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Water Supply
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of the United Kingdom water supply originates in Wales.
Mr. Baldry : Such information as is available is published in the "Digest of Environmental Protection and Water Statistics" (No. 13, 1990), the "Environmental Digest for Wales" (No. 5, 1990) and in the prospectus "The Water Share Offers" (November 1989), copies of which are available in the Library.
Uniform Business Rate
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from the Institute of Directors about the uniform business rate in response to his consultation document on "A New Tax for Local Government" ; what was the response ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key : We are currently studying representations received in response to the recent consultation paper including that from the Institute of Directors. We will report on the outcome shortly.
Local Government Finance
Ms. Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are (a) the revenue support grant, (b) the community charge income and (c) uniform business rate income for 1990-91 in Tower Hamlets.
Mr. Key : In 1990-91 Tower Hamlets received £133.4 million in revenue support grant and £33 million in
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receipts from the non-domestic rate pool. The authority has reported that community charge receipts in respect of 1990-91 will be £31 million. In addition, the authority received £19 million from the safety net adjustment and £9.1 million in inner London education grant.City Action Teams
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what finance Her Majesty's Government are making available to action team inner city economic and environmental initiatives.
Mr. Key : The eight city action teams co-ordinate the Government's programmes for the inner cities within their areas. We have provided £8.1 million this year for their special budgets, to promote employment, training, enterprise and environmental initiatives.
EC Environmental Proposals
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to estimate the future cost to British business of each of the European Commission's environmental proposals currently under consideration.
Mr. Baldry : The costs to British business of implementing EC legislation are always a major factor in our consideration of new proposals by the European Commission. They are covered in the explanatory memoranda which this Department submits to Parliament on each new Commission proposal.
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Imported Birds
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the results of his visits to the veterinary investigation centre at Reading to consider welfare problems of imported birds.
Mr. Baldry : I visited the centre on 10 June. The visit was useful and informative, and will assist us in considering how best to deal with the problem of high mortalities in imported wild birds. The conservation implications of such mortalities will be one of the issues covered in the study of the wildlife trade by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, which I announced in response to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Epping Forest (Mr. Norris) on 9 May 1991, Official Report, columns. 550 -51. Primary responsibility for the welfare of wild birds in transit and quarantine rests with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
PCBs
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many companies have been permitted to derogate from EC directives with relation to the discharge of polychlorinated biphenyls ; what consideration was given to their likely environmental impact when granting such derogations ; and what time limit he has set for the companies to comply with the directives.
Mr. Baldry : No derogations from the requirements of EC directives in relation to the discharge of polychlorinated biphenyls have been authorised.
Home Repossessions
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the number of homes vacant following repossession by mortgage lenders ; and what steps he intends to take to ensure that they are brought back into use.
Mr. Yeo : Figures are not available in the form requested. The latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that during 1990 only one in 200 borrowers faced repossession. Mortgage lenders have said that they will take steps to repossess only when all other options have been exhausted.
The Government share the hon. Member's concern that such property is brought into use promptly and we have encouraged lenders to consider a range of measures to bring this about.
Council Tax
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many of the responses he received to his consultation paper "A New Tax for Local Government" (a) supported and (b) opposed his proposals for council tax banding ; and if he will publish a list showing which organisations were in each category ;
(2) if he will publish a list of the organisations which submitted a response to his consultation document "A New Tax for Local Government" ;
(3) how many of the responses he received to his consultation document "A New Tax for Local
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Government" supported the immediate abolition of the 20 per cent. minimum poll tax contribution rule ; and if he will publish a list of the organisations and individuals who supported that view.Mr. Portillo : We are currently studying representations received in response to the recent consultation paper. We will report on the outcome shortly.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a list of the organisations which called for the return of the setting of the business rate to local authority control in responding to his consultation document, "A New Tax for Local Government".
Mr. Portillo : We will place a list of those who have responded in the Library in due course.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the results of his consultation exercise on his council tax proposals before the House adjourns for the summer recess.
Mr. Portillo : We are currently studying representations received in response to the recent consultation paper. We will report on the outcome shortly.
Mortgage Rescue Schemes
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which local authorities and housing associations are operating mortgage rescue schemes ; how many of them involve shared ownership ; how many households these schemes have assisted ; and what specific financial resources his Department has made available for these schemes.
Mr. Yeo : Figures are not available in the form requested. Help with interest payments is available through income support to some mortgage borrowers, and all borrowers will have been helped by the 4 per cent. reduction in base rates over the past 10 months. In addition, there are several ways in which mortgage lenders can help borrowers who approach them early.
Local authorities may assist housing associations to buy the homes of borrowers in difficulty for them to occupy on shared ownership terms.
Institutions and Sustainable Development"
Mr. Paul Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will obtain for his departmental library a copy of the recent report, "Institutions and Sustainable Development", by John Gordon and Caroline Frazer of the Global Environmental Research Centre at Imperial college, London.
Mr. Heseltine : My Department is providing funding through UNEP-UK for a series of non-governmental meetings and seminars in preparation for the 1992 UN conference on environment and development. This report is a contribution to discussion of institutional change. When it is printed it will, in the normal way, be available in the departmental library.
Empty Properties
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what subsidy will be made available to housing associations to manage privately owned empty
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homes ; what the average annual cost per home managed will be ; and how many privately owned empty homes he estimates will be brought into use by this means in the current financial year.Mr. Yeo : We are studying bids from a number of housing associations for grants to set up pilot projects. Grants will support general operating costs and will not be related to individual units of accommodation. Targets will be agreed with the successful bidders.
Selby Bypass
Mr. Alison : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has received the report from the inspector appointed to carry out the public inquiry into the proposed Selby bypass ; and when he expects to be able to make a statement.
Sir George Young : The inspector's report has not yet been received. It will be jointly considered by the Secretaries of State for Transport and for the Environment, and a statement will follow some time later in the form of a decision on whether to proceed with the proposed Selby bypass.
Waste Disposal
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make further proposals for the implementation of the duty of care under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Mr. Trippier : My Department, jointly with the Scottish Office and the Welsh Office, has today issued for public consultation a draft circular, a consultation paper and draft regulations under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990--the duty of care. No longer will anyone be able to wash their hands of waste disposal problems. They will be able to hand waste only to responsible persons and they will have to keep the records to prove it. The duty will not only help to drive out illegal disposal and fly-tipping but will deter those whose carelessness supplies the source material for the criminals.
I announced on 25 June the Government's timetable for the implementation of the waste provisions of the 1990 Act. Under that timetable it is intended that the duty of care will be fully in force by April 1992. The papers issued today complete the necessary public consultation on the implementation of the duty.
The draft circular offers advice, mainly directed to local authorities, on the operation of the duty of care. This complements the advice for producers and holders of waste in the code of practice. Drafts of the code of practice were the subject of separate consultation in England and Wales and in Scotland in 1990. The draft regulations issued today provide for a mandatory system of signed transfer notes, for records to be kept of all transfers of controlled waste and for the records to be available to waste regulation authorities. This will create an audit trail of waste movements. It will greatly help authorities to trace criminal waste disposal.
The duty of care, combined with the registration of waste carriers, is a radical step to improve the disposal of waste in this country. Everyone involved with waste will share a legal responsibility for ensuring it is safely and legally dealt with.
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Direct Labour Organisations
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the guidelines issued to local authorities regarding their direct labour organisations tendering for local authority work for a different local council.
Mr. Key : There are no such guidelines. However, while the interpretation of the law is a matter for the courts, Ministers have made it clear that they agree with the counsel's opinion obtained by the Audit Commission, to the effect that neither the Local Authorities (Goods and Services) Act 1970 nor the Local Government Act 1988 provides a general warrant for DSOs to undertake work for other authorities on a free-for-all basis.
Fish Farms
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the Government will publish their consultation paper on planning controls over fish farms.
Mr. Yeo : We have today published a consultation paper on permitted development rights for freshwater fish farming in England and Wales. The paper seeks views on proposals intended to align planning controls over fish farming as closely as possible with those over other forms of agriculture, building on measures in the Planning and Compensation Bill.
On 11 June my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning announced that full development control would be extended to all agriculture holdings of less than 5 hectares, and to parcels of land of less than 1 hectare on larger holdings [ Official Report, columns 482-85. ]. We propose similar provisions for fish farms. The Planning and Compensation Bill will bring floating fish tanks (cages) in inland waters fully within planning control. Outside the national parks, we propose that these structures should be subject to the prior notification scheme which was announced on 11 June for other agricultural buildings. We have already announced that in the national parks they will be subject to full planning control, along with fish farm excavations and engineering operations.
The Bill also provides for the Secretary of State to make regulations requiring environmental assessment of any class of development. We propose to use this new provision to require EA for trout farming which is likely to have significant environmental effects. Salmon farming is already subject to EA where it is likely to have such effects.
Water Infrastructure Charges
Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make a statement on problems relating to water infrastructure charges for developers since the meeting in July 1990 between the Minister of State, the hon. Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Mr. Trippier), and representatives of the House Builders Federation, the hon. Member for Crosby (Mr. Thornton) and the hon. Member for Rutland and Melton ; and when the Director General of Water Services will complete his inquiry into this issue.
Mr. Baldry : Following the meeting to which my hon. Friend refers, the Minister for the Environment and
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Countryside wrote to him in January. As explained in that letter, the operation and level of infrastructure charges are matters for the Director General of Water Services, who is reviewing the position of infrastructure charges in relation to charges generally, in the context of responses to his consultation paper "Paying for Water--A Time for Decisions". I understand that the director general is considering responses to his consultation paper at the moment.Urban Transport Schemes
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list projects under development or consideration by the Commission for New Towns and urban development corporations which involve subsidies to transport schemes ; and what are the values of such subsidies.
Mr. Key : Listed are schemes in progress or proposed which provide revenue assistance for public transport :
New Towns
CNT--no schemes notified.
Milton Keynes DC--£110,000 subsidy to Bucks county council to support the local bus network in 1991-92.
Urban Development Corporations
Black Country DC--£75,000 grant approved for Centro to run three specially adapted vehicles for people with mobility problems. This has been approved for 1991-92 but may be extended.
London Docklands DC--subsidy for D1 bus route, amounting to £50,000 for the period April to September 1991.
Trafford Park DC--£36,000 subsidy as 50 per cent. contribution from August 1989 to August 1991 for a minibus service to enhance off-peak public transport for shift workers. The remaining 50 per cent. subsidy has been met by the Greater Manchester passenger transport executive.
Trees
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the health of trees in (a) urban areas and (b) countryside areas.
Mr. Baldry : In 1989 the Forestry Commission, with funding from the Department, carried out a survey of 3,600 urban trees in 30 towns and cities throughout England. A total of 80 per cent. of the trees were judged to be in good condition, visually improving the urban landscape.
Evidence that the atmosphere in British towns and cities is now more conducive to healthy tree growth is the much greater range of tree species successfully cultivated in urban areas.
A detailed survey carried out by the Forestry Commission shows that there has been no overall deterioration in the health of trees in the countryside. During the period 1989-90 the main tree species in Britain either improved or remained the same.
Current scientific evidence suggests that the status of tree health in Britain is mainly influenced by the climate, insect pests and diseases, rather than pollution. Trees have been affected by the storms in 1987 and 1990, the recent mild winters and late frosts, dry summers, and pest numbers which have increased. We are also aware of the considerable damage that has been caused to both urban and countryside trees by the use of salt for keeping roads free from ice during the winter months of 1990-91.
Research on the health of trees is continuing on a number of fronts ; for example, new light will be shed on
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the state of urban trees by the Department's forthcoming research project "Trees in Towns", and the United Kingdom Terrestrial Effects Review Group report on "Air Pollution and Trees in the United Kingdom".Inner City Programme
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will specify the full range of grants currently available under his inner city programme with a brief technical description of each.
Mr. Portillo [pursuant to his answer, 24 June 1991, Official Report, column 392] : Very important support is provided for the inner cities through the main programmes of the Home Office and the Departments of Trade and Industry, Employment, Education and Science, Transport, Health and Social Security and through support to local authorities and the Housing Corporation by this Department including the estate action programme.
My Department promotes inner city regeneration through a variety of programmes and initiatives, including the following grant measures. City challenge is a new initiative under which local authorities are invited to draw up comprehensive plans in partnership with the private sector, voluntary organisations and local people, to bid for resources for the regeneration of key parts of their areas within a five-year period. Fifteen authorities have been invited to compete for a share in over £350 million from Department of the Environment programmes during the five years 1992-93 to 1996-97.
Urban Development Corporations
Grant aid is provided for the 10 urban development corporations in England. Some £470 million will be available in 1991-92 to purchase and reclaim land, provide infrastructure, encourage development and improve the environment.
Urban Programme
Fifty-seven urban programme authorities in England receive 75 per cent. grant towards a wide range of projects with an emphasis on economic and environmental improvements as the key to self-sustaining regeneration in targeted inner city areas. In 1991-92, £268 million is available to support almost 9,000 projects.
City Grant
City grant is provided to support private sector capital projects which benefit run down urban areas and which cannot proceed without grant. Over £56 million has been committed to the city grant programme for 1991-92 and will be available for industrial, commercial, housing and leisure projects.
Land Grant
Derelict land grant is available throughout England to local authorities, other public bodies, voluntary organisations, private firms and individuals to promote the reclamation of land which has been so damaged by industrial or other development that it is incapable of beneficial use without treatment. The derelict land grant programme for 1991-92 totals £88 million of which about
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£81.5 million is expected to be spent on local authority reclamation schemes. About 40 per cent. of the programme will be devoted to schemes in the inner cities.City Action Teams
There are eight city action teams operating in Birmingham, Cleveland, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool, London, Tyne and Wear, Nottingham/Leicester/Derby and Manchester/Salford. The CATs are an important mechanism for co-ordinating and targeting Government programmes and harnessing the support of business and industry. Each CAT has a small budget, a total of £8.1 million in 1991-92, with which to prime action targeted on inner city problems of unemployment, environmental improvement and the need to promote enterprise.
EMPLOYMENT
Training and Enterprise Councils
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list, as per the requirement set out in the TEC operating agreement, the number of youth training starts and the number of youth training trainees in training at the end of the four-weekly period as set out in the schedule of management information (a) for the most recent period for which information is available and (b) for each TEC.
Mr. Jackson : The information requested is given in the table :
Youth training
Entrants and in training by TEC-all figures provisional estimates
TEC |Entrants |In training
|1 to 26 April|26 April 1991
|1991
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
East Midlands and Eastern
Bedfordshire |250 |2,100
Central and South Cambridgeshire |20 |900
North Derbyshire |80 |1,900
South Derbyshire |110 |3,200
Leicestershire |430 |5,800
Lincolnshire |250 |3,900
Norfolk and Waveney |* |*
Northamptonshire |80 |2,600
Greater Nottingham |180 |4,100
North Nottinghamshire |180 |2,700
Greater Peterborough |90 |1,900
Suffolk |40 |2,300
Northern
County Durham |330 |5,100
Northumberland |130 |2,300
Teesside |270 |4,800
Tyneside |410 |6,400
Wearside |290 |2,800
Yorkshire and Humberside
Barnsley and Doncaster |* |*
Bradford and District |50 |2,900
Calderdale and Kirklees |210 |3,400
Humberside |400 |6,900
Leeds |250 |3,400
Rotherham |130 |1,600
Sheffield |* |*
Wakefield |260 |1,900
North Yorkshire |90 |2,600
North West
Bolton/Bury |310 |2,700
South and East Cheshire |* |*
Cumbria |80 |2,900
ELTEC (East Lancashire) |130 |3,600
LAWTEC (Lancashire Area West) |270 |5,500
Manchester |* |*
Oldham |70 |2,100
Rochdale |150 |1,500
St. Helens (Qualitec) |70 |1,900
Stockport/High Peak |60 |1,700
Wigan |90 |2,100
CEWTEC (Chester, Ellesmere
Port and Wirral) |180 |3,400
West Midlands
Birmingham |* |*
CENTEC (Central England) |* |*
Coventry/Warwickshire |* |*
Dudley |130 |1,900
HAWTEC (Hereford/
Worcestershire) |50 |2,000
Sandwell |130 |1,700
Shropshire |170 |3,100
Staffordshire |500 |10,200
Walsall |50 |1,400
Wolverhampton |70 |1,900
Wales
Mid Glamorgan |400 |3,400
South Glamorgan |160 |1,700
Gwent |300 |3,500
Powys |20 |600
North East Wales |20 |1,900
North West Wales |90 |2,700
West Wales |1,000 |5,100
South West
Avon |170 |4,900
Devon/Cornwall |140 |7,900
Dorset |70 |2,700
Gloucestershire |180 |2,600
Somerset |70 |2,900
Wiltshire |90 |2,700
South East
Essex |120 |4,800
Hampshire |1,300 |6,556
Heart of England |140 |1,800
Hertfordshire |60 |2,600
Isle of Wight |20 |700
Kent |170 |5,500
Milton Keynes and North Bucks |90 |1,300
Surrey |40 |1,700
Sussex |600 |4,500
Thames Valley Enterprise |360 |3,800
London
AZTEC (Kingston/Merton/
Wandsworth |70 |1,300
London East |340 |3,800
SOLOTEC (South London) |130 |2,700
Note: This information is compiled from management information
returns from the TECs. An asterisk indicates that complete
information is not available.
Career Services
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the number of vacancies for employment currently held by each local authority career service on the most recent date for which figures are available.
Mr. Jackson : The total number of vacancies held at careers offices in the United Kingdom in June 1991 was 11,500. A geographical breakdown of this figure is shown
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in the Employment Department's press notice "Labour Market Statistics" released on 18 July. A copy is held in the Library.Youth Training
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list for each of the local authority or careers office areas in England and Wales which form part of the management information obtained by the careers office network of his Department (a) the number of young people who left school in summer 1990 and who have not been offered or received a youth training--YT--place, (b) the number expected to leave school in summer 1991 who would likely be eligible for YT and (c) the number of young people who are eligible for YT but who are awaiting a place.
Mr. Jackson : Information in the form requested is not available.
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest figure for participants in youth training.
Mr. Jackson : At 26 April 1991, the latest date for which information is available, it is provisionally estimated that there were about 260,000 young people in youth training in England and Wales.
Minimum Wage
Sir Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proposals the EC Commission has for the introduction of a statutory minimum wage in each member state ; and whether such proposals would be submitted on the basis of majority voting.
Mr. Forth : The European Commission has made no such proposals.
Labour Statistics
Mr. McLeish : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give for each of the standard regions, Scotland and Wales, the numbers of (a) 18 to 19-year-old unemployed including males, females and total for April 1991, (b) the percentage rate by age and (c) the age group as a percentage of the total number of unemployed within the regions, (d) 20 to 24-year-old unemployed, including males, females and total for April 1991, and the percentage rate by age and (e) the age group as a percentage of the total number of unemployed within the region.
Mr. Jackson : Information, relating to numbers of unemployed claimants by age and standard region, can be obtained from the NOMIS database in the House of Commons Library. Unemployment rates by age are only available at national level.
Enterprise Allowance
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment, further to the reply of 28 June, Official Report, column 577, if he will set out the exact rates of enterprise allowance paid to unemployed people in receipt of unemployment benefit or income support fixed by each TEC from 1 April.
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Mr. Forth : TECs may pay regular amounts of between £20 and £90 weekly for between 26 and 66 weeks. The rates paid vary between TECs and between individual entrants to the scheme. It is therefore not possible to provide information in the form required, except at disproportionate cost.
Unemployment Benefit
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage of applicants for unemployment benefit were disqualified for the maximum 26 weeks under section 20 of the Social Security Act 1975 in each of the last five years (a) in Wales as a whole and (b) in each county or district in Wales.
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