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Mr. Maclean : The Department has not yet published this guidance. We shall shortly be issuing a draft of advice on the subject of how surrender of licences should be judged, and we will be inviting comments on that draft.
Oxleas Wood
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he last visited Oxleas wood, south-east London ; when he last had communication with the European Commission regarding the east London river crossing ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : English Nature, my right hon. Friend's advisor on matters relating to sites of special scientific interest, has visited Oxleas wood on several occasions, most recently on 16 July 1992. There have been a number of exchanges between the Government and the Commission on the East London river crossing in connection with the application of the EIA directive, 85/337 EEC. In July 1992 the Commission announced its decision to issue a reasoned opinion under article 169 of the treaty of Rome. This has not yet been received.
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Drinking Water Inspectorate
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will bring forward proposals to enhance the independence of the drinking water inspectorate ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend on 15 July 1992 to my hon. Friend the Member for Hertfordshire, West (Mr. Jones), Official Report, column 858.
Home Energy Efficiency Scheme
Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many houses in the network installer area including the Birmingham, Northfield constituency have been improved under the home energy efficiency scheme since its inception in 1991.
Mr. Maclean : Within the network installer area which contains the hon. Member's constituency, 1,740 homes have benefited from HEES grant since 1 January 1991.
Business Rates
Mr. William O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many applications have been made for relief of hardship under section 49 of the Local Government and Finance Act 1988 from small businesses for each year since the introduction of the uniform business rate.
Mr. Robin Squire : Information on the number of applications for relief which have been received by local authorities is not available. In 1990-91, 13 authorities granted hardship relief totalling £23,582. Of the 346 authorities which have so far submitted returns for 1991-92, 47 have granted relief totalling £166,501.
Housing Corporation
Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy not to cut the Housing Corporation's £2 billion projected approved development programme.
Mr. Baldry : The Government's public expenditure plans will be announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in his autumn statement.
Special Housing
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the level of development of special housing units for the elderly and disabled from 1980 to 1992.
Mr. Baldry : Estimates of starts and completions of specialised housing units for the elderly and disabled in England are shown in the publication "Housing and Construction Statistics".
Figures for 1980 to 1990 are in table 6.7 of "Housing and Construction Statistics, Great Britain--1980-1990" and figures for 1991 and the first six months of 1992 are in table 1.5 of "Housing and Construction Statistics, Great Britain June Quarter 1992"--issue 50.
Copies of all these publications are in the Library.
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Housing Associations
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how rents are set by housing associations in relation to average income, by region.
Mr. Baldry : For tenants of registered housing associations whose tenancies commenced after 15 January 1989, rents are set by individual housing associations in accordance with their overall rent policy. In setting rents for property provided with the help of public subsidy, associations must have regard to the tenants' guarantee, issued by the Housing Corporation, which requires them to set rents within the reach of those on low incomes, whether or not they are in receipt of housing benefit.
For tenants of registered housing associations whose tenancy began before 15 January 1989 rents are set by the rent officer under the Rent Act 1977. He or she will take into account the age, character, locality and state of repair of dwelling whilst disregarding any shortage of similar accommodation in the area. Rent officers must disregard the personal circumstances--including incomes--of an individual.
Peat Bogs
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he is taking to save peat bogs from destruction and to treat the threat as a national heritage crisis ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : The Government fully recognise the need for conserving peat bogs which are of nature conservation importance and are actively taking steps to resolve conflicts between peat extraction and nature conservation. As my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary announced on 7 July 1992 in answer to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton (Mr. Nicholson) Official Report column 158, my Department has set up a working group to advise on peat extraction and related matters. We have also commissioned research to prepare guidance on the rehabilitation of peatlands affected by peat extraction and, supported a number of initiatives to safeguard key bogs in England and Wales from further peat extraction.
Council Tax
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has had about council tax reductions for blind people ; what replies he has sent ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Robin Squire : The Department has received three letters about council tax reductions for blind people. One of these was from the right hon. Gentleman. A copy of my right hon. Friend's reply of 2 October is being sent to all local authorities. I will also arrange for a copy to be placed in the Library of the House.
RECHAR
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the status of Nottinghamshire bids for RECHAR moneys from the EC currently blocked by his Department ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : The Department is not blocking bids for RECHAR moneys in Nottinghamshire. The East
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Midlands RECHAR programme committee has recently approved 16 projects which will attract grant worth approximately £2 million.Groundwater Levels
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what consultations he has had with the National Rivers Authority, the local authority associations and the water companies concerning statutory responsibility for monitoring and regulating rising and falling levels of groundwater underneath urban areas of England and Wales ;
(2) what representations he has had concerning responsibility for monitoring and regulating changes in groundwater level.
Mr. Maclean : My Department has regular contact with the National Rivers Authority (NRA) which, under the Water Resources Act 1991, has responsibilities for the general management of water resources in England and Wales. It monitors the quality and levels of groundwater, and regulates abstraction through licences. We receive
representations about groundwater matters from time to time.
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps are being taken by his Department in support of European Community policy on groundwater protection with particular regard to (a) education and training schemes and (b) improvement in public awareness.
Mr. Maclean : Following the EC ministerial declaration on groundwater in the Hague last year, continued work in England and Wales is being undertaken by the National Rivers Authority. The NRA published a consultation paper in November 1991 setting out proposals for the protection of groundwater, which has increased public awareness of groundwater.
Second London Forum
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received since his announcement of 14 July of the establishment of a second London forum ; by what means he expects the knowledge and opinion of London borough councils, all London statutory bodies and agencies, and London civic and amenity organisations will be represented on his proposed body ; and if he will reconsider its proposed title.
Sir George Young : We have received a number of representations about our proposals for the London Forum. They include some from civic and amenity societies about the proposed name, and we have undertaken to consider this issue further. The forum will need to establish close working links with other organisations in London in the private, public and voluntary sectors, and we have proposed a formal consultative group to facilitate this process.
Radioactive Waste
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the present position of the application by UK Nirex Ltd. to seek permission to (a) sink bore holes and (b) construct an
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underground rock research laboratory, in connection with plans to assess the suitability of the area adjoining Sellafield for a radioactive waste repository.Mr. Maclean : Following UK Nirex's appeal against the Lake District Special Planning Board's refusal to allow its application for planning permission to drill boreholes 8 and 9 in the national park, and Cumbria county council's refusal of planning permission to drill borehole 11 outside the national park, a public inquiry is due to start on 24 November. I understand that the Lake District Special Planning Board has also refused permission to drill borehole 9A in the national park and that Cumbria county council has not yet reached a decision on Nirex's application to drill borehole 13. No application to construct an underground rock research laboratory has been made by Nirex.
Environment Know-How Fund
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list and give full details of projects agreed under the environment know-how fund announced in June 1991.
Mr. Maclean : The environmental know-how fund, which is a dedicated section of the know-how fund for central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, is going well. Some £315,000 has now been spent or committed to over 25 projects, with a further £700,000 or so in the pipeline. Other western Governments are using the know-how fund as a model for their own.
A list of the activities approved since April 1992 under the environmental know-how fund is currently being compiled and I will write to the hon. Member.
Ozone-destroying Chemicals
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what new measures he intends to introduce to reduce the use of ozone-destroying chemicals.
Mr. Maclean : The United Kingdom, together with the EC, will be pressing for the phase out dates in the Montreal protocol for the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances to be brought forward to 1 January 1996 at the latest. We will also be pressing for strict controls on HCFCs to be included in the revised protocol and for methyl bromide to be made a controlled substance. The United Kingdom is also seeking agreement, within the EC, to new phase out schedules for ozone depleting chemicals, which will be included in a revised EC regulation.
Nottingham City Council
Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much capital receipts from council house sales and so on are currently held and unable to be spent by Nottingham city council due to current restrictions ; and what were the figures for each of the years since the restrictions were introduced.
Mr. Robin Squire : Separate figures for set aside capital receipts are not held centrally. Such receipts are included within an authority's provision for credit liabilities. That provision is available for repaying debt and meeting payments under credit arrangements. The provision for credit liabilities, and the outstanding debt, reported by Nottingham city council were as follows :
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|Provision for Credit|Outstanding Debt
|Liabilities
|(£ million) |(£ million)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 April 1990 |41 |<1>-
1 April 1991 |52 |355
1 April 1992 |61 |356
<1> Not available.
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will lift restrictions on Nottingham city council to allow it to spend the capital receipts which it currently holds.
Mr. Robin Squire : Local authorities may currently spend 25 per cent. of their capital receipts from the sale of council houses and 50 per cent. of most other receipts. The balance may be used to meet credit liabilities. If authorities were allowed to spend a larger proportion of their receipts, the total of spending by the public sector and the public sector borrowing requirement would be increased. We therefore have no plans to change these arrangements.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to receive the second report from the Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment ; and if he will make a statement on progress made to date in implementing the actions Her Majesty's Government agreed to undertake arising from recommendations made in the first Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment report.
Mr. Eggar : The Government received the second report of the Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment (ACBE) in July and published it together with the Government's response on 22 September. A separate report on progress in implementing the recommendations of ACBE's first report was published the same day. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of both publications, which have been placed in the Library of the House.
Environmental Schemes
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the proportion of awards to applications made by industries, respectively, to the (a) environmental management options scheme, (b) environmental technology innovations scheme and (c) Euroenviron scheme, as managed by his Department ; and if he will indicate for each scheme the average lead time, respectively, between application and award or notification of rejection.
Mr. Eggar : The Department's three environmental technology support schemes all entail a two stage application process. The figures given below therefore indicate the proportion of applications rejected at each stage. The average lead times quoted include the time taken to find project partners and the time taken by applicants to submit Stage 2 applications and provide information needed to enable the appraisal to take place, as well as the time taken to undertake technical and financial appraisals by DTI and the scheme consultants.
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The environmental technology innovation scheme (ETIS) is jointly administered by DTI and DoE and figures for applications referred to DoE are also included. The information requested is as follows :Table file CW921019.135 not available
Departmental Environmental Management Options Scheme (Demos) Applications approved
Proportion of stage 1 applications invited to stage 2: 36 per cent.
Of these, proportion as yet received by DTI: 30 per cent.
Stage 2 applications approved:
19 per cent.
Average lead times
Stage 1 application to final approval:
11 months Rejected at stage 1:
9 weeks Rejected at stage 2:
7 months Environmental Technology Innovation Scheme (ETIS)
DTI
Applications approved
Proportion of Stage 1 applications invited to Stage 2: 19 per cent.
Of these, proportion as yet received by DTI: 35 per cent.
Stage 2 applications approved:
38 per cent.
Average lead times
Stage 1 application to final approval:
10 months Rejected at stage 1:
7 weeks Rejected at stage 2:
5 months DoE
Applications approved
Proportion of stage 1 applications invited to stage 2: 16 per cent.
Of these, proportion as yet received by DoE: 20 per cent.
Proportion of stage 2 applications approved: 86 per cent.
!Average lead times
Stage 1 application to final approval:
10 months Rejected at stage 2:
None Note: At stage 1, a joint decision is taken as to which Department will deal with the application. Broadly speaking, DoE deal with applications which are standards related and DTI with the rest. Euroenviron
Applications approved
Proportion of stage 1 applications invited to stage 2: 100 per cent.
Of these, proportion as yet received by DTI: 17 per cent.
Proportion of stage 2 applications approved: 75 per cent.
Note: There are a number of applications in the pipeline which may yet proceed to stage 2.
Average lead times
From stage 1 to final approval:
9 months Rejected at stage 1:
None rejected
Rejected at stage 2:
None Note: If applicants invited to stage 2 do not proceed any further with their application after 12 months, they are notified that no further action will be taken until such time as they decide to resurrect their project proposal.
Cleaner Technology Database
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has for establishing a clearing house database of information on cleaner technology.
Mr. Eggar : My Department intends to support the establishment of a centre to provide information and advice on cleaner technology. A feasibility study carried
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out this year showed a demand for it and work is currently in hand to determine the services to be offered and the mechanisms of operation.Industrial Waste
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many copies of his new departmental publication "Cutting your Losses" on industrial waste minimisation have been printed ; to whom they have been distributed or made available ; and at what total cost to date.
Mr. Eggar : A total of 30,000 copies of "Cutting Your Losses 2" have been printed.
They have been distributed or made available to a wide range of companies and organisations across the United Kingdom. These include targeted companies in the waste producing and waste management industries and in potentially highly polluting sectors of industry, trade associations and chambers of commerce, local authorities and waste disposal authorities, national business organisations, environmental voluntary organisations, technological institutions and research establishments, DTI regional offices, DoE and other Government Departments. In addition many companies and individuals requesting the booklet have received copies on an ad hoc basis. The total cost to date of producing and distributing the publication is £87,887.
Eastern Europe
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what commitments were made by the United Kingdom to provide financial and technical aid to the nuclear industries of eastern European countries during the meeting of OECD member states in Brussels held in mid-September.
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