Previous Section Home Page

Danish Sand Eel Fishing

Sir Cranley Onslow : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action she is taking to ensure that Danish sand eel fishing operations off the east coast of Britain do not jeopardise stocks of sea fish and bird life ; and if she will make a statement.

Mr. Jack : Denmark has the major interest in industrial fishing in the North sea, but does not have access to fisheries which lie within the British 12-mile limit,nor to the sand eel fishery south of the Shetlands which has been closed for the last three years. There is at present no conclusive evidence that current levels of industrial fishing are having an adverse effect on fish stocks. A study group of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea on sea bird-fish interactions last year indicated that there was unlikely to be much competition between sea birds and the sand-eel fishery. Nonetheless, I believe that the implications of industrial fishing should be considered in depth and, following pressure from the United Kingdom, the December Fisheries Council agreed to the establishment of a working group, composed of marine ecologists and fisheries


Column 281

biologists, to study the implications for the marine ecosystem of fishing in general and industrial fishing in particular. The group will set priorities for future research work on the effect these have on the marine ecosystem, sea birds and small cetaceans.

Fish

Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations she has made to the European Commission in relation to subsidies paid to French fishermen.

Mr. Jack [holding reply 8 March 1994] : We have asked the Commission to consider urgently whether the package of aids announced by the French Government has been granted in accordance with EU legal provisions on state aids.

School Milk Scheme

Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the change in local authority consumption in terms of value in actual and real terms of milk and other products eligible for the school milk scheme between (a) 12 school weeks before and 12 schools weeks after the removal of buttermilk and cheese from the school milk scheme and (b) 12 school weeks prior to and 12 school weeks after the reduction in funding for the school milk scheme.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard [holding reply 8 March 1994] : No information on changes in local authority consumption in terms of the value of milk and milk products eligible under the school milk scheme is available on a 12-weekly basis. The change in local authority consumption in terms of actual value for eligible milk and milk products between the term--spring 1993--before the removal of buttermilk and cheese from the scheme on 1 April 1993 and the term--summer 1993--after was a reduction of subsidy totalling £5,639, 666.01. No information will be available on changes in consumption following the 25 per cent. cut in the subsidy and the technical amendments, which came into force on 1 January 1994, until claims for the period have been received.

Public Information Campaigns

Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, further to her reply of 18 February, Official Report, columns 1056-58, what was the budgeted and the actual cost of each public information campaign listed.

Mr. Jack : The cost of each public information campaign listed was as follows :


                                            |Estimated|Actual             

                                            |Budgets                      

                                            |£        |£                  

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

At the Farmer's Service                     |371,500  |435,000            

Balance in the Countryside                  |343,000  |323,000            

The Continental Challenge                   |30,000   |22,000             

Don't Import Disease                        |30,000   |53,000             

Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA's)                                   

Campaign                                    |108,000  |127,000            

Foodsense Campaign                          |1,240,000|1,600,000          

Guidance on the Transport of Casualty                                     

Animals for Slaughter                       |<1>-     |30,000             

Heat Stress Campaign                        |11,000   |10,000             

Joint Imports Campaign                      |30,000   |113,000            

Pesticides Poisoning of Wildlife Campaign   |30,000   |15,000             

Plant Health Campaigns                      |20,000   |86,000             

Rabies Campaign                             |100,000  |170,000            

Small Producers of Food                     |30,000   |23,000             

Straw and Stubble Burning Campaign          |35,000   |19,000             

Warble Fly Campaign                         |17,000   |30,000             

Exhibition Stands Supporting Animal Welfare                               

Campaigns                                   |50,000   |37,000             

I.A.C.S.                                    |200,000  |163,000            

Export and Trade Promotion                  |400,000  |566,000            

National Agricultural Exhibitions           |300,000  |342,000            

<1> No budget set.                                                        

Estimated budget costs for campaigns are set at the beginning of each financial year. During the year reassessment of policy requirements and the widening of campaigns to meet increased demand for information can cause variations in actual work which affects costs.

Nuclear Waste

Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to her answer of 25 February, Official Report, column 492, if she will set out the international conventions covering land-based radioactive waste discharges and those to which the United Kingdom is party.

Mr. Atkins : I have been asked to reply. The Government do not have a list of all the international conventions to which other states may be parties that cover land-based discharges of radioactive wastes. The following are the treaties and conventions relevant to the interests of the United Kingdom in European waters :

the Eurotom treaty, 1957, to which the United Kingdom is now a party as a member state of the European Community ;

the--Paris--convention for the protection of marine pollution from land- based sources, 1974, to which the United Kingdom has been a contracting party since its inception ; this will eventually be replaced by the convention for the protection of the marine environment of the north-east Atlantic 1992, which the United Kingdom has signed but has yet to ratify ;

the--Helsinki--convention on the protection of the marine environment of the Baltic sea area, 1974, to be replaced in due course by the--Helsinki-- convention on the protection of the Baltic sea area, 1992, and the-- Barcelona--convention for the protection of the Mediterranean sea against pollution, 1976, in both of which the United Kingdom has interests as a member state of the European Community, since the European Community is, or is in the process of becoming, a contracting party to those conventions.

WALES

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many days per week Mr. Michael Griffiths is contractually bound to spend on work for the three non-departmental public bodies of which he is chairman or member ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Redwood : The average time commitments expressed as days per week are listed as follows :


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

Countryside Council for Wales            |2" days per week                   

Glan Clwyd District General Hospital NHS |3" days per week                   

Trust                                                                        

Higher Education Funding Council         |1" days per month                  

Mr. Griffiths performs daily duties at the offices of these bodies, attends evening meetings and works at weekends preparing for meetings and briefing himself.

Assisted Places Scheme

Mr. Donohoe : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much it costs his Department to publicise and administer the operation of the assisted places scheme.

Sir Wyn Roberts : Schools and the Independent Schools Information Service publicise the scheme. It is administered in Wales by staff of the Welsh Office Education Department, which has a range of other significant responsibilities. It is estimated that the current cost of its time spent on the administration of the scheme is £6,400.

Health Service Manpower

Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many managers and senior managers there were within the NHS ; and of those how many are there whose designation as such can be attributed solely to reclassification within the NHS, in each health authority and for Wales as a whole in each year since 1979.

Mr. Gwilym Jones : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on numbers of managers on 21 February, Official Report, columns 89-91.

Information on the numbers of staff reclassified as managers is not in general readily available. However a special exercise in December 1993 provided some information on the number of staff now classified as managers who were previously employed at other grades within the same authority/trust. This information is shown in the following table. It is not known how many of these staff retained their previous responsibilities on transferring to manager grade and how many were promoted or took on new responsibilities.


Health authority |<1>Per cent.                     

area                                               

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

Clwyd            |79.0                             

East Dyfed       |71.0                             

Gwent            |77.0                             

Gwynedd          |78.0                             

Mid Glamorgan    |62.0                             

Pembrokeshire    |100.0                            

Powys            |85.0                             

South Glamorgan  |77.0                             

West Glamorgan   |80.0                             

WHCSA            |58.0                             

                                                   

Wales            |73.0                             

<1> Percentage of managers, at December 1993, who  

were previously                                    

employed at other grades within the same           

authority/trust.                                   

Notes:                                             

1. Includes staff employed by health authorities,  

NHS trusts, Welsh                                  

health common services authority and those family  

health services                                    

authorities using the health authorities payroll   

system.                                            

2. Managers employed on local payscales but who    

cannot be identified                               

centrally as managers are excluded. This applies   

in particular to the                               

Pembrokeshire NHS trust, where the figure quoted   

excludes all bar one                               

employee.                                          

3. Managers who were previously employed at other  

grades in other                                    

authorities/trusts but not their existing one are  

not generally counted as                           

reclassified in the figures except where they      

transferred to an NHS trust                        

from the health authority which had previously     

managed those services at                          

the time the trust was created.                    


Column 284

Training

Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list in 1993-94 prices and cash terms the total amount spent from public funds on training in Wales in each year since 1989-90, the expected outturn in 1993-94 and plans for 1994-95.

Sir Wyn Roberts : The information requested is given in the following table :


Wales training expenditure in cash and    

real terms (1993-94 prices)               

1989-90 to 1992-93 and expected outturns  

in 1993-94 and plans for                  

1994-95                                   

                    |£ millions           

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

1989-90                                   

  Cash              |148.406              

  Real terms        |182.827              

                                          

1990-91                                   

  Cash              |146.132              

  Real terms        |166.594              

                                          

1991-92                                   

  Cash              |145.773              

  Real terms        |156.289              

                                          

1992-93                                   

  Cash              |151.659              

  Real terms        |159.242              

                                          

1993-94                                   

  Estimated outturn |147.590              

                                          

1994-95                                   

  Cash              |149.679              

  Real terms        |143.922              

Land Use

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what figures were used in hectares for (a) set-aside, (b) pulses and (c) oilseed rape and cereals for 1989, 1990 and 1991 to calculate the base rate for Wales.

Mr. Redwood : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Angus, East (Mr. Welsh) on 29 November 1993, Official Report, column 362.

Deaf-blind Service

Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement concerning the impact of the grants for the regional deaf- blind service in Wales.

Mr. Gwilym Jones : Some £25,000 has been given to SENSE, the National Deaf-Blind and Rubella Association, in 1993-94 for the establishment of a development officer post in Wales. A grant application for 1994-95 is currently under consideration.

allocated by the Welsh Office Education Department under the grants for education support and training scheme has led to the establishment of a regional Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will extend the time scale of grants for the GEST scheme for deaf-blind children ;


Column 285

(2) what is the amount of cash earmarked for the GEST scheme for the consortium of local education authorities, giving the amounts for each of West Glamorgan, Mid-Glamorgan,Dyfed and Gwent.

Sir Wyn Roberts : We have recently allocated grant for 1994-95 on expenditure of £18,800 to each of the four authorities involved in the south Wales deaf-blind project, a total of £75,200 for that year. No decisions have yet been taken about the extension of the grant into 1995- 96.

Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will extend the funding of the GEST project to support the education of deaf-blind children beyond April 1995.

Sir Wyn Roberts : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave today to the hon. Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mr. Jones).

GPs

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 20 January, Official Report, column 771, what considerations underlie his decision not to collect information centrally on the number of general practitioners who receive gross payments in excess of £200,000 per annum ; if he will consider collecting this information in future ; and if he will make a statement.


Column 286

Mr. Gwilym Jones : GPs are paid according to a national contract. Conditions for payment are tightly defined and all GPs have access to income under the same conditions. Individual GP income varies according to a number of factors including list size and range of services provided.

Exchequer control over the remuneration system is achieved through arrangements operated by the Doctors and Dentists Review Body which ensure that, taking one year with another,the profession as a whole earns neither more nor less by way of net income than the amount intended by Government.

The collation of payments to individual doctors would serve no useful central management purpose. However, the information is available at a local management level to family health services authorities.

Council House Sales

Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total income received by each district council from the sales of council houses in each of the last 10 years expressed in current prices.

Mr. Redwood : The information is given in the following table :


In-year capital receipts from the sale of council houses<1>                                                 

Constant 1992-93 prices                                                                                     

£000                                                                                                        

                    |1983-84|1984-85|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93        

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

Alyn and Deeside    |730    |1,320  |1,705  |1,353  |1,566  |2,880  |4,442  |2,443  |1,119  |1,030          

Colwyn              |871    |647    |803    |868    |1,032  |1,665  |1,223  |778    |393    |379            

Delyn               |1,748  |6,060  |669    |977    |1,483  |1,365  |2,300  |1,471  |928    |806            

Glyndwr             |1,026  |683    |2,212  |1,043  |966    |2,393  |2,306  |958    |489    |524            

Rhuddlan            |610    |609    |926    |670    |1,149  |1,967  |1,686  |919    |556    |362            

Wrexham Maelor      |1,177  |1,351  |1,949  |2,864  |4,215  |5,657  |12,391 |4,779  |3,314  |2,759          

Carmarthen          |1,576  |1,471  |933    |1,063  |1,151  |1,977  |2,139  |1,823  |1,227  |1,040          

Ceredigion          |1,952  |1,276  |856    |1,463  |1,183  |2,924  |3,738  |2,035  |1,337  |1,565          

Dinefwr             |550    |513    |715    |1,102  |994    |1,529  |1,376  |1,284  |623    |450            

Llanelli            |3,501  |2,107  |1,685  |2,431  |2,702  |4,158  |3,958  |2,579  |2,139  |1,489          

Preseli Pembroke    |2,726  |1,727  |1,555  |1,611  |1,695  |4,003  |5,028  |2,576  |1,542  |1,774          

South Pembrokeshire |2,473  |1,572  |673    |640    |991    |2,227  |2,312  |1,241  |861    |516            

Blaenau Gwent       |1,645  |1,127  |5,028  |1,988  |2,058  |3,742  |5,678  |2,388  |1,666  |1,031          

Islwyn              |4,541  |2,753  |2,275  |3,146  |3,473  |5,255  |4,996  |1,463  |1,578  |1,124          

Monmouth            |4,969  |3,994  |2,914  |2,995  |3,763  |5,228  |5,170  |2,487  |2,059  |1,613          

Newport             |4,720  |4,885  |11,123 |5,000  |4,753  |8,897  |10,261 |3,030  |2,193  |1,881          

Torfaen             |4,924  |3,977  |2,163  |6,901  |4,810  |9,150  |10,999 |5,138  |3,220  |3,311          

Aberconwy           |1,316  |1,078  |1,084  |1,231  |1,458  |3,275  |3,868  |1,359  |908    |515            

Arfon               |1,183  |1,326  |809    |1,115  |1,005  |2,661  |3,207  |1,329  |924    |669            

Dwyfor              |399    |243    |325    |205    |176    |449    |594    |653    |248    |271            

Meirionnydd         |1,087  |531    |582    |584    |803    |1,345  |1,440  |471    |422    |241            

Ynys Mon            |795    |806    |1,689  |1,320  |1,006  |3,724  |4,483  |2,066  |1,050  |629            

Cynon Valley        |1,833  |873    |777    |1,523  |1,382  |1,662  |1,840  |1,185  |913    |651            

Merthyr Tydfil      |1,689  |1,323  |1,856  |2,334  |2,508  |3,398  |3,513  |1,516  |739    |976            

Ogwr                |14,899 |4,993  |4,856  |5,270  |4,083  |6,564  |7,149  |3,864  |2,599  |1,614          

Rhondda             |376    |315    |406    |571    |483    |711    |885    |686    |353    |373            

Rhymney Valley      |3,393  |2,679  |2,384  |4,072  |4,324  |3,858  |5,491  |3,798  |2,324  |1,885          

Taff Ely            |3,087  |2,686  |2,660  |4,174  |4,988  |6,007  |7,374  |3,908  |2,769  |2,162          

Brecknock           |1,880  |1,582  |1,355  |1,662  |1,803  |2,523  |2,491  |1,250  |810    |586            

Montgomeryshire     |1,548  |1,010  |1,155  |1,731  |1,450  |2,379  |2,658  |1,192  |1,038  |878            

Radnorshire         |1,128  |438    |468    |425    |810    |988    |1,083  |635    |457    |525            

Cardiff             |6,571  |7,852  |9,319  |16,537 |12,500 |18,311 |20,068 |7,760  |5,567  |3,765          

Vale of Glamorgan   |4,527  |3,543  |3,077  |4,729  |4,013  |7,344  |6,043  |2,488  |2,043  |2,006          

Port Talbot         |3,191  |2,883  |3,071  |3,610  |4,171  |5,374  |6,209  |2,938  |2,468  |1,733          

Lliw Valley         |822    |971    |1,417  |1,968  |1,829  |2,209  |3,539  |2,642  |1,382  |1,024          

Neath               |1,168  |1,476  |2,082  |2,207  |2,538  |3,167  |3,631  |2,112  |1,328  |991            

Swansea             |2,997  |9,392  |2,333  |3,242  |4,886  |10,805 |11,046 |4,637  |3,103  |1,986          

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

Total districts     |93,627 |82,069 |79,616 |94,623 |94,203 |151,769|176,618|83,882 |56,689 |45,134         

<1> Includes the repayment of principal on local authority mortgages on council houses.                     

Sources: Capital payments return up to 1988-89, cash backed accumulated receipts returns for subsequent     

years.                                                                                                      

Amenity Charges

Ms Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much money was generated by the NHS in Wales from amenity charges ; and how many people paid them in 1991-92 and 1992-93.

Mr. Gwilym Jones : The income receipts received by the NHS in Wales amounted to £30,000 and £65,000 for 1991-92 and 1992-93 respectively. The number of people who paid these receipts is not available centrally.

Ministerial Offices

Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the cost of new furniture for his private office during the year 1993-94.

Mr. Redwood : Such purchases are included within my Department's overall administration expenditure which is published every year in the annual report.

Environmentally Sensitive Areas

Mr. Clifton-Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was or is the total budget for management agreements for all environmentally sensitive areas in Wales for the years 1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995- 96.

Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information is as follows :


Financial year |Budget                       

               |£ million                    

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

1992-93        |1.505                        

1993-94        |1.537                        

1994-95        |6.863                        

1995-96        |7.015                        

Notes:                                       

Figures shown for 1992-93 are actual         

expenditure figures.                         

Figures shown for 1993-94 to 1995-96 are     

subject to Parliamentary                     

approval.                                    

Mr. Clifton-Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the area of each individual environmentally sensitive area in Wales already under management agreements at the most recent date for which accurate figures are available.

Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information as at 28 February 1994 is as follows :


ESA                                   |Hectares           

                                      |under              

                                      |agreement          

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

Cambrian Mountains (Original)         |8,694              

Cambrian Mountains (Extension)        |22,373             

Cambrian Mountains (Original) Revised |10,327             

Lleyn Peninsula                       |23,478             

Ynys Mon                              |58                 

Radnor                                |0                  

                                      |-------            

Total                                 |64,930             

Mr. Clifton-Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many farmers had entered into agreements in


Column 288

each individual environmentally sensitive area in Wales at the most recent date for which accurate figures are available.

Mr. Gwilym Jones : The information as at 28 February 1994 is as follows :


ESA                                   |Number of            

                                      |current              

                                      |management           

                                      |agreements           

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

Cambrian Mountains (Original)         |80                   

Cambrian Mountains (Extension)        |208                  

Cambrian Mountains (Original) Revised |63                   

Lleyn Peninsula                       |481                  

Ynys Mon                              |2                    

Radnor                                |0                    

                                      |-------              

Total                                 |834                  

Ministerial Receptions

Mr. Boyes : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the cost of receptions held by Ministers in his Department in 1993-94.

Mr. Redwood : The cost of such receptions is included in the entertainment expenditure for my Department, which is published in the annual report.

Nursery Education

Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of three and four-year-olds in Wales have nursery education provided for them (a) now and (b) in 1979.

Mr. Redwood : The percentage of three and four-year-olds in Wales who were in nursery education provided for them in maintained schools in 1993 and 1979 are as follows :


              |Per cent.          

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

January 1993  |68.5               

January 1979  |66.7               

<1> Ages as at 31                 

December-estimated.               

Others attend some other form of pre-school education or play group, meaning that most Welsh three to five-year-olds spend time with other children away from home.

Housing

Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was (a) the number of council houses, (b) the amount of housing revenue account subsidy and (c) the amount of housing revenue account subsidy per house in each district council in Wales and for Wales as a whole for the latest year for which figures are available.

Mr. Gwilym Jones : Information on the average number of council houses for each district council and for Wales in 1993-94 is given in the following table.

I refer the hon. Member to the replies I gave him on14 February, Official Report, column 632-34 in respect of housing revenue account subsidy.


Column 289


Average number of council houses in   

1993-94                               

                      |Number         

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

Aberconwy             |2,431          

Alyn and Deeside      |4,815          

Arfon                 |4,748          

Blaenau Gwent         |9,503          

Brecknock             |2,510          

Cardiff               |17,938         

Carmarthen            |3,182          

Ceredigion            |3,021          

Colwyn                |2,386          

Cynon Valley          |4,661          

Delyn                 |4,386          

Dinefwr               |2,346          

Dwyfor                |1,380          

Glyndwr               |2,694          

Islwyn                |5,611          

Llanelli              |6,331          

Lliw Valley           |4,681          

Meirionnydd           |1,873          

Merthyr Tydfil        |6,285          

Monmouth              |4,521          

Montgomeryshire       |2,562          

Neath                 |5,090          

Newport               |12,700         

Ogwr                  |8,711          

Port Talbot           |5,087          

Preseli Pembrokeshire |5,016          

Radnorshire           |1,105          

Rhondda               |4,349          

Rhuddlan              |2,597          

Rhymney Valley        |9,140          

South Pembrokeshire   |2,594          

Swansea               |15,251         

Taff Ely              |6,145          

Torfaen               |12,154         

Vale of Glamorgan     |5,599          

Wrexham Maelor        |14,489         

Ynys Mon              |5,142          

                      |-------        

Wales                 |213,034        

Source:                               

Local authorities' second advance     

subsidy claims for 1993-94.           

ENVIRONMENT

Local Government Finance

Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will publish for each borough, district and county council and in total for England as a whole in constant prices (a) the estimated actual spending for 1993-94 net of community care, (b) the standard spending assessments for 1994-95 net of community care, (c) the amounts by which (b) exceeds or falls short of (a) and (d) the percentage by which (b) exceeds or falls short of (a) ; and if he will make a statement ;

(2) if he will publish for each borough, district and county council and in total for England as a whole in constant prices (a) the estimated actual spending for 1993-94, (b) the standard spending assessments for 1994-95, (c) the amounts by which (b) exceeds or falls short of (a) and (d) the percentage by which (b) exceeds or falls short of (a) ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Baldry : The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is (a) the capital expenditure and (b) the revenue expenditure for the last year for which figures are


Column 290

available in relation to the number of councillors on (i) London boroughs, (ii) metropolitan boroughs, (iii) shire county councils and (iv) shire district-borough councils.

Mr. Baldry : The information is as follows :


                |Revenue    |Capital    |Number of              

                |expenditure|expenditure|Councillors            

                |1993-94    |1993-94                            

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

                |£ million  |£ million  |no                     

London boroughs |6,498      |1,293      |1,914                  

Metropolitan                                                    

 districts      |8,946      |1,773      |2,481                  

Shire counties  |20,213     |1,746      |2,998                  

Shire districts |3,280      |2,415      |13,459                 

Source: Local authority returns-revenue budget and second       

quarter                                                         

capital forecasts-municipal year book 1994.                     

Environmental Protection

Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the European directives for protecting the environment since 1979, including those concerning air pollution, water pollution and wildlife protection ; whether each was implemented in the United Kingdom by primary or secondary legislation ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Atkins : Directives in force are listed in the Official Journal of the European Communities "Director of Community Legislation in Force and Other Acts of the Community

Institutions--22nd Edition", which is available in the Library. Details of the methods of transposition are not held centrally. The United Kingdom aims to implement Community legislation in full and on time. The method of implementation depends on the circumstances of each case and the legislation already in force in the United Kingdom, but will usually be by secondary legislation.

Planning Regulations (Water Services)

Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what rules govern the giving of planning permission where existing water and sewerage provision will be affected ;

(2) what planning regulations existing to safeguard people living in areas of poor water pressure where a new building development is planned in the immediate vicinity ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Baldry : There are no planning regulations which apply specifically to development which might affect existing water and sewerage provision. In determining planning applications, local planning authorities must have regard to the development plan,so far as it is material to the application, and to any other material considerations. Where the development plan is material, the planning application must be determined in accordance with it unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

Each planning application must be considered on its merits ; water supply and sewerage disposal may be material considerations to be taken into account. The capacity of existing water and sewerage infrastructure and the need for additional facilities should also be considered when development plans are being drawn up. Local planning authorities should consult the appropriate water


Column 291

or sewerage undertaker on any planning application which is likely to have significant implications for water or sewerage services. Section 65(1) of the Water Industry Act 1991 places a duty on water undertakers to provide water at such a pressure as will cause water to reach the top of the top-most storey of every building within the undertaker's area. In general, the planning system should not duplicate safeguards for water supply or sewerage disposal already available under water legislation.

Audit Commission (Staff Sickness)

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish current sickness absence rates in respect of staff of the Audit Commission.

Mr. Baldry : No. Under schedule 3 to the Local Government Finance Act 1982, the Audit Commission is responsible for the recruitment and management of its own staff. The Government do not involve themselves in this process.

Councillors (Surcharges)

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will now discontinue the penalty of surcharge on councillors in respect of fraud or incompetence.

Mr. Baldry : No.

Nuclear Waste

Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what support his Department provided to the centre for environmental chemistry at Brunel university in its preparation of its recent report on the management of used nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste.

Mr. Atkins : My Department has not been involved in the preparation of this report.

Homelessness

Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) on what date he received representations from (a) Westminster and (b) Wandsworth asking that homelessness be used as an indicator for the purposes of standard spending assessment distribution ;

(2) what (a) evidence of their need to spend in respect of homelessness or (b) plans for increased spending was provided by Wandsworth borough council when asking that homelessness be used as an indicator for standard spending assessment distribution ; (3) what (a) evidence of need to spend in respect of homelessness or (b) plans for increased spending was provided by Westminster city council when asking that homelessness be used as an indicator for standard spending assessment distribution.

Mr. Baldry : As regards the local government finance settlement for 1994-95, representations in support of a separate indicator for homelessness were received from Westminster city council in 1993 on 8 April, 14 July, 5 October, 11 October and 23 December. These representations included an analysis of applications for accommodation over the period 1989-90 to 1992-93, net expenditure on rent allowances 1990-91 to 1992-93 and


Column 292

projections of such expenditure to 1996-97. No such representations were received from Wandsworth borough council.

Ms Short : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will give an estimate of the number of single homeless people in England and Wales, and what proportion of these are women.

Sir George Young : My Department does not make estimates of the numbers of single homeless people. The only source of national data on persons sleeping rough is the 1991 census of population, which found 2,650 people doing so on census night--21-22 April--at a number of predetermined sites. Of these, 407--15 per cent.--were women. For information on Wales, I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

Ms Short : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) whether he will provide a breakdown of numbers of those accepted as statutorily homeless in England and Wales in the most recent year for which figures are available falling into different priority need categories ; and what proportion in each category were women ; (2) how many people were accepted as statutorily homeless in England and Wales in the most recent year for which figures are available ; and what proportion of these were women.

Sir George Young : The numbers of households for which local authorities in England accepted responsibility to secure permanent accommodation in the year ending 30 September 1993, the latest 12 months for which figures are available, in each of the priority need categories is as follows :


                                                 |Number         

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

Households with dependent children               |81,250         

                                                                 

Household member pregnant and no other dependent                 

  children                                       |17,790         

                                                                 

Household member vulnerable due to:                              

 (a) old age                                     |5,940          

 (b) physical disability                         |5,320          

 (c) mental illness/handicap                     |5,990          

 (d) other reasons                               |15,990         

                                                                 

Households homeless in emergency                 |1,130          

                                                 |----           

Total households in priority need                |133,410        

                                                                 

Households not in priority need                  |4,530          

                                                 |----           

Total acceptances                                |137,940        

Information is not collected on the composition of these households so the number of women in each category is not known and my Department has no estimates.

For information about Wales, I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the issue of using homelessness as an indicator was first raised and by whom in the 1993 consultation with local authorities on the standard spending assessment settlement.


Column 293

Mr. Baldry : Local authorities in London, and their associations, have repeatedly raised the issue of using an indicator of homelessness in standard spending assessments since the inception of the system in 1990.

Ms Short : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to the number of people made homeless in England and Wales as a result of relationship breakdown, the proportion of these cases which involved domestic violence, and the proportion of those cited in the answers who were women, in the last year for which figures are available.

Sir George Young : The latest available information provided by local authorities, on homeless households accepted for permanent rehousing, shows that 25,930 households in England lost their last settled home because of relationship breakdown with a partner in the year ending 30 September 1993, and that 67 per cent. of these were the result of violent breakdown.


Column 294

Information is not collected by my Department on the composition of these households and so the number of women involved is not held centrally.

For information about Wales, I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

Housing Tenure

Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which six local authorities gained most from the use of nature of housing tenure as an indicator for the purpose of standard spending assessment distribution.


Next Section

  Home Page