly or partly from the abolition of the GLC. The equivalent of eight full-time staff are estimated to work on these matters.
Estuaries and Wetlands
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those estuaries and wetlands covered by sites of special scientific interest or other nature conservation designations, which are threatened by development proposals.
Mr. Baldry : The information is not held centrally. The Nature Conservancy Council is, however, required to be consulted about all development proposals in sites of special scientific interest. The NCC has undertaken a review of the nature conservation interests of the estuaries of Great Britain. I understand that the full report is due to be published on 25 March.
Vacant Houses
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on the number of houses and flats which have been unoccupied for a period longer than six months for each London borough.
Mr. Yeo : Local authorities report the number of their dwellings which have been vacant for over six months but not more than one year and the number that have been vacant for over one year in their annual housing investment programme returns (HIP1). The latest available figures are for 1 April 1990 and appear in "1990 HIP1 All Items Print," in columns A178 (over six months but not more than one year) and A188 (over one year). A copy of the document is in the Library.
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House Condition Survey
Mr. Dobson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the forthcoming English house condition survey will include a study of insulation levels and the potential for energy conservation and fuel- efficient heating in the housing stock.
Gulf Oil Slicks
Dr. Hampson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make a further statment on environmental impact studies by the Natural Environment Research Council related to the Gulf oil spill.
Mr. Heseltine : Two studies have been carried out by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to assist international efforts which are under way to minimise the environmental damage caused by the deliberate release of oil into the Gulf by Iraq. The first study, an assessment of the biological effects of the oil spill on the ecosystem of the Gulf, including its marine wildlife, has been sent to the relevant Government Agencies in Saudi Arabia and in the other Gulf states. The report includes a brief assessment of response options and makes recommendations.
The second study carried out by NERC is concerned with modelling the movement, dispersion, evaporation and solution of the oil released, using tidal and weather data.
I am today placing copies of both the report and a description of the modelling work completed by the NERC in the Library and I am also arranging for this to be presented to the appropriate authorities in Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states.
Drinking Water
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report the information available to his Department on the incidence of faecal material in drinking water ; and if he will indicate any significant regional variations in such incidence.
Mr. Baldry : The chief drinking water inspector will publish, in the summer, a full report on the quality of drinking water supplied by water companies in England and Wales during 1990
Vacant Land
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to the amount of vacant, dormant, derelict, unused and underused land owned by each Government Department.
Sir George Young [holding answer 14 February 1991] : Holdings of unused and underused land in England at 31 March 1990, the latest available date, as reported by the Departments concerned, are shown in the table. Information about health authorities' land is not available. No unused or underused land is held by any other major Departments.
Individual departments are responsible for monitoring and managing their own property holdings. The rationalisation of holdings, the disposal of surplus land and the improvement of systems are encouraged through the public expenditure survey discussions and in other ways.
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*
Unused and underused land held by
Departments
|Acres
------------------------------------------
Ministry of Defence |2,527
Department of the Environment |164
Home Office |299
HM Land Registry |18
Lord Chancellor's Department |9
Department of Transport |1,606
Local Government Review
Mr. Gould : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the job titles and grades, in full-time equivalents, of staff working on his local government review, including and identifying staff seconded from other Government Departments ; and if he will calculate the annual cost of this exercise.
Mr. Heseltine [holding answer 15 February 1991] : A team was established within the Department in December 1990 to undertake a thorough review of local government functions, structure and finance. The review team is headed by a grade 4 (director) supported by 22 staff, made of the following grades :
Four at grade 5 (assistant secretary)
Five at grade 7 (principal)
One higher executive officer (development)
Three higher executive officers
Two executive officers
One senior personal secretary
Two administrative officers
Four personal secretaries
Of these staff, one grade 5 and one grade 7 are seconded from the Department of Social Security.
Annual expenditure by the review team is estimated at some £1 million, which breaks down broadly as follows :
|£
-----------------------------------
Basic salary costs |616,000
Other costs |391,000
Mr. Gould : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if any external work has been commissioned for his review of local government ; and if any external advisers have been appointed to the review.
Mr. Heseltine [holding answer 15 February 1991] : I have not appointed external advisers or commissioned external work in connection with the review. We are, however, consulting widely about the review and have made clear our desire to discuss the issues with local government and opposition parties and our willingness to consider views put to us by individuals and organisations outside Government.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Namibia
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will offer aid programmes to help deal with the high rates of maternal death, disability and miscarriage suffered by Namibian women.
Mrs. Chalker : The Namibian Government plan to develop a primary health care system which will place much greater emphasis on maternal health. We have
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offered to assist in a project to train primary health care trainers, currently being designed by the Ministry of Health with the assistance of Oxfam UK. We are exploring the scope to provide further help in this sector.Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will offer special aid to the Government of Namibia to set up institutional retraining programmes for procedures in dealing with cases of murder, rape, and assault of Namibian women.
Mrs. Chalker : The objective of our current assistance to the Namibian police service is to enable it to respond more effectively to the needs of all sections of the community. Training courses developed by British police advisers, in which local civil and women's rights organisations participate, reflect this objective.
Tamils
Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid is being made available by Her Majesty's Government to assist Tamil refugees fleeing from persecution in Sri Lanka and India.
Mrs. Chalker : Help is available in a number of ways. We are providing technical co-operation grants totalling £4 million over three years in support of Save the Children Fund and Oxfam projects in the north and east of Sri Lanka, much of whose effort is directed to refugee relief.
We have also provided emergency relief totalling £445,000 through UNICEF, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee of the Red Cross for their programmes in Sri Lanka.
Forest Charter
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress is being made on the forest charter for UN conference on environment and development, as outlined in the speech of the Minister for Overseas Development to the World Wide Fund for Nature on 11 December.
Mrs. Chalker : A world forest charter remains one of the options for UNCED in 1992, but the international community has yet to agree for which international forest instruments to aim and in what forum negotiations should proceed. We hope that progress will be made at the second meeting of the UNCED preparatory committee, 15 March to 5 April, in Geneva.
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