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Temporary Accommodation (London)

Mr. Dunn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which are the 10 London boroughs with the highest number of households in temporary accommodation; and in each case what is the number of households thus placed. [7939]

Mr. Clappison: The 10 London boroughs reporting the highest numbers of households in temporary accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the Housing Act 1985 at the end of March 1995, the latest date for which figures are available for all boroughs, were as follows:

London borough--number of households in temporary accommodation

	Number
Hackney	3,707
Haringey	2,666
Newham	2,126
Brent	1,894
Lambeth	1,045
Hillingdon	1,002
Redbridge	994
Croydon	993
Enfield	932
Hammersmith and Fulham	865

Source:

Housing Investment Programme (HIP) returns.

The figures cover households which have been accepted as homeless and are awaiting accommodation, and those where inquiries into eligibility are still being carried out.

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Vacant Housing

Mr. Dunn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which are the 10 local authorities (i) in England and (ii) in London with the highest number of housing voids; and in each case what is (a) the total stock of the authority and (b) the number of management voids. [7947]

Mr. Clappison: Figures for the 10 local authorities reporting the highest numbers of their own dwellings as vacant on 1 April 1995 are listed, for England and London, together with numbers of their total stock and management vacants:

	Stock	Total vacants	Management vacants
(a) England
Liverpool	48,685	4,377	787
Hackney	39,560	3,894	1,180
Lambeth	43,068	2,176	1,114
Sheffield	71,696	2,046	1,153
Leeds	78,142	2,018	1,133
Birmingham	99,816	1,899	1,443
Manchester	83,406	1,660	1,211
Newcastle upon Tyne	39,224	1,634	1,067
Tower Hamlets	37,578	1,562	609
Islington	37,045	1,483	692
(b) London
Hackney	39,560	3,894	1,180
Lambeth	43,068	2,176	1,114
Tower Hamlets	37,578	1,562	609
Islington	37,045	1,483	692
Southwark	54,266	1,129	418
Lewisham	35,095	1,051	498
Greenwich	32,297	795	535
Newham	25,818	735	517
Camden	29,789	543	304
Redbridge	6,761	515	248

Source:

1995 Housing Investment Programme (HIP1) returns.

Castle Cement

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment for what percentage of the coal burn at Castle Cement, Clitheroe, secondary liquid fuel is permitted to be used as a substitute. [7943]

Mr. Clappison: The company has agreed with Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution to replace no more than 50 per cent. of the thermal input from burning coal with energy from secondary liquid fuel.

Mr. Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Enviornment how many people have complained to Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution alleging ill effects from the burning of Cemfuel by Castle Cement at Clitheroe; and how many have been examined by a qualified toxicologist. [7949]

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Mr. Clappison: In the past 21 months HMIP has received approximately 440 complaints concerning Castle Cement, some of which allege ill effects. This does not include a number of complaints passed to my Department by the local Members of Parliament. My Department is not aware of anybody being examined by a qualified toxicologist.

Mr. Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Enviornment what consideration he has given to suspending the burning of Cemfuel at Castle Cement at Clitheroe pending an evaluation by the Department of Health on possible health risks. [7945]

Mr. Clappison: Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution has sought advice from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, East Lancashire health authority and the Department of Health, and is satisfied that there does not appear to be any evidence that the use of Cemfuel is any more harmful to health than the use of coal.

Mr. Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Enviornment what is the annual tonnage limit for secondary liquid fuel burned at Castle Cement, Clitheroe. [7942]

Mr. Clappison: The annual tonnage of fuel burned is limited by the design of the kilns to approximately 70,000 tonnes per year. Fifty per cent. of the thermal input can be replaced by secondary liquid fuel, but the actual amount burned is limited by the supply available to about 40,000 tonnes per year.

Mr. Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what emission limits to air are in force at Castle Cement, Clitheroe, for (a) heavy metals, class I, II or III, (b) hydrogen fluoride, (c) hydrogen chloride, (d) sulphur dioxide, (e) nitrogen oxides and (f) carbon monoxide. [8046]

Mr. Clappison: Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution will use the experience it has now gained about the use of substitute liquid fuel in the manufacture of cement, to set limits for these substances at Castle Cement, Clitheroe should it decide to allow the continued burning of Cemfuel at Clitheroe.

Packaging Directive

Mr. Atkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) when he expects to publish the regulations to implement the EU directive on packaging and packaging waste; [7759]

(2) when he expects to announce the principles underlying the regulations to implement the European Union directive on packaging and packaging waste. [7757]

Mr. Clappison: I am very pleased that representatives of the packaging industry were able to agree last month a proposal for a form of legal obligation to implement the recovery and recycling targets of the EC directive on packaging and packaging waste, 94/62/EC. This proposal was set out by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in reply to a question on 19 December 1995, Official Report, columns 1104-5.

10 Jan 1996 : Column: 215

The Government will now need to consider and decide on the best form of legal obligation, taking account of all the relevant considerations. We hope to make an announcement on this shortly and to prepare draft regulations to implement the directive in order to issue them for consultation as soon as possible.

Water Supplies

Mr. Chris Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will ask the National Rivers Authority to report to him regarding the preparation by the water companies of contingency plans to safeguard water supplies in the event that below average rainfall continues for (a) a further 18 months and (b) longer. [7929]

Mr. Clappison: At the commission of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, the National Rivers Authority published on 18 December 1995 a report on measures to safeguard public water supplies. This report reviews water companies' strategies to conserve supplies in the event that below average rainfall continues into 1996 and confirms that the NRA will continue to keep the developing situation under review.

My right hon. Friend announced on 1 September a longer-term review of the lessons to be learnt from this summer's drought. The review will include the frequency assumptions for drought, progress with making supply systems flexible enough to cope with local shortage, and the implications of climate change.

Climate Change

Mr. Robert Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what elements of the CO2 emission reduction programme outlined in "Climate Change: the UK Programme" are (a) delivering greater savings and (b) delivering less savings than initially expected. [7959]

Mr. Clappison: Key changes in expectations since publication of the UK climate change programme include greater savings from the energy supply and transport sectors, which more than outweigh reduced expectations from the Energy Saving Trust and VAT on domestic fuel and power. Further details are set out in "Climate Change--the UK Programme: Progress Report on Carbon Dioxide Emissions", published on 14 December 1995.

Mr. Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the most recent figures for United Kingdom annual CO2 emissions. [7957]

Mr. Clappison: UK annual carbon dioxide emissions expressed as million tonnes of carbon are estimated to have been 158, 160, 155, 151 and 149 for the years 1990 to 1994 respectively. These figures were published in December 1995 in "Climate Change--the UK Programme: Progress Report on Carbon Dioxide Emissions". The 1994 estimate is provisional.

Moths and Butterflies

Sir Julian Critchley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the work of the European wildlife division in respect of its provision for bona fide collectors of moths and butterflies. [8234]

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Mr. Clappison: Where species of butterfly or moth are endangered and subject to sales controls, the European wildlife division is responsible for the issue of sales licences. The performance target for issuing such licences is that 80 per cent. should be issued within 15 working days. The performance against this target is reviewed formally as part of the Department's annual review of resource needs. No specific complaints have been received in relation to the issue of sales licences.

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