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Sellafield
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment to which local authorities his Department has circulated the British Nuclear Fuels' application for authorisation to operate the thermal oxide reprocessing plant at Sellafield, under section 8(4A) of the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 ; and what criteria were used by his Department to decide in which local authorities radioactive disposal from THORP is likely to take place.
Mr. Maclean : The four applications received from BNFL for authorisation under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960--RSA 60--to dispose of radioactive waste from Sellafield, including proposed discharges from THORP plant were sent to Cumbria county council and Copeland district council. These local authorities were identified because, as required by section 8(4) of RSA 60, they are the ones in whose areas the Sellafield discharge points are located.
However, on 16 November 1992, the chief inspector of Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution acting jointly with the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food initiated wide-ranging formal public consultations involving a large number of local authorities. This consultation is about the applications themselves, additional information supplied by BNFL, draft authorisations and related explanatory memorandums.
Council Tax
Mr. Ralph Howell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his latest estimate of the total cost to public funds of (a) introducing and (b) administering the council tax.
Mr. Robin Squire : The cost to local authorities in England of preparing for the council tax is estimated to be £156.1 million. The local authority associations have estimated that the cost of collecting the council tax in 1993-94 will be 40 per cent. lower than the cost of collecting the community charge, with further reductions in later years when transitional problems have been dealt with.
Mr. Pickles : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps a householder may take if he or she feels that a mistake has been made in the boundary of his or her property in the council tax assessment.
Mr. Robin Squire : Anyone who wishes to correct a factual error in a draft valuation list may now approach his or her listing officer at the local office of the Valuation Office agency. Where the listing officer agrees, such an error will be amended before the final list is compiled on 1 April 1993. If the listing officer does not agree, however, a householder will between 1 April and 30 November 1993 be able to lodge a formal proposal to alter the compiled list.
Primates
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 16 November, Official Report, column 48, what further investigations the Government have made into the evidence of the import of wild primates from Kenya ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Maclean : We are not aware of any evidence that the export of primates from Kenya poses a threat to the survival of wild populations. Each application to import primates into this country is examined by our scientific advisers, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, and allowed only if they are satisfied that there will be no harm to the species.
Homelessness
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many emergency cold weather hostels there are in the Greater London area ; and if he will list their locations.
Mr. Baldry : To provide immediate shelter for people who would otherwise sleep rough over the winter, my Department is funding 400 bedspaces in nine temporary shelters in central London. The shelters will be open between 1 December 1992 and 31 March 1993. In addition, we are planning to provide up to 300 further places across London, which can be opened at short notice in the event of exceptionally severe weather. The nine winter shelters being funded by my Department are :
Managing agency |Address
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
London borough of Camden |25 Parker street, WC2
London borough of Lambeth |Cynthia Moseley centre, Oval
| way, SE11
Crisis |147 Tooley street, SE1
Single Homeless Project |1 John street, WC1
St. Mungo's |10-11 Bulstrode place, W1
Centrepoint |Soho Women's hospital,
| Soho square, WC2
Salvation Army |1 St. Ann's street, SW1
Salvation Army |23-27 Tudor street, EC4
English Churches Housing Group |156 St. John street, EC1
Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what have been the extra resources given by his Department for homeless people living outside the Greater London area between 1 January and 1 December ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : In the current financial year the Department is paying £6.1 million in grants under section 73 of the Housing Act 1985 to nearly 150 voluntary organisations throughout England which provide direct practical help to people who are homeless or at risk of becoming so.
Sir David Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the numbers sleeping rough in London at the most recent convenient date and the number of empty hostel places as at the same date.
Mr. Baldry : The 1991 census found that on the night of 21 and 22 April, there were 1,275 people sleeping rough in London. A count by voluntary sector organisations in central London on 5 November 1992 found around 420 people sleeping rough--less than half the number who were estimated to have been sleeping on the streets of central London before my Department's rough sleepers initiative began in 1990-91. Information about the number of empty hostel places available at any one time is not held centrally.
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Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many homeless households are currently living in temporary accommodation in England.
Mr. Baldry : The latest available estimate for the number of homeless households living in temporary accommodation in England relates to 30 September and appears in table 4(d) of "Households found accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the 1985 Housing Act : England : Statistics for the third quarter 1992", a copy of which is in the Library.
Mr. Hendry : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assistance his Department is providing to schemes linking provision of accommodation for homeless young people to training.
Mr. Baldry : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on Tuesday 15 December, Official Report, columns 94-95.
Mrs. Golding : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what evidence he has that homeless families place themselves in bed-and- breakfast or temporary accommodation ; and if he will provide an estimate of the total number of self-placed families living in such accommodation in each local authority area.
Mr. Baldry : The Department has no information about this.
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make extra resources available to assist the homeless to have clean and dry accommodation over the Christmas period.
Mr. Baldry : In addition to the 2,550 places in various types of accommodation so far provided in central London under the rough sleepers initiative, we are providing a further 400 bed spaces in temporary shelters this winter. The shelters will be open in central London from 1 December 1992 to 31 March 1993. We are also planning to provide up to 300 further places across London, that can be opened at short notice in the event of particularly severe weather. Nationally, the Government are providing over £6 million in grants this year to voluntary organisations throughout England which give direct practical help to homeless people. The primary responsibility for help to people sleeping rough in severe weather rests with local authorities. The local authority associations have accepted this responsibility through their support for the winter watch guidelines published by Crisis and Shelter.
Private Sector Housing
Mr. George : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the number of private sector housing starts in (a) the west midlands and (b) Walsall for 1991-92.
Mr. Baldry : It is estimated that private enterprise housebuilding starts amounted to 13,100 dwellings, and housing association starts to 2,100 dwellings, in the west midlands standard statistical region during the financial year 1991-92. The corresponding figures reported for the Walsall local authority area were 503 and 159 dwellings.
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Stockport Metropolitan Borough
Sir Thomas Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what decisions he has taken in respect of the future local government boundary of Stockport metropolitan borough ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : The Cheshire and Greater Manchester (County and District Boundaries) (No. 2) Order 1992 was made on 26 August 1992, giving effect to the Secretary of State's decision on changes to the City of Manchester and Stockport local government boundary from 1 April 1993.
A draft order was issued on 4 December 1992 showing the Secretary of State's decision on Stockport's boundaries with Tameside, High Peak in Derbyshire and Macclesfield in Cheshire.
I am sending the details of both these sets of changes to my hon. Friend.
Compulsory Competitive Tendering
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a further statement on the measures which he is taking to implement compulsory competitive tendering.
Mr. Robin Squire : Regulations and guidance to be issued under section 9 of the Local Government Act 1992 are expected to be in place early in the new year. These regulations and guidance will clarify the statutory framework for services currently subject to compulsory competitive tendering.
On 10 November, Official Report, columns 743-45, my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment announced his decisions following consultation on proposals to extend competition to local authorities' professional services. A preliminary meeting about the detailed implementation of these decisions has been held with the local authority associations, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, the Audit Commission, the Accounts Commission, and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage contract saving his Department uses for assessing savings as a result of council compulsory competitive tendering on contracts valued at above £100,000 and below £500,000.
Mr. Robin Squire : The Secretary of State does not assess the savings on individual local authority contracts. Research carried out by the Institute of Local Government Studies for the Department of the Environment indicated that following competition there was an overall reduction of about 6 to 7 per cent. in the cost of work subject to compulsory competitive tendering under the Local Government Act 1988, whether the service was carried out in-house or by a private contractor.
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what the current level for the de minimis level would be for compulsory competitive tendering if it had been upgraded in line with the retail prices index.
Mr. Robin Squire : The amount is £132,041.
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many contracts valued at between £100,000 and £500, 000 have been put out to tender by councils under compulsory competitive tendering in each year since 1988.
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Mr. Robin Squire : This information is not held centrally.
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has to adjust the de minimis level to take account of inflation since 1988 for local authority compulsory competitive tendering.
Mr. Robin Squire : There are no proposals to adjust the de minimis level, although it is kept under review.
Mr. Mike O'Brien : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average cost of putting a contract out to tender for councils under compulsory competitive tendering.
Mr. Robin Squire : Research carried out by the Institute of Local Government Studies for the Department of the Environment indicated that the average cost of preparing for competition was about 2.5 per cent. of the total contract value.
Radioactive Waste
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 19 November, Official Report, column 301, if he will (a) make a statement on decisions taken at the meeting of the International Radioactive Waste Department Advisory Committee in Vienna from 27 to 29 October and (b) arrange for a copy of the documentation submitted by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution to be placed in the Library.
Mr. Maclean : The answer is as follows :
(a) No decisions were taken at the meeting of the International Radioactive Waste Advisory Committee subgroup in Vienna, 27 to 29 October 1992, since it was convened solely as a discussion forum to help develop an international consensus on principles and criteria for disposal of solid radioactive waste, with particular reference to safety indicators for disposal in geological formations. A copy of the minutes of the meeting, prepared by International Atomic Energy Agency staff, has been placed in the Library.
(b) HMIP did not submit documentation to this meeting, but the HMIP representative participated fully in the discussions.
Roads (Public Paths)
Mr. Hunter : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation to clarify the requirement for vehicular use in respect of the definition of roads used as a public path in the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949.
Mr. Maclean : The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 sought to dispel any confusion surrounding roads used as public paths--RUPPs--by requiring highway authorities to acknowledge the rights found to exist. Where vehicular rights exist, RUPPs must be reclassified as byways open to all traffic--BOATs--which are defined as routes over which the public have a right of way for vehicular traffic, but which are used mainly by walkers and riders.
I am aware of a growing concern about the reclassification procedure. A working party of the rights of way review committee has been considering a number of relevant issues including the definition of a BOAT. The working party has recently drawn up recommendations which we will be considering carefully.
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Pollution (Consultations)
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what targets have been set for Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution to reply to inquiries made to the inspectorate on matters subject to a public consultation period.
Mr. Maclean : Members of the public may make representations to Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution about applications for authorisation and other legislation under integrated pollution control. It is Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution's practice to acknowledge such representations at the earliest opportunity.
British Waterways
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy for moneys raised from the sale of British Waterways properties to be spent on improvements to the waterway system.
Mr. Maclean : Moneys raised from the sale of British Waterways' properties are reinvested for the benefit of the waterways.
Planning Guidance (South-east England)
Mr. Walden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what appraisal has been undertaken of the environmental impact of his proposals to base regional planning guidance in the south-east on a requirement for 855,000 houses to be built between 1991 and 2006 ; if he will publish it ; and what alternative levels of development have been considered.
Mr. Baldry : The proposals referred to are those contained in my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State's letter of 9 July 1992 to the chairman of the London and South East Regional Planning Conference--SERPLAN--inviting SERPLAN to put forward proposals for the distribution of new housing provision in the south-east. The letter which was sent to my hon. Friend at the time asked SERPLAN to have regard to various criteria including environmental constraints in different parts of the region, the protection of green belts, the avoidance of development pressure on areas of outstanding natural beauty and the need to optimise the use of urban land. The suggested provision of 855,000 net additional dwellings over the period 1991 to 2006 was arrived at after considering a wide range of views put to my Department, including suggestions for higher and lower provision. SERPLAN's views on the housing distribution, together with those of others will be taken into account in deciding the content of new draft regional planning guidance for the south-east which will be published shortly for consultation.
Development Plans
Mr. Walden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of the extent to which the establishment of an urban regeneration agency will result in a reduction in the proportion of housing development taking place outside Greater London and other urban areas.
Mr. Robin Squire : When the URA comes into being it will bring vacant, derelict and under-used land back into
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use in partnership with the private sector and local authorities. The agency will focus on urban land, but it is not possible to estimate the impact of this on the amount of development, including housing, on land outside urban areas. All schemes that the agency is able to bring forward on vacant and derelict land will, however, relieve pressure on other sites, many of which might otherwise be in rural areas.Mr. Walden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what importance will be given to development plans in terms of the guidance provided in paragraph 5 of planning policy guidance note 1.
Mr. Baldry : Paragraph 5 of PPG1 explains that applications for development proposals should be allowed, having regard to the development plan and all material considerations, unless the proposed development would cause demonstrable harm to interests of acknowledged importance. Section 54A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 requires planning decisions to be determined in accordance with the plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. It follows that the contents of a development plan are of pivotal importance in deciding planning applications, as is explained in more detail between paragraphs 25 and 31 of that guidance.
Mr. Walden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those local authority development plans placed on deposit since 10 February to which his Department has objected on the ground of an omission of environmental policies contained in any of the new or revised planning policy guidance notes issued in 1992.
Mr. Baldry : Of the 59 development plans placed on deposit on or after 10 February 1992, my Department has made 260 objections on environmental grounds to the following 55 :
Babergh
Barking and Dagenham Unitary Development Plan (UDP)
Basingstoke and Deane Borough
Berkshire Structure Plan
Bexley UDP
Bolton UDP
Braintree
Brent UDP
Brentwood
Bridgnorth
Broxbourne
Broxtowe
Calderdale UDP
Cambridge City
Chorley
Corby
Cumbria and Lake District Structure Plan
Erewash
Forest Heath
Gosport Borough
Hartlepool
Hackney UDP
Hammersmith and Fulham UDP
Harrow UDP
Hereford and Worcester Minerals
Kensington and Chelsea UDP
Leicester City
Leicestershire Minerals Plan
Leicestershire Structure Plan Replacement
Manchester UDP
Merton UDP
Newcastle-under-Lyme
North Kesteven Local Plan
North Yorkshire Structure Plan (Alteration)
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