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Mr. Howard : The aims, objectives and targets of my Department are set out each year in the management information system for Ministers documents which are published. I have placed in the Library of the House copies of the MINIS 13 returns, which provide this information for 1992-93.
Civil Servants (Shares)
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidance, other than the civil service pay and conditions of service code and the establishment officers' guide, his Department provides relating to civil servants' shareholdings ; if he will list the number of occasions within the last five years on which civil servants have reported shareholdings to establishment officers in his Department ; what regulations apply to the staff of the next steps agencies within his Department ; what mechanisms are in place to prevent potential conflicts of interest ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Howard : Guidance is given in the Department's staff handbook, which also applies to staff in its next steps agencies. Notices giving specific guidance have also been issued in relation to the sale of the water services industry and the proposed sale of businesses within PSA Services. This guidance instructs staff on how to avoid actual or potential conflicts of interest. Two members of staff have sought advice on their shareholdings since 1987.
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Deregulation
Mr. Sproat : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what visits he has made to her EC counterparts in each member state to discuss deregulation matters since 18 April ; what agreements came out of such meetings ; and what plans he has for making further progress in deregulation matters during the United Kingdom presidency of the EC.
Mr. Howard : I will write to my hon. Friend.
Community Charge
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has of the number of local authorities affected by the error in the COMCIS computer programme for community charge collection ; what is his assessment of the implications of this ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robin Squire : I am not aware of the problem to which the hon. Member refers.
Business Rate
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what indication he has of local authorities including uniform business rate arrears in the figure they give as the additional amounts charged for sums not collected ; whether all local authorities are acting consistently on this matter ; whether he has issued any guidance to local authorities on this point ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robin Squire : The amounts taken into account as "other adjustments" for the purposes of setting community charges is a matter for each individual charging authority.
Under the statutory arrangements for the national non-domestic rate it is not necessary for authorities when setting their community charges to make provision in their "other adjustments" for non collection of rates due from non-domestic ratepayers.
Mr. Harvey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will seek to amend legislation so as to reduce the business rate liability of empty shop premises using a charitable or non-commercial information display in their windows as a device to improve security and the environment.
Joint Nature Conservation Committee
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to reduce the number of staff of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : None. We await proposals from English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Countryside Council for Wales, in consultation with the JNCC, for a formal staff complement for the committee.
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the future of funding and manpower of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
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Mr. Maclean : No. The future level of funding for the committee will be determined in the normal way as part of the current public expenditure round. We await proposals from the county councils, in consultation with the JNCC, for a formal staff complement for the committee.Listed Buildings
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all applications to demolish listed buildings in each of the last 12 months ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : This information is not readily available. Private applications for listed building consent are made to local planning authorities, which refer them to the Secretary of State only if they are minded to grant consent. All applications for listed building consent by local planning authorities are submitted to the Secretary of State for his determination.
In the financial year 1990-91, 79 private applications for consent totally to demolish listed buildings were referred to the Secretary of State and 33 such local planning authority applications were determined by the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State left local authorities to decide 72 of the private applications and called in the remaining seven for his own decision. Of the called-in applications, consent was refused in three cases and granted in four cases. Of the local authority applications, the Secretary of State refused consent in six cases and granted consent in 27 cases.
Housing Associations
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the housing authorities that have transferred most or all of their housing stock to housing associations stating in each case the year of the transfer and the number of dwellings transferred.
Sir George Young : The information is as follows :
Local authority |Year of transfer|Number of
|dwellings
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chiltern |1988 |4,650
Sevenoaks |1989 |6,526
Newbury |1989 |7,053
Swale |1990 |7,352
Broadland |1990 |3,721
North Bedfordshire |1990 |7,472
Medina |1990 |2,825
Rochester |1990 |8,029
South Wight |1990 |2,119
Mid Sussex |1990 |4,426
East Dorset |1990 |2,245
Tonbridge and Malling |1991 |6,382
Ryedale |1991 |3,353
South Bucks |1991 |3,319
Christchurch |1991 |1,542
Suffolk Coastal |1991 |5,272
Tunbridge Wells |1992 |5,519
Bromley |1992 |12,393
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, what (a) evidence and (b) reports he has received from the Housing Corporation on the affordability of new homes provided by housing associations in England.
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Mr. Baldry : The Housing Corporation has made available to the Department the work it has done so far in monitoring the rents set for new housing association homes.
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what (a) evidence and (b) reports he has received from the Housing Corporation on the affordability of new homes provided by housing associations in England.
Mr. Baldry : The Housing Corporation has made available to the Department the work it has been done so far in monitoring the rents set for new housing association homes.
Rural Development
Mr. Tyler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list, with the figures shown as a per capita figure, for each local authority which contains a rural development area the level of (a) rural development programme, (b) rural housing programme and (c) rural transport development fund for each year from 1987-88 at current prices and at 1987- 88 prices.
Mr. Maclean : I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him yesterday.
Land Compensation Act 1973
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment why he decided to seek to remove the words "passed the resolution" from section 29(1) of the Land Compensation Act 1973 by schedule 15, part II of the Planning and Compensation Act 1991.
Mr. Baldry : The words referred to had been redundant since enactment of the Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1973, under which Scottish provisions on land compensation were separated from those applying to England and Wales. Removal of the words thus involved no substantive change in the law.
Zoos
Mr. Gale : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to treat the proposed EC directive laying down minimum standards for keeping animals in zoos as a priority during the United Kingdom presidency of the European Community.
Mr. Maclean : After taking informal soundings within the Community, we announced our support in principle for the proposed zoos directive earlier this year. More recently however, it has become clear that a number of other member states would not support the current proposals, not least because of concerns about subsidiarity. In view of this, and the pressures on our programme for the United Kingdom presidency, we have concluded that the directive should not be one of our priorities.
Rents-to-Mortgages
Sir John Stanley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the tenants of housing authorities whose homes have been transferred to housing associations will be able to participate in the rents-to-mortgages scheme.
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Sir George Young : We will be consulting shortly on the proposition that entitlement to a statutory rents-to- mortgages scheme should extend to former secure tenants whose homes have been transferred to private landlords.Urban Development Corporations
Mr. Byers : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are his plans for the urban development corporations ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robin Squire : The urban development corporations will continue their task of securing the regeneration of their areas until the end of their lifetimes.
Mr. Blunkett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of budgets of each urban development corporation is allocated to community development work or similar grant aid to local community projects ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 15 July 1992] : The percentage of each urban development corporation's 1991-92 budget which was specifically allocated to community development is shown. Further expenditure related to community development may be charged to individual UDC projects.
Percentage of total budget
specifically allocated to community
development.
|per cent.
---------------------------------------
Black Country |1.27
Bristol |1.44
Central Manchester |2.31
Leeds |1.69
London Docklands |4.50
Merseyside |1.66
Sheffield |2.00
Teesside |0.71
Trafford Park |3.06
Tyne and Wear |1.98
Urban Development Areas
Mr. Tyler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment pursuant to his answer of 9 July, Official Report, columns 307-10, if he will display the figures shown as a per capita figure.
Mr. Robin Squire : The per capita figure can be arrived at by dividing the figures in the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Darlington (Mr. Milburn) on 9 July Official Report, columns 307-10, by the population estimates given below.
Population estimates
(000s)
Authority |1987 |1988 |1989 |1990
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sandwell |298.4 |296.3 |295.5 |295.0
Walsall |281.8 |262.3 |263.6 |263.9
Wolverhampton |250.5 |249.4 |249.9 |249.4
Bristol |384.4 |377.7 |372.6 |374.3
Manchester |450.1 |445.9 |443.6 |446.7
Newham |206.5 |207.0 |207.0 |208.6
Southwark |216.8 |217.0 |219.8 |225.5
Tower Hamlets |159.0 |161.8 |163.9 |166.9
Leeds |709.0 |709.6 |711.7 |712.2
Liverpool |476.0 |469.6 |465.9 |462.9
Sefton |297.3 |297.6 |299.6 |299.6
Wirral |334.8 |334.8 |336.2 |335.3
Sheffield |532.3 |528.3 |526.6 |525.8
Hartlepool |89.8 |88.4 |88.7 |89.9
Langbaurgh |145.6 |144.8 |144.5 |144.0
Stockton |175.9 |176.8 |176.9 |176.6
Middlesbrough |143.3 |143.2 |142.7 |141.6
Trafford |216.1 |215.8 |215.3 |214.8
Salford |237.7 |235.6 |234.6 |234.1
Newcastle |282.7 |279.6 |277.6 |277.8
North Tyneside |192.9 |192.9 |192.7 |191.7
South Tyneside |156.3 |155.7 |155.8 |156.0
Sunderland |297.1 |296.1 |296.2 |296.1
Note: Figures are not yet available for 1991.
Source: OPCS Mid-Year Population Estimates.
Council Tenants
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he intends to take to ensure that council tenants are given the same protection and rights under the Housing Act 1985 and the Land Compensation Act 1973 as private sector tenants ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir George Young : The Land Compensation Act 1973, together with other relevant legislation, lays down the basis on which compensation is available to those who are adversely affected by action taken under statutory powers. There is in general no difference in the position of public and private tenants under the compensation code.
Energy Efficiency
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will publish an update of the league tables on departmental performance of Whitehall-type buildings, and departmental expenditure on energy and energy efficiency measures.
Mr. Maclean : Data on the progress of the energy efficiency campaign on the Government estate will be included in the second-year report on the environment to be published in the autumn.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will initiate a study into the impact of the client contribution in the home energy efficiency scheme on the level of take-up.
Mr. Maclean : The home energy efficiency scheme is cash limited, and there has been no difficulty in meeting its targets. Abolishing the client contribution, far from increasing the numbers who could benefit, would reduce the number of jobs which could be done by increasing the cost of grant for each job.
Mr. Alan W. Williams To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made on the establishment of an independent working party to monitor the progress of Departments of state in implementing the energy efficiency improvements following the annual report, 1990-91, of the ministerial group on energy efficiency.
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Mr. Maclean : A working party was set up in 1991 comprising of officials, with outside consultancy support, to monitor and advise on the progress of Departments towards achieving the 15 per cent. energy savings target ; it has met three times since December 1991.Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much revenue savings from local authority energy efficiency investments have been recycled into energy efficiency capital programmes and into designated energy funds since April 1990.
Mr. Maclean : This information is not collected centrally ; it is for local authorities to decide their own expenditure priorities.
Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will publish the 1991-92 annual report of the ministerial group on energy efficiency.
Mr. Maclean : I have decided that the responsibilities of the ministerial group on energy efficiency should be taken over by the green Ministers, who co-ordinate environmental initiatives across Government. The second-year report on the environment will include an update on developments in the energy efficiency field and data on the campaign to improve energy efficiency on the Government estate.
House Renovation Grants
Mr. Bates : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the outcome of his Department's review of the house renovation grant system.
Sir George Young : Last July, I announced our intention to review the new renovation grant system to establish how well it is working, and to consider what changes might be needed further to improve its operation. More than 200 responses from local authorities and others were received.
The review has shown widespread support for the main principles of the new system, particularly the improved targeting of resources on the worst housing and of those least able to pay for repairs. Concerns included the harshness of the means test for grant applicants on lower incomes, the scope for the system still to pay out large grants to those on relatively high incomes, and the resources available to meet demand for grants.
The question of resources is a matter for the public expenditure survey. In response to the other concerns, I propose making the following adjustments to the system :
to introduce a limit of £50,000 on mandatory grants to owner- occupiers, tenants and landlords ;
to adjust the grant premium and taper in the means test for owner-occupiers and tenants to give more help to those just above income support level and less to the better off ;
to uprate the allowances and premiums in the means test to reflect new housing benefit and community charge benefit rates ;
to remove the capital value element of the landlords' test of resources which has proved difficult to work effectively ; to increase the limit on minor works assistance to £1,080 per year and to £3,240 over three years ;
to remove some of the obstacles to group repair schemes by adjusting the qualifying criteria both inside and outside renewal areas and by increasing average cost limits per dwelling to £16,000 in London and £13,000 elsewhere.
I also plan to make a number of minor adjustments to improve the working of the system. Full details of all proposed changes are contained in the Library.
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These changes will help make the system more effective, by improving targeting of resources on those least able to afford essential repairs. I have decided that it would further complicate an already necessarily complex system to seek to make specific allowance for mortgage costs in the means test, as some authorities have suggested. However, the changes I propose will go a considerable way towards recognising the housing and other costs of lower-income households. All these changes can be introduced under existing legislation or by adjustments to secondary legislation, on which we will consult in the usual way. We aim to implement changes early next year.We plan to consult further on two longer-term changes : the introduction of possible target times for local authorities handling inquiries on grants prior to formal application, and extending minor works assistance to mobile home owners for small repairs. These changes could require primary legislation. We shall continue to keep the grant system under review and will consider any further long-term changes that appear desirable.
Mortgage Arrears
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many homes are expected to become vacant in 1992 as a consequence of abandonment by their former occupiers, generally as a consequence of mortgage arrears.
Mr. Baldry : Statistics of mortgage arrears and possessions are collected by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The figures for the first half of 1992, to be published shortly, will incorporate details of "voluntary possessions", which include those arising as a consequence of abandonment by their former occupiers.
Unitary Authorities
Mr. Matthew Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what powers he has to ensure localities neighbouring shire counties are included in the review by the Local Government Commission for consideration of the granting of unitary authority status.
Mr. Robin Squire : Under section 13 of the Local Government Act 1992, the Secretary of State may direct the commission to conduct reviews of specified areas, and he may vary his direction to the commission to include areas adjacent to those so specified.
Greater London Council
Mr. Thomason : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give details of the resources released through disposal of surplus assets consequent upon the abolition of the Greater London council.
Mr. Robin Squire : Since its inception in 1986 the London residuary body has distributed £522.16 million in capital receipts to the London boroughs.
Atmosphere
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the relative proportions of (a) water vapour, (b) methane and (c) sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere.
Mr. Maclean : The concentrations in the lower atmosphere of water vapour and methane relative to
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sulphur dioxide are on average approximately 10 million and 1,000 respectively. Both water vapour and sulphur dioxide concentrations vary considerably with geographical location, altitude and meteorological conditions.Local Government Finance
Mr. Thomason : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will indicate the change in cost for the provision of local government services in the former
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metropolitan county areas as compared with non-metropolitan areas in the financial years preceding, including and succeeding the abolition of the metropolitan county councils.Mr. Robin Squire : The information requested is as follows :
Local authority revenue expenditure 1984-85 to 1986-87
Total Expenditure
|1984-85 |1985-86 |1986-87 |Change |Change
|1984-85 |1985-86
|to |to
1985-86 |1986-87
|£ million|£ million|£ million|Per cent.|Per cent.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Metropolitan Areas |10,332 |10,218 |11,297 |-1.1 |10.6
Non-metropolitan areas |10,979 |11,443 |12,463 |4.2 |8.9
All England |21,312 |21,661 |23,760 |1.6 |9.7
Mr. Pickthall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those local authorities which benefit from the area cost adjustment, and by how much, in the years 1990-91, 1991-92 and 1992-93.
Mr. Robin Squire [holding answer 13 July 1992] : I will write to the hon. Member.
Jubilee Line
Mr. Austin-Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his Department's assessment of the effect of the Jubilee line extension on economic regeneration in the east Thames corridor.
Mr. Baldry : The proposed Jubilee line extension is one factor being taken into account in the study of development capacity and potential offered by the east Thames corridor, which is being undertaken for this Department by consultants.
Standard Spending Assessments
Mr. Betts : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when, and in what manner, he proposes to utilise information for the 1991 census in calculating the standard spending assessment of local authorities.
Mr. Robin Squire : I will write to the hon. Member.
Sheffield Development Corporation
Mr. Betts : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many jobs, excluding those at Meadowhall, the Sheffield development corporation has created to date ;
(2) how much land Sheffield development corporation has made ready for development to date, excluding Meadowhall ;
(3) how much money the Sheffield development corporation has spent to date ;
(4) what plans he has to extend the life span of Sheffield development corporation ;
(5) what plans he has to extend the boundaries of Sheffield development corporation ;
(6) when he expects the Sheffield development corporation to be wound up.
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Mr. Robin Squire : I will write to the hon. Member.
Environment Council
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to meet the director of environmental affairs at the Confederation of British Industry before 19 October, to discuss the implementation of the United Kingdom priorities for the presidency of the European Environment Council.
Mr. Maclean : I will write to the hon. Member.
Environmental Organisations
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the progress made with (a) the Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment, (b) the Central and Local Government Environment Forum and (c) the Voluntary Sector Environmental Forum since each was established last year.
Mr. Maclean : I will write to the hon. Member.
Cryptosporidosis Outbreak, Hull
Mr. Michael Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether, following the outbreak of cryptosporidosis in Hull, he has decided to prosecute Yorkshire Water Services Ltd. for supplying water unfit for human consumption.
Mr. Howard : I have now received the recommendation of the chief drinking water inspector following his investigation of the outbreak of cryptosporidosis in the Hull area in December 1989 and January 1990.
Section 54 of the Water Act 1989--now replaced by section 70 of the Water Industry Act 1991--made it a criminal offence for a water undertaker to supply water unfit for human consumption. It is, however, a defence under the Act for the undertaker to show that all reasonable steps were taken and all due diligence exercised to secure that the water was fit for human consumption.
The inspectorate's investigation was based on the report of the outbreak control group--made up of representatives of the health authorities, the local
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authorities, the water company and the Public Health Laboratory Service--which was completed and made available to the public in March 1991. The inspectorate then sought advice from the Government's Chief Medical Officer, from independent experts on epidemiology and water treatment, and from leading counsel.The inspectorate's investigation of the Hull case has been extensive and thorough, and carried out in a professional manner. I have accepted the chief inspector's recommendation that, in the light of best expert advice available, the evidence is not sufficient to form the basis for a successful prosecution. I have asked the inspectorate to prepare a report on any lessons to be learned from the incident and for the report to be made public.
There are a number of gaps to be filled in scientific knowledge about cryptosporidium and, in accordance with the recommendations of the expert group chaired by Sir John Badenoch, a collaborative research programme co- ordinated by the inspectorate is seeking to do that.
The inspectorate is continuing its investigations of certain other incidents, and in some of these cases is considering the possibility of prosecution.
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