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Sir Wyn Roberts : I am expecting to be advised of the main conclusions of the traffic survey shortly. It is not intended to publish the figures but the relevant traffic information will be made available to Gwynedd county council when I make my announcement on the outcome of the investigations.
EC Agriculture Council
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will attend the Agricultural Council of the EC meeting between 14 and 16 December to represent Welsh farmers.
Mr. David Hunt : I will not be attending the meeting of the Agriculture Council. In line with long established practice, my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food takes the lead in European community discussions and negotiations. I know that my right hon. Friend has the interests of Welsh farmers clearly in mind in that context and I am in regular contact with him.
Business Rates
Mr. Richards : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to introduce an incentive for local authorities to notify the Valuation Office of new non-domestic property in their area to ensure that rating lists are kept up to date.
Mr. David Hunt : I am introducing arrangements which will allow billing authorities to retain until the end of the year the benefit of any additional rates they collect when non-domestic property is improved or first included in the rating list. This change should give authorities more incentive to notify the Valuation Office quickly of any new or improved property in their area. The new provisions will be made in regulations which will be laid shortly and will apply from 1 April 1993.
ENVIRONMENT
Pest Bird Licensing System
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what mechanisms he will put in place to monitor operation of the pest bird licensing system ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : Monitoring will be an integral part of the pest bird licensing system. The Government's statutory scientific advisers, the Joint Nature Conservation
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Committee, will set up the monitoring arrangements and will report their findings annually to my Department. The report will identify changes in overall population levels and distribution of the species.Waste
Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will make a statement on Government policy regarding the importation of recyclable waste material from packaging from European sources ;
(2) what representations he has received regarding the dumping of recyclable waste from packaging ;
(3) what consideration the Government have given to reducing the levels of imported recyclable waste from Germany ;
(4) what representations he has received in respect of the impact of German packaging legislation and the Duales Systems Deutschland on European and United Kingdom markets for recyclable materials.
Mr. Maclean : The Government believe that the movement of waste for recovery, which provides valuable substitutes for raw materials, should continue, subject to the appropriate environmental controls. However, my Department and the Department of Trade and Industry have received a considerable number of representations from British companies and others about restrictions on trade and the distortion of competition resulting from the 1991 German Packaging Ordinance. Many representations relate to the distortion of competition in the markets for recyclable materials. The Government share the concerns expressed in these representations. We have therefore formally asked the European Commission to consider whether the German measures contravene the provisions of the treaty of Rome on trade and competition ; and will continue to press for an early decision by the Commission.
The Government are also negotiating for a harmonising European directive on packaging and packaging waste, to prevent member states from erecting trade barriers or distorting competition.
Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is Government policy regarding the use of United Kingdom landfill sites for the dumping of European waste.
Mr. Maclean : The Government's policy is that developed countries should be self-sufficient and dispose of their own waste. The new EC Waste Shipments Regulation which was agreed on 20 October will enable member states to ban imports for final disposal from other member states unless they produce hazardous waste in such a small quantity that it would be uneconomic for that country to provide their own specialised disposal facilities.
Mr. McFall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if the Government propose to adopt the Duales Systems Deutschland in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Maclean : We have no current plans to do so. However, the Government is currently considering whether the economic framework for recycling and waste in the United Kingdom should be modified. We intend to publish a consultants' report on economic instruments for solid waste shortly and aim to announce our conclusions later in 1993.
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Private Water Supplies
Mr. Harvey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to impose taxes in respect of private water supplies.
Mr. Maclean : None. We announced, however, in "This Common Inheritance : The Second Year Report" in October that we are preparing a consultation paper on charging for water abstraction : that would need to explain to what extent any proposals would apply to private water supplies.
Home Energy Efficiency Scheme
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will bring forward proposals to abolish the client contribution element of the home energy efficiency scheme ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Maclean : The Energy Efficiency Office has received representations recommending the abolition of the client contribution. Abolition would mean that the size of individual claims for grant would increase and that fewer households could benefit overall from the scheme.
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many households have been assisted under the home energy efficiency scheme in each region in each year since the scheme began ; and what level of expenditure, as a total and percentage of the national total, has been undertaken by region.
Mr. Maclean : For 1991-92, the only full year of the scheme so far, the figures are :
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|Number of homes |Grant paid £000s |Grant paid as
|percentage of total
|(rounded)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scotland |34,391 |3,762 |15.8
North East |14,822 |1,724 |7.2
North West |25,199 |3,401 |14.3
East Midlands |19,288 |3,057 |12.9
London |6,166 |804 |3.4
South East |10,011 |1,593 |6.7
South West |8,145 |1,227 |5.2
Wales |10,651 |1,501 |6.3
West Midlands |26,650 |3,780 |15.9
Yorkshire and
Humberside |22,683 |2,904 |12.2
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the environment what has been the expenditure on the home energy efficiency scheme in each region ; and what was the budget allocation for each region in each year since the scheme began.
Mr. Maclean : There are no regional allocations under the home energy efficiency scheme ; allocations are made to individual installers. In 1991-92, the first full year of operation, the expenditure in each of the scheme's administrative regions was :
|Grant paid
[NL] |£000s
Scotland |3,762
North East |1,724
North West |3,401
East Midlands |3,057
London |804
South East |1,593
South West |1,227
Wales |1,501
West Midlands |3,780
Yorkshire and
Humberside |2,904
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of jobs undertaken under the home energy efficiency scheme have cost more than the maximum grant figure ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : The grant maxima for allowable work under the home energy efficiency scheme were increased on 1 April this year. Since then the proportions of claims in excess of the grant maxima have been, for draughtproofing 21 per cent. and for loft insulation 14 per cent.
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Air Pollution Monitoring
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the monitoring reference manual being produced by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution to give guidance to local authorities on industrial air pollution monitoring techniques will be published ; how much the manual has cost to produce ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : The monitoring reference manual is now being prepared for publication by HMSO in the new year. It will appear as one of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution's new series of technical guidance notes, and its full title will be "Monitoring of emissions of pollutants at source". This guidance note is based on a report produced on contract by Warren Spring Laboratory at a cost of £26, 400. Further costs of production will be borne on the overall budget for HMIP's research and publication programme.
A copy of this report will be placed in the House Library as soon as it is published.
Contaminated Land
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to issue regulations under section 143 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 governing the compilation of public registers of land which may be contaminated ; when the regulations will take effect ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Maclean : We are grateful to the more than 450 individuals and organisations who responded to our consultation paper and draft regulations under section 143 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 for registers of
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contaminative uses of land. We are carefully considering these responses before deciding the next steps on the proposed regulations and their terms and application.Engagements
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list his official engagements in the months of October and November that took place before 9 am.
Mr. Howard : My official engagements before 9 am in October and November were as follows :
Monday 5 October
8.30 am--Meeting with Sir Brian Hill, Chairman of the Construction Industry Employers Council.
8.45 am--Interview--"Helping the Earth Begins at Home" launch Monday 12 October
8.45 am--Internal departmental meeting
Thursday 15 October
8.30 am--Cabinet Committee meeting
Wednesday 21 October
8.15 am--Launch of "London First"
Wednesday 28 October
8.15 am--Internal departmental meeting
Thursday 29 October
7.50 am--Interview with Radio Kent
Wednesday 4 November
8.30 am--Photocall for "Watch Your Waste Week"
Thursday 5 November
8.15 am--Internal departmental meeting
Monday 9 November
7.30 am--CBI "Environment" breakfast
Friday 13 November
8.30 am--Internal departmental meeting
Thursday 26 November
8.30 am--Internal departmental meeting
Friday 27 November
8.10 am--Interview with LBC radio
8.20 am--Interview with BBC TV "Breakfast Time"
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Imports
Mr. David Nicholson : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what international agreements the United Kingdom is party to which encourage discrimination against imported products which are produced by (a) slave labour and (b) child labour ; and what representations he has had in 1992 on this subject.
Mr. Needham : No international agreements encourage discrimination of this sort. There are severe practical difficulties in identifying goods allegedly produced using such labour given the varied and complex channels of production and distribution which exist in international trade. My Department receives occasional
representations that goods produced under such conditions represent unfair trade.
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Coal Industry (Redundancies)
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) whether the present redundancy scheme for coal miners will be extended beyond the current March deadline for all those collieries in the current moratorium on closure ;
(2) what plans he has to improve the present redundancy scheme for coal miners.
Mr. Eggar : Details of British Coal's redundancy schemes are a matter for British Coal.
Toys
Mr. Cox : To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what has been the quota of toys made in China that have been allowed into the United Kingdom in each of the last five years ;
(2) what is the present yearly quota of toys made in China that is allowed into the EC.
Mr. Needham : There are no Community-wide quotas on toys imported from China. Two member states impose national quotas. The United Kingdom does not do so.
Mining Records
Mr. Clapham : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what are the reasons for the transfer of mining records from the keeping of the British geological survey to his Department ; and what arrangements are being made to make them available to the public.
Mr. Eggar : I have no plans to transfer any mining records from the keeping of the British geological survey to my Department. British Coal is under a statutory obligation to make available plans of coal workings in its possession.
Electricity Generation
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will estimate the effect on the public sector borrowing requirement, employment and emissions of substituting coal generation of electricity for Magnox stations.
Mr. Eggar : These issues are relevant to the review currently being undertaken by my Department. I cannot pre-judge the outcome of the review.
Nuclear Policy
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what matters with regard to nuclear policy were discussed and decided upon at the European Energy Council on 30 November.
Mr. Eggar : Nuclear research and development matters are dealt with by the Research Council. Nuclear policy issues have in recent years been dealt with by the Foreign Affairs Council. The Energy Council on 30 November did not discuss any nuclear-related issues.
Oil Exploration Cardigan Bay
Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will revoke the licence granted to Hamilton Oil to drill in Cardigan Bay ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Eggar : Hamilton Oil is the operating company on licences granted in the 12th offshore round on blocks 107/1 and 107/6, which lie northwest of the Lleyn peninsula. It recently received approval to drill one exploratory well in block 107/1. Hamilton is not in breach of any aspect of these licences, nor of the special conditions attached to them. There are therefore no grounds on which these licences can be revoked.
Industrial Electricity
Mr. Churchill : To ask the President of the Board of Trade by how much in percentage terms industrial electricity prices have increased between April 1989 and April 1992 in respect of (a) large users, greater than 10 MW and (b) small users, less than 10 MW.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 10 December 1992] : The available information is for four sizes of consumer. In real terms the percentage changes in prices between the second quarter of 1989 and the second quarter of 1992 have been as follows :
Size of consumer<1> |Average
|percentage
|increase/decrease<2>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small |Less than 880 kWh |+9.3
Medium |880 kWh to 8,800 kWh |-11.5
Moderately large |8,800 kWh to 150,000 kWh|-15.9
Extra large |Greater than 150,000 kWh|-11.0
<1> The size bands for consumers are defined in terms of the approximate annual purchases by the
consumers within them.
<2> The percentage increase/decrease has been converted to real terms by excluding the effect of
general inflation as measured by the GDP deflator at market prices.
Source: Energy Trends table 25.
Mr. Churchill : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the average price paid for electricity by large industrial electricity consumers (over 10 MW per site) ; and what are the equivalent tariffs among the United Kingdom's principal EC competitors.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 10 December 1992] : The available information is given below. The prices relate to a standard consumer of 50 gigawatt hours per annum with a maximum demand of 10 megawatts for 5,000 hours a year. Prices are as at 1 July 1992 and have been calculated using average rates of exchange for July 1992.
|ECUs per 100 |Pence per kilowatt
|kilowatt hours |hour
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Netherlands |4.41 |3.15
Luxembourg |4.62 |3.30
France |4.81 |3.44
Belgium |4.87 |3.48
Greece |5.21 |3.72
Ireland |5.27 |3.76
United Kingdom |5.40 |3.86
Italy |7.09 |5.06
Spain |7.92 |5.66
Germany |8.14 |5.81
Denmark |8.22 |5.87
Portugal |8.27 |5.91
Source: Eurostat: Rapid Report Energy and Industry 1992/31.
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It should be noted that prices paid by consumers using more than 50 gigawatt hours per annum, both in the United Kingdom and overseas, may vary according to the size of consumer and their pattern of use.Coal Reserves
Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make it his policy to publish estimates of the recoverable reserves from each of the 31 pits on the closure lists before any of them are closed.
Mr. Eggar [holding answer 10 December 1992] : The recoverable coal reserves at individual pits are a matter for British Coal. J. T. Boyd Company are considering the extent of the recoverable reserves at the 21 pits which are being examined by the coal review. Their conclusions will be published early in the New Year.
Post Office
Mr. Hain : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the Post Office's negative external finance limits for each year since 1979-80 up to and including the new plans to 1995-96 ; and what is the cumulative total at constant prices to 1992-93.
Mr. Leigh [holding answer 10 December 1992] : The actual and planned negative external financing limits of the Post Office for the period are as follows :
Actual |£ million
------------------------------
1979-80 |34.0
1980-81 |7.7
1981-82 |13.4
1982-83 |59.7
1983-84 |61.5
1984-85 |99.5
1985-86 |74.7
1986-87 |93.1
1987-88 |80.0
1988-89 |102.0
1989-90 |101.9
1990-91 |nil
1991-92 |74.0
Planned
1992-93 |66.0
1993-94 |181.0
1994-95 |176.0
1995-96 |158.0
The cumulative total from 1979-80 to 1995-96, expressed in 1991-92 prices, would be £1,656.129 million.
Grants and Loans
Mr. Frank Field : To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the total value of grants and loans that authorities in the Wirral and Chester travel-to-work area have received since 1984 ; how much of this money has been regional selective assistance, regional enterprise grants, regional development grants, expenditure by the English Industrial Estates Corporation or other sources ; or if he will provide the information by local authority.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 3 November 1992] : No grants and/or loans made by the Department to
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authorities in the Wirral and Chester travel -to-work area take the form of regional selective assistance, regional enterprise grants and/or regional development grants. Information on any other form of grants or loans by my Department to such authorities could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
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