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Environmental Accounts
Mr. Dafis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what use he plans to make of the data on the interactions between the economy and the environment contained in the Government's satellite environmental accounts, referred to in paragraph 154 of "This Common Inheritance" annual report 1996. [25841]
Mrs. Angela Knight: Environmental factors have performed an important role in economic policy decisions in recent year. The pilot environmental accounts will improve Government's ability to judge the environmental effects of economic policy.
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Women's Pay
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the average hourly earnings for (a) female part-time employees, (b) female full-time manual employees and (c) female full-time non-manual employees as a percentage of those of the equivalent male employees by standard region. [26245]
Mrs. Angela Knight: Average hourly earnings of male and female full-time manual and non-manual employees in April 1995, by standard region, are published in "New Earnings Survey 1995", part A, a copy of which is held in the House of Commons Library. Average hourly earnings of female part-time employees, by standard region, is published in part F of the same publication. There are no available estimates for male part-time employees, except in the south-east where they were £6.07 in April 1995.
Paracetamol
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people died as a result of paracetamol use and the use of compounds containing paracetamol in 1992 and for the five previous years. [26434]
Mrs. Angela Knight: The data are published for each year separately in table 10 of "Mortality statistics: injury and poisoning, England and Wales" series DH4, Nos. 13 to 18, copies of which are available in the House of Commons Library.
In table 10, the drugs are listed alphabetically, and when two or more drugs are listed together they are put under the drug which comes first alphabetically. Any such combination of drugs is not cross-referenced under the other drugs in the combination, so there is no double counting.
Since the principle of showing combinations of poisons is alphabetical, it therefore follows that no conclusions can be drawn concerning which drug, if any, played the major role. In addition, the inclusion of any substance in table 10 does not necessarily imply that it is toxic.
The listing of a substance on its own signifies that only that drug was mentioned on the death certificate. It does not therefore include those cases where the drug occurred in combination with other drugs.
Mr. Matthew Banks:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what arrangements have been made following the establishment of the Office for National Statistics for the approval of local schemes and regulations for the registration service in Wales. [26676]
Mrs. Angela Knight:
Under the Transfer of Functions (Registration and Statistics) Order 1996, SI 1996 No. 273, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is responsible for approving local schemes and regulations relating to the registration service in England and Wales. The agreement of the Secretary of State for Wales will also be necessary for those local schemes for regulations relating to Wales.
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Ms Ruddock:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if it is Government policy to apply the guidance contained in "Policy Appraisal and the Environment" to all Government policy statements where they are likely to have a significant direct or indirect effect on the environment. [25624]
Mr. Clappison:
The guidance contained in "Policy Appraisal and the Environment" stresses that policy appraisal is applicable across the whole range of policies and programmes, and not just those with environmental objectives. The guide therefore raises awareness of the role of appraisal in the development of policies which have both direct and indirect environmental impacts.
Ms Ruddock:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what criteria are used to determine when the guidance contained in "Policy Appraisal and the Environment" is to be applied to (a) Government consultation papers, (b) Bills before Parliament, (c) White Papers and (d) planning policy guidance notes. [25623]
Mr. Clappison:
Systematic appraisal, as described in "Policy Appraisal and the Environment", should automatically be part of effective policy formulation where there are likely to be both direct and indirect effects on the environment. No other criteria are required to determine cases where the guidance in "Policy Appraisal and the Environment" should be applied.
Ms Ruddock:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if the guidance contained in "Policy Appraisal and the Environment" pertains to (a) Government consultation papers, (b) Bills before Parliament, (c) White Papers, (d) planning policy guidance notes and (e) policy statements. [25622]
Mr. Clappison:
The guidance contained in "Policy Appraisal and the Environment" has been designed so that it is relevant for all stages of policy development, from the consultation stage through to policy statements.
Mr. Sheerman:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to reduce the quantities of toxic waste going to landfill. [25753]
Mr. Clappison:
Reducing the amount of waste we produce is our first priority. But it is equally important that we reduce its hazardousness. In Great Britain hazardous waste is called "special waste". Defined in this way, it covers approximately 1 per cent. of controlled waste arisings.
Because of the threat posed by hazardous wastes to human health and the enviornment, we agree that it is important to minimise the quantities of these substances in waste arisings. The waste minimisation measures we have taken relating to the hazardousness of waste often take the form of regulations, such as the marketing and use directive amendments, which restrict or prohibit harmful materials such as chlorofluorocarbons, found in refrigerators, asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls, formerly used in electrical equipment, and now certain types of battery.
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In the White Paper "Making Waste Work: A Strategy for Sustainable Waste Management in England and Wales", we have set a target to reduce the proportion of all controlled waste going to landfill from 70 per cent. to 60 per cent. by 2005.
Mr. MacShane:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total value of commercial orders placed by his Department with British Steel plc in each year from 1988 to 1995. [25818]
Sir Paul Beresford:
A total of £77,000 was paid to British Steel plc and its associate companies during 1995-96. This figure also covers payments amounting to £39,258.50 made by Property Advisers to the Civil Estate, which was part of this Department during the period in question.
Figures for preceding years are obtainable only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the connection between rising groundwater and water lost through leaks from water company pipes; and if he will make a statement. [25714]
Mr. Clappison:
None. Although most water leaking from the distribution system is likely to find its way into groundwater, it is unlikely to contribute significantly to rising levels of groundwater in the London area, where water in the distribution system is generally drawn from groundwater. The rise in groundwater levels in London is believed to be due chiefly to the reduction in abstractions for industrial purposes.
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Mr. Ian McCartney:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the incidence of occupational asthma (a) nationally and (b) by region among (i) men and (ii) women in each of the past five years; and for each category and year what has been the change, by number and percentage, over the previous year.[25785]
Sir Paul Beresford:
The information is not available in the format requested.
| Year | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimated total cases seen by specialists(1) | --(2) | 1,047 | 879 | 941 | 851 |
| Percentage male(3) | 71 | 72 | 70 | 66 | 65 |
Notes:
(1)System of estimating total cases using one-month per annum returns from sampled physicians together with full 12-month returns from a core group was introduced in 1992 to decrease under-reporting.
(2) Precedes system referred to in note 1; annual average no. of cases reported for 1989-91 was 509.
(3) Based on reported cases where the sex was stated.
Source:
Health and Safety Executive.
| Year | 1990 | 1991 | 1992(4) | 1993 | 1994 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | M | F | M | F | M | F | M | F | M | F |
| All boards | 167 | 49 | 236 | 57 | 438 | 115 | 390 | 120 | 391(5) | 87(5) |
| Cardiff | 20 | 5 | 30 | 9 | 59 | 23 | 43 | 22 | 42 | 11 |
| Swansea | 12 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 16 | 3 |
| Glasgow | 15 | 3 | 33 | 6 | 30 | 12 | 24 | 10 | 23 | 4 |
| Stoke on Trent | 18 | 14 | 31 | 8 | 74 | 18 | 63 | 19 | 68 | 18 |
| Sheffield | 33 | 9 | 36 | 9 | 113 | 23 | 122 | 27 | 87 | 26 |
| Manchester | 25 | 6 | 22 | 9 | 38 | 13 | 37 | 9 | 42 | 13 |
| Newcastle | 14 | 4 | 36 | 3 | 64 | 7 | 59 | 11 | 74 | 6 |
| London | 30 | 7 | 41 | 11 | 52 | 17 | 34 | 21 | 39 | 6 |
Notes:
(4)The number of cases referred for medical boarding, and the number of diagnoses of disablement, increased from 1992 onwards following an increase in the number of prescribed agents for occupational asthma included in the industrial injuries disablement benefit list.
(5)Excludes 19 males and nine females from Edinburgh board.
Source:
Medical boardings centres.
23 Apr 1996 : Column: 63
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