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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 18 July 1996
ENVIRONMENT
Fruit Trees
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to encourage local authorities to promote local food production in inner cities and urban areas by the planting of fruit trees in parks and cities; and if he will make a statement. [37360]
Mr. Clappison: There are already a number of Government initiatives which promote local food production and the planting of fruit trees in urban areas. This year we gave a £26,100 grant from the environmental action fund to the charity Common Ground, which successfully encourages volunteer involvement in a number of campaigns including the development in urban areas of community orchards containing indigenous fruit trees, and which promote the annual apple day.
This year my Department is again funding the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners with a grant of £30,450, part of which is designed to help it to promote allotment gardening and increase the take-up of vacant allotments, including those in inner cities. The NSALG has a number of information leaflets on how to acquire an allotment and how to cultivate it.
Furthermore, last October I announced the launch of the greening the city initiative which will culminate this autumn in the publication of a good practice guide on urban greening. It will be up to individual authorities and bodies how they implement these guidelines, but the planting of trees is an integral component of the urban greening process. It will be for individual authorities to determine which species are appropriate for specific projects.
Ms Abbott:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to help farmers prepare for the possibility of drought. [36434]
Mr. Clappison:
The Environment Agency has a policy of seeking to minimise the impact of any restrictions which might be necessary on the direct abstraction of water for irrigation purposes. It will provide information in advance of possible restrictions. It is working to encourage farmers to determine the risks to the reliability of their supplies of potential restrictions, and to assess the costs and benefits of providing on-farm winter storage bearing in mind the substantial reductions in charges for winter abstraction which the agency makes.
Mr. Fabricant:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 4 July, Official Report, column 500, if he will place in the Library two
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copies of base maps of 1:100,000 scale for each county, bearing the new local authority and new parliamentary boundaries. [37721]
Sir Paul Beresford:
No. Ordnance Survey does not produce 1:100,000 scale county maps with local authority and parliamentary boundary overprints as a standard, paper-based product. The agency is able to supply a customised product, derived from the computerised national topographic database, at a price estimated for individual requirements.
Mr. Blunkett:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for local education authorities in England (i) individually, (ii) by class and (iii) in total (a) the actual budget outturn for 1996-97, (b) the provisional budget for 1997-98 and (c) the provisional education standard spending assessment. [37781]
Mr. Curry:
Budgeted 1996-97 net revenue expenditure information by individual authority has been placed in the Library of the House. Class totals are as follows:
| Total net revenue expenditure | Education net revenue expenditure | |
|---|---|---|
| Shire counties | 17,190 | 9,956 |
| Unitary authorities(1) | 2,136 | 1,028 |
| Isles of Scilly | 3 | 1 |
| Metropolitan districts(1) | 9,470 | 4,462 |
| City of London | 143 | 4 |
| Inner London boroughs | 2,857 | 1,109 |
| Outer London boroughs | 3,873 | 1,849 |
| All local education authorities(1) | 35,672 | 18,409 |
(1) Includes estimates for two authorities who have yet to return a valid RA96/97 form.
Provisional budgets and standard spending assessments for 1997-98 will not be available until after the revenue support grant consultation announcement towards the end of this year.
Nuclear Waste (Culham)
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what proposals he has to give further consideration to the granting of permission for a low-level nuclear waste repository at Culham, what is the minimum distance from a school required for (a) short-term and (b) permanent permission for such a repository; how far the European school is from the site at Culham; and if he will make a statement; [37988]
- (2) what representations he has received against the granting of permission for a low-level nuclear waste repository at Culham. [37989]
Mr. Clappison: The Environment Agency is considering an application from Safeguard International for authorisations under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 in respect of a radioactive waste transfer station at Culham. The facility would be a temporary store, not a repository for the permanent disposal of radioactive waste and would handle non-nuclear radioactive waste--e.g. from hospitals,
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universities, research laboratories and non-nuclear industries. The European school is 1.5 km from the proposed facility. There is no requirement to set minimum distance for schools or any other development, since the surroundings of a facility are taken into account by the Environment Agency when considering applications. The Secretary of State has received one petition and 89 nine letters and will consider whether to call in the application for his own determination under section 24 of the Radioactive Substances Act 1993.
Empty Homes
Mr. Merchant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how Departments performed against last year's targets for reducing empty homes; and what new targets have been set for 1996-97. [38816]
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Mr. Curry: The number of empty homes in the civil estate owned by Government Departments fell by almost 600 between (1) April 1995 and 1 April 1996, a reduction of nearly 40 per cent.
In 1995-96, almost all Government Departments reduced the number of empty homes that they hold. I am particularly pleased that the Home Office, Department of Transport and Scottish Office all exceeded their targets.
| Total stock at 1 April 1996 | 1995-96 target for percentage empty | Achievement against target | 1996-97 target for percentage empty | 1995-96 target for percentage habitable homes empty more than six months | Percentage achievement against target | 1996-97 target for percentage habitable homes empty more than six months | Action being taken to dispose of homes empty more than six months | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home Office | 3,455 | <11 | 7 (242) | <6 | <3 | 0.3 (10) | 1 | -- |
| Department of Transport | 3,532 | <25 | 18.9 (669) | <17 | <9 | 8.3 (293) | <7 | 194 of these homes are in the process of being sold, including 60 being auctioned. 99 are in the process of being let |
| Welsh Office | 243 | (2)<3 | 20.5 (50) | <15 | <3 | 9.0 (22) | <5 | Seven sales in progress, one under offer, three to be auctioned. Seven awaiting disposal as part of larger package |
| Scottish Office | 213 | 10 | 9.8 (21) | 1 | <3 | 1.8 (4) | 1 | Expected occupation of all houses by winter 1996 |
| Ministry of Defence | 70,409 | To dispose of 1,500 homes by April 1996 and to dispose of a further 2,500 by end summer 1996 | 1,703 disposed of by April | To dispose of 4,000 empty homes | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
(2) The 3 per cent. target was based on the position at 1 April 1995. In relation to the properties empty at that time 2.8 per cent. are still empty. However, others have become empty since then. The targets for 1996-97 make realistic provision for properties becoming empty during the year.
< = less than.
1. Properties that are "habitable"include all properties except:
(a) derelict properties that await demolition (e.g., to make way for road schemes),
(b) those that are expected to be demolished in the near future where the expenditure required to make them habitable would be disproportionate to their expected life (e.g. where substantial investment would be required to connect essential services such as water, sewage or electricity),
(c) those that cannot be made accessible (e.g., due to adjacent construction works).
2. Figures for the national health service in England and Scotland are not included in the table. The recent survey figures for England show a decrease in vacant properties from 1,800 at 1 December 1992 to 1,604 at 21 October 1995. The target for this period was to reduce the number of vacant properties to 1,100. The NHS is committed to future reductions in the number of empty properties held, but do not intend to carry out further surveys since the void rate equates to only about 3.5 units per NHS trust. Figures for NHS Trust properties in Scotland at 1 April 1995 were; total stock 1,185--properties empty 113 [9.5 per cent.]. Figures at 1 April 1996 are; total stock 1,087--properties empty 162 [14.9 per cent.]. The NHS in Scotland is also committed to future reductions in the number of empty properties held.
3. The Welsh Office figure includes information about empty property belonging to health authorities and NHS trusts in Wales.
4. The total number of empty homes in the civil estate owned by Govnerment Departments--(i.e., excluding MOD and the NHS--was 1,567 on 1 April 1995 and 970 on 1 April 1996, a reduction of 38.1 per cent.
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