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Mr. Trimble : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many persons are (a) qualified to act as a chairman of fair employment tribunals, (b) appointed to the panel of lay members of fair employment tribunals after consultation with organisations representative of employers and (c) appointed to the panel of lay members of fair employment tribunals after consultation with organisations representative of employed persons ; how many there are in each category whose perceived religious affiliation is (i) Protestant, (ii) Roman Catholic and (iii) not determined ; how many come from outside Northern Ireland ; and how many of the latter were born in (1) the rest of the United Kingdom or (2) the Republic of Ireland.
Mr. Tim Smith : All chairmen and panel members of the fair employment tribunal have addresses in Northern Ireland. Information relating to the country of birth is not held by the Department of Economic Development. The other information sought is given in the following table :
Fair employment Total Perceived number tribunal of: members qualified to |number act as: |Protestants |Roman |Catholics ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (a) Chairman |3 |1 |2 (b) Lay panel members representative of employers |27 |18 |9 (c) Lay panel members representative of employees |31 |13 |18
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the dates Ministers, or officials from his Department, including his Department's agencies, have used the Malaysian airline MAS for each year since 1985, including this year to date, on official business ; and what was the cost of each flight to his Department.
Sir John Wheeler : No Minister has used the Malaysian airline MAS since 1985. Whilst some officials of the Industrial Development Board have, on a few occasions, used the airline, further details could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give details of the distribution of average gross weekly earnings per person for each of the
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national health service clinical nursing and midwifery grades, listing the percentages of each grade earning under £140, £150, £160, £170, £180, £190, £200, £210, £220, £230, £240, £250, £275, £300 and those earning £300 and over in each year since 1991.Column 384
Mr. Ancram : The information requested is provided in the table.
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Percentage distribution of average gross weekly earnings for clinical nursing and midwifery grades in Northern Ireland Percentage Gross weekly |Scale A |Scale B |Scale C |Scale D |Scale E |Scale F |Scale G |Scale H |Scale I earnings ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1991-92 <£140 |11.9 |5.1 |2.3 |10.8 |1.5 |1.8 |0.6 |1.1 |0.0 <£150 |8.1 |1.7 |0.3 |0.9 |0.1 |0.0 |0.1 |0.5 |0.0 <£160 |15.5 |12.8 |0.3 |0.6 |0.1 |0.0 |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 <£170 |12.7 |20.5 |0.6 |1.6 |0.2 |0.3 |0.8 |0.0 |0.0 <£180 |18.9 |14.5 |1.5 |1.7 |0.1 |0.0 |1.1 |0.0 |0.0 <£190 |15.9 |11.9 |2.2 |1.8 |0.3 |0.0 |0.2 |1.1 |0.6 <£200 |6.5 |10.2 |5.0 |2.1 |0.3 |0.3 |0.2 |1.1 |0.6 <£210 |5.1 |9.4 |9.4 |4.6 |0.6 |0.0 |0.1 |0.0 |0.6 <£220 |3.1 |3.4 |11.6 |12.8 |0.5 |0.3 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 <£230 |0.7 |3.4 |19.9 |27.1 |0.9 |0.0 |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 <£240 |0.6 |1.7 |21.0 |31.0 |1.8 |0.9 |0.3 |0.0 |0.0 <£250 |0.2 |2.5 |10.0 |29.9 |2.7 |2.4 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 <£275 |0.1 |0.8 |11.4 |47.1 |21.1 |2.1 |0.7 |0.0 |0.6 <£300 |0.0 |0.8 |3.3 |17.3 |40.9 |8.2 |2.2 |0.0 |0.0 <£300+ |0.1 |0.8 |0.6 |9.4 |27.9 |83.5 |92.6 |95.9 1992-93 <£140 |5.5 |2.2 |1.8 |7.2 |1.4 |1.2 |0.3 |1.4 |0.0 <£150 |3.1 |0.5 |0.1 |0.5 |0.1 |0.0 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 <£160 |8.9 |0.0 |0.3 |0.2 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 <£170 |15.7 |7.4 |0.3 |0.5 |0.3 |0.6 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 <£180 |13.2 |6.2 |0.1 |0.4 |0.1 |0.0 |0.2 |0.0 |0.0 <£190 |17.2 |17.7 |0.5 |0.8 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 <£200 |16.2 |6.8 |1.3 |1.5 |0.3 |0.0 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 <£210 |8.1 |10.8 |2.7 |2.3 |0.3 |0.0 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 <£220 |4.9 |17.1 |5.8 |2.3 |0.3 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 <£230 |3.7 |12.5 |9.7 |5.6 |0.3 |0.3 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 <£240 |1.8 |6.8 |13.2 |16.2 |0.8 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 <£250 |0.6 |5.1 |21.4 |28.4 |0.8 |0.0 |0.0 |0.4 |0.0 <£275 |0.4 |5.1 |31.7 |71.5 |6.7 |2.7 |0.8 |0.0 |0.0 <£300 |0.0 |0.5 |8.5 |36.0 |22.6 |4.6 |0.4 |0.9 |0.0 <£300+ |0.0 |0.5 |1.7 |25.5 |65.0 |90.4 |97.4 |97.1 1993-94 <£140 |4.7 |0.4 |1.8 |2.9 |1.2 |0.3 |0.4 |0.0 |0.0 <£150 |2.7 |0.4 |0.0 |0.3 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 <£160 |5.2 |0.9 |0.0 |0.1 |0.1 |0.0 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 <£170 |13.3 |3.7 |0.2 |0.3 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 <£180 |15.4 |7.0 |0.2 |0.2 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 <£190 |15.5 |14.1 |0.6 |0.5 |0.1 |0.3 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 <£200 |18.2 |9.9 |0.8 |0.4 |0.4 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 <£210 |11.3 |7.5 |2.0 |0.6 |0.4 |0.0 |0.1 |0.0 |0.0 <£220 |5.6 |9.4 |6.6 |1.6 |0.1 |0.3 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 <£230 |2.9 |9.9 |5.2 |1.9 |0.5 |0.3 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 <£240 |2.0 |8.0 |11.6 |3.2 |0.6 |0.3 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 <£250 |1.2 |8.9 |18.1 |11.2 |0.7 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 |0.0 <£275 |0.9 |14.6 |37.1 |38.8 |5.1 |1.5 |0.4 |0.0 |0.0 <£300 |0.1 |2.8 |12.1 |21.5 |19.2 |5.8 |0.8 |0.4 |0.0 <£300+ |0.2 |1.8 |3.1 |16.1 |70.4 |91.0 |97.8 |99.5 |100.0 Note: Totals may not add up due to rounding.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give details of the number of NHS nursing and midwifery staff by pay grades within the groups of senior nursing and midwifery staff, educational
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staff, clinical nursing and midwifery staff, learners, and other staff, and to list the number of Project 2000 nursing students, in each year since 1989 and the percentage change between each year.Mr. Ancram : The information is as follows :
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|1990 |1991 |Percentage|1992 |Percentage|1993 |Percentage |change |change |change -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Senior Nursing Staff |78 |66 |-15.38 |67 |+0.01 |56 |-16.42 Educational Staff |298 |300 |+0.67 |295 |-1.67 |284 |-3.37 Scale A |3,084 |3,256 |+5.58 |3,177 |-2.43 |3,250 |+2.30 Scale B |318 |463 |+45.60 |609 |+31.53 |769 |+26.27 Scale C |1,354 |1,222 |-9.75 |1,137 |-6.95 |1,032 |-9.23 Scale D |4,034 |4,415 |+9.44 |4,536 |+2.74 |5,026 |+10.80 Scale E |6,030 |5,898 |-2.19 |5,711 |-3.17 |5,567 |-2.52 Scale F |453 |446 |-1.54 |467 |+4.70 |452 |-3.21 Scale G |2,295 |2,218 |-3.35 |2,117 |-4.55 |1,989 |-6.05 Scale H |184 |224 |+21.74 |243 |-8.48 |240 |-1.23 Scale I |185 |166 |-10.27 |156 |-6.02 |137 |-12.18 Student Nursing |2,121 |1,362 |-35.78 |631 |-53.67 |39 |-93.82 Project 2000 Student Nurses |188 |861 |+358.00 |1,441 |+67.40 |1,715 |+19.00 Note:Information for 1989 is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The 2000 nurses schemes started in September 1990.
Mr. Kirkwood : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will give details of the average gross weekly earnings and make-up of pay by type of pay or allowance for each of the clinical grades for nursing and midwifery staff in each year since 1991.
Mr. Ancram : The information requested is provided in the tables.
Average gross weekly earnings for clinical nursing grades (full-time) in Northern Ireland Clinical grade |Gross |Basic |pay |pay |Allowances |£ |£ |£ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1991-92 Scale A |165.82 |139.85 |25.97 Scale B |179.30 |158.45 |20.85 Scale C |225.50 |190.61 |34.89 Scale D |235.97 |200.78 |35.19 Scale E |283.90 |241.49 |42.41 Scale F |329.66 |284.24 |45.42 Scale G |350.80 |320.42 |30.38 Scale H |380.62 |353.46 |27.16 Scale I |415.72 |395.24 |20.48 1992-93 Scale A |179.12 |151.01 |28.11 Scale B |205.07 |176.55 |28.52 Scale C |242.84 |205.49 |37.35 Scale D |258.43 |219.45 |38.98 Scale E |303.88 |258.20 |45.68 Scale F |349.66 |306.84 |42.82 Scale G |380.61 |348.46 |32.15 Scale H |409.15 |383.41 |25.74 Scale I |446.17 |428.20 |17.97 1993-94 Scale A |182.94 |152.75 |30.19 Scale B |217.48 |180.20 |37.28 Scale C |248.80 |209.53 |39.27 Scale D |266.02 |224.26 |41.76 Scale E |309.54 |262.30 |47.24 Scale F |354.43 |310.24 |44.19 Scale G |386.69 |353.09 |33.60 Scale H |421.98 |392.17 |29.81 Scale I |452.88 |430.28 |22.60
Mr. Morley : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many dairy farms there were in Northern Ireland in each year since 1985.
Mr. Ancram : In the Northern Ireland agricultural census, until 1992 a farm was classified as a specialist dairying farm if dairying accounted for over two-thirds of
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the farm's total standard gross margin and as a mainly dairying farm if the proportion was between half and two thirds and if dairying was the largest enterprise. The numbers of such farms are given in the table for each year between 1985 and 1992.|Specialist |Mainly |All Dairying |Dairying |Dairying ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1985 |5,605 |1,770 |7,375 1986 |5,465 |1,674 |7,139 1987 |5,334 |1,567 |6,901 1988 |5,079 |1,609 |6,688 1989 |4,897 |1,631 |6,528 1990 |4,733 |1,718 |6,451 1991 |4,553 |1,805 |6,358 1992 |4,319 |1,854 |6,173
A new system of farm typology was introduced in 1993 and under this 5,124 farms were classified as dairy farms. On that new basis the number of dairy farms in 1992 was 5,235.
Mr. Gunnell : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what were the total numbers of prison places in Northern Ireland on (a) 1 June 1979, (b) 1 June 1983, (c) 1 June 1987 and (d) 1 April 1992 and on the latest date for which figures are available.
Sir John Wheeler : The information requested is as follows :
|Optimum |capacity<1> --------------------------------------- 1 June 1979 |1,785 1 June 1983 |1,881 1 June 1987<1> |2,253 1 April 1992 |2,253 23 March 1994 |2,253 <1> Optimum capacity is based on single cell occupancy and does not include compound-dormitory style-accommodation in use prior to 1987-mainly for special category prisoners.
Mr. Gunnell : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what were the total numbers of prisoners in custody in Northern Ireland on (a) 1 June 1979, (b) 1 June 1983, (c) 1 June 1987 and (d) 1 April 1992, and on the latest date for which figures are available.
Sir John Wheeler : The information requested is as follows :
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|Total prison |population -------------------------------------------- 1 January 1979<1> |<2>2,671 1 January 1983<1> |<2>2,348 1 April 1987<1> |<2>1,939 1 April 1992 |1,844 23 March 1994 |1,937 <1>Statistics are not available for the specific dates in question in 1979, 1983 or 1987 but the figures provided reflect the prisoner population on the closest available dates to those requested. <2>Includes special category prisoners housed in compound (dormitory style) accommodation prior to, and including, 1987.
Mr. Gunnell : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what were the total numbers of prisoners in custody in Northern Ireland on the first day of each month from May 1992 until the latest month for which figures are available.
Sir John Wheeler : The information requested is as follows :
|Total prison |population ------------------------------------------- 1 May 1992 |1,860 1 June 1992 |1,861 1 July 1992 |1,853 1 August 1992 |1,807 1 September 1992 |1,791 1 October 1992 |1,861 1 November 1992 |1,868 1 December 1992 |1,867 1 January 1993 |1,760 1 February 1993 |1,891 1 March 1993 |1,967 1 April 1993 |1,991 1 May 1993 |1,943 1 June 1993 |1,946 1 July 1993 |1,948 1 August 1993 |1,888 1 September 1993 |1,866 1 October 1993 |1,901 1 November 1993 |1,886 1 December 1993 |1,891 1 January 1994 |1,786 1 February 1994 |1,877 1 March 1994 |1,947
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a table to show for each of the last 10 years and the next year, the average, highest and lowest district rates struck in Northern Ireland and the average percentage increase each year in the regional rate and the total percentage increase in the average district rate and the percentage increase in the regional rate over the whole period or as much of such information as is readily available to him.
Mr. Tim Smith : The information requested is provided in the tables.
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|Highest district |Lowest district rate|Average district |Average percentage |rate |rate |(pence) |(pence) |(pence) |increase in district |rate ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1984-85 |64.85 |30.10 |49.36 |4.49 1985-86 |69.04 |33.00 |52.13 |5.61 1986-87 |76.36 |38.00 |57.22 |9.76 1987-88 |80.03 |38.00 |60.07 |4.98 1988-89 |83.96 |39.90 |62.62 |4.25 1989-90 |83.96 |37.90 |64.11 |2.38 1990-91 |88.08 |44.39 |67.63 |5.49 1991-92 |96.73 |51.00 |74.04 |9.48 1992-93 |100.22 |55.79 |78.60 |6.16 1993-94 |103.12 |55.75 |81.37 |3.52 1994-95 |105.04 |57.42 |83.59 |2.73
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The actual percentage increase in each year in the regional rate is: Year |Non-domestic |Percentage rise on|Domestic |Percentage rise on |(pence) |last year |(pence) |last year ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1984-85 |93.34 |7.86 |81.34 |9.12 1985-86 |100.87 |8.07 |88.87 |9.26 1986-87 |110.38 |9.43 |98.38 |10.70 1987-88 |113.53 |2.85 |101.53 |3.20 1988-89 |122.59 |7.98 |110.59 |8.92 1989-90 |138.07 |12.63 |126.07 |14.00 1990-91 |148.27 |7.39 |136.27 |8.09 1991-92 |165.40 |11.55 |71.40 |-47.60 1992-93 |153.17 |-7.39 |67.17 |-5.92 1993-94 |139.98 |-8.61 |65.98 |-1.77 1994-95 |148.68 |6.22 |74.68 |13.19 The total percentage increase in the average district rate since 1984-85 is 69.35 per cent. The percentage increase in the regional rate over the whole period is:- (a) Non-domestic regional rate 59 per cent. (b) Domestic regional rate -8.2 per cent.
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Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of Tai Cymru's annual budget is spent on central administration.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : In 1992-93 Housing for Wales's running costs equated to 1.01 per cent. of the total budget that it administered.
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will include in grants for the renovation of houses an allowance for value added tax ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : Value added tax can already be covered by a home renovation grant.
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the statistical database used by his Department in support of proposals made in his recent consultation paper on access to local authority and housing association tenancies.
Mr. Gwilym Jones : The Welsh Office has available to it the range of local authority-provided information which is published annually in "Welsh Housing Statistics". It also has information on housing association activity provided by Housing for Wales's returns and by the Welsh Federation of Housing Associations.
Mr. Richards : To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has for changes to the cash limits for his Department in the current financial year.
Mr. Redwood : The cash limit for WO/LACAP will be reduced by £9,491,000 from £409,543,000 to £400,052,000 and the cash limit for WO/HFW will be increased correspondingly by £9,491,000 from £130,017,000 to £139,508,000.
These changes reflect a transfer of provision from local authorities to Housing for Wales which will enable housing associations to provide additional housing units.
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the benefit-cost ratio for the proposed extension of the docklands light railway to Lewisham (a) with a toll for the river crossing and (b) without a toll, indicating in each case (i) the total annual cost, including capital cost of construction, rolling stock costs, equivalent annual capital cost and annual operating costs and (ii) the total benefit including time savings, overcrowding relief, total public transport users' benefit and additional rail revenue.
Mr. Baldry : Provisional indications are that the project to build the Lewisham extension of the docklands light
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railway will be financially viable only with a revenue-maximising cross-river toll and with capital costs constrained to a figure around £100 million. In 1993 the benefit : cost ratio of the project on this basis was estimated to be 3.5 : 1. The forecast benefits included passenger time savings of £220 million and non-user benefits of £54 million. No similar analysis has been carried out for theoretical, non-financially viable, options.Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average cost of each appeal against council tax evaluations (a) in England as a whole and (b) in each standard region.
Mr. Baldry : The estimated cost of processing a council tax appeal in the current financial year is £115. This estimate includes costs incurred by the Valuation Office Agency and valuation tribunals at all stages of the appeal process, although the great majority of appeals are settled without the need for a full tribunal hearing. The figure is derived by adding the unit cost for registering and handling cases by the VOA and the average unit cost of dealing with all categories of appeals, including those relating to non-domestic valuations and community charge liability, at valuation tribunals. Estimates of the costs are not made for individual regions.
Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the total cost of the valuation exercise in England including the appeals process, since the introduction of the council tax.
Mr. Baldry : The cost of the original valuation exercise was £69.69 million. Voted provision for all work undertaken by the Valuation Office Agency in respect of council tax in 1993-94, including work on appeals, is £34.166 million.
In addition, the running costs of valuation tribunals amount to £10.2 million in 1993-94. Their jurisdiction includes council tax and community charge liability appeals and non-domestic rating appeals as well as appeals against council tax valuations.
Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many companies expressed an interest in the purchase of the PSA's Building Management south-east division when its sale was announced in January.
Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was his Department's estimate as to the sum which would accrue to the Government following the takeover of the PSA's Building Management South- East ; and what assumptions underlay this estimate.
Mr. Curry : It would not be right for the vendor to make public the assumptions or estimates which led to the sale of Building Management South East, while discussions are continuing with the purchasers of the business with a view to agreeing a completion statement, in accordance with the sale agreement. As is usual in the case of major privatisations, the National Audit Office is conducting a study of the sales of the Building Management businesses the findings of which will be published in due course.
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Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what criteria, apart from price, were used to evaluate the bids for the purchase of the PSA's Building Management south-east division.
Mr. Curry : As the sale documentation made clear, regard would be had to the following factors, in addition to price, in selecting purchasers for the PSA Building Management businesses :
Purchasers' financial status ;
The credibility of purchasers' long term future plans ; Purchasers' commitment to developing the BM business or businesses in the private sector ;
Purchasers' intentions regarding staff and the prospects for staff ;
Purchasers' responses to the proposed secondment and pension arrangements ;
Purchasers' commitment to ensuring continuity of service to existing customers ; and
A preference to sell the businesses to different purchasers in order to promote competitive private sector markets.
Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many staff transferred from the PSA's Building Management south-east division to AMEC plc and Pell Frischmann Consulting Engineers Ltd. when the sale of BMSE was completed.
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Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the value of the assets of the PSA Building Management south-east at the time of its sale to AMEC plc and Pell Frischmann Consulting Engineers Ltd.
Mr. Curry : As provided for in the sale agreement, the value of the assets transferred will be subject to a completion statement to be agreed between the vendor and purchaser. The outcome of this process will be announced to the House in due course.
Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which companies were shortlisted to bid for the purchase of the PSA's Building Management south-east division.
Mr. Curry : Four bids were shortlisted for the purchase of PSA Building Management south-east. Details of them are commercially confidential.
Mrs. Bridget Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the total Government spending in the London boroughs of (a) Lewisham, (b) Bromley, (c) Wandsworth, (d) Hammersmith and Fulham and (e) Kingston.
Mr. Baldry : The latest available information on central Government financial support for the London boroughs concerned is as follows :
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Appendix 2 IVB Recipients |Doncaster District|Mexborough |Branch Office ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30 May 1992 |11,933 |2,319 31 May 1993 |13,026 |2,435 31 May 1994 |13,973 |3,943
Mr. Harvey : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average revenue support grant per capita awarded to local authorities which are (a) Conservative controlled, (b) Liberal Democrat controlled, (c) Labour controlled and (d) under no overall control.
Mr. Baldry : Revenue support grant is distributed so that, if all authorities spent at their standard spending assessment, all council tax payers could receive broadly a standard level of service while paying the same level of
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council tax as any other council tax payer in a given property band. The amount of revenue support grant which any local authority receives will thus depend on the services for which that authority is responsible, and on the social, demographic and physical characteristics of the area.In most areas of England provision of local services is split between different classes of local authority. The average revenue support grant figures for 1994-95 in pounds per capita for the main classes of English local authorities are as follows :
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|Conservative|Liberal |Labour |No overall |Other |All |Democrat |control ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Inner London boroughs |573 |1,166 |756 |777 |- |741 Outer London boroughs |387 |257 |552 |425 |- |436 Metropolitan districts |310 |- |424 |391 |- |414 Shire counties |298 |232 |299 |250 |- |262 Shire districts |28 |34 |51 |36 |38 |38
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the number and location of all unsuccessful estate action bids, giving the reasons for his Department's decision.
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Sir George Young : Estate Action bids are considered by my Department and discussed with local authorities in the context of their overall housing requirements. Authorities are invited to work up bids that go furthest in meeting current Estate Action guidelines and offer the best value for money. Two hundred and seventy bids were received for schemes planned to start in 1994-95, of which 115 could be funded within available resources. Information on the regional split of the 155 unsuccessful schemes is as follows :
Number of 1994-95 unsuccessful Estate Action bids DOE region |Number ----------------------------------------------- Yorkshire and Humberside |8 Merseyside |26 North West |15 Northern |9 South West |21 London |37 East Midlands |10 West Midlands |16 South East |3 Eastern |10 |-- Total |155
Information about previous years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many complaints he has received concerning approved inspectors of the National House Building Council's buildmark scheme.
Mr. Baldry : Inspectors approved by the Secretary of State to carry out building control work, and who are employed by NHBC Building Control Services Ltd., carry out a separate function to those involved in the NHBC's role as provider of the Buildmark warranty. The operation of the Buildmark warranty is a matter for the NHBC which is an independent body and the Government have no general powers to intervene in its affairs.
Mr. Gordon Prentice : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many representations he has received from (a) hon. Members, (b) members of the general public and (c) chambers of trade and other trade organisations requesting tighter controls and regulation of car boot sales.
Mr. Baldry : Since the start of this parliamentary Session on 18 November 1993, we have received 10 letters from hon. Members requesting tighter planning controls on car boot sales.
The Department and its regional offices receive numerous representations on a whole range of issues affecting car boot sales, but further information in the form requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Battle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment on how many occasions he has been asked to use his powers under A1 regulation 6(3) of the Building Regulations 1985 to withdraw his approval from a designated body, on the grounds that it had not operated responsibly in accordance with the Building Regulations 1985.
Mr. Baldry : Regulation 4 of the Building (Approved Inspectors etc) Regulations 1985 gives the Secretary of State power to designate a body for the approval of
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inspectors. As no such body has been approved, questions of withdrawal of approvals using the powers under regulation 6(3) do not arise.Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the procedure for appeal against the district audit decision.
Mr. Baldry : Final decisions by a district auditor on an objection to accounts raised under section 17(3) of the Local Government Finance Act 1982 are subject to appeal. Both the objectors and respondents have the right of appeal to the courts.
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will consider the employment of additional staff in order to speed up the implementation of the United Kingdom biodiversity action plan.
Mr. Atkins : Implementation of the biodiversity action plan will require input from many Government Departments, public agencies and non- government organisations, co-ordinated through the action plan steering group. It is too early to assess the staffing implications.
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many members of the public have sought a reference back to the Local Government Commission in (a) Gloucestershire and (b) Somerset.
Mr. Baldry : Seven members of the public wrote to my right hon. Friend asking for a further review of Gloucestershire ; and, to date, three have written in support of a further review of Somerset.
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many representations he received from (a) local authorities including local councils and (b) members of the public, concerning the Local Government Commission's recommendations for the future of local government in Gloucestershire ; and how many of those two groups (i) supported the Local Government Commission's
recommendations or (ii) supported reference back.
Mr. Baldry : My right hon. Friend received 67 representations from principal local authorities and local councils. Eight were opposed to the main recommendation. Three district councils asked for a further review, as did the Gloucestershire branch of the Association of District Councils. A total of 36 representations were received from members of the public. Twenty-one supported the main recommendation, while it was opposed by 15, seven of whom asked for a further review.
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make public the letters from local authorities in
Gloucestershire asking for a reference back to the Local Government Commission.
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