Previous Section Home Page

Column 23

Downing Street Dinner

Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Prime Minister if the invitations extended to political journalists to attend dinner at 10 Downing street on 13 January stated that the proceedings would be on lobby terms.

The Prime Minister : It is not my practice to discuss the nature of invitations to private events.

Engagements

Mr. Pendry : To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his engagements for Wednesday 19 January ; and if he will name the individuals he met.

The Prime Minister : I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others.

Jetstream Aircraft Ltd.

Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has received personally on the future of Jetstream Aircraft Ltd. ; what action he has taken ; and if he will now agree to meet hon. Members with Ayrshire constituencies to discuss the aircraft.

The Prime Minister [holding answer 19 January 1994] : I have received representations from several hon. Members about Jetstream. The points raised are being pursued by the Departments responsible. Ministers at the DTI and I have discussed such matters with right hon. and hon. Members on a number of occasions. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Industry met a group of hon. Members to discuss Jetstream in November. I am generally willing to consider requests for meetings from hon. Members on departmental issues if and when they have exhausted contacts with the responsible Ministers.


Column 24

ENVIRONMENT

Back to Basics"

Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the implications of the Government's "back to basics" policy for his Department during the current year.

Mr. Gummer : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on Friday 21 January 1994.

Mr. Rendel : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what working definition of "back to basics" is used by his Department; and what his Department has done in the past three months to implement the policy.

Mr. Gummer [holding answer 20 January 1994] : I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Southwark and Bermondsey (Mr. Hughes) on Friday 21 January 1994.

Empty Properties

Mr. Rooker : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his latest estimate of the numbers and percentage of empty dwellings in the (a) private sector, (b) public sector, (c) those owned and controlled by Her Majesty's Government and (d) housing associations in each region of England.

Sir George Young : The numbers of dwellings that local authorities and housing associations reported as vacant on 1 April 1993 are :


Column 23


Local authorities<1>     |Management          |Other vacants       |Total vacants       |Total as a per                           

                         |vacants<2>                                                    |cent. of all local                       

                                                                                        |authorities                              

                                                                                        |dwellings                                

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

North                    |3,161               |3,686               |6,847               |2.1                                      

Yorkshire and Humberside |4,658               |3,331               |7,989               |1.7                                      

East Midlands            |2,803               |1,262               |4,065               |1.3                                      

East Midlands            |2,803               |1,262               |4,065               |1.3                                      

Eastern                  |3,224               |1,244               |4,468               |1.2                                      

London                   |9,663               |8,108               |17,771              |2.7                                      

South East               |2,947               |1,108               |4,055               |1.2                                      

South West               |2,067               |747                 |2,814               |1.1                                      

West Midlands            |4,428               |2,961               |7,389               |1.6                                      

North West               |6,759               |8,752               |15,511              |2.7                                      

                         |-------             |-------             |-------                                                       

England                  |39,710              |31,199              |70,909              |1.9                                      

<1> Includes dwellings owned outside local authorities' own areas.                                                                

<2> Available for letting immediately or after minor repairs.                                                                     

Source: Annual HIP1 return.                                                                                                       


Column 23


Housing                  |Management       |Other vacants    |Total vacants    |Total as a                         

Associations<1>                                                                                                    

                         |vacants<2>                                           |percentage of all                  

                                                                               |Housing                            

                                                                               |Association                        

                                                                               |dwellings                          

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

North                    |581              |271              |852              |2.0                                

Yorkshire and Humberside |1,237            |701              |1,938            |3.9                                

East Midlands            |1,328            |418              |1,746            |4.6                                

Eastern                  |2,495            |274              |2,769            |3.6                                

London                   |4,869            |4,524            |9,393            |5.4                                

South East               |2,634            |630              |3,264            |3.3                                

South West               |707              |319              |1,026            |2.6                                

West Midlands            |988              |1,046            |2,034            |3.2                                

North West               |1,886            |1,775            |3,661            |3.1                                

                         |-------          |-------          |-------                                              

England                  |16,725           |9,958            |26,683           |3.8                                

<1> Includes some 10,500 dwellings within management vacants that were purchased as a result of the measures to    

boost the housing market announced                                                                                 

in the 1992 autumn statement.                                                                                      

<2> Available for letting immediately or after minor repairs.                                                      

Source: Annual HAR10 returns.                                                                                      

In addition to providing information on those of their own dwellings that are vacant, local authorities in England are also asked to provide estimates of the number of private sector and other public sector vacant dwellings in their area on their annual housing investment programme--HIP1- -returns. Regional totals based on these data including estimates for missing data are set out.


Column 26

There are doubts about the quality of some of the estimates provided by authorities. Information from the 1991 English house condition survey suggests that the England total for the private sector may be an overestimate, and data from central Government Departments on their own vacant dwellings, for which no regional breakdown is readily available, indicate that there is

under-reporting of public sector vacant dwellings.


Column 25


                          Private sector              Public sector                            

                          (other than                 (other than local                        

                          housing                     authorities)                             

                          associations)                                                        

                         |Number vacant|Percentage   |Number vacant|Percentage                 

                                       |of dwellings               |of dwellings               

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

North                    |33,000       |4.6          |1,200        |20.9                       

Yorkshire and Humberside |68,000       |4.5          |600          |4.7                        

East Midlands            |69,000       |5.3          |1,500        |15.1                       

Eastern                  |91,000       |4.7          |1,400        |4.0                        

London                   |134,000      |6.4          |1,200        |4.8                        

South East               |111,000      |4.6          |3,300        |7.9                        

South West               |84,000       |5.0          |2,400        |12.2                       

West Midlands            |69,000       |4.4          |400          |3.3                        

North West               |105,100      |4.9          |400          |2.0                        

                         |-------                    |-------                                  

England                  |765,000      |5.0          |12,400       |6.8                        

Source: Annual HIP1 returns.                                                                   

Christmas Cards

Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many official Christmas cards were sent out in 1993 by (a) Ministers, (b) civil servants and (c) staff of Government agencies working in or to his Department ; and how much these cards cost (i) to buy, (ii) to post and (iii) in staff time to sign, address and place in envelopes.

Mr. Gummer : The number of cards purchased centrally was 11,250. The cost of purchasing these cards was £4,781.25--ex VAT--of which £4, 183.59--87.5 per cent.--went to the charity Crisis.

Any further information is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Public Bodies

Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment who are the members currently appointed to the Inland Waterways Amenity Advisory Committee.

Mr. Atkins : The members of the Inland Waterways Amenity Advisory Council are :

Mr. G. H. Baker

Mr. I. F. Blomfield OBE

Dr. J. W. Eaton

Mrs. C. J. Elvy

Mr. J. R. Hume

Miss A. M. Lees


Column 26

Mr. R. H. B. Neame

Professor J. A. Patmore

Dr. A. M. Powell

Mrs. A. C. Roberts

Mr. A. T. Smith

Mr. D. A. Stevenson

Mr. P. V. Wagstaffe

Dr. M. E. Witherick

I have today announced the appointment of Audrey Lees as chairman.

Loans

Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list, for each scheme operated by his Department under which loans are available, the objectives of the scheme, the number of unrecovered loans, the total value of unrecovered loans, the average number of unrecovered loans for each year since 1990, the average value of unrecovered loans for each year since 1990 and the annual cost of recovering loans.

Mr. Baldry : My Department currently operates three schemes under which loans are available. Details of these and of unrecoverable loans since 1990 are set out. Information is not available on costs of action to recover loans.

Scheme

Season ticket advances to departmental staff.

Objective

To assist departmental staff with the purchase of public transport


Column 27

season tickets for travel between their homes and places of work. Unrecoverable Loans

One loan, of £546.64 made in 1993 has become unrecoverable. Scheme

House purchase loans for departmental staff on compulsory transfer.

Objective

To assist departmental staff with the purchase of comparable accommodation following permanent and compulsory transfer, where such accommodation is more expensive.

Unrecoverable Loans

None.

Scheme

Valuation tribunal employees' car loans and season ticket advances.

Objective

To assist with the purchase of cars where employees are required to be independently mobile ; or to assist with the purchase of public transport season tickets for travel between employees' homes and places of work.

Unrecoverable Loans

None.

Details exclude PSA Services.

Council Tenants (Repairs)

Mr. Callaghan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has for improving the right-to-repair scheme for local authority tenants.

Sir George Young : Regulations will be brought before Parliament shortly introducing an improved right-to-repair scheme from 1 April 1994. The scheme will ensure that council tenants have a simple and reliable way of getting urgent repairs carried out promptly and paid for by the council.

House Building

Mr. Callaghan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many council houses and how many housing association houses were built in 1979 and in the latest year for which figures are available.

Sir George Young : Estimates of housebuilding completions by sector for England are shown in the publication "Housing and Construction Statistics". Figures for 1979 are in table 6.1(a) of the annual edition for 1979 to 1989. Figures for 1992 and for the first three quarters of 1993 are in table 1.2(a) of the quarterly edition for September 1993. Copies of these publications are in the Library.

Rented Accommodation

Mr. Callaghan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received alleging a shortage of affordable rented accommodation.

Sir George Young : I have received a number of representations suggesting that the reduction in Housing Corporation's planned expenditure announced in November's Budget will result in a reduction in the number of affordable rented homes to be provided.

Despite the cuts, the Housing Corporation's gross capital expenditure in 1994-95 will amount to almost £1,520 million, the corporation's fourth largest budget since housing association grant was introduced in 1974. This will enable at least 58,000 new homes to be provided in 1994-95, bringing the total over the three years to 1994-95 to 178,000. Furthermore, the corporation believes that, because of reductions in procurement and borrowing


Column 28

costs, and greater emphasis on cost-effective home ownership schemes, it should still provide 154,000 homes, over the three years 1993-94 to 1995-96, as it forecast last January.

House Building

Mr. Callaghan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total number of housing starts in the Greater Manchester area in each year since 1987 by (a) the local authorities, (b) housing associations and (c) private companies.

Sir George Young : Estimates of housebuilding starts by sector for local authority areas in Greater Manchester are shown in the publication "Local Housing Statistics". Figures for each year from 1987 to 1992 are in these issues :


Year(s)                    |Issue Number and          |Tables                                               

                           |date                                                                            

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1987-1990                  |103  October 1992         |1(c)-1(f)                                            

1991                       |105  December quarter 1992|1(b)                                                 

1992                       |106  March quarter 1993   |1(b)                                                 

1993<1>                    |107  June quarter 1993    |1                                                    

<1>First six months of 1993, provisional figures.                                                           

Copies of these publications are in the Library.

Standard Spending Assessments

Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received regarding the impact on standard spending assessments of (a) the special transitional grant in relation to responsibilities arising from community care policies, (b) the area cost adjustments policy, (c) the interest receipts assumed in comparison to those received and (d) the allowance made in the standard spending assessment in relation to provision of nursery education for the under- fives education.

Mr. Baldry : During the recent period of consultation on the provisional revenue support grant settlement for 1994-95 we received representations on a wide range of issues from 142 local authorities. My right hon. Friend will consider carefully all of these representations and any other relevant information before taking his final decisions on the revenue support grant settlement for 1994-95.

Council Flats (Service Charges)

Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will publish the findings of the research into service charges on former council leasehold flats.

Sir George Young : The full report is expected to be finalised for publication in the autumn. However, preliminary data due shortly will inform an assessment of the overall scale and nature of current problems.

Council House Sales

Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the amount of council house sales receipts held by local authorities.

Mr. Baldry : Local authorities held £1 billion of usable capital receipts at 1 April 1993. Authorities are not


Column 29

required to account separately for the spending of usable capital receipts derived from council house sales. No separate figures for the amount of usable housing receipts held are therefore available. As regards the reserved part of capital receipts, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Burnley (Mr. Pike) on 1 December 1993, Official Report, column 554.

Local Government Boundary Commission

Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the names of the commissioners of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, giving in each case details of their remuneration and number of days worked each month.

Mr. Baldry : A list of the current members of the Local Government Commission, together with their present annual rate of remuneration, appears in the table. Members' time inputs vary from month to month, according to the demands of the reviews for which they have been allocated specific responsibilities.


                           |£            

-----------------------------------------

Sir John Banham-Chairman   |33,170       

David Ansbro               |6,950        

Professor Michael Chisholm |30,110       

Christopher Chope OBE      |20,070       

Sir Kenneth Couzens KCB    |20,070       

Ken Ennals CB              |40,140       

Professor Malcolm Grant    |13,890       

Brian Hill CBE DL          |40,140       

Margaret Hodge MBE         |20,070       

Mary Leigh                 |35,120       

Ann Levick                 |35,120       

Robert Scruton             |20,070       

David Thomas               |40,140       

Clive Wilkinson            |20,070       

Lady Wilcox                |9,260        

Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many officials were employed by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England; and in what capacity.

Mr. Baldry : The Local Government Commission currently employs 80 staff, including those on temporary secondment from local government and elsewhere. Of these, 62 staff are employed on the commission's reviews and the remaining 18 on administrative duties.

Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all meetings in 1993 between ministers and officials in his Department and representatives of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England; and what subjects were discussed at each meeting.

Mr. Baldry : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State or the then Secretary of State for the Environment, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard), met the chairman or members of the Local Government Commission on the following occasions : 12 January, 27 January, 15 March, 5 May, 29 July, and 27 October. In addition, my hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Planning or the then Minister for Local Government and Inner Cities, my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood),


Column 30

had similar meetings on 20 January, 22 February, 29 March, 19 April, 26 May, 8 June, 30 September, 12 October, 15 December and 21 December. These meetings covered a broad range of issues relevant to the work of the Commission.

There were also many meetings between officials of my Department and the staff of the commission, primarily to discuss issues connected with the day -to-day running of the commission.

Mr. Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of the total cost so far and estimated future cost of the current review of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

Mr. Baldry : The Local Government Commission incurred expenditure of £2.056 million in 1992-93. We are making available £5.124 million to fund the commission's activities in 1993-94 and have announced provision of £8.3 million, £2.5 million and £1.5 million for the years 1994-95 to 1996-97.

Community Charge

Mr. Sims : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will extend the community charge grant scheme in order to provide further compensation to local authorities for the £140 reduction in community charges which occurred in 1991.

Mr. Pickthall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to extend the close end date for community charge grant beyond 31 March.

Mr. Curry : The community charge grant compensates local authorities for income forgone as a result of the £140 general reduction in community charges for 1991-92. The existing grant rules provide for grant to be paid in relation to 1991-92 charges collected up to 31 March 1994.

The Government have considered a number of representations for local authorities and the local authority associations about this matter. It has concluded that an extension of one year of the grant scheme would be justified. The extension will apply in England, Wales and Scotland. There will be no further extension.

The Government attach great importance to local authorities' continuing efforts to bring in the balance of their community charge arrears. The extension of the community charge grant scheme for a further, and final, year will allow authorities to receive compensation in respect of charges collected during this period. Final payments of grant will be made in 1995- 96 on the basis of audited claims showing income forgone by local authorities on 1991-92 charges collected by 31 March 1995. Repayment of grant in respect of community charge transitional relief in England is also to be delayed for a further year.

Flood Damage

Mr. Rendel : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans his Department has to provide financial assistance to those local authorities which have been caused financial loss by the January floods.

Mr. Baldry : No applications have been received from local authorities for assistance in connection with the


Column 31

recent floods. Authorities have been informed that they should apply individually to the Department for assistance under the Bellwin scheme if they have incurred an undue financial burden as a result of dealing with an emergency. Each application which is received will be considered on its merits.

Area Cost Adjustment

Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the area cost adjustment factor as a percentage of the standard spending assessment for each year from 1990-91.

Mr. Baldry : The total amounts allocated on the basis of the area cost adjustment factors as a percentage of standard spending assessments for each year since 1990-91 are as follows :


             |Total SSA   |Total       |Percentage               

                          |allocated on|allocated on             

                          |area cost   |area cost                

                          |factors     |factors                  

             |£ million   |£ million   |Per cent.                

-----------------------------------------------------------------

1990-91      |29,805.3    |836.8       |2.8                      

1991-92      |35,586.7    |1,152.1     |3.2                      

1992-93      |37,992.7    |1,314.5     |3.5                      

1993-94      |36,622.2    |1,332.4     |3.6                      

<1>1994-95   |37,847.7    |1,536.4     |4.1                      

<1>Provisional.                                                  

The 1994-95 figures are based on the Secretary of State's proposals announced on 2 December 1993. Final SSAs for 1994-95 will be announced shortly.

Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which local authorities have benefited from the area cost adjustment factor, and by how much as (a) a total, (b) a percentage of the overall standard spending assessment and (c) an amount per resident in each year since 1990-91.


Next Section

  Home Page