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Company Bills
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps he is taking to encourage larger companies to pay smaller companies more speedily. [14465]
Mr. Page:
The Government encourage all businesses to settle their bills on time. The 1994 White Paper, "Competitiveness--Helping Business To Win, Cm 2563, announced a number of practical measures to tackle the late payment of commercial debts. These included additional prompt payment requirements for Government departments and their agencies; further development of proposals for a British Standard for prompt payment and the implementation of proposals to require public
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companies to state their payment policies in their directors' reports. In addition, my Department has published a free guide to credit management and debt recovery for both buyers and suppliers.
Mrs. Jane Kennedy:
To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 25 January 1996, Official Report, column 316, what estimate he has made of (a) the visible trade balance, (b) the invisible trade balance and (c) the non-oil visible trade balance for 1995, as a percentage of gross domestic product. [14576]
Mr. Page:
The information, which is available only for the first three quarters of 1995, is shown in the table.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Visible trade balance | -1.6 |
| Of which: Non oil visible trade balance | -2.2 |
| Invisible trade balance | 1.0 |
ENVIRONMENT
Clinical Waste Incinerator (Bolton)
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received regarding the proposed clinical waste incinerator at Bolton general hospital; when a decision is planned to be made on the proposal; and if he will make a statement. [13630]
Sir Paul Beresford: Approximately 100 individual letters, 2,100 pro forma letters, and a petition containing some 300 signatures have been received concerning the appeal under part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 against refusal to authorise operation of the clinical waste incinerator at Bolton general hospital. The hearing into the appeal was attended by 34 members of the public, including representatives of Bolton Friends of the Earth and Clean Air Above All. Correspondence has been received from the appellant concerning the timing of the appeal decision.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State hopes to issue a decision on the appeal by the end of this month.
Industrial Emissions to Air
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what provisions of the Clean Air Act 1993, controlling industrial emissions to air, he intends to repeal. [13674]
Mr. Clappison: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Worsley (Mr. Lewis) on 22 November 1995, Official Report, column 116.
Departmental Publications
Dr. Wright:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which of his Department's administrative manuals and internal guidance are now made public; and which remain private. [14033]
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Sir Paul Beresford:
In line with the code of practice on access to Government information, my Department publishes an index of the explanatory material on how it deals with the public. Each of the manuals and the guidance notes listed in the index is available to the public or is available for public inspection.
The Health and Safety Executive has a programme to make administrative manuals and internal guidance publicly available, except a small proportion coming within the exemptions in the code of practice on access to Government information.
Beyond that, each request for access to manuals and guidance is treated on its merits. The case for allowing access to manuals and so on which are not made public is reviewed regularly.
Ms Ruddock:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the Government will publish their consultation paper on the draft regulations to protect important hedgerows as provided for by section 97 of the Environment Act 1995; and when he envisages the final regulations will be brought into effect. [14071]
Mr. Clappison:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Glanford and Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley) on 20 December 1995, Official Report, column 1239.
Mr. Boateng:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what complaints his Department has received alleging anti-competitive actions by the London borough of Brent. [14101]
Mr. Faber:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 5 February, Official Report, column 39, concerning planning application No. W95/8535 at Folly lane, Warminster, if he will place the written representations he has received from individuals in the Library. [14392]
Sir Paul Beresford:
No. Representations sent to the Secretary of State cannot be copied to third parties without the consent of the individuals concerned.
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for primary and secondary legislation passed since 5 April 1995, which measures were subject to a compliance costs assessment; and what was the compliance cost in each instance. [13649]
Sir Paul Beresford:
Details of compliance cost assessments for primary and secondary legislation passed in the first half of 1995 are included in a Command Paper, Cm 3075, which was presented to Parliament on 25 January 1996. Copies of the compliance cost assessments listed are available in the House libraries. Further Command Papers listing compliance cost assessments issued in the preceding six-month period will be published at six-monthly intervals.
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Mr. Steen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how he ensures that the negotiating brief for his officials discussing EU legislation takes fully into account the need to minimise the burdens on United Kingdom business. [13714]
Sir Paul Beresford:
Guidance on how officials are to apply deregulatory principles when negotiating EC legislation is contained in the booklet "Getting a Good Deal in Europe". This guidance has been supplemented by the recent publication of guidance on the preparation of compliance cost assessments, which stresses that the likely burdens on business highlighted by UK compliance cost assessments of EC proposals should be integral to the UK's negotiating strategy. Copies of both pieces of guidance are in the Library of the House.
Mr. Dobson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total leakage from (a) water company pipes and (b) domestic pipes in 1994-95 in gallons per day; and if he will publish statistics relating to water leakage from domestic pipes and company pipes, referred to in the oral answer of 15 February 1995, Official Report, columns 982-83. [14215]
Mr. Gummer:
Estimated total leakage, in millions of litres per day, is given in Ofwat's 1994-95 report on the cost of water delivered and sewage collected.
The levels of leakage from household and water company pipes are calculable from the same publication and show that the leakage from household pipes represented some 23 per cent. of the total. I regret if my right hon. Friend's earlier answer misled the House.
Mr. Prescott:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each year since its inception (a) the expenditure and (b) the retained asset base of English Partnerships in each of its six regions. [14329]
Mr. Gummer:
The pattern of English Partnerships' programme expenditure and the distribution of its asset portfolio between its six regions since it came into full operation on 1 April 1994 is as follows:
| Region | 1994-95 Outturn development programme | 1995-96 Anticipated development programme | Asset portfolio as at 1 April 1994 | 31 March 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North-east | 47,661 | 31,673 | 98,595 | 106,800 |
| North-west | 52,929 | 51,149 | 86,088 | 84,000 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 43,786 | 60,698 | 40,198 | 44,700 |
| Midlands | 63,433 | 53,773 | 14,305 | 18,000 |
| South-east | 10,311 | 26,831 | 23,453 | 22,100 |
| South-west | 7,260 | 10,064 | 4,361 | 3,900 |
| Total | 225,380 | 234,188 | 267,000 | 279,500 |
Exhibition Centre, London
Mr. Corbett:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will establish a public inquiry into the
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planning permission granted by the London Docklands development corporation to London International Exhibition Centre Ltd. for the construction of an 110,000 sq m exhibition centre on the site of the former royal docks. [14429]
Sir Paul Beresford:
I expect my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to announce soon his decision on whether or not to call in for his own determination the planning application for which the LDDC has resolved to grant planning permission.
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