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Mr. Key : It is for the borough of Greenwich to decide how much to spend on each service. SSAs are calculated to reflect the social and demographic characteristics of the individual authority concerned. Thus Lewisham's SSA would not be appropriate for Greenwich. The following table shows what the 1991-92 personal social services and all other services SSA elements for Greenwich would be if its SSA per adult for each service was the same as that of Lewisham and Wandsworth.
L
SSA element for Greenwich 1991-92
|Personal |All other
|social |services
|services
|£ million|£ million
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greenwich's actual position |32.165 |33.031
With same per adult sum as for Lewisham |41.191 |41.054
With same per adult sum as for
Wandsworth |43.559 |52.095
Nitrogen Oxide (Monitoring)
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has in respect of the number of nitrogen oxide monitoring stations in each of the OECD countries.
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Mr. Baldry : No central records are kept of the numbers of nitrogen oxide monitoring stations in each of the OECD countries. Within Europe, nitrogen oxide monitoring data are compiled by the chemical co-ordinating centre of the UN ECE EMEP programme at the Norwegian Institute for Air Research. Of the 108 EMEP monitoring stations operated by the 28 European countries, 25 stations reported nitrogen oxide monitoring data in 1985.
Waste Disposal
Mr. Roy Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which regulations concerning waste disposal will be in operation after 1992.
Mr. Baldry : The present statutory controls on waste disposal, contained in part I of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 and the regulations made under that Act, will continue in force until repealed and replaced by part II of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. I hope to announce a timetable for the implementation of part II of the 1990 Act shortly.
Radioactive Discharge
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his present policy in respect of the use of as low as reasonably achievable and best practical means guidelines to determine acceptable radioactive discharge levels to the marine environment.
Mr. Baldry : The Government's policy is to keep radiation exposures as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA), taking account of economic and social factors. Operators discharging radioactivity to the marine environment are required not only to comply with any numerical limits laid down by the regulatory authorities, but are also placed under an obligation to use the best practicable means (BPM) to limit further the amount of radioactivity discharged.
Recycling
Mr. McAllion : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the reserve fund for innovative recycling projects was established ; how many projects were funded through it ; where these projects were located ; and what was the cost to the fund of each project.
Mr. Baldry : There is no such fund specifically related to recycling projects. However, under the environmental technology innovation scheme (ETIS), launched in October last year, and the environmental grant fund, launched in December last year, assistance can be given to suitable innovative recycling projects. At present no offers of grant have been made in relation to recycling projects under these schemes which, with some exceptions in the case of ETIS, are not open to public sector bodies.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Hayward : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what powers there are to penalise councillors who fail to pay their community charge.
Mrs. Clwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will consider extending the grounds for exemption from the poll tax to include severe physical handicap.
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Mr. Key : Our review of local government finance is considering all aspects of the community charge. Under the present arrangements people with disabilities may be helped by the community charge benefit disability and severe disability premiums.Mr. Dixon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what would be the effect on the poll tax for 1991-92 in South Tyneside if Government grants were the same as in 1978-79 in real terms.
Mr. Key [holding answer 8 March 1991] : Since 1 April 1990, in contrast to previous arrangements, revenue support grant has been paid to the receiving authority for each area in support jointly of its own expenditure and that of the precepting authorities in the area. For this reason it is not possible to make direct comparisons at the individual authority level between the new grant system and previous systems. Also it is inappropriate to apply the national percentage rate of grant to individual authorities, since in both old and new systems grant is paid at different rates to different authorities, reflecting differences in their local needs and resources.
Mr. Lofthouse : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the level of Government grants for 1990-91 per head of population in Wakefield metropolitan district council ;
(2) what would be the effect on the poll tax for 1991-92 in Wakefield metropolitan district council if Government grants were the same as in 1978 -79 in real terms ;
(3) what grant per poll tax payer is received by Wakefield metropolitan district council.
Mr. Key [holding answer 11 March 1991] : Government grants, consisting of revenue support grant, special grants, specific grants in aggregate external finance, community charge benefit grant and transitional relief grant, were £208 per head of population and £271 per head of relevant population in Wakefield in 1990-91.
Since 1 April 1990, in contrast to previous arrangements, revenue support grant has been paid to the receiving authority for each area in support jointly of its own expenditure and that of the precepting authorities in the area. For this reason it is not possible to make direct comparisons at the individual authority level between the new grant system and previous systems. Also it is inappropriate to apply the national percentage rate of grant to individual authorities, since in both old and new systems grant is paid at different rates to different authorities, reflecting differences in their local needs and resources.
Mr. Favell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the average domestic rate bill in each local authority in England which would be necessary to yield the same revenue as his estimate of the yield of the community charge in 1990-91 and 1991-92.
Mr. Portillo [holding answer 12 March 1991] : I am arranging for the information for 1990-91 to be placed in the Library of the House. Information for 1991-92 will not be available until authorities inform the Department of their budgets.
Mr. Lewis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what would be the effect on the poll tax for 1991-92 in (a) Salford, (b) Wigan and (c) Bolton if Government grants were the same as in 1978-79 in real terms.
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Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what would be the effect on the poll tax for 1991-92 in Bradford if Government grants were the same as in 1978-79 in real terms ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key [holding answer 12 March 1991] : Since 1 April 1990, in contrast to previous arrangements, revenue support grant has been paid to the receiving authority for each area in support jointly of its own expenditure and that of the precepting authorities in the area. For this reason it is not possible to make direct comparisons at the individual authority level between the new grant system and previous systems. Also it is inappropriate to apply the national percentage rate of grant to individual authorities, since in both old and new systems grant is paid at different rates to different authorities, reflecting differences in their local needs and resources.
Mr. George Howarth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what grant per poll tax payer is received by Maidstone and Faversham.
Mr. Key [holding answer 12 March 1991] : Government grants, consisting of revenue support grant, special grants, specific grants in aggregate external finance, community charge benefit grant and transitional relief grant are, per head of relevant population in 1990-91, £206 in Maidstone and £231 in Swale.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the percentage of total budgeted council expenditure which is paid for by poll tax in (a) Waltham Forest, (b) Wandsworth and (c) Westminster in 1991-92.
Mr. Key [holding answer 13 March 1991] : Income from community charges, together with revenue support grant and receipts from the non-domestic rates pool, finances the spending of each charging authority and the appropriate precepting authorities. It is not possible to attribute a proportion of an individual authority's spending to any particular source of income.
Ladies' Lavatories
Mr. Viggers : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will issue a planning guidance circular concerning the standards to be met in the provision of ladies' lavatory facilities in buildings open to the public.
Mr. Yeo : My right hon. Friend has no plans to do so : this is not a concern of the land-use planning system. However, the Building Regulations 1985 and the technical guidance associated with them lay down requirements for the provision of sanitary conveniences and washing facilities in new buildings in England and Wales.
Dog Control
Mr. Gregory : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the Government intend to bring into effect the new provisions on dog control contained in the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Mr. Baldry : The dog control provisions in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 provide for new duties to be placed on district and London borough authorities to collect and detain stray dogs, and to enforce the existing requirement that dogs should wear a collar and
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identification tag in a public place. We propose to bring these new measures into effect on 1 April 1992. My Department will consult local authorities on a draft circular in the summer, and will publish draft regulations in the autumn.My officials are holding discussions with the local authority associations and other interested bodies about the additional resource implications of implementing the new duties and powers. I have been most impressed by the initiatives and enthusiasm shown by the many authorities which already employ dog wardens. I would encourage others to follow their example by similarly exercising their existing powers to the full.
Cash Limits
Mr. Roger King : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any changes to announce to his Department's cash limits for 1990-91.
Mr. Heseltine : Yes. I propose to make the following changes : (i) The non-voted cash limit for DOE/OES will be increased by £2, 110,000 from £58,705,000 to £60,815,000. This results from the provision of additional supplementary credit approvals to enable local authorities to raise finance to fulfil their obligations to contribute part of the cost of certain roads built by the Commission for the New Towns and new town development corporations in England. The increase will be wholly offset by counterbalancing new town receipts (see (iii) (b) below).
(ii) The non-voted cash limit DOE/LACAP will be increased by £500, 000 from £2,785,170,000 to £2,785,670,000. This results from the provision of additional supplementary credit approvals to enable Peterborough DC to raise finance to purchase housing stock from the Commission for the New Towns. This increase is also wholly offset by counter-balancing new town receipts (see (iii) (b) below). (iii) The non- voted cash limit for DOE/NT (New Towns) will be increased by £222,390,000 from minus £525,370,000 to minus £302,980, 000. This net increase is the result of the following individual changes :
(a) an increase of £225,000,000, reflecting the effect on receipts of the present state of the property market ;
(b) reductions of £2,110,000 and £500,000 respectively resulting from additional receipts from local authorities financed by the cash limit increases described in (i) and (ii) above.
(iv) The External Finance Limit for Letchworth Garden City Corporation will be increased by £4,120,000 from minus £4,000,000 to £120,000. This reflects changes in the Corporation's financing profile as a result of the downturn in the property market. These changes are within the forecast outturn for the planning total published on 1 February in the statistical supplement to the 1990 autumn statement.
Community Charge (Gulf Postings)
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will ensure that service personnel and civilians posted to the Gulf are reimbursed in respect of any liability to the community charge during their absence.
Mr. Heseltine : I told the House on 19 February that the Government had concluded that service personnel and associated civilians posted to the Gulf should not have to bear the cost of the community charge during the period of their posting and that we would consider in the light of the case of Bradford MBC v. Anderton how this could be achieved.
The Government have decided to establish a compensation scheme, to be operated by the Ministry of
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Defence, under which service personnel and civilians posted to the Gulf will be reimbursed for any community charge liability incurred in the period of their absence. The scheme will apply to all uniformed service personnel, including reservists ; to civilians employed by the Ministry of Defence, including the merchant seamen of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ; to merchant seamen on ships chartered by the Ministry of Defence ; and to certain employees of defence contractors supporting the British armed forces in the Gulf. The scheme will be retrospective to the initial deployment in August 1990. Compensation will cease when an individual returns to Great Britain, except for personnel who are wounded where it will continue until they leave hospital or convalescent home.I have already announced separate proposals to compensate local authorities which lose significant amounts of income in respect of those service personnel whose liability for the community charge ceases as a consequence of posting to the Gulf.
My Department will shortly be issuing to local authorities further guidance about the implications of the Anderton judgment for the community charge liability of service personnel.
Action for Cities
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what projects have been funded in inner cities under the action for cities initiative ; and if he will list the factories and local businesses which have received funds under action for cities.
Mr. Key [holding answer 12 March 1991] : A wide range of projects have been supported under the action for cities initiative, with Government expenditure input totalling over £10 billion since 1988. More detailed information is available in Government publications such as "Action for Cities", "Progress on Cities" and "People in Cities", and in the annual reports recently published by each Government Department. Factories and businesses receive specific help through various programmes and bodies ; the main ones are listed below :
Programmes
Urban programme
City grant
Enterprise allowance scheme
Enterprise initiative
Loan guarantee scheme
Regional enterprise grants
Regional selective assistance
Bodies or agencies
Urban development corporations
English estates
Small firms centres
Task forces
City action teams
If my hon. Friend requires any further information, perhaps he could write to me.
Direct Labour Organisations
Mr. French : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will commission a report into the accounting procedures adopted by local authority direct labour organisations.
Mr. Key [holding answer 13 March 1991] : The procedures which authorities are required to follow in accounting for their direct labour organisations are
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prescribed in section 10 of the Local Government Planning and Land Act 1980 and section 9 of the Local Government Act 1988. Under those Acts authorities are required to secure that the financial objectives prescribed by my right hon. Friend are met, and to submit copies of their annual reports to their auditor and to my right hon. Friend. We have no plans at present to commission a study of accounting procedures under this legislation.EMPLOYMENT
Child Care
Dr. Marek : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the number of workplaces for civil servants in his Department ; what proportion of the total number have an on-site nursery facility ; how many and what proportion of workplaces provide a holiday play scheme ; how many and what proportion of workplaces provide after-school child care facilities ; what charges are made for use of any facility ; what the net cost has been for the provision of these facilities ; and what estimate he can make of any future expenditure.
Mr. Jackson : The Employment Department Group has approximately 2, 000 workplaces for civil servants, many of which are small local offices comprising 10 to 30 staff ; at present we have one on-site nursery facility running in Bootle ; 28 workplaces provide holiday play schemes ; there are no after-school child care facilities provided at present. All parts of the group are actively pursuing initiatives to increase child care provision. The Department will continue to consider sympathetically proposals for child care facilities and, where possible, will provide practical help where there is evidence of sufficient demand to make it financially viable. Staff who wish to take advantage of play schemes and nurseries are required to contribute to running costs. Central records are not kept concerning individual costs involved and could not be obtained without incurring a disproportionate cost ; any future estimate of expenditure again cannot be gathered without incurring
disproportionate costs. The diversity of workplaces within the group and their relative size often means that workplace provision is not viable. In some locations the Department is working with other Government Departments and outside industry to take child care provision forward. At present there are about seven schemes under consideration in this category.
Apex Trust (Youth Project)
Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received about the threatened closure of the Apex Trust's youth project ; what funding his Department provides to this project ; how many people have been trained at the project since it was first established ; how many people are currently being trained by the project ; what alternative training places would be provided if the project was closed ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jackson : My Department has a national employment training (ET) contract with the Apex Trust which runs between 28 May 1990 and 31 March 1991, and is for 1,477 places at a unit cost of £52 for each trainee week delivered which gives Apex an earning capacity of £3.38 million.
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The Apex Trust's training centre in York has been operating since 1985, initially offering community programme and since September 1988 delivering ET. Figures supplied by the Apex Trust show that since the launch of ET in September 1988 250 trainees have trained at the centre, and that there are currently 37 trainees in training. North Yorkshire TEC has offered the Apex Trust a rundown contract between 1 April and the end of November to enable existing trainees to complete their training.AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Veterinary Laboratories
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the 28 veterinary laboratories that were operational in 1979 and in 1991, and those that will be operational in 1995.
Mr. Gummer : The changes in the structure of the veterinary investigation service since 1979 are the result of two very thorough and carefully considered reviews on the operation of the service. These reviews were designed to produce significant improvements in the quality, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the service and to reflect changes in national requirements and methods of operation of the veterinary investigation service. Advances in diagnostic technology, automated analytical equipment, information technology and improvements in road transport systems mean that a larger proportion of services provided by the veterinary investigation service can now be carried out more efficiently in the reduced number of locations. It is important to have an efficient veterinary investigation service which is well equipped to meet our national needs over the years ahead.
The 28 veterinary laboratories within the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that were operational in 1979 consisted of 25 veterinary investigation centres located at Aberystwyth, Bangor, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Carmarthen, Chester, Gloucester, Leeds, Lincoln, Liverpool, Newcastle, Northampton, Norwich, Penrith, Reading, Shrewsbury, Starcross, Sutton Bonington, Thirsk, Truro, Weybridge, Winchester, Worcester and Wye, and the three central laboratories comprising the central veterinary laboratories at Weybridge, Lasswade (Edinburgh) and the cattle breeding centre at Shinfield.
There are 21 veterinary laboratories operational in 1991 consisting of 19 veterinary investigation centres located at Aberystwyth, Bangor, Bristol, Cambridge, Carmarthen, Lincoln, Newcastle, Norwich, Penrith, Preston, Reading, Shrewsbury, Starcross, Sutton Bonington, Thirsk, Truro, Winchester, Worcester and Wye and the two central laboratories comprising the central veterinary laboratories at Weybridge and Lasswade (Edinburgh).
It is expected that there will be 15 veterinary laboratories operational in 1995 consisting of 13 veterinary investigation centres located at Aberystwyth, Bristol, Carmarthen, Newcastle, Penrith, Preston, Shrewsbury, Starcross, Sutton Bonington, Thirsk, Winchester and the two new veterinary investigation centres to be built, one at Bury St. Edmunds and the other in Warwickshire and the two central laboratories comprising the central veterinary laboratories at Weybridge and Lasswade (Edinburgh).
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Irradiation Plants
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, further to his answer to the hon. Member for South Shields, 11 March, Official Report, column 400, how many inquiries he has received regarding the licensing of irradiation plants ; if he will list the companies making the inquiries ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : I do not believe it would be appropriate to list companies making inquiries about irradiation licences, some of which may have been purely exploratory. Details of each licence granted will be published in the London and Edinburgh Gazettes as required by the Food (Control of Irradiation) Regulations 1990.
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, further to his answer to the hon. Member for South Shields, 11 March, Official Report, columns 400-1 whether he intends to set up a new committee to consider applications for licences for irradiation plants in the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : I can see no case for a new committee. The committee of which full details were given in my answer to the hon. Member for South Shields on 11 March at column 400-01 has been in existence only since 1 January. Moreover, this group was specifically constituted so as to be able to give authoritative advice on all considerations relevant to the granting of a licence.
Agricultural Inspections
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list for each year since 1986 the number of holdings visited by agricultural wage inspectors as (i) test inspections and (ii) inspections arising from complaints ; how many underpayments were discovered ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : The number of holdings visited by the agricultural wages inspectors is as follows :
|1986 |1987 |1988 |1989
------------------------------------------------------------
(i) test-inspections |2,791|2,817|2,017|1,891
(ii) inspections arising from |140 |114 |120 |80
complaints
(iii) number of under- |70 |110 |56 |55
payments discovered
Note: Statistics for 1990 are not yet available.
Agricultural wages inspectors are located in all the Department's divisional offices to follow up complaints and enforce the relevant legislation.
Milk
Mrs. Heal : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the milk quota attaches to the land on which the milk is currently produced or to the land on which it was produced during the last five years.
Mr. Curry : Milk quota is allocated to a producer for use on his or her holding. European Community regulations prescribe that where an entire holding is transferred by sale, lease or inheritance all quota must pass to the transferee. Where part of a holding is transferred
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quota must be apportioned in accordance with areas used for milk production. The term "areas used for milk production" is not defined in EC regulations and in the case of a quota transfer it is for the parties concerned to agree on an apportionment. Where they fail to agree, the Dairy Produce Quotas Regulations 1989 provide for an independent arbitrator to be appointed to decide the matter. An arbitrator is required to base his award on the pattern of milk production in the preceding five years.Mrs. Heal : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the definitions of a holding used by EC countries for the purpose of milk quotas.
Mr. Curry : The definition of "holding" prescribed in European Community Regulation 857/84 Article 12(d) is as follows : "all the production units operated by the producer and located within the geographical territory of the Community".
This regulation is applicable throughout the Community. For the purposes of the regional allocation of wholesale quota a clarification of the term was necessary, so the Dairy Produce Quotas Regulations 1989 qualify the above definition as follows : "holding has the meaning assigned to it by Article 12(d) of Council Regulation 857/84, but in relation to any region, it means the division of the holding in that region".
EC Surplus Food Scheme
Mr. Madden : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what reply has been sent to Anthony Clipsom, area organiser of the Bradford metropolitan council for voluntary service, to his letter, dated 1 March, sent to his Department in Reading, concerning the EC surplus food scheme 1991.
Mr. Curry : The closing date for the receipt of applications from organisations wishing to participate in the 1991 scheme is 22 March. The detailed arrangements mentioned by the hon. Member can be finalised only after all the applications have been examined following the closing date. The intervention board will be replying to Mr. Clipsom shortly along those lines.
Mr. Madden : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, with reference to the EC surplus food scheme 1991, under what criteria groups forming consortia will have their separate bids conflated ; if smaller groups, involved in consortia, will be able to claim expenses for collecting and re-distributing food from central points ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : The closing date for the receipt of applications from organisations wishing to participate in the 1991 scheme is 22 March. The detailed arrangements mentioned by the hon. Member can be finalised only after all the applications have been examined following the closing date.
Animal Waste
Mr. Meale : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his policy towards European Community directive 90/667/EEC and specifically to the exemption that allows high-risk animal waste material to be used by hunt kennels and maggot farms ; and what assessment he has made of the impact of this provision on human or animal health.
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Mr. Gummer : I welcome the fact that the directive includes provisions to permit the continuation of operations of this kind. It will be essential for such establishments to be subject to controls that safeguard human and animal health.
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