House of Commons Hansard Debates for 4 Dec 1991

Mr. Steen : Is my hon. Friend aware that directors of planning all over the country and hon. Members of all parties are concerned that the number of unauthorised developments has risen from 60,000 in 1988 to more than 90,000 in 1990? Will he assure the House that the new planning practice guidance that he is to issue will give planners teeth, and not just false teeth, to deal with the unauthorised developments being built all over the country? Planners must be given powers to stop that happening before such developments cover the countryside.

Sir George Young : The particular provisions of the Planning and Compensation Act 1991 in the consideration of which my hon. Friend played such a distinguished part do not come into force until next month, so directors of planning will not yet have had the benefit of the

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provisions. They come into effect next month and we shall issue planning policy guidance later this month. I hope that when planning directors have the new powers available to them they will be able to take faster and more effective action against unauthorised development.

Mr. Win Griffiths : Does the Minister intend to bring the concept of sustainable development right into planning guidance as a primary role? Will he confirm that the primary role of the plan will take precedence over all other considerations? Will he beef up the public consultation procedures which his Department are currently casting aside like autumn leaves shrivelling on the ground, or do we have to wait for a Labour Government in the full flush of a green spring and summer to bring sense back into our planning system?

Sir George Young : No, that delay will not be necessary. We had a long debate in Committee on sustainable development. There was a lot of sympathy for the concept, but we saw real difficulties about enshrining it in the planning machinery without far more information about how one would take the concept of sustainable development forward in district plans. We are moving towards a plan-led system in which, other things being equal, what is in the plan will happen. There is a balance between getting the plans up and running quickly and a protracted consultation procedure. We do not want to diminish the opportunities of local people to consult on the plans, and I do not believe that we have cut corners in the way that the hon. Gentleman implied.

Business Rates

12. Mr. Squire : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of how much more businesses would have paid in rates during 1990-91 and 1991-92 if uniform business rate had not been in operation.

Mr. Portillo : Taking account of actual levels of local government spending for the two years, we estimate that without the uniform business rate businesses would have paid £1 billion more in 1990-91 and £850 million more in 1991-92.

Mr. Squire : Those figures are significant. Given that the Labour party has pledged to abolish the UBR, will not the consequence inevitably be higher business rates for many businesses, which Labour says it is concerned about, leading a number of those businesses to the very edge of bankruptcy and liquidation and increasing unemployment as a consequence?

Mr. Portillo : Yes. In so far as I can make out the policy of the Labour party, it is to give the business rate back to local authorities. We know what the experience has been over the years. Local authorities increased their spending much faster than inflation, which meant that business rates had increased faster than inflation. Under the uniform business rate, the rate in the pound that businesses pay stays in line with inflation and never rises faster than inflation. That is a major gain for business.

Mr. James Lamond : While we are on the subject of the amount paid in business rates, can the Minister tell us whether shops whose rates have been assessed on the basis

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of six-day or even five-and-a-half-day trading will have their rateable values reassessed on the basis of seven- day trading?

Mr. Portillo : The next revaluation will be carried out in 1993. It will come into effect in 1995.

Mr. Oppenheim : Bearing in mind the need to keep the business rate down, has my hon. Friend had time to glance at a pamphlet entitled "The Citizens' Charter", written in 1921 by one Herbert Morrison, then secretary of the London Labour party, which states that the best way to improve local services is to increase competition? Does that not illustrate that no amount of tacky red plastic roses or glossy image-making can disguise the fact that, far from progressing, Labour policy is regressing?

Mr. Portillo : My hon. Friend makes a valuable point. It seems that only the modern Labour party is opposed to competition. I have not read that pamphlet. Perhaps during the next hour-long speech by the hon. Member for Dagenham (Mr. Gould) in Committee I will find an opportunity to do so.

National Parks

13. Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the work of the Edwards committee on national parks for England and Wales.

Mr. Trippier : We welcome the general thrust of the report of the Edwards panel and the recommendations for the future of the national parks put to us by the Countryside Commission and the Countryside Council for Wales. We have already announced our intention to establish independent authorities for the eight national parks currently run as county council committees. We are considering very carefully the other recommendations from the countryside agencies.

Mr. McFall : Given that the Government have broken two of their manifesto pledges--the implementation of the Common Land Forum and increased protection for national parks--will the Minister give an assurance now that he will implement the recommendations of the Edwards committee in full? Given the comments of the right hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Patten), when he was Secretary of State for the Environment, that national parks were the jewels in the crown, does the Minister not think it fair that that should apply to the entire United Kingdom, not least to my constituency which contains Loch Lomond which is facing ecological disaster as a result of the political intransigence of the blockheads in the Scottish Office in Edinburgh?

Mr. Trippier : I cannot give the hon. Gentleman the assurance that he seeks that I will agree with everything that the Edwards committee has recommended, but I can certainly assure him and the House that I will respond positively to the recommendations. On the precise matter that he raised regarding Scotland, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland has set up working parties to advise on the need for early action on the Cairngorms, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs. My right hon. Friend has asked Scottish Natural Heritage to consider how to protect Scotland's special areas more effectively in the future.

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Mr. John Greenway : Will my hon. Friend assure the House and my many constituents in the North Yorks moors national park that whatever new structure he puts in place to manage the parks, the planning policy guidance given to the park authorities will give the social and economic needs of the people who live in the parks a high priority in the considerations for planning permissions?

Mr. Trippier : I am happy to give my hon. Friend that assurance.

Public Sector Housebuilding

15. Mr. Skinner : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the latest figures for housebuilding in the public sector ; and what are the comparable figures for 1979.

Mr. Yeo : The public sector, mainly local authorities, completed 9, 000 dwellings in England in the year to September 1991 compared with 75,000 in 1979. Housing associations, which are in the private sector, are now the main providers of new social rented housing. They completed nearly 16,000 newly-built dwellings in the year to September 1991, and together with acquisition and renovation of houses for letting, building for shared ownership sale, and other activities, the total output of housing associations was almost 22, 000 units in 1990-91, compared with only 16,000 in 1979. Under our public expenditure plans, housing association output is due to rise substantially to at least 40,000 by 1993-94.

Mr. Skinner : Is it any wonder that every one of my hon. Friends is now inundated with more complaints about housing matters than at any time since we have been in the House? Is the Minister aware that eight times as many houses were built under the previous Labour Government than those doctored figures show for the last financial year? It is high time that we got rid of the Government who have characterised the 1980s with cardboard city and got a Government for the 1990s who will start using bricks and mortar again.

Mr. Yeo : It is no surprise that hon. Members are inundated with complaints because the problem with housing policy in Britain is that, although it is made by the Government, it is delivered by the local authorities, far too many of which are Labour controlled. There are two real housing scandals in Britain today. The first is the appalling mismanagement and waste of resources. In the hon. Gentleman's constituency of Bolsover no less than 5.3 per cent. of rent remains uncollected. That puts it in the worst quarter of local authorities. More than 120 authorities do twice as well as that with uncollected rent less than half the level in Bolsover. The other scandal is the doctrinaire attitude of Labour-controlled councils such as Plymouth city council which, when Labour took control in May this year, halted for several months the previous Conservative policy of selling land to housing associations at concessionary prices, enabling rents to be kept down and output to be increased.

Mr. Patrick Thompson : With regard to complaints about housing, of which I have many from my constituents, will my hon. Friend confirm that if Labour-controlled Norwich city council were to adopt a more up-to-date approach to housing, co-operate properly with housing associations and take advantage of the

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various initiatives that have come from the Department of the Environment, it would be better for housing in my constituency and better for my constituents?

Mr. Yeo : My hon. Friend is absolutely right. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State recently visited my hon. Friend's constituency and delivered a few home truths to the city council about its housing policy failures. If Norwich were to adopt a proper enabling role and take advantage of the huge opportunities that the Government have made available to local authorities for delivering increased housing output, particularly in co-operation with the private housing sector and the housing associations, the people of Norwich would be much better served.

Mr. O'Brien : Is it not a fact that due to Government policy local authorities will be building no new houses next year and housing associations will achieve only what they achieved in the mid-1970s ? Is it not also a fact that waiting lists for houses to rent are increasing and have more than trebled since the Conservatives took office ? When shall we have the affordable rented houses that people need ? The Government's housing policy is abysmal. When shall we have some policies to provide affordable homes for rent ?

Mr. Yeo : The hon. Gentleman obviously was not listening to my answer. Housing association output will soon be running at three times the level that it was in the 1970s. In addition, Britain's total housing stock has increased by 2 million units in the past 12 years--a far higher rate of increase than that of the population as a whole. But the fact remains that while local authorities demonstrate their continued inability to use the resources that are already at their disposal, when so many Labour- controlled authorities cannot even be bothered to collect the huge sums in uncollected rent, I cannot see why the hon. Gentleman should be concerned about the level of rents.

Mr. Ian Taylor : Does my hon. Friend agree that in constituencies such as mine in the south-east there are problems in providing houses for those most in need and I welcome the additional figures that he has announced for housing associations ? One of my boroughs, Elmbridge, tried it, but there were objections from Labour groups connected with housing and now my tenants are in a much worse position than they otherwise would have been.

Mr. Yeo : My hon. Friend has made a most important point. Those authorities that transferred their stock, under the large-scale voluntary transfer policy, have received a substantial capital receipt, a quarter of which they are able to use. In addition, independent research shows that tenants in those areas where transfers to housing associations have taken place have been extremely satisfied with the service that they get and the improved repairs. Moreover, the rent guarantees that they were given have been honoured. I would also draw my hon. Friend's attention to our planning circular 7/91 in which we have encouraged local authorities to identify housing need in their areas and then, when private developers bring forward proposals for new housing, to negotiate with them an element of affordable housing in their developments.

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Sand Extraction, Druridge Bay

16. Mr. Beith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will undertake an environmental assessment of the effect of sand extraction at Druridge bay, Northumberland.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Tony Baldry) : The extraction activities began at Druridge bay many years ago and my right hon. Friend does not have powers to initiate environmental assessments in such circumstances.

Mr. Beith : How can it be acceptable for this beautiful beach to be shipped away in unlimited quantities under planning permissions granted by Ministers on appeal 30 years ago? That would never be acceptable today. Since it was central Government, not the local communities, who made the decision to allow that to happen, the Minister surely recognises that central Government must play some part in bringing this disgraceful practice to an end.

Mr. Baldry : I think that the hon. Gentleman knows that in the first instance it is for the mineral planning authority to decide whether to revoke the planning consent for extractions and whether such action is warranted.

Eco-labelling

17. Mr. Illsley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received recently regarding an eco-labelling scheme for environmentally benign products ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Trippier : The Environment Committee published its report on eco -labelling in September and the Government responded in November.

Mr. Illsley : I am grateful for the Minister's reply. Do the Government intend to implement an eco-labelling scheme? Can the Minister say whether the Government will agree to a Europewide eco-labelling scheme, to try to eliminate some of the misleading claims that are made on behalf of some products, which prejudice products that are environmentally safe? For example, glass products are completely recyclable. Will the Minister ensure that a life cycle analysis is built into the scheme to ensure that a product is judged from the time it is produced until it is recycled or destroyed?

Mr. Trippier : The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. A number of misleading claims are made by companies suggesting that their products are environmentally friendly when clearly they are not. In many cases, that can be a rip-off for the consumer. We should prefer to go along with the European Communitywide scheme so that British industry is not put at a disadvantage. I hope that the Environment Council of Ministers that I shall attend next week in Brussels will decide on a directive.

Sir Hugh Rossi : Does my hon. Friend agree that the answer lies in early amendment of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 so that the misleading claims to which he has referred can be squashed?

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Mr. Trippier : Such an amendment might well be needed, but it is more important that we get the European eco-labelling scheme up and running. I am anxious that we should play an active part not only in setting it up but in ensuring that it is in operation in the United Kingdom by the end of 1992.

Mr. Turner : Does the Minister recognise that the people of Wolverhampton do not regard the Secretary of State for the Environment as environmentally benign, certainly over the problems that they face with the new standard spending assessment announced in the past few days--

Mr. Speaker : Order. That was a bit wide of the question.

Mr. Turner : It affects the people of Wolverhampton.

Mr. Speaker : Yes, I know, but the hon. Gentleman must keep to the question.

Mr. Turner : How can the Secretary of State for the Environment be environmentally benign when he is introducing the Heseltax, as it is known in Wolverhampton, and disastrous standard spending assessment being inflicted on Wolverhampton?

Mr. Trippier : My right hon. Friend is not environmentally benign but environmentally friendly. His friendliness is made clear in Wolverhampton's settlement. Although the hon. Gentleman may be concerned about it, I prefer the view of his neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, North-East (Mrs. Hicks), who is extremely pleased with my right hon. Friend's settlement.

Local Government (Competitive Tendering)

18. Mr. Roger King : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the savings to local authorities from competitive tendering.

Mr. Key : Research into compulsory competitive tendering under the Local Government Act 1988 has shown average savings of 6 per cent. in the annual value of contracts for all services subject to competition. Average savings of between 10 and 15 per cent. of annual value have been achieved on services such as refuse collection and building cleaning. Standards of services have generally been maintained or improved.

Mr. King : I thank my hon. Friend for that encouraging reply, but does he share my concern that certain Labour authorities, such as the city of Birmingham, carry out the letter but not necessarily the spirit of the law on competitive tendering? What proposals has he to ensure that local authorities, particularly Labour councils, achieve the full benefits of competitive tendering for poll tax payers?

Mr. Key : We are introducing our proposals in the other place. Contrary to some of the comments of Opposition Members, the Opposition amendment made in the other place this week makes no difference to our determination to encourage compulsory competitive tendering in the interests of the taxpayer.

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