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Mr. Baldry : The top six authorities ranked in order of their score on each of the tenure of housing variables are as follows :
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Ranking of |Proportion of |Proportion of |Proportion of
|household |households |household
authorities |residents under 16 |living in rented |residents of
|years of |purpose build |pensionable age
|age living in rented|flats in residential|living in rented
|buildings
|accommodation |accommodation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 |Tower Hamlets |Tower Hamlets |Tower Hamlets
2 |Southwark |Southwark |Islington
3 |Islington |Hackney |Hackney
4 |Camden |Islington |Southwark
5 |Hackney |City of London |Camden
6 |Lambeth |Lambeth |Westminster
These variables are used respectively in the children in need index, within the all other services block social index and the personal social services other social services index, and within the potential elderly domiciliary clients formula and the potential elderly supported residents formula.
Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what evidence he has as to the impact of nature of housing tenure on local authorities need to spend on personal social services or the areas of spending covered by the all other services area.
Mr. Baldry : The district level all other services standard spending assessment and personal social services SSA both include housing tenure indicators. The inclusion of these measures was based on detailed statistical analysis. The results of this statistical analysis were discussed in the SSA subgroup meetings where all the local authority associations are represented. The report of the SSA sub-group for 1994-95 is in the Library.
Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which local authorities made representations to his Department seeking the use of nature of housing tenure as an indicator for the purpose of standard spending assessment distribution.
Mr. Baldry : Since my right hon. Friend announced details of the provisional revenue support grant settlement for 1994-95, no local authorities have made representations seeking the use of nature of housing tenure as an indicator in standard spending assessments.
Energy Industries
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment from what source the Energy Saving Trust will obtain its funding following the decision of the Director General of Gas Supply on the E factor.
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Mr. Atkins : Funding for schemes sponsored by the Energy Saving Trust comes from a variety of sources. The Director General of Gas Supply has recently questioned longer-term reliance on the E factor mechanism as one of those sources. Officials from my Department and the Department of Trade and Industry are currently reviewing the position with the Office of Gas Supply.
Living Over the Shop
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the budget allocated to the Housing Corporation for living-over-the-shop initiatives ; and how much of it has been spent.
Sir George Young : The Housing Corporation does not have a separate or ringfenced budget for flats-over-shops schemes. These form part of its overall investment in rehabilitation activities, financed from its approved development programme. Nevertheless, in 1993-94, it expects to invest £2.48 million in such schemes. To date, claims have been received for nearly 58 per cent. of this, and the corporation hopes to increase this percentage considerably by the end of the financial year. Although the Housing Corporation monitors spend on individual schemes, any underspend represents a shortfall against housing associations' intended programmes of works rather than against national targets as set by the Housing Corporation. In addition, this Department has made up to £10 million in supplementary credit approvals available to local authorities in 1993- 94. Where SCAs are awarded, a grant to meet the renovation cost of the scheme will be made through a local authority housing association grant, administered by the Housing Corporation.
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Minerals Planning Guidance
Mr. Gunnell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those bodies or individuals who have responded to his consultation paper on minerals planning guidance.
Mr. Baldry : The consultation period for MPG3 is not yet over. I will place a list of those who respond to the consultation exercise together with a summary of their comments in the Library of the House in due course.
Temporary Accommodation
Ms Short : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people were living in temporary accommodation in England and Wales on the most recent date for which figures are available ; what proportion of these were women ; and what proportion were accommodated in women's refuges.
Sir George Young : The latest available information shows that 56, 900 households were in temporary accommodation on 30 September 1993, some 8,600--13 per cent.--fewer than a year earlier. These figures cover those households which are awaiting permanent rehousing after having been accepted by local authorities as homeless, and those awaiting the outcome of inquiries into an application, under the provisions of the 1985 Housing Act. Some 870 of these households were in women's refuges.
Local authorities do not report the composition of households in temporary accommodation to my Department and so the number who are women is not held centrally.
For information about Wales I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
Contractor Management Information
Mr. Spellar : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 23 February, Official Report, column 262, which other Departments use his Department's contractor management information system and the consultants register.
Mr. Baldry : Other Departments which use the contractor management information system and the consultants register are :
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Central Office of Information
Crown Prosecution Service
Her Majesty's Customs and Excise
Ministry of Defence
Department for Education
Department of Employment
Department of the Environment--Northern Ireland
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Department of Health
Home Office
Inland Revenue
Lord Chancellors Department
Department of National Heritage
Department of National Savings
Scottish Office
Department of Social Security
Department of Trade and Industry
Department of Transport
Welsh Office.
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what financial means the Minister will
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employ to encourage efficiency and conservation improvements in the energy industries following the decision of the Director General of Gas Supply on the E factor.Mr. Atkins : The energy industries are active in encouraging greater energy efficiency as part of their desire for greater competitiveness and in the interests of their consumers. The Government encourage these and other steps through their best practice programme and other means. The Energy Saving Trust is an independent body promoting energy efficiency. The intention is that funds for schemes sponsored by the Energy Saving Trust will continue to be derived principally from electricity and gas tariff consumers. The mechanisms for achieving this are under review.
Water and Sewage Services
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what was the average equated rate poundage for sewerage services for the areas covered by (a) Wales Water, (b) Severn Trent, (c) North West England and (d) Thames for 1992-93 and 1993-94 and the estimated figure for 1994-95 ;
(2) what was the average equated rate poundage for supply of water for the areas covered by (a) Wales Water, (b) Severn Trent, (c) North West England and (d) Thames for 1992-93 and 1993-94 and the estimated figure for 1994- 95.
Mr. Atkins : Information on water and sewerage companies' tariffs and average charges is published annually in the Centre for the Study of Regulated Industries statistics series publication "The United Kingdom Water Industry--Charges for Water Services", copies of which are available in the Library.
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions he has had with Severn Trent Water regarding water disconnections.
Mr. Atkins : None. However, my right hon. Friend met the chairman of Severn Trent Water on 11 January, to discuss a range of topics relating to water charging issues.
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what monitoring he is conducting of the number of people who have had water supplies disconnected in the Coventry area ; how many households in Coventry have had their water disconnected in 1991-92 and 1992-93 ; and to what socio-economic categories those people belong.
Mr. Atkins : None. Responsibility for the protection of customers interests rests with the Director General of Water Services who publishes data on the total number of domestic disconnections twice a year, by water company area. Information on disconnections according to socio-economic categories is not available.
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for assisting consumers to avoid water disconnections.
Mr. Atkins : The Director General of Water Services issued guidelines to water companies in April 1992 on the subject of debt and disconnection, with the aim of ensuring fair and effective procedures to minimise the prospect of disconnection.
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Mobile Homes
Mr. Mills : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what complaints he has received in the last five years about the operations of the landlords of mobile home parks at Meriden hall ; and if he will make a statement.
Sir George Young : Records are readily available for the last two and a half years. During that period, we have received four letters about the Meriden hall mobile homes park, two of which are from my hon. Friend. Both these letters concern the operations of landlords. The other two letters are about other matters. The most recent of these four representations is 12 March 1992.
Local Government (Redundancies)
Mr. David Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to table his proposed amendments to the Local Government (Compensation for Redundancy and Premature Retirement) Regulations 1993.
Mr. Baldry : Regulations are being finalised in the light of the recent statutory consultation and will be introduced shortly.
Boundaries Review
Sir Ivan Lawrence : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to publish the results of his commissioner's review of the proposed boundaries for the constituencies in the county of Staffordshire.
Mr. Curry : The boundaries of parliamentary constituencies and the progress made by the Parliamentary Boundary Commission are matters for my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary.
Sustainable Development
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how often in the next 12 months the new advisory group on sustainable development will be holding meetings (a) amongst themselves, (b) with representatives of non-governmental organisations, (c) with the Prime Minister and (d) with departmental green Ministers.
Mr. Atkins : The panel on sustainable development is expected to meet about four times a year. It will be for the members to decide what other meetings to arrange as their work progresses.
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out the programme of work of the advisory group on sustainable development.
Mr. Atkins : No. The panel on sustainable development will be drawing up its own work programme.
Careers Service
Mr. Don Foster : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the expenditure by each local education authority in respect of the careers service for each year since 1989 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : I have arranged for the information to be placed in the Library of the House.
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Rural Areas
Mr. Ainger : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list projects and programmes designed to benefit rural areas which involved co-operation between the Rural Development Commission and (a) the Countryside Commission, (b) the Department of Employment and (c) the English training and enterprise councils in each of the last five years.
Mr. Atkins : The Rural Development Commission, together with the Countryside Commission and English Nature, jointly fund the rural action programme which was introduced in 1992 and is aimed at helping people in rural communities take action to protect and improve their local environment. The rural action programme will support nearly 400 projects in 1993-94. There are no formal joint programmes which are operated by the Rural Development Commission and the Department of Employment or the English TECs,but the commission operates a training and enterprise fund which provides support for training and economic development projects, often jointly with TECs. In the rural development areas the commission provides funding for a wide range of economic and social projects in partnership with a number of other bodies including the Countryside Commission and TECs.
Mr. Ainger : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the policy documents, publications and consultation documents which set out the policy proposals of the Rural Development Commission produced in the last 10 years.
Mr. Atkins : The Rural Development Commission has published a number of policy documents over the last 10 years which could only be listed at disproportionate cost. The commission publishes an annual report and corporate plan each year. The most recent documents published which set out the policy proposals are :
Policy Documents
(1) "Rural Development Strategy for the 1990s"--first published in December 1993.
(2) "The Future of the Rural Development Programme
Process"--December 1993.
(3) "Rural Development Areas"--December 1993.
(4) "The Rural Housing Problem"--November 1993.
(5) "Village Shops--A Report on Community Action"--July 1993. (6) "Rural Strategies--Advice from the Countryside Commission, English Nature and the Rural Development Commission"--November 1992. (7) "Countryside Employment Programme"--May 1992.
(8) "Tourism in the Countryside"--February 1992.
Consultation Documents
"Meeting the Challenge of Agricultural Adjustment"--July 1991. "Review of the Rural Development Commission's Priority Areas"--June 1992.
In addition, the commission has published a number of research reports on policy issues. The most recent are :
(1) "Homelessness in Rural Areas"--March 1992 and February 1994. (2) "Rural Transport Problems and Needs"--June 1993.
(3) "An Evaluation of the Housing Corporation Rural
Programme"--November 1993.
(4) "Rural Development and Strategy Planning"--November 1993.
Mr. Ainger : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the publications giving details of partnership programmes between the Rural Development Commission and the (a) Countryside
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Council, (b) Department of Employment and (c) English training and enterprise councils in which the voluntary sector can participate.Mr. Atkins : The only programme operated jointly by the Rural Development Commission and the Countryside Commission is the rural action programme,funded by the Royal Development Commission, the Countryside Commission and English Nature. The programme is managed by Action with Communities in Rural England. The publications detailing the scheme are :
"Rural Action for the Environment--An Introduction"--available from ACRE.
"Rural Action for the Environment--A New Way of Working"--available from ACRE.
There are no partnership programmes run with the Department of Employment and TECS. The commission has, however, collaborated with the Countryside Commission and TECs, as well as other bodies, on a range of publications to assist development in the rural areas.
Drinking Water
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the levels of lead in drinking water.
Mr. Atkins : The Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989, as amended, require that drinking water at the point where the water is supplied contains no more than 50 microgrammes of lead per litre. This standard is more stringent than the requirements of the EC drinking water directive. In 1992 97 per cent. of determinations for lead in England and Wales measured in samples taken from consumers' taps contained less than this level. There is virtually no lead in water leaving the treatment works and most of that detected comes from contact with consumers' pipework.
Hedgerows
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action the Government propose to take to protect hedgerows.
Mr. Atkins : We remain committed to legislate when parliamentary time permits.
Air Pollution Control
Mr. Riddick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, if he will make a statement about the 1994-95 charging scheme for local authority air pollution control under part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Mr. Atkins : Charges to cover the costs of local enforcing authorities in regulating processes which are subject to part I of the Environmental Protection act 1990 were introduced in April 1991. With the approval of the Treasury, and following consultation with local authority associations and industry, my right hon. Friends the Secretary of state for the Environment and the Secretary of State for Wales have made a revised scheme specifying the scale of fees and charges to take effect from 1 April 1994. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland is revising the identical, parallel scheme for Scotland on the same basis.
The application fee is increased by £30 to £965, the substantial change fee is increased by £20 to £620, and the
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annual subsistence charge is increased by £15 to £585. No change has been made to the remaining fees and charges. The scheme will be laid before both Houses and a copy placed in the Library. As part of our deregulation review, we commissioned consultants to investigate the potential for bringing in a system of banded charges. I am placing a copy of their report in the Library. In the light of the report and in consultation with interested bodies, consideration will be given to introducing banded charges for the local authority air pollution control regime in 1995-96.
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