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Local Government Reorganisation
Mr. Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what bids for resources he has received from authorities that (a) have been and (b) are to be reorganised on 1 April 1995, 1996, 1997 or 1998 for estimated reorganisation costs in (i) 1995-96 and (ii) 1996-97; and to what extent these bids have been successful. [6098]
Sir Paul Bereford [holding answer 14 December 1995]: For authorities for which structural change orders have been made, the bids received and allocations made to date under the local government reorganisation costs schemes for 1995-96 and 1996-97 are as follows:
| Authorities reorganised on | 1 April 1995 | 1 April 1996 | 1 April 1997 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | |
| 1995-96 Scheme | |||
| Bid | 1,910,000 | 113,913,000 | 10,706,500 |
| Allocation | 1,750,000 | 47,760,000 | 0 |
| 1996-97 Scheme | |||
| Bid | 1,029,000 | 120,921,000 | 98,480,700 |
Authorities initial bids under the 1996-97 reorganisation costs scheme were requested by 1 December. Initial allocations will be made shortly. No orders have been made which provide for reorganisation in 1998.
Mr. Tipping:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what resources will be available to cover the transitional costs of local government re-organisation in (a) 1996-97, (b) 1997-98 and (c) 1998-99. [6100]
Sir Paul Beresford
[holding answer 14 December 1995]: Resources of £100 million in the form of supplementary credit approvals are available to cover the transitional costs of local government re-organisation in 1996-97. The provision for 1997-98 and 1998-99 will be decided during the public expenditure survey for those years.
Mr. Ronnie Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidelines he has issued in respect of council house rent increases; and what subsidies he will be providing in respect of rebates. [6271]
18 Dec 1995 : Column: 922
Mr. Clappison:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Fulham (Mr. Carrington) on 21 November, Official Report, columns 96-97. We are currently considering the responses received during consultation on our proposals and hope to be in a position to make an announcement shortly.
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many officials he employed (a) full time and (b) part time in his Department in each of the last three years to answer letters sent to him from hon. Members; and what was the estimated overall cost of replying to them in each of the last three years. [5617]
Sir Paul Beresford:
Officials in my Department provide Ministers with draft replies to departmental correspondence as part of their normal duties. No information is available on what proportion of officials' time is spent on this work.
Mr. Wigley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce regulations to require the controlled safe disposal of all containers used to store toxic materials and harmful chemicals. [5429]
Mr. Clappison:
Containers classified as controlled waste must be managed and disposed of in accordance with sections 33 and 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. In some circumstances, the containers may be "Special Waste" and subject to the additional controls in the 1980 Control of Pollution (Special Waste) Regulations. These regulations are being revised following public consultation earlier in the year.
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what provision is currently made for the delivery of social and economic infrastructure facilities when applications are made for new housing development. [6576]
Mr. Robert B. Jones:
The provision of infrastructure is important in all major new developments. It has always been an important purpose of the planning system to co-ordinate new development with the infrastructure it demands.
18 Dec 1995 : Column: 923
The fact that development plans look forward over a number of years means that those responsible for infrastructure provision influence the pattern of new development so that it takes account of likely infrastructure limitations. When it comes to an individual planning application, the adequacy of infrastructure can be a material consideration in deciding whether permission should be granted.
In certain circumstances, it may be appropriate for a local planning authority to impose a condition or seek to enter into a planning obligation with a developer to help towards the provision of social and economic infrastructure facilities where this is necessary for the granting of planning permission.
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many new houses are to be built by (a) 2005 and (b) 2011 to fulfil projected household needs forecast by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in (i) Devon, (ii) Somerset, (iii) Birmingham, (iv) Kent, (v) Sussex and (vi) Hampshire. [6588]
Mr. Robert B. Jones:
The Department of the Environment published "Projections of Households in England to 2016" in March 1995. These projections suggest the likely number and type of households that would materialise by county, metropolitan district and London borough by 2016, if current social and demographic trends continue.
New figures, for which these 1992-based projections will be an input, will be produced for each region and county for the next review of the relevant regional planning guidance. The next step, therefore, is for the regional conference of local authorities for each region to consider these projections and a wide range of other supply and demand factors before advising the Secretary of State on revised figures for additional housing requirements for their region and for each county, metropolitan district or London borough. The process of assessing the implications of the latest household projections is just starting.
The current figures for the authorities requested were produced with input from the 1989-based household projections, published in 1992. The current annual average number of additional dwellings proposed in current regional planning guidance for the authorities requested are:
18 Dec 1995 : Column: 924
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate his Department has made of the future requirement for new industrial sites in (a) the south-west and (b) South Hams and the number of jobs these will generate. [6589]
Sir Paul Beresford:
The Department has not made any estimate of the future requirement for industrial sites in the region, but the regional planning guidance for the south-west advises that development plans should make adequate provision for land employment-related development.
The third alteration to the Devon structure plan, as approved in March 1994, provides for about 774 hectares of employment land in the county between 1989 and 2001, of which 115 hectares are allocated to South Hams district. The structure plan does not make any estimate of the number of jobs this will generate.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment on what date his officials discussed the local government implications of the Social Security (Persons from Abroad) Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations with the Department of Social Security; what evidence was offered; and what information has been sought from local authorities. [6480]
Mr. Clappison:
My officials have had regular discussions with their counterparts in the Department of Social Security about the implications for the housing of homeless persons of the proposed Social Security (Persons from Abroad) Miscellaneous Amendments Regulations. Those discussions have taken account of information about homelessness supplied to the Department by local authorities. We have also discussed the matter with the Association of London Government.
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will specify the role and remit of local partnerships. [6578]
Mr. Curry:
Local partnerships play a key role in promoting economic, environmental and social regeneration. A range of Government policies and programmes is specifically directed to support local partnerships. These programmes include the single regeneration budget challenge fund. Over 370 schemes involving local partnerships have been approved under rounds 1 and 2 of the challenge fund. These schemes stand to attract some £2 billion in challenge fund support and £5 billion in private investment over their lifetime of up to seven years. Rounds 3 and 4 of the challenge fund, for schemes starting in 1997 and 1998 respectively, were announced in the Budget statement. Apart from the challenge fund, the partnership approach is central to, for example, initiatives supported by training and enterprise councils, English Partnerships and European structural funds.
18 Dec 1995 : Column: 925
These figures are being "tested" in the preparation of the structure plan or unitary development plan for the relevant area.
Devon: 4,950 (1991-2011) RPG for the South West (July 1994)
Somerset: 2,500 (1991-2011) RPG for the South West (July 1994)
Birmingham: 2,050 (1991-2011) Draft RPG for West Midlands (September 1995)
Kent: 5,800 (1991-2006) RPG for the South East (March 1994)
East Sussex: 2,333 (1991-2006) RPG for the South East (March 1994)
West Sussex: 2,933 (1991-2006) RPG for the South East (March 1994)
Surrey: 2,400 (1991-2006) RPG for the South East (March 1994)
Hampshire: 6,133 (1991--2006) RPG for the South East (March 1994).
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