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Sir George Young : It is for local housing authorities, in preparing comprehensive housing strategies for their areas and in performing their enabling role, to identify the problems and the solutions, working together with housing associations and the private sector. My Department helps where it can. Subsidy is available to help meet the costs of clearance activity.
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many clearance projects in England have been delayed due to the problems of rehousing those that will be displaced in the process.
Sir George Young : The Department of the Environment does not collect statistics on delayed clearance projects.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the present strategic guidance for the
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provision of new dwellings in Doncaster, South Yorkshire ; what meetings he has held with Doncaster metropolitan district council on this matter ; and what allowance has been made for the need for more (a) student and (b) single-person accommodation in Doncaster.Sir George Young : Regional planning guidance note 5 for South Yorkshire, issued in December 1989, indicates that Doncaster metropolitan borough council should, in the period between 1986 and 2001, plan for 14,000 dwellings to be provided in its area, either through new construction or by conversion of existing buildings. No further strategic guidance has been issued since 1989 ; but local planning authorities in Yorkshire and Humberside, including Doncaster MBC, are in the process of preparing regional planning advice which they hope to submit jointly to the Secretary of State around the end of the year. The Secretary of State will then prepare and issue for consultation draft regional planning guidance and, in doing so, will take into account the advice provided by the authorities. Officials have regularly attended meetings of the regional planning conference as observers and the Department helped to fund a study of population trends in the region in order to assist in the formulation of advice on housing provision.
Allowance for single person and student accommodation is usually included within the overall estimate of dwellings to be provided, although it is noteworthy that in its 1993 housing strategy statement Doncaster MBC has identified no significant need for more single-person or student dwellings.
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what changes he proposes to his estimates of local authority capital provision for housing set out in figure 80 of his Department's annual report 1993.
Sir George Young : Information on the Government's public expenditure plans for housing is contained in the "Financial Statement and Budget Report", to be published by my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer this afternoon. Separately, the Department will issue a press notice this afternoon, giving information on the programmes for which it is responsible. I will write to the hon. Member shortly when more detailed information becomes available.
Boundary Commission
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has recently had with the Local Government Boundary Commission for England and Wales with respect to English counties.
Mr. Baldry : The Local Government Boundary Commission for England was abolished by section 24 of the Local Government Act 1992 which, by virtue of the Local Government Act 1992 (Commencement No. 1) Order 1992, was brought into force on 31 October 1992. Local government in Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
Drainage Boards
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list by valuation tribunal the number of council tax appeals that have been received to
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date in respect of internal drainage boards ; how many have been heard ; what was the decision of the tribunal ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Baldry : Appeals to valuation tribunals in respect of internal drainage boards concern the valuation of agricultural land and buildings for purposes of drainage rates rather than of council tax. The information relates to valuation tribunal offices, which can cover one or more tribunals. The decisions of the tribunals are not available centrally.
Information is provided below in respect of those offices reporting these appeals :
Land Drainage Appeals to Valuations Tribunals in England by Tribunal
Office: April-September 1993
Office |Received|Resolved
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Avon and Gloucestershire |21 |21
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire |3 |1
Cambridgeshire |33 |10
Dorset and Somerset |79 |0
East Sussex |106 |1
Hereford and Worcestershire |43 |43
Humberside |72 |41
Kent |60 |7
Lincolnshire |251 |65
Leicester, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire |4 |0
North Yorkshire |28 |<1>4
Norfolk |31 |0
Suffolk |20 |0
West Sussex |113 |0
|-- |--
Total |864 |193
<1> To July.
Special Needs Allowance
Mr. Burden : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the impact of reductions in the transitional special needs management allowance on projects providing homes for people with drink, drug and mental health problems.
Mr. Baldry : The Housing Corporation is currently reviewing the funding arrangements for special needs schemes run by housing associations, including schemes for people with drug, alcohol and mental health problems, in the context of the new arrangements for community care. To assist with the introduction of community care, levels of transitional special needs management allowance funding are continuing unchanged during 1993-94. No decisions have been taken yet on funding for future years.
Regent's Park Barracks
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the organisations and individuals who have so far written to his Department opposing the erecting of a multi-storey car park at the Regent's Park barracks ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : My Department has received five letters about this proposal, including one from the London borough of Camden.
Urban Areas
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to assist shopping provision and infrastructure within urban areas which are currently poorly provided for.
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Mr. Baldry : The recently revised planning policy guidance note 6-- PPG6--"Town Centres and Retail Developments" sets out our planning policies for retail development. A major aim of the guidance is to sustain or enhance the viability and vitality of town centres. The urban block of grants, particularly city challenge, will continue to provide assistance for local shopping schemes. The single regeneration budget, which will be introduced on 1 April 1994, will provide flexible support for regeneration and development in England in a way that meets local needs and priorities.
World Conservation Monitoring Centre
Mr. Llew Smith To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what meetings he has recently held, or plans to hold, with the World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge.
Mr. Yeo : None. We value highly the centre's work on biodiversity and the wildlife trade and wish it well in its new headquarters, opened by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh on 25 November.
Seal Products
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will itemise the legislation of the last 10 years at national and EC levels which has implemented the EC agreement to ban the importation of seal products.
Mr. Yeo : Relevant legislation is as follows :
EC directive 83/129, which required member states to ban the importation of the skins of whitecoat pups of harp seals and pups of hooded seals--blue- backs--or articles made from them, for a period of two years from 1 October 1983 ;
the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act 1976 (Modification) Order 1983 (No. 1609), which implemented the directive by adding skins of harp and hooded seals to schedule 3 to the Act ; EC directive 85/444, which extended the ban on importation to 1 October 1989 ;
the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act 1976 (Variation) Order 1985 (No. 1502), which restricted indefinitely the import and export of skins and skin articles ;
EC directive 89/370, which extended the ban on importation indefinitely.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has received on moves to allow the importation of seal products into the United Kingdom and other parts of the EC.
Mr. Yeo : I understand that the European Commission may propose the amalgamation of a number of measures, including the EC directive which bans the importation of certain seal products. We shall consider the implications of any such proposals very carefully.
Home Energy Efficiency Scheme
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to lay before Parliament regulations to abolish the client contribution payable towards the cost of work which is grant aided under the home energy efficiency scheme.
Mr. Yeo : Regulations to abolish the client contribution payable by those receiving grant under the home energy efficiency scheme were laid before the House of Commons on 18 November. Subject to parliamentary approval, they are expected to come into force on 9 December.
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Housing Corporation
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what amendments he proposes to make to the estimates of output for the Housing Corporation's approved development programme set out in figure 78 of his Department's annual report 1993.
Sir George Young : I shall be considering what revisions are needed to the figures in table 78 of the 1993 annual report in producing the Department's 1994 report early next year.
Housing Revenue Account
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the total amount of housing revenue account subsidy payable to local housing authorities in England in 1992-93, and his estimates for 1993-94 and 1994-95 indicating separately the housing and the housing benefit components, and showing the difference between the actual subsidy payable and the amount which would have been payable if expenditure on rent rebates had qualified in full for subsidy.
Sir George Young : The latest estimates for total housing revenue account subsidy payable are contained in the "Financial Statement and Budget Report", to be published by my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer this afternoon. I will write to the hon. Member shortly when the more detailed information requested becomes available.
Air Monitoring (London)
Ms Glenda Jackson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many air monitoring units there are in (a) the Greater London area and (b) north and north-west London.
Mr. Yeo : The number of the Department of the Environment's air quality monitoring sites in both Greater London and north and north-west London are given in the table.
--------------------------------
Automatic Samplers |6 |5
Smoke/SO2 Network<1> |15|11
NO2 Diffusion Tubes<1> |17|14
Toxic Organic Micro Polluta1ts 1
Multi-Element and Lead |3 |3
|--|--
Total |42|34
<1>Monitoring undertaken in
collaboration with local
authorities.
Ms Glenda Jackson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment where the air monitoring units for north London are sited.
Mr. Yeo : The location of my Department's air quality monitoring sites in north London are given in the table.
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Site type |Location
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Continuous:
Enhanced Urban Site |Camden (Bloomsbury)
Hydrocarbon Site |Camden (University College)
NOx, O2, CO, SO2 |Westminster (Victoria)
NOx, CO |Kensington and Chelsea; Earls Court
NOx, CO, SO2 |Kensington and Chelsea; Cromwell Road
Smoke/SO2<1> |Ealing (2)
|Enfield
|Hackney
|Harrow
|Islington
|Kensington and Chelsea
|London (City)
|Redbridge
|Tower Hamlets
|Westminster
NO2 Diffusion Tubes<1> |Barking
|Barnet
|Brent
|Camden
|Ealing
|Enfield
|Hackney
|Havering
|Hillingdon
|Islington
|Kensington and Chelsea
|London (City)
|Waltham: Forest
|Westminster
Toxic Organic Micropollutants |Westminster
Multi-Element and Lead |Brent
|Kensington and Chelsea
|Westminster
<1>Monitoring undertaken in collaboration with local authorities.
Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the effect on the private finance initiative of the present rules governing the treatment by local authorities on (a) capital expenditure, (b) capital receipts, (c) leasing, (d) transactions involving local authority companies, (e) guarantees, (f) equity investment by local authorities and (g) competition for public sector contracts ; and what proposals he has to amend these rules in order to increase local authorities' ability to participate in the private finance initiative.
Mr. Gummer : The rules to which the hon. Member refers provide a framework within which local authorities can collaborate with the private sector. Within them, authorities have developed excellent plans under, for example, city challenge and urban regeneration programmes. I am always willing to consider suggestions which would help authorities to collaborate with the private sector without undermining the necessary constraints on public expenditure.
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many projects involving local authorities and the private sector have been materially assisted by the private finance initiative since November 1992 ; and if he will list those projects showing for each (a) the estimated value of the project, (b) the expenditure to date,
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(c) the nature of the material assistance from the private finance initiative and (d) all the sources of funding for the project and the amount from each source.Mr. Gummer : The Department and its sponsored bodies attracted over £2 billion of private investment in support of departmental programmes in 1992-93, and snner cities and urban regeneration, with many directly or indirectly involving local authorities. Separately, many authorities are pursuing local initiatives and partnerships with the private sector. It is not practicable for the Department to collect information on each project.
Nirex Repository
Mr. Ainger : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what proportion of the waste to be stored in the proposed Nirex repository, including decommissioning materials, would come from (a) the thermal oxide reprocessing plant and (b) Magnox reprocessing on the assumptions made in drawing up the United Kingdom radioactive waste inventory ;
(2) if low-level organic radioactive waste will be dumped in the proposed Nirex repository.
Mr. Yeo : The types of waste disposed of in Nirex's repository will depend on the authorisations granted by the regulators.
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Mr. Ainger : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what specifications he has issued as to the minimum depth of the proposed Nirex radioactive waste repository at Sellafield.
Mr. Yeo : None. It will be for Nirex to demonstrate the safety of its design.
Fair Rents
Mr. Fishburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action has been taken to encourage greater exchange of information and views between rent officers and rent assessment panels to encourage general consistency of approach, following the recent announcement on the outcome of the consultation exercise on increases in fair rents.
Sir George Young : The educational trust of the Institute of Rent Officers has established a working party comprising rent officers and rent assessment panel members, to consider and clarify issues affecting the registration of fair rents in the light of changes in the market for rented housing. The working party aims to produce a report by next spring, which it hopes will assist rent officers and members of rent assessment panels in exercising their functions under the Rent Act 1977.
Wind Energy
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of the Government subsidy paid to developers of wind turbine farms is for decommissioning ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar : I have been asked to reply.
The extent to which the price paid by the regional electricity companies, for electricity supplied under a contract entered into by them under the non-fossil fuel obligation, contributes to the particular generator's capital, operating or decommissioning costs, is a commercial matter for the generator.
Countryside Survey
Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has discussed with the Secretary of State for the Environment the results of the countryside survey 1990 and the implications of these results for his Department.
Mr. MacGregor : I have been asked to reply.
I refer to the answer given to the hon. Gentleman today by my hon. Friend the Minister of the Environment and Countryside.
Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales whether he has discussed with the Secretary of State for the Environment the results of the countryside survey 1990 and the implications of these results for his Department.
Sir Wyn Roberts : I have been asked to reply.
Regular contact is and will continue to be maintained with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment on matters such as this.
Departments are committed to integrating environmental concerns into all policy areas. By 1997 the Countryside Council for Wales expects also to have completed the inventory of habitats in Wales at a phase 1 level of detail.
Dr. Strang : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has had on the
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implications of the countryside survey 1990 for Government policy with (a) the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, (b) the Secretary of State for Transport, (c) the Treasury, (d) the Secretary of State for Scotland and (e) the Secretary of State for Wales.Mr. Yeo : My right hon. Friend maintains regular contact with his right hon. Friends on these matters and will continue to do so. They are as committed as he is to integrating environmental concerns into all policy areas.
Doncaster Drainage Act 1929
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the amendments that have been made to date to the Doncaster Area Drainage Act 1929 ; what consideration is given to a new Act ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Jack : I have been asked to reply.
I am advised that most of the Doncaster Area Drainage Act 1929 was repealed by the Doncaster Area Drainage Act 1933. The other amendments known to have been made before 1974 are set out in the "Chronological Table of Local Acts", published in 1985 by the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission. The "Chronological Table of Acts of Parliament"--1992 edition-- shows no specific amendments since 1974, but there will, of course, have been changes made by public general legislation. I am not aware of any new private Bill being prepared.
Drainage Boards
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list by each internal drainage board the representation of district council members who are (a) councillors and (b) non-councillors ; and what their percentage of representation is of the whole membership per internal drainage board.
Mr. Jack : I have been asked to reply.
In accordance with legislation which took effect on 1 April 1993, local authorities are entitled to appoint members to internal drainage boards in proportion to their financial contributions to the board's income, subject to their number not exceeding the number of members elected by agricultural drainage ratepayers by more than one. There are nearly 250 internal drainage boards in England and Wales and information about local authority representatives is not held centrally.
EMPLOYMENT
Training and Enterprise Councils
13. Mr. Hendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment which TECs have met all the targets set down by his Department for two consecutive years.
Miss Widdecombe : Two training and enterprise councils met all their targets for performance-related funding in both 1991-92 and 1992-93, Stockport and High Peak TEC and Northumberland TEC.
24. Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will take steps to make the training and enterprise councils more accountable to their local communities.
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Miss Widdecombe : TECs are already accountable to their local communities in a number of ways. They consult all local interests in preparing their strategies and plans. They publish summaries of these plans and hold public meetings at least annually. They also publish an annual report.
26. Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how much public funding has been provided for the South West TEC based in Plymouth ; and how many people are currently having help and training there to find work.
Miss Widdecombe : The Employment Department has agreed a budget of £64.2 million for 1993-94 with Devon and Cornwall TEC.
The TEC helps many people in many different ways. Numbers currently include 6,305 young people on youth training, 3,871 adults undertaking training for work and 127 participating in learning for work.
Ms Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what level of accumulated reserves was held in total and by each TEC in England at 1 April 1992 and at 1 April 1993 ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : The level of reserves held by each training and enterprise council--TEC--is contained within the TECs' published accounts. A full set of accounts for all 75 English TECs, for the year ending 31 March 1992, has already been placed in the House of Commons Library. Each TEC's accounts for the year ended 31 March 1993 is being placed in the Library as they become available to the Employment Department.
TECs are allowed to generate a surplus and create a reserve by subcontracting at a lower unit price than negotiated with the Department. A surplus may also be generated where a TEC's administrative costs are kept below the management fee paid by the Department. The surplus is available to the TEC, with the agreement of the Secretary of State for Employment, for further expenditure on programmes--and TEC administrative costs--for initiatives outside the programmes but within the TEC's articles and memorandum of association, or as a contribution to the TEC's general reserves.
Ms Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what powers training and enterprise councils have to switch their allocation of funds between various parts of their budgets ; how much each TEC in England has transferred from the budgets it was allocated for youth training and employment training ; to what purposes the funds were subsequently allocated ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : Training and enterprise councils--TECs--may switch their allocation of funds between youth training, training for work--which replaced employment training--compacts, education business partnerships, and business and enterprise support, so long as no budget is increased or decreased by more than 5 per cent. TECs may also increase their learning from work budget by up to a maximum of 5 per cent.
During the current financial year, five TECs have used this facility to transfer funds out of either their youth training or training for work budgets. Details are shown in the table.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Switches from youth training
Avon |258,000 |Training for work
Birmingham |928,000 |Training for work compacts
|Education business partnerships
|Business and enterprise support
Central England |216,000 |Training for work compacts
|Education business partnerships
|Business and enterprise support
Wolverhampton |149,000 |Training for work
|Business and enterprise support
Switches from training for work
Wearside |251,000 |Youth training
Ms Short : To ask the Secretary of State for Employment which TECs are using adult training credits within their training for work provision ; and if he will make a statement.
Miss Widdecombe : The following training and enterprise councils in England are currently using adult training credits within their training for work provision with assistance from the Department : Barnsley and Doncaster ;
Bedfordshire ;
Bradford ;
Cambsetc ;
Hertfordshire ;
Milton Keynes and North Bucks ;
North London ;
Rotherham ;
South Thames ;
Stockport and High Peak.
In addition, a number of other TECs are issuing adult training credits within their training for work provision using other resources.
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