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Mr. Pickthall : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make grants available for replacement of lead water pipes to council house tenants.
Sir George Young [holding answer 26 April 1994] : Local housing authorities are issued with housing investment programme allocations, reflecting the relative need for housing capital expenditure in their areas. It is for each authority to decide how to use its housing capital resources.
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those wetland areas that would be affected by a national management plan for the habitats of redshank and dunlin requested by the European Environment Commissioner.
Mr. Atkins [holding answer 28 April 1994] : The great majority of inter-tidal mud flats in United Kingdom estuaries provide over- wintering habitat for redshank and dunlin and, as such, would be taken into account in measures to maintain a favourable conservation status for these species.
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Mr. Robert Ainsworth : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the planned spending on (a) inner city task forces, (b) regional enterprise grants, (c) safer cities, (d) section II grants, (e) ethnic minority grants, (f) ethnic minority business initiative, (g) grants for education support and training, (h) the programme development fund, (i) education business partnerships, (j) teacher placement schemes, (k) compacts, (l) the business start-up scheme, (m) local initiative fund schemes under the single regeneration budget for 1994-95, 1995-96 and 1996- 97.
Mr. Baldry : Planned spending by my Department on each of these component items within the single regeneration budget in 1994-95 is as follows :
|£ million --------------------------------------------------------------------- Inner city task forces |16 Regional enterprise grants |9 Safer cities |4 Section 11-urban |60 Ethnic minority grants |6 Ethnic minority business initiative |1 Grants for education support and training-GEST19 |5 Programme development fund |3 Education business partnerships |2 Teacher placement service |3 Compacts |6 Business start-up scheme |70 Local initiative fund |29
For 1995-96 and beyond, English partnerships, housing action trusts and urban development corporations will, as now, receive specific allocations ; and the rest of the Budget, including items (a) to (m) , will be combined.
On current plans, expenditure under the single regeneration budget will be worth some £1.3 billion in each of 1995-96 and 1996-97. The Department of the Environment's 1994 annual report provides more detailed information.
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what changes he is proposing in relation to the urban priority areas ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what he projects the financial implications will be for the urban priority areas, arising from the single regeneration budget ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : Regeneration programmes that have previously been targeted on the existing list of 57 urban priority areas now form part of the single regeneration budget. Since the budget is available throughout England, and proposals for funding will be locally driven, the existing list will not be used to direct budget resources and is being discontinued after 1994-95.
In assessing proposals for funding from the budget which aim mainly at relieving deprivation, the Government offices for the regions will take account of detailed information about local conditions based on the 1991 index of local conditions and other data, including Employment Service information on labour market needs and gaps. The index will be published shortly.
Existing commitments under the programmes which have been combined to form the budget will be honoured.
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Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many properties purchased under the right-to-buy initiative have been repossessed ; and what percentage of this figure comprises households who were unable to meet the service charges levied by their local authority.
Sir George Young : The information requested is not collected centrally.
Sir Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Cirencester and Tewkesbury (Mr. Clifton-Brown) of 29 March, Official Report, column 663 , if he will list the local authorities involved in the 122 cases referred to ; and if he will list the authorities in respect of which statutory follow up action was taken in relation to compulsory competitive tendering.
Mr. Baldry : The Secretary of State took statutory action in a total of 122 cases during 1993, serving 99 notices and giving 23 follow-up directions. The authorities to which the statutory action related, and the services concerned, are as follows :
Statutory notices and directions relating to anti-competitive behaviour -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notices in relation to alleged anti-competitive behaviour (listed in alphabetical order) Adur DC 1 September 1993 |Other cleaning Arun DC 7 May 1993 |Sport and leisure management Birmingham City Council 22 April 1993 |Building maintenance Bradford MDC 13 May 1993 |Building maintenance 10 September 1993 |Highways and sewers Calderdale MBC 23 December 1993 |Ground maintenance Chester City Council 1 April 1993 |Ground maintenance Dudley MBC 22 April 1993 |Ground maintenance Harrow LB 20 October 1993 |Other catering Langbaurgh on Tees BC 10 September 1993 |Street lighting 21 December 1993 |Ground maintenance Leeds City Council 10 September 1993 |Refuse collection Oldham MBC 6 April 1993 |Ground maintenance Oswestry BC 10 September 1993 |Sport and leisure management 30 June 1993 |Building maintenance South Somerset DC 30 March 1993 |Sport and leisure management South Tyneside MDC 1 February 1993 |Ground maintenance Staffordshire Moorlands DC 11 January 1993 |Sport and leisure management Stockton-on-Tees BC 8 March 1993 |Other cleaning Warrington BC 10 June 1993 |Ground maintenance Directions relating to anti-competive behaviour (listed in alphabetical order) Birmingham City Council 13 July 1993 |Building maintenance 8 October 1993<1> |Building maintenance Bolton MBC 1 April 1993 |Building maintenance Bradford MDC 14 December 1993 |Highways and sewers Chester City Council 24 June 1993 |Ground maintenance Mole Valley DC 24 March 1993<2> |Sport and leisure management Portsmouth City Council 10 September 1993 |Building maintenance Sefton MBC 23 April 1993<3> |Highways and sewers South Tyneside BC 27 July 1993<4> |Ground maintenance Stockton-on-Tees BC 19 February 1993<5> |Refuse collection 27 July 1993 |Other cleaning Warrington BC 14 December 1993 |Ground maintenance <1>Variation to direction given on 13 July 1993. <2>Variation to direction given on 15 July 1992. <3>Variation to direction given on 2 December 1992. <4>Variation to direction given on 23 December 1993. <5>Replacement for direction given on 12 November 1992.
Statutory notices and directions relating to financial failure Authority and date |Service concerned ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Notices relating to financial failure (listed in alphabetical order) Ashford BC 1 September 1993 |Ground maintenance 1 September 1993 |Refuse collection Barking and Dagenham LB 1 September 1993 |Refuse collection Bedfordshire CC 29 September 1993 |Ground maintenance Blackburn BC 11 May 1993 |Building maintenance 11 May 1993 |Construction <£50,000 11 May 1993 |Construction >£50,000 Bournemouth BC 15 June 1993 |Highways and sewers Brent LB 11 May 1993 |Building maintenance 11 May 1993 |Vehicle maintenance 11 May 1993 |Ground maintenance 11 May 1993 |Building cleaning 11 May 1993 |Other catering Brighton BC 1 September 1993 |Other catering Cambridgeshire CC 15 June 1993 |Highways and sewers Camden LB 25 March 1993 |Building maintenance 11 May 1993 11 May 1993 11 May 1993 11 May 1993 |Vehicle maintenance Canterbury City Council 7 April 1993 |Building maintenance 7 April 1993 |Highways and sewers 7 April 1993 |Other catering 7 April 1993 |Sport and leisure management 7 April 1993 |School and welfare catering Castle Point DC 1 September 1993 |Ground maintenance 1 September 1993<1> |Other cleaning Colchester BC 1 September 1993 |Building maintenance Corby DC 1 September 1993 |Vehicle maintenance Crewe and Nantwich BC 15 June 1993 |Highways and sewers Daventry DC 7 April 1993 |Highways and sewers Devon CC 11 May 1993 |Construction >£50,000 11 May 1993 |Other cleaning Epsom and Ewell BC 15 June 1993 |Highways and sewers Exeter City Council 15 June 1993 |Building maintenance Hammersmith and Fulham LB 7 April 1993 |Building maintenance 7 April 1993 |Highways and sewers Hampshire CC 7 April 1993 |Highways and sewers Harborough DC 15 June 1993 |Refuse collection Harrow LB 1 September 1993 |Ground maintenance Hereford and Worcester CC 7 April 1993 |Building maintenance Hillingdon LB 1 September 1993 |Building cleaning 1 September 1993 |School and welfare catering 1 September 1993 |Other catering Kennet DC 15 June 1993 |Building maintenance Kerrier DC 11 May 1993 |Ground maintenance Kingston upon Hull City Council 1 September 1993 |Other catering Kingston upon Thames LB 1 September 1993<1> |Other cleaning Leicestershire CC 1 September 1993 |Ground maintenance Liverpool City Council 7 April 1993 |Highways and sewers Luton BC 11 May 1993 |Highways and sewers Manchester City Council 15 June 1993 |Construction >£50,000 Mansfield DC 15 June 1993 |Construction >£50,000 Northavon DC 1 September 1993 |Vehicle maintenance Peterborough City Council 15 June 1993 |Highways and sewers Plymouth City Council 11 May 1993 |Highways and sewers 11 May 1993 |Ground maintenance Reading BC 15 June 1993 |Sport and leisure management Redditch BC 15 June 1993 |Highways and sewers Richmond upon Thames LB 1 September 1993 |Ground maintenance Rother DC 11 May 1993 |Ground maintenance Sandwell DC 7 April 1993 |Building maintenance Sheffield City Council 11 May 1993 |Ground maintenance South Bedfordshire DC 29 September 1993 |Refuse collection Southwark LB 7 April 1993 |Highways and sewers 7 April 1993 |Ground maintenance 7 April 1993 |Refuse collection 7 April 1993 |Vehicle maintenance St. Albans City Council 15 June 1993 |Building maintenance Stevenage BC 11 May 1993 |Highways and sewers Stoke on Trent DC 25 January 1993 |Building maintenance 7 April 1993 |Construction >£50,000 7 April 1993 |Highways and sewers 7 April 1993 |Other cleaning 7 April 1993 |Refuse collection Tameside MBC 15 June 1993 |Building maintenance Tamworth BC 15 June 1993 |Building maintenance Waltham Forest LB 7 April 1993 |Ground maintenance Warwick DC 15 June 1993 |Building maintenance Directions relating to financial failure (listed in alphabetical order) Bedfordshire CC 9 December 1993 |Ground maintenance Camden LB 3 August 1993 |Vehicle maintenance 3 August 1993 |Building maintenance 3 August 1993 |Single direction covering the following activities: | Highways and sewers | Construction <£50,000 | Construction >£50,000 Castle Point BC 9 December 1993 |Ground maintenance Hammersmith and Fulham LB 23 July 1993 |Highways and sewers 23 July 1993 |Building maintenance Hillingdon LB 9 December 1993 |Other catering Manchester City Council 9 December 1993 |Construction >£50,000 South Bedfordshire DC 9 December 1993 |Refuse collection Waltham Forest LB 23 July 1993 |Ground maintenance <1>Revised 2 September.
Mr. Waterson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will lay before Parliament regulations to supplement the provisions of the EC Waste Shipments Regulation which applies from 6 May.
Mr. Atkins : The Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 1994, laid before Parliament on Monday 25 April, will come into force on 6 May when Council Regulation EEC No. 259/93 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community--the "Waste Shipments Regulation"--applies. The Waste Shipments Regulation implements the obligations of the Basel convention which, together with the EC, the United Kingdom ratified on 7 February and to which it will become a party on 8 May. The EC regulation is directly applicable, but additional domestic legislation is required to give full effect to some of its provisions. For the United Kingdom, this additional legislation is contained in the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 1994. The regulations designate waste regulations authorities in Great Britain and district councils in Northern Ireland as the competent authorities of dispatch and destination, for imports and exports to and from the United Kingdom, and designate the Secretary of State as competent authority for transit shipments, and as "correspondent" for the purposes of the EC regulation. Other provisions include conferring
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powers on customs officers to assist competent authorities in carrying out their functions by detaining shipments where appropriate ; and specifying offences and penalties relating to compliance with the regulation. The regulations also provide for the preparation of a waste management plan, in accordance with the waste framework directive.Public consultations were carried out in March on a draft of the regulations and of the accompanying guidance. The regulations have been modified to reflect the concerns and interests of industry, local authorities and the public in response to those consultations. The Government are satisfied that these regulations will enable the United Kingdom to fulfil its obligations under the Basel convention, and contribute significantly towards securing the environmentally sound management of waste movements to and from the United Kingdom.
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many new houses have been built to replace houses with defective concrete in (a) Cornwall, (b) Devon, (c) Somerset and (d) Dorset ; and how much public money has been made available by the Government for repairs and maintenance of public housing in these four counties since 1979.
Sir George Young [holding answer 12 April 1994] : The Department collects information about total housebuilding by local authorities, but not about the reasons for it.
Figures for housing revenue account subsidy for repair and maintenance by local authorities on their own dwelling stock are only available since 1990 -91. The following levels of subsidy were given to authorities in the four counties :
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