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Royal Parks (Staff)
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many staff of the royal parks are being made redundant ; and what is the total redundancy payment.
Mr. Yeo : A total of 342 industrial staff have received redundancy notices. It is estimated that redundancy and early retirement payments will total £3.05 million.
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many current staff of the royal parks live in tied accommodation ; how many will be allowed to remain when contractors take over ; and what will happen to the rents of those who remain.
Mr. Yeo : A total of 35 current staff live in royal parks lodges. The 22 industrial staff who have received redundancy notices will be allowed to continue living in their lodges whether they are employed by contractors or not. Those who are not already paying fair rents will be required to do so with the increase being phased-in over a period depending on the size of the change.
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Methane
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimates he has available for the quantity of methane loss into the atmosphere from the British gas industry.
Mr. Baldry : Data on United Kingdom methane emissions are published annually in the "Digest of Environmental Protection and Water Statistics," copies of which are placed in the Library of the House. The latest estimates, for 1989 in Digest no. 13, show that gas leakage from the distribution system accounted for 340,000 tonnes of methane, and venting from oil and gas platforms together accounted for a further 175,000 tonnes of methane.
Sports Facilities (Tendering)
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on how local authorities must draw up contracts for competitive tendering of the running of sports facilities so that the private sector has a fair chance to compete ; and what powers he has to ensure that fair competition is encouraged with regard to the kinds of tasks set out in the tender documents.
Mr. Key : Under the Local Government Act 1988 local authorities are required to avoid anti-competitive behaviour in carrying out tendering for work subject to the Act. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has sanction powers which he may use if he considers that an authority has failed to comply with the statutory requirements, including the requirement to avoid anti-competitive behaviour. In March 1991, we issued a circular (1/91) giving guidance on factors that the Secretary of State would consider in reaching a view on whether local authorities had acted anti- competitively. We
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are seeking powers in the Local Government Bill to strengthen our ability to prescribe what is, or is not, to be regarded as anti-competitive behaviour. We have just issued a consultation document "Competing for Quality--Competition in the Provision of Local Services" setting out our proposals for the use of those proposed powers.Thames House, Millbank
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he consulted the Royal Fine Arts Commission before commencing work on the listed building Thames house, Millbank.
Mr. Yeo : The Royal Fine Arts Commission was consulted after minor works to remove redundant services had started but before the start of the main works.
Wild Birds
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation banning the importation of all wild birds ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : The Government share the concern that has been expressed about the possible effects of trade on the wild populations of many species and about the conditions in which animals--especially birds-- are transported. These are international problems which require international solutions and we are therefore pressing for stricter controls throughout the European Community and beyond.
Conservation action must be based on sound science. Earlier this year I therefore commissioned the Government's scientific advisers, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to review the evidence as to whether the trade in wild-taken animals and plants was compatible with maintaining species at satisfactory levels. The JNCC's report was submitted on 31 July and copies are available in the Library of the House. The report gives unequivocal support for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which is the foundation for conservation controls on trade in the European Community and most of the rest of the world. The Committee does not advocate extensive bans but has made some wide-ranging
recommendations for tightening the present controls. The report of the Royal Botanic Gardens submitted recently reaches similar conclusions and makes detailed recommendations on plants. We will make this available as soon as possible.
I therefore wrote to the European Commission on 14 October, urging it to propose that the Community takes steps to :
strengthen measures to prevent illegal trade in endangered species and to ensure that specimens of these species are used to bring conservation benefits ;
make more systematic checks on the effect of trade on species whose survival might become threatened, to ensure that it continues only at sustainable levels ;
monitor trade in more species :
make sure that appropriate care is taken of all species listed in CITES.
We intend to make clear the importance we attach to early progress at the Environment Council next month.
Because of his responsibilities for the welfare of animals during transport, my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and
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Food, joined me in this approach to the Commission, to press for strict controls on trade in any species which are particularly vulnerable to stress and mortality as a result of transport or captivity.Listed Buildings (Alterations)
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what bodies he consults before commencing major alterations to listed buildings.
Mr. Yeo : Clearance is sought from the local planning authority in line with DOE circulars 18/84 and 8/87. The local planning authority will in turn consult with various heritage bodies, though where significant proposals are concerned my Department will normally have had prior discussions with these bodies.
Planning Permissions
Mr. Colin Shepherd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment on how many occasions in each of the last 10 years has (a) the South Herefordshire district council granted a planning permission as a departure from the structure plan, (b) such a planning consent been granted as a result of an appeal and (c) if he will give the same information for other non-metropolitan district councils in England.
Mr. Yeo : This information is not held centrally.
Local Government Finance
Mr. John D. Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment to what extent there is non-payment of the community charge in the current year ; and what support he is giving to recover the unpaid community charge.
Mr. Key : At the end of June community charge receipts in England averaged 12 per cent. of local authorities' budgeted charge income. This figure was however affected by delays in issuing community charge bills due to the general reduction of £140 in headline charges announced in the Budget and it is not possible to draw conclusions about overall collection for the year. We will be publishing information on the second quarter of the year shortly.
The Government strongly support local authorities' efforts to collect the community charge. We have given them wide ranging collection powers and if these are used to the full authorities should be able to collect the charge from those people who have not paid.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will immediately review community charge benefit regulation No. 89 in order that full time married students can receive poll tax relief without affecting the spouse's claim.
Miss Widdecombe : I have been asked to reply.
Regulation 89 of the Social Security Community Charge Benefits (General) Regulations 1989 (SI 1989/1321) provides for excess benefits that have arisen where claimants have not declared all of their capital assets. We are not aware that this regulation has caused any difficulties in particular in relation to full-time married students.
Non-student partners of registered students can claim community charge benefit, while the student is entitled to
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relief and only pays 20 per cent. of the charge. The benefit awarded to the non-student partner takes account of the couple's joint circumstances.Local Authorities
Mr. David Shaw : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will publish a list of each local authority in England, its political control and the amount paid in attendance allowance and expenses to the highest paid councillor in each authority in respect of the most recent two years for which the information is available ;
(2) what information he has in respect of councillors' attendance allowances and expenses for each local authority in England.
Mr. Key : This information is not collected by my Department. Each local authority must, on request, make available for inspection a record of allowances paid and the names of the recipients.
Mortgages
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he intends to meet the Council of Mortgage Lenders to discuss the establishment of a code of practice for mortgage lenders.
Mr. Yeo : At the suggestion of this Department, the Council of Mortgage Lenders issued statements of practice on the handling of mortgage arrears and of possession procedure in February this year.
Air Pollution
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the number of occasions on which the one-hour and the eight-hour World Health Organisation guideline values for ozone were exceeded at each Warren Spring Laboratory monitoring site in the last year for which data are available.
Mr. Baldry : The number of days during which the one hour (76ppb) and the eight hour (50ppb) World Health Organisation guideline values for ozone were exceeded at the Department of the Environment's monitoring sites in 1991 are as follows :
WHO guideline exceed
|1-hour|8-hour
----------------------------------------------
Stevenage, Herts |5 |7
Sibton, Suffolk |3 |19
Bridge place, London |0 |0
Aston hill, Wales |1 |15
Lullington heath, Sussex |7 |24
Strath Vaich, Highlands |0 |20
High Muffles, Yorkshire |4 |23
Lough Navar, NI |4 |8
Yarner Wood, Devon |14 |33
Ladybower, Derbyshire |6 |14
Harwell, Oxfordshire |13 |20
Bottesford, Notts |2 |11
Eskdalemuir, Dumfries |1 |12
Great Dun Fell, Cumbria |6 |19
Wharleycroft, Cumbria |4 |26
Glazebury, Lancs |2 |5
Bush, Midlothian |1 |1
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will review the air quality bulletin
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system to ensure that appropriate information and advice is provided to the public during eight-hour sustained pollution episodes.Mr. Baldry : The advice currently issued during ozone episodes follows recommendations in a report by the Chief Medical Officer's advisory group on the medical aspects of air pollution episodes, published in May this year. In accordance with the group's recommendations, it is issued when hourly mean ozone concentrations exceed, or are expected to exceed 100 parts per billion. We see no reason at present to alter this practice, but the arrangements will be kept under review.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the United Kingdom-wide newspapers, radio and television stations which have agreed to print or broadcast his Department's advice on what to do if air quality becomes poor.
Mr. Baldry : Advice on what to if air quality becomes poor is obtained from the telephone information system and from general practitioners.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the United Kingdom-wide newspapers, radio stations and television stations which agreed to print or broadcast air quality bulletins on a regular basis.
Mr. Baldry : Air quality bulletin information is currently available on a daily basis on page 583 of Ceefax and in the Guardian and the (London) Evening Standard. Weather forecasts on BBC and ITV report episodes and forecasts of poor air quality. The air quality bulletins are provided free of charge to all radio and television stations and newspapers that take the weather information provided by the Meteorological Office.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to assess the effectiveness of the air quality bulletin system in its first year of operation.
Mr. Baldry : My Department assesses continuously the effectiveness of the bulletin system. It has been extended, improved and made more accessible in a number of ways since its introduction in October 1990. The media are making increasing use of it.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the weekly average number of calls received by his Department's air quality call line (a) in total and (b) seeking advice on what action to take if air quality becomes poor.
Mr. Baldry : The weekly average number of calls received on the Department's air quality call line during October 1991 was about three and on the air quality advice line, 32 over the same four week period.
Noise
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out the progress so far made in implementing the recommendations of his Department's noise review working party published in October 1990.
Mr. Baldry : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Memberf for Burnley (Mr. Pike) on Friday 8 November 1991, at c. 310- 03.
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Send-a-penny Campaign
Mr. Grist : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many pennies and representations he has received in connection with the send-a-penny campaign designed to improve the provision, cleanliness and accessibility of public conveniences ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key : The Department has received 235 pennies and 88 representations. For over 100 years authorities have had an absolute discretion as to whether, and how, they provide public conveniences. We have no plans to change this.
Hedgerows
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what measures the Government are planning to introduce to protect hedgerows ; and when these will be presented.
Mr. Yeo : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave today to the hon. Member for Glanford and Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley).
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to bring forward detailed legislation to protect hedgerows.
Mr. Baldry : In July I announced the Government's revised proposals to protect hedgerows. These include two main elements : a proposed scheme to require owners and occupiers to notify intended removal of hedgerows-- linked with new powers for local authorities to register key hedgerows ; and proposed new incentives to promote
environmentally beneficial management.
The former requires legislation, which we shall seek to introduce when parliamentary time permits. However, the
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proposed incentives scheme does not depend on new legislation and we are discussing with the Countryside Commission and others the best means of taking early steps to implement this.Housing Investment Programme
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consultations he has had with the Institute of Housing with regard to the allocation of the housing investment programme.
Mr. Yeo : The institute commented on the Secretary of State's recent proposals that more account should be taken of local authorities' performance and plans in the allocation of housing capital resources. Their views were taken into account. The Secretary of State announced on 30 October his decision to proceed to implement these proposals.
Building Industry
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent consultations he has had with the Federation of Master Builders about the state of the building industry.
Mr. Yeo : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no such consultations.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has had from building firms about the effects of the recession on the building industry.
Mr. Yeo : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning on 6 November 1991 at column 154.
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Housing Expenditure
Mr. Aspinwall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give details of how he plans to use the increases in public expenditure on housing announced in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's autumn statement, and his proposals for local authority housing subsidy.
Sir George Young : Public expenditure on housing will be nearly £7.8 billion next year, an increase of 4.9 per cent. on previous plans, and will rise further to £8.2 billion by 1994-95. This rising programme will increasingly focus on tackling run-down council estates and providing for families in housing need. Our plans include :
--£350 million extra over three years to provide nearly £1,200 million in total for the enhanced estate action initiative which I announced in July, and more for housing action trusts in the two later years, to continue our policy of focusing resources on the most run-down council estates ;
--the Housing Corporation's capital programme of new social housing to go on rising as planned to £1.7 billion next year and over £2 billion thereafter, to provide 120,000 homes over three years mainly for the benefit of homeless families and others in housing need ;
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--£30 million next year for a continuation of the successful programme of new rural housing financed through local authorities ; --£25 million over three years for bringing flats over shops back into use ;--£70 million over three years for a new grant to help authorities meet the costs of replacing privately leased accommodation for homeless families ;
--over £1.5 billion each year in grants and borrowing approvals for local authorities' mainstream housing capital programmes of renovating their own estates, supporting housing associations, and helping low-income private owners to renovate their houses ; --£3.75 billion in 1992-93 for subsidies to council housing, including rent rebates for low-income tenants.
Lower construction costs--down nearly 10 per cent. since this time last year--and lower land prices are helping us to get more output from current levels of public expenditure. The table gives further details of the breakdown between main spending areas. I shall announce further details of specific programmes, and of capital allocations to individual authorities and of the Housing Corporation's development programme, over the coming weeks.
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1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95
|Forecast|Previous|Revised |Previous|Revised
|outturn |plan |plan |plan |plan |plan
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Housing Corporation (net capital)<1> |1,636.7 |1,706.5 |1,706.5 |1,918.8 |1,918.8 |1,966.7
Local authority capital<2> |1,961.1 |1,845.9 |1,962.7 |1,813.5 |1,952.5 |2,002.4
Housing Action Trusts |10.3 |67.3 |40.1 |69.0 |86.8 |88.2
Housing Revenue Account Subsidy |3,751.1 |3,531.8 |3,755.7 |3,537.8 |3,695.3 |3,861.7
Other Expenditure |266.6 |263.3 |310.2 |255.8 |305.4 |292.0
|---- |---- |---- |---- |---- |----
Total housing |7,625.8 |7,414.9 |7,775.2 |7,594.9 |7,958.8 |8,211.0
<1>Housing Corporation forecast gross capital expenditure: 1991-92 £ 1,731 million; 1992-93 £ 1,
770 million; 1993-94 £ 2,004 million; 1994-95
£ 2,052 million.
<2>Includes Estate Action: 1991-92 £ 266 million; 1992-93 £ 365 million; 1993-94 £ 407 million;
1994-95 £ 423 million.
My Department is also today consulting local authorities about my proposals for the management and maintenance allowances and rent guidelines to be used in calculating authorities' entitlements to housing revenue account subsidy next year, and I have placed the consultation papers in the Library with a list of proposed allowances and guidelines for each authority. I plan to introduce important new measures to help raise standards of management and maintenance in council housing. First, I propose an average increase of 6 per cent. in management and maintenance allowances, allowing a real improvement in service to tenants. Second, I propose further moves towards targeting allowances according to the type of housing that each authority owns and the differing management problems they face, thereby directing £93 million more to the authorities with the greatest needs. On rents, I propose increases in guidelines averaging £2.44 a week--to give a new average guideline of £27.33--and ranging from £1.20 to £4.50 a week, thus continuing our policy of encouraging authorities to charge rents that better reflect the relative value of housing provided while remaining on average well below market levels. Responsibility for setting actual rents remains with individual local authorities. Housing benefit will normally meet the whole of any rent increase for the two thirds of tenants receiving it.
Backed by this substantial public expenditure provision, and by recent initiatives to drive up standards and secure better value for money, our housing policies will continue to focus--though constructive partnerships between all the agencies involved in providing housing
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--on encouraging owner-occupation for those who can afford it, on helping homeless families, and on widening choice and improving service for tenants especially on the most run-down council estates.SOCIAL SECURITY
Pensioners
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many individuals his Department were unable to trace to tell them they could make up their contributions to claim a full pension.
Mr. Jack : The responsibility for tracing individuals for contributions purposes is a matter for Miss Ann Chant, the chief executive of the Contributions Agency. She will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library and the Public Information Office.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the cost to the Treasury of the additional claims for mortgage interest payments from those pensioners who will be entitled to claim income support as a result of the uprating statement ; and how many individuals will be able to claim such payments.
Miss Widdecombe [holding answer 5 November 1991] : We estimate that fewer than 5,000 pensioners with a mortgage could become entitled to claim income support as a result of the uprating statement. The extra cost to the Treasury is negligible.
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Mr. Rowe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much money the Government received from pensioners through deductions from their pensions occasioned by stays in hospital longer than six weeks in each year since 1988-89.Miss Widdecombe : The information requested is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many low income pensioners are expected to gain from the measures in the uprating statement.
Miss Widdecombe : The proposed uprating income support by a full 7 per cent. from next April will give increases substantially above the current level of inflation to around 3.5 million low-income pensioners where the claimant or partner is aged 60 or over. Furthermore, there will be rises in addition to the uprating increase for older and disabled pensioners who receive the higher pensioner premium. Couples will get £1.50 per week extra and single claimants £1.00. This measure alone will add £60 million in a full year to the help available to low -income pensioners.
The income support limits for residential care and nursing homes are also to be increased by £15 in nearly all cases. This rise is significantly greater than inflation and represents additional funding of £200 million per year.
As a result of the proposed uprating it is expected that up to 400, 000 people will become newly eligible to claim income support and the majority of these are likely to be pensioners.
Pensions
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what approximate amount per week will be payable as a SERPS addition to their pension to those who have been on average earnings throughout their working life if they retire in 1991, 1992 and for each subsequent year for which forecasts exist.
Miss Widdecombe : The information requested is given in the table. The amount of additional pension payable for a man experiencing age specific male average earnings throughout his working life and a woman experiencing age specific female average earnings during her working life retiring in each year from 1991 to 2061.
------------------------ 1991 |40.90|25.45 1992 |48.80|30.15 1993 |54.50|33.70 1994 |59.85|37.00 1995 |65.25|40.25 1996 |70.90|43.65 1997 |76.85|47.20 1998 |82.80|50.75 1999 |84.95|52.15 2000 |86.00|52.85 2001 |86.95|53.55 2002 |87.80|54.20 2003 |88.55|54.85 2004 |89.15|55.50 2005 |89.55|55.90 2006 |89.85|56.30 2007 |90.00|56.60 2008 |89.85|56.90 2009 |89.35|57.00 2010 |90.00|57.95 2011 |90.55|58.95 2012 |91.05|59.85 2013 |91.50|60.65 2014 |91.85|61.30 2015 |92.05|61.90 2016 |92.25|62.40 2017 |92.35|62.85 2018 |92.30|63.20 2019 |92.20|63.45 2020 |91.95|63.60 2021 |91.65|63.70 2022 |91.30|63.80 2023 |90.65|64.55 2024 |90.00|65.45 2025 |89.10|66.20 2026 |88.15|67.20 2027 |86.95|68.10 2028 |86.95|69.10 2029 |86.90|70.10 2030 |86.90|71.15 2031 |86.95|72.15 2032 |87.05|73.10 2033 |87.15|74.15 2034 |87.30|75.20 2035 |87.50|76.15 2036 |87.65|77.10 2037 |87.90|78.05 2038 |88.25|78.95 2039 |88.60|79.75 2040 |88.95|80.40 2041 |89.30|81.00 2042 |89.65|81.55 2043 |90.00|82.10 2044 |90.30|82.60 2045 |90.65|83.10 2046 |90.95|83.60 2047 |91.30|84.05 2048 |91.55|84.50 2049 |91.85|84.95 2050 |92.15|85.35 2051 |92.45|85.70 2052 |92.75|86.10 2053 |93.00|86.40 2054 |93.25|86.75 2055 |93.55|87.10 2056 |93.80|87.45 2057 |94.05|87.75 2058 |94.30|88.10 2059 |94.55|88.40 2060 |94.80|88.70 2061 |95.00|89.00
Benefits
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the circumstances in which the social fund or any other benefits can be used to purchase services from the national health service ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : Social fund payments for medical items are specifically excluded from the scope of the fund. People in receipt of other social security benefits are free to choose how they wish to spend their money. Income support or family credit recipients are entitled to free prescriptions, optical tests and dental treatment. The provision of NHS services is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what policy he follows in exercising his discretion
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