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Sir Paul Beresford: On 6 February 1995, the going for green national committee launched its campaign to catalyse people's interest in the environment, inform their understanding of the consequences of the choices they make as consumers, and endorse actions to improve their environment, whether through managing resources better, reducing pollution or cultivating the local environment. Going for green is currently preparing a business plan which includes a strategy for a national campaign, the sustainable communities pilot project and the further development of the eco-schools programme.
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Tinsley, Sheffield
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will make available to the National Audit Office, all agreements relating to the building of an airport at Tinsley, Sheffield. [25868]
(2) if he will make available to the National Audit Office all agreements relating to opencasting at Tinsley, Sheffield. [25869]
Sir Paul Beresford: No request has been received from the NAO for information relating to the building of an airport or the opencasting at Tinsley, Sheffield.
Mr. Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will place in the Library all agreements relating to the operating at Tinsley, Sheffield; [25870]
(2) if he will place in the Library all the agreements relating to the building of an airport at Tinsley, Sheffield; [25871] (3) if he will place in the Library such information held by Sheffield development corporation in respect of opencasting at Tinsley, Sheffield as would have been publicly available if the opencasting had been the responsibility of a local authority; [25872]
(4) if he will place in the Library information in respect of Tinsley airport such as would have been publicly available had the development been the responsibility of a local authority. [25873]
Sir Paul Beresford: Documentation relating to the planning decisions for the open casting and the building of an airport at Tinsley is available for inspection at the offices of Sheffield city council and Sheffield development corporation.
Documentation relating to the development, rather than the planning decisions, at Tinsley is commercially confidential and is not publically available.
Mr. Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will undertake an investigation to determine if the land at Tinsley, Sheffield being prepared for building an airport runway has been properly compacted following opencasting. [25874]
Sir Paul Beresford: It is for Sheffield development corporation as landowner and local planning authority to be satisfied that the land at Tinsley has been properly compacted in accordance with the planning conditions.
Mr. Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which body currently has responsibility for defects resulting from compaction work on the opencast site at Tinsley, Sheffield. [25875]
Sir Paul Beresford: British Coal retains responsibility to deal with defects resulting from the compaction of the site.
Allerton Outreach Team
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what further funding to support two staff and running costs of the Allerton Outreach team in Bradford has been secured; and if he will make a statement. [25981]
Sir Paul Beresford: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given today by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Employment.
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Lister Mills
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much public money, including the cost of official time, he estimates has been spent to date on the re-development of Lister mills in Bradford, with particular reference to the establishment of a northern branch of the Victoria and Albert museum. [26136]
Sir Paul Beresford: My Department contributed £18,500 towards a feasibility study funded jointly with Bradford metropolitan district council and Listers plc in 1989. Information on the cost of the official time spent by public organisations on the wide range of proposals under consideration since 1988 is not recorded.
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what indication he has given formally or informally to Millview Developments, owners of Lister Mills in Bradford, that public financial support from his Department will be available to pay for redevelopment at the mills; and if he will make a statement. [26367]
Sir Paul Beresford: My Department has given no formal or informal indication to Millview Developments that public financial support will be available to pay for development at Lister Mills, Bradford.
Drinking Water
Mrs. Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the limits of chlorine and chlorinated substances imposed by the current European Council drinking water regulations. [26394]
Mr. Atkins: The EC drinking water directive--80/778/EEC--does not include a maximum admissible concentration for chlorine. Persistent organochlorine insecticides, polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated terphenyls are included within the pesticides and related products parameter and maximum admissible concentrations of 0.1 and 0.5 microgram per litre apply for individual and total substances respectively. There are no maximum admissible concentrations for other organochlorine compounds although there isa comment that haloform--trihalomethanes--concentrations must be as low as possible.
The Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989 set standards of 100 microgram per litre for total trihalomethanes and 3, 30 and 10 microgram per litre for the chlorinated solvents tetrachloromethane, trichloroethene and tetrachloroethane respectively in addition to those required by the EC directive.
Dry Stone Walls
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the cost of rebuilding a derelict dry stone wall for any length for which figures are available. [26450]
Mr. Atkins: My Department has not carried out specific research into the costs of rebuilding dry stone walls. The costs in particular cases are likely to be subject to considerable variation depending on a number of factors including a wall's design, height and width, the extent of dereliction, the availability of stone and the nature of the terrain.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking, following the Countryside Commission's national survey of the condition of dry stone walls, to ensure that walls which have major signs of advancing or potential deterioration
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or are in early stages of dereliction are rebuilt or otherwise repaired. [26436]Mr. Atkins: The Government already offer payments for the repair and restoration of stone walls in landscapes eligible for support under the countryside stewardship scheme, the farm and conservation grant scheme and in environmentally sensitive areas. Proposals for the integration and focus of environmental land management schemes in England were published on 18 May by my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Copies of the consultation document have been placed in the Library of the House.
Fire Authorities
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to extend the discretionary powers of fire authorities in county council offices to metropolitan fire authorities under section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972. [26313]
Mr. Robert B. Jones: There are no plans to extend the provisions of section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972 to apply to metropolitan fire authorities.
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Leaseholders
Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will publish his proposals to assist local authority leaseholders to sell their flats. [26525]
Mr. Robert B. Jones: We plan to announce a package of measures in the next few weeks.
Revenue Support Grant
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the level of revenue support grant per head in (a) Pendle, (b) Ribble valley, (c) the City of Westminster, (d) Wandsworth and (e) the City of London for 1994 95 and 1995 96. [26565]
Mr. Curry: The revenue support grant per head of these authorities is shown in the first row of figures in each of the tables. The tables also show the revenue support grant per head of the other types of authority which serve these areas, since the division of responsibilities for services between types of authorities is different in Lancashire, inner London and the City of London. In particular, in Pendle and Ribble valley, Lancashire county council provides major services which, in London, are provided by the borough and city authorities.
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1994-95 revenue support grant
£ per head of population
|Pendle |Ribble Valley |Westminster |Wandsworth |City of London
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
District, etc |43 |19 |760 |507 |13,105
County council |308 |308 |- |- |-
Police authority |- |- |38 |38 |-
Fire authority |- |- |22 |22 |22
1995-96 revenue support grant
£ per head of population
|Pendle |Ribble Valley |Westminster |Wandsworth |City of London
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
District, etc. |40 |15 |804 |501 |12,166
County council |282 |282 |- |- |-
Police authority |23 |23 |61 |61 |-
Fire authority |- |- |22 |22 |22
North Sea Conference
Mrs. Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what policy on toxic discharges into the North sea Her Majesty's Government will advance at the fourth North sea Ministers Conference in Esbjerg; and if he will make a statement. [26395]
Mr. Atkins: The Secretary of State announced on 16 May, columns 183 84 the United Kingdom's priorities for the North sea conference including that relating to toxic discharges. A note on our objectives was placed in the Library of the House.
Housing (Elderly and Disabled People)
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many specialist housing schemes and associations providing care and support for vulnerable residents and those at risk there are in the United Kingdom. [26539]
Mr. Robert B. Jones: Research published last year by the Department found that there were a total of 14,206 units of very sheltered accommodation for elderly and disabled people provided in England by local authorities, registered housing associations, Abbeyfield societies and almshouses in 1990.
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There were a further 52,679 supported units provided for non-elderly vulnerable residents in England through the Housing Corporation in 1994 95. The Housing Corporation supported a total of 317 housing associations providing care and support to their tenants.Living Independently--A study of the Housing Needs of elderly and disabled people, HMSO 1994.
Nuclear Waste
Mr. Ashton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give undertaking that no nuclear industry waste will be disposed of inside the boundary of the Bassetlaw constituency or the boundary of the Bassetlaw district council in north Nottinghamshire.
Mr. Atkins: There are no sites in the Bassetlaw constituency or the boundary of Bassetlaw district council which are authorised by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution for the disposal of waste from nuclear licensed sites. The Government's overall policy in this area will be set out this summer when the conclusions to its review of radioactive waste management are published.
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Nitrate Consultation
Mr. Stephen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made on the Government's response to last year's consultation on proposed nitrate vulnerable zones under the EC nitrate directive; and if he will make a statement. [26621]
Mr. Atkins: My right hon. Friends the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of State for Wales and I issued today our response to last year's consultation. As with the original consultation document, the response document is being sent to farmers in parishes and communities containing a proposed nitrate vulnerable zone, and to other interested groups.
A major purpose of the consultation was to confirm the accuracy of the proposed zones, using farmers' local knowledge, before their formal designation. Over 500 sets of written comments were received, in the main from farmers in the proposed zones, and in each case an individual response has been sent out. In addition many points have been addressed directly at a local level by the National Rivers Authority and the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service. The response document indicates how the Government propose to proceed with designations in the light of comments received. In all, the proposed boundaries for 31 of the 72 zones have been altered and it is proposed that two small groundwater zones should be deferred for further consideration. Maps of the revised zones are available free from MAFF regional services centres and WOAD divisional offices.
As foreshadowed in last year's consultation document, we have set up an independent review panel, chaired by Mr. Terence Etherton QC and assisted by Dr. Richard Downing and Mr. Alastair Allcock. The panel will assess whether the Government's published methodology has been correctly and consistently applied in drawing up the boundaries in those cases where consultees are dissatisfied with the amended boundaries as set out in the response document. In addition, because of the uniqueness of the proposed surface water zone at Nayland, we have asked the independent review panel to consider the case for and against its designation.
I am placing copies of the response document in the Library.
Environment Agency
Mr. Jacques Arnold: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps are being taken to appoint senior directors of the proposed environment agency. [26620]
Mr. Atkins: I have informed the environment agency advisory committee that it may commence the recruitment of senior directors of the proposed environment agency. Approval has already been given for the recruitment of the chief executive, as announced in my reply of 21 April to my hon. Friend the Member for Wyre Forest (Mr. Coombs), columns 288 89 .
Parliamentary approval to this new service will be sought in a summer supplementary estimate for the Department of the Environment's environmental protection and water vote, class VII, vote 3. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £135,000 will be met by repayable advances from the contingencies fund.
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This expenditure is required to meet the cost of recruiting up to six directors. Its urgency reflects the need to have directors in place as soon as possible after Royal Assent, so that they can support the chief executive in planning for the agency to take over its functions from predecessor bodies on 1 April 1996. The successful candidates will not be formally appointed as directors until after the Bill has received Royal Assent.Packaging
Mr. Dicks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his proposals for producer responsibility for packaging. [26622]
Mr. Gummer: When my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade and I launched the producer responsibility challenge on 17 July 1993, we took the view that only industry could provide the leadership and know- how necessary to achieve a successful UK initiative on recycling and recovery of packaging waste. Nearly two years later, that industry-led approach has enabled us to meet many of our key objectives. The producer responsibility group of leading businesses involved in packaging has achieved widespread industry support for its plan to secure the recovery and recycling of 58 per cent. of United Kingdom packaging waste and create close to home recycling facilities for eight out of 10 households by the year 2000. After extensive negotiation, in which the UK played a leading part, the European Community has adopted a packaging and packaging waste directive which we now need to implement.
A major challenge remains. In its first report, the producer responsibility group made it very clear that the initiative could not be successful without legislative underpinning to deter "free riders". Enabling powers to provide that legislative underpinning are included in the Environment Bill, now being considered by Parliament. But we need to specify precisely who in business will be subject to a legal obligation and what action is required to satisfy it. Such an obligation must be simple and clear if it is to be effective and enforceable--in industry's interests as much as Government's. It must also be consistent with wider Government policies, for example on ensuring competition and minimising burdens on business.
The Government are today publishing, "Producer Responsibility for Packaging Waste--a Consultation Paper", which sets out a variety of options on how such a legal obligation might work and includes a compliance cost assessment. Copies are being placed in the Library. These options have been the subject of lengthy and detailed deliberation by different industry groups in the light of the legislative tests set out in the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minster of State to my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton (Mr. Streeter) on 2 February, Official Report, columns 763 64. Several of the options have been put forward by the VALPAK--working representative advisory group-- V--WRAG--the industry body which has succeeded PRG and which will continue to be a focus for discussions. Alternative approaches may emerge in consultation but they will need to demonstrate that they have been widely publicised in industry and tested against the same criteria as the options in this paper. The Government will need to make a decision to adopt
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a proposal based on one of these approaches and are keen to have the views of all sectors of industry and commerce, and others who will be involved in achieving our aims,including local authorities and consumers.What is most needed now is further work by the proponents of different approaches to help build a consensus behind the best option. The Government would prefer to proceed on the basis of a board consensus on an approach which best meets the test we have published. We invite all those involved in the production, distribution and use of packaging to meet this challenge.
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Housing
Mr. Hinchcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estiamte of the number of housing association homes for rent which could have been constructed at funding levels announced in the 1992 autumn statement. [25396]
Mr. Robert B. Jones [holding answer 24 May 1995]: Such estimates depend on the assumptions made. But if allocations and unit costs had been on the same basis as for the current programme, the Housing Corporation estimates that the 1995 96 approved development programme would have provided some 35,900 new build homes for rent if funding levels in the 1992 autumn statement had been maintained.
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