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conserving the amenity of our rural areas. Some aspects--in particular the proposed notification procedures--will require primary legislation, and it is our intention to seek to introduce this when parliamentary time permits.Housing
Mr. Cousins : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many housing starts and completions there were in each quarter of 1990 and in the first two quarters of 1991 in each English standard region.
Mr. Yeo : Figures up to the end of the first quarter of 1991 are in table 1.3 of the March quarter 1991 edition of "Housing & Construction Statistics : Great Britain : Part 1". A copy is in the Library. Corresponding figures for the second quarter of 1991 are not yet available.
Radioactive Materials
Mr. Marland : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the number of occasions in the last 10 years when radioactive sources escaped from the official control regime in the United Kingdom ; whether these were reported separately as containing high, medium and low levels of activity, how many mislaid sources reached the metals reclamation industry ; and how many prosecutions were instigated.
Mr. Baldry : Any person wishing to keep or use radioactive material in England and Wales must be registered by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960. Control is exercised by the imposition of strict limits and conditions contained in certificates of registration issued by HMIP following careful consideration of the relevant circumstances. One of these conditions requires the user to inform the police and the chief inspector of HMIP without delay if he believes the registered source has been lost or stolen and to take all practical steps to recover the source. All registered users are subject to inspection to ensure that the limits and conditions in certificates are being complied with.
As an indication of the importance attached to the proper regulation of radioactive substances, the Government have recently increased the maximum penalties for offences under the Radioactive Substances Act to include an unlimited fine and imprisonment for five years on indictment.
A small number of lost or stolen sources are notified to HMIP each year and reports on these cases will contain details of the levels of activity involved. All cases are thoroughly investigated by HMIP, which is aware of only one incident where a lost source may have entered the metals reclamation industry. In this case HMIP is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding a quantity of pelletised steel dust contaminated with radioactivity which was shipped from Ireland to Avonmouth in September 1990.
There have been two prosecutions involving lost or stolen sources in the past 10 years. I am satisfied that the Radioactive Substances Act continues to provide a robust control over the use of radioactive materials in this country.
Housing Association Grants
Mr. Turner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the amount of grant paid and the number of organisations grant-aided
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under section 50 of the Housing Act 1988 for each financial year since enactment, including the amount available in the current financial year.Mr. Yeo : The Housing Corporation grant under section 50 of the Housing Act 1988 was as follows :
|£
------------------------------------------
1989-90 |1,220,458,374
1990-91 |1,738,092,695
1991-92<1> |2,228,375,000
<1> Provisional.
The total number of housing associations which are paid grants each year is not held by the Department. I have therefore asked the corporation to respond to the hon. Member direct. The subsequent reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Turner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the amount of grant paid and the number of organisations grant-aided under section 87 of the Housing Associations Act 1985 for each financial year since enactment, including the amount available in the current financial year.
Mr. Yeo : I believe that the hon. Member is referring to the programme of promotional and advisory grants administered by the Housing Corporation under, principally, section 87 of the Housing Associations Act 1985. The level of the corporation's programme, financed by grant-in-aid from the Department, has been as follows for the years in question :
|£ 000s
------------------------
1985-86 |342.1
1986-87 |509.7
1987-88 |472.3
1988-89 |586.3
1989-90 |1,109.0
1990-91 |2,699.5
1991-92 |3,702.0
Decisions on the allocation of funds to particular organisations and projects are entirely a matter for the Housing Corporation. I have therefore asked the corporation to write to the hon. Member about the number of organisations which have received grant.
Co-operative Promotion Allowance
Mr. Turner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the amount of co-operative promotion allowance paid and the number of organisations to which it was paid in each financial year since its introduction, including the amount available in the current financial year.
Mr. Yeo : Co-operative promotion allowance is paid at the discretion of the Housing Corporation from the funds which the Department makes available to support development by housing associations. I have therefore asked the corporation to write to the hon. Member giving the information requested.
Bank of Credit and Commerce International
Mr. Meale : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on which local authorities have losses arising out of the BCCI closure, including the amounts in each case.
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Mr. Key: A number of authorities which had deposits with BCCI have written to the Department. Apart from that, I do not at present have any information beyond that which has appeared in the press.Catalytic Converters
Mr. Gwilym Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of (a) the income to the Exchequer and (b) the financial benefit to the environment from the sale of catalytic converters ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : I have been asked to reply.
Catalytic converters will be fitted to virtually all new petrol cars from the end of 1992. They will add to their cost and fuel consumption will increase, but there will be major improvements in local and regional air quality. It is impossible to predict (a) the effect these changes will have on revenue to the Exchequer, given the unpredictable nature of the market, and (b) the financial benefit to the environment at this time from the sale of these devices, given that many of the factors involved cannot be costed.
Guest Houses
Mr. Bellotti : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to collect statistics on the number of guest houses that provide fewer than six bed spaces per night.
Mortgage Repossessions
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many mortgage repossessions there have been in each county in England and Wales during each of the last 12 months for which records are available ; and what were the annual figures for each of the last 12 months.
Mr. Yeo : Figures are not available in the form requested. The most recent figures published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that, for the United Kingdom as a whole, there were 16, 560 repossessions in the six months ended 30 June 1990, and 27,330 in the six months ended 31 December 1990. Total repossessions in 1990 affected less than 0.5 per cent. of borrowers.
Aggregates
Mr. Walden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the latest date by which comments on the recently published aggregates demand forecasts should be submitted to his Department for them to be taken into account in the revision of MPG6.
Mr. Yeo : My Department has not specified any time limit for comments to be made on the forecasts. But to enable views to be taken into account in the preparation of the draft revised quidelines we would welcome comments within the next four months.
Mr. Alan Blumlein
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter from the Minister of State, Baroness Blatch, on the papers of the late electronics engineer Alan Blumlein.
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Mr. Heseltine : These papers are not the Government's responibility, and Baroness Blatch has not written a letter about them.
Property Services Agency
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what impact "Options for Change" will have on the PSA work undertaken for Defence Works Services for the Ministry of Defence in Germany and the United Kingdom.
Mr. Yeo : It is clear that there will be an overall reduction in MOD's requirement for works services as a result of "Options for Change". The consequences for individual locations, and individual suppliers of services such as PSA, have still to be worked out.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what fee value of new business has been started by each of PSA's new business divisions since untying was introduced.
Mr. Yeo : Civil clients untied from PSA for major works from 1 April 1988. All MOD works services and civil minor works and maintenance were untied from 1 April 1990. Since untying PSAS businesses have been successful in winning work with total fee values as follows.
|£ million
--------------------------------------------
PSA Projects |90.9
Building Management |18.7
PSA International |19.0
The figures for building management and PSA International represent the fee value of work either won in competition or through negotiation. The figure for PSA projects represents the fee value of all new projects awarded since 1 April 1988 for civil and wider market clients and since 1 April 1990 for MOD by negotiation or competition.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the projected cost of privatising PSA ; and what return is anticipated from the sale of any or all of the business divisions.
Mr. Yeo : The projected cost of preparing PSA for privatisation including the costs of the sales process depends on the strategy adopted. They are commercially sensitive estimates.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether any Crown property will be included in the sale of the PSA businesses as part of the assets of the organisation.
Mr. Yeo : Whether any properties will be sold with parts of PSA will depend on the particular needs of the organisations after privatisation. At the time of the Property Services Agency and Crown Suppliers Bill 17 freehold Crown properties were identified as being potentially transferable with the PSA, if needed. The great majority of existing PSA accommodation is leasehold.
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the resignation of the PSA's chief executive.
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Mr. Yeo : Mr. Geoffrey Chipperfield, the current chief executive, has not resigned. His predecessor was Mr. Patrick Brown, who transferred on 26 June to become Permanent Secretary of the Department of Transport.Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much the Property Services Agency spent on hospitality in the financial years 1989-90 and 1990-91.
Sir George Young : PSA's expenditure on hospitality was as follows :
|£
----------------------
1989-90 |27,107
1990-91 |51,268
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many, and at what cost, performance bonuses and merit payments were made to grade 5 and above civil servants in the Property Services Agency for 1989-90.
Mr. Yeo : Three bonus payments totalling £2,800 were made in 1989-90. Merit payments--performance range points--were also made to 16 staff at grade 5 level or above on the basis of their performance in that year. The annual cost of these payments amounted to £25,129 in 1990- 91.
Leases
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many statutory tenants there are in houses who are holding over from 14- year leases and with full repairing responsibilities.
Sir George Young : This information is not available.
Redundancy Dowry
Mr. Soley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the redundancy dowry, referred to in his oral answer of 10 July, Official Report, columns 949-50, will (a) fully cover all the redundancy entitlement earned in Government service by the transferred staff and (b) be contained within a trust fund or funds fully independent to the purchasers of each business.
Sir George Young : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him yesterday.
Riverside Site, Twickenham
Mr. Jessel : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to give his planning decision on the Twickenham riverside site ; and if he will inform the hon. Member for Twickenham of his decision no later than he informs the local planning authority and the developers.
Mr. Yeo : The inspector's report on the application by Marks and Spencer plc in relation to the site is currently under consideration and we hope to issue a decision shortly. I can also confirm that the issue of the decision will be co-ordinated, so that notification to the local planning authority, the applicant and the hon. Member for Twickenham are dispatched at the same time.
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Rented Housing
Mr. Chris Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will publish a table showing for each region in England his Department's assessment of the current shortfalls of rented housing in relation to local needs ;
(2) what is the deficiency in the quantity of housing available through housing associations and local authorities for rent in each region of England ; what research is being carried out by his Department on the deficiency ; and when he will report on the findings of such research ;
(3) what assumptions about the future rented housing demand he makes in determining the number of homes to be started by housing associations and local authorities each year ; and on what factual information he bases those assumptions ;
(4) if he intends to prepare and publish a review of projected housing need in relation to this Department's funding of rented housing programmes ;
(5) if he will list the allocations his Department has made in 1990-91 and 1991-92 to increase the supply of rented homes in areas where housing shortages exist ; the estimated number of additional homes that will result from these allocations and his Department's estimate of the shortages that will remain after these homes have been built ;
(6) what steps his Department takes to measure any shortfall between the supply and demand for rented housing provided by housing associations and local authorities each year.
Sir George Young : Estimates of need for subsidised housing are not susceptible to precise quantification, depending as they do both on subjective judgment of what constitutes need, and on factors affecting access to owner occupation, such as interest rates and house prices, which can vary in the short term. We nevertheless take account of indicators of housing need in the allocation of capital resources to housing associations --which are now the main providers of new subsidised housing--and to local authorities. The housing needs indicator, reviewed each year jointly by my Department, the Housing Corporation and the National Federation of Housing Associations, and used in allocation of resources to Housing Corporation regions, incorporates factors such as homelessness, overcrowding, the household-dwelling balance and the accessibility of owner-occupation ; allocation of resources to associations within regions is a matter for the Housing Corporation, which takes these and other factors into account. The generalised needs index, used in allocation of resources to local authorities and determined following consultation with the local authority associations, also includes these factors, with a lower weighting because most authorities' capital expenditure is on renovation of their existing stock.
Various projects in the Department's housing research programme are designed to improve our knowledge of housing need. I announced the capital allocations to local authorities for 1991-92 on 13 December, Official Report, columns 463-64, and the regional distribution of the Housing Corporation's approval development programme on 13 February, Official Report, columns 470-1. I shall write to the hon. Member with fuller details of the
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composition of the housing needs indicator and the generalised needs index and of the housing research programme.We have recognised that there are shortages of subsidised rented housing in some areas and we have provided resources for a substantial increase in output by housing associations, from 21,000 in 1989-90 to 40,000 in 1993-94 ; details are given in my Department's annual report (Cm. 1508), paragraphs 7.35 to 7.38 and figures 70 and 71. Availability of resources for subsidised housing is considered in the public expenditure survey each year.
Birds
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what assumptions he has made about the origin of birds in his calculation of the numbers of captive birds of prey in the United Kingdom ;
(2) what proportion of captive birds of prey in the United Kingdom were (a) bred in captivity, (b) illegally imported and (c) taken unlawfully from the wild.
Mr. Baldry : Section 7 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act requires that all captive birds of the species listed in schedule 4 are registered with my Department. A prerequisite of registration is the provision of details of the origin of the bird. Over 75 per cent. of registered captive birds of prey were bred in captivity. Evidence that birds may have been illegally imported or taken unlawfully from the wild is passed to the enforcement authorities. No estimate is available of unregistered birds illegally held.
Bottles
Mr. Ward : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will consult his counterparts in Sweden, Denmark and Germany to seek information on the ways in which they have encouraged the use of returnable, refillable bottles for drinks which are on sale in shops ; and if he will investigate the feasibility of introducing such measures in the United Kingdom ;
(2) if he will make it his policy to persuade supermarkets to make greater use of refillable containers when selling drinks ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : The Government's White Paper on the Environment, "This Common Inheritance", stated that encouraging the re-use or recycling of materials was a priority. The Government recognise that the use of refillable beverage containers can make environmental and economic sense in certain circumstance. The White Paper also recognised that policies should be based on the best scientific and economic information. The Government have therefore commissioned a study by consultants of the implications of a deposit refund scheme for beverage containers. This includes studies of schemes in place in other countries.
Written Questions
Mr. Nellist : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many parliamentary questions for written answer have been answered by his Department so far this Session, and in the comparable period for the last Session ; and if he will publish a table of how many answers (a) do not give the information requested because of (i) disproportionate cost or (ii) other reasons,
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(b) give an undertaking to write to the hon. Member who asked the question and (c) were referred for answer to the chief executive of each next steps agency.Mr. Heseltine : So far in this Session my Department has answered 2,899 written parliamentary questions. The figure for the comparable period in the last Session is 4,156. The other information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Non-domestic Rate
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish his best estimate of the actual total yield from the national non-domestic rate in (a) 1990-91 and (b) 1991-92.
Mr. Portillo : We currently estimate that the non-domestic rate yield in England will be about £11 billion for 1990-91 and £12.2 billion for 1991-92.
Local Government Boundary Commission
Mr. Jessel : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects the reports of the Local Government Boundary Commission covering Greater London and Surrey to be published.
Mr. Key : The commission has issued three sets of draft proposals which concern the Greater London/Surrey boundary. Public responses have been received and are being considered by the commission, after which it will submit reports to my right hon. Friend.
Red Squirrel
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action is being taken to prevent the further decline and regional extinction of the red squirrel from those areas of England which it was known to occupy 10 years ago.
Mr. Baldry : Under schedule 5 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act, the red squirrel is fully protected throughout Britain against killing, injuring, taking and selling. There are projects being carried out in various parts of England to determine the population dynamics of the red squirrel for conservation management purposes. Several of these projects receive support from public sources, and the results should assist the efforts being made by English Nature and others to conserve the species.
Eco-labelling
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will make it his policy that eco-labelling should start with raw materials rather than at the stage of manufacture.
Mr. Baldry : The Government are already committed to awarding eco- labels to products on the basis of the impact they have on the environment from the cradle to the grave. Analysis of the cradle stage will cover raw materials.
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Pesticides
Mr. Faulds : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce regulations requiring local authorities to provide warnings by notice or broadcast in the areas concerned that pesticide spraying is to take place.
Mr. Baldry : Under the Control of Pesticides Regulations, all pesticide products must be approved by Ministers of six Government Departments, including my own, before they can be sold, supplied, stored, used or advertised. Appropriate conditions are attached to the approvals which, if followed, will ensure safe use of the pesticide. For example, some pesticides have specified re-entry times before which members of the public, or other unprotected individuals, should not be allowed access to treated areas.
In addition to the specific controls through the approvals scheme, there are more general controls through the consents of the regulations. It is, for example, a requirement that the users of pesticides take all reasonable precautions to protect the health of human beings. This is not specified in a precise way because the user is best able to judge what is needed in the specific circumstances of his particular pesticide use. In some cases warning notices may be appropriate ; in others they may be unnecessary, in yet others they may be inadequate if used alone.
I am not aware of any considerations that would justify another layer of control of the kind suggested.
Radon Gas
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what research has been undertaken into the effectiveness of the removal of radon gas from newly constructed dwellings ; and if he will outline the results of the research.
Mr. Yeo : The Building Research Establishment is undertaking research into the practical building problems and the effectiveness of measures to combat radon gas in newly constructed dwellings. The findings of the research are being taken into account in revised guidance to support the Building Regulations, but final results will not be available until next year.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what evidence he has relating to the effect of radon gas on the life expectancy of people living in and around Dartmoor.
Mr. Baldry : The evidence for the health effects of radon gas in Dartmoor and elsewhere is provided by the National Radiological Protection Board. In particular, I refer my hon. Friend to the "Documents of the NRPB", Vol. I, Nos. 1 and 4, 1990, copies of which are in the Library of the House.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the new maps being prepared by his Department indicating where radon is to be found at its highest levels.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will outline the research evidence lying behind the setting of an advisory level of 200 becquerels in newly constructed dwellings.
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Mr. Baldry : The research evidence requested is set out in the National Radiological Protection Board publication "Documents of the NRPB", volume I, No. 1, 1990. Copies were placed in the Library on publication.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what method of site inspection he proposes to introduce to discover (a) whether radon is present, (b) in what quantities and (c) whether it is potentially dangerous to health.
Mr. Baldry : My Department funds the National Radiological Protection Board to carry out free surveys of the levels of radon in houses using passive etched-track detectors over a period of at least three months. The NRPB advises the householder of the danger to health according to the recorded radon level. There is no reliable method of predicting radon levels from site measurements before house construction.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what proposals he has to introduce under section C2 of the Building Regulations 1985 mandatory requirements for methods of construction so as to prevent the entry of radon gas into newly constructed dwellings ;
(2) what advice he is giving building control officers with regard to the reduction of radon gas to less than 200 becquerels.
Mr. Yeo : Regulation C2 of the Building Regulations 1985 requires precautions to be taken to avoid danger to health caused by substances found on or in the ground to be covered by the building. Interim guidance relating to radon was produced in June 1988 to support this requirement. A revised approved document for part C which specifically refers to radon will be published later this year, and this will be supported by more detailed guidance on methods of construction to limit the entry of radon gas into newly constructed dwellings.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average annual dose of radon received by people in the United Kingdom, expressed in terms of milliSieverts ; and what is the average in Devon.
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