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Charter of Local Self-Government

Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if the Government will sign the Council of Europe's charter of local self-government. [1950]

Sir Paul Beresford: As stated in the White Paper, "Government Response to the Report of the House of Lords Select Committee on Relations Between Central and Local Government 'Rebuilding Trust'", which was laid before the House on 4 November, the Government do not believe that a case has been made out demonstrating the need for the United Kingdom now to adopt this charter.

6 Nov 1996 : Column: 525

Permaculture

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his Department's definition of permaculture; and if he will make a statement. [1594]

Sir Paul Beresford: There is no statutory definition of permaculture.

Mr. Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from the Permaculture Association (UK); and if he will make a statement. [1595]

Sir Paul Beresford: No correspondence has been received from an organisation of this name. However, representations have been made by the Permaculture Association (Britain) on the draft revision to planning policy guidance note 7, "The Countryside--Environmental Quality and Economic Development". We have received more than 400 responses to this consultation document. These are being considered carefully at present.

Mr. Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to encourage permaculture within national parks; and if he will make a statement. [2353]

Mr. Clappison: The Government are committed to the concept of sustainable development in their rural planning policies. One of the key principles is to encourage environmentally-friendly economic activity while conserving the character of the countryside. It is for the national park authorities, as the local planning authorities for their areas, to determine issues of land use planning and to consider individual planning applications in the light of their wider responsibilities.

Financial Derivatives

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what guidelines are issued to local authorities about the use of financial derivatives. [1681]

Sir Paul Beresford: The Department has not issued guidelines to local authorities about the use of financial derivatives. Local authorities are under a general fiduciary duty to their taxpayers to act prudently in investing funds. They should also have regard to the capital finance regulations and professional treasury management codes, as appropriate. Capital finance and approved investment regulations provide a strong incentive for authorities to make only very secure investments such as bank and building society deposits or gilts.

Timber

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to promote the greater use of timber in the construction industry; and if he will make a statement. [1759]

Mr. Clappison: My hon. Friend, the Minister for Construction and Planning launched Timber 2005 in February this year. This is a research and innovation strategy to promote the use of timber in construction. The Department of the Environment is now working with industry during its implementation. I am arranging to place a copy of the strategy in the House Library.

6 Nov 1996 : Column: 526

Under-Secretary of State (Committees)

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the Cabinet committees and sub-committees on which the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Croydon, Central (Sir P. Beresford), serves. [1989]

Sir Paul Beresford: I currently serve on one Cabinet sub-committee, EDL(L)--the ministerial sub-committee on London.

Construction Contracts

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will seek to amend section 108 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 to provide that there is an obligation on all parties to submit to an adjudicator's decision; and if he will make a statement; [2193]

Mr. Clappison: The fair construction contract provisions in part II of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 have not yet commenced. The Government have no plans to amend legislation which received careful consideration during its passage through Parliament last Session. A means of monitoring the effect of the new legislation was outlined in the cost compliance assessment which was published in February 1996. A copy was placed in the Library.

6 Nov 1996 : Column: 527

Opencast Mining

Mr. Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) in which parliamentary constituencies there are opencasting sites in operation; [2216]

Sir Paul Beresford: This information is not held centrally.

Mr. Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many acres of land are currently the subject of opencast methods of extracting coal; and what proportion of this land was formerly green belt; [2210]

Sir Paul Beresford: This information is not held centrally. Statistics are published annually for the County Planning Officers' Society by Durham county council.

Mr. Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimates he has made of the cost to public funds (a) of local authorities and (b) of his Department of planning applications for opencast mining. [2214]

Sir Paul Beresford: My Department has no information about the costs to local authorities of processing planning applications for opencast coal mining; costs to the Department would occur only in the event of a planning application being called in for determination by the Secretary of State and this is an extremely rare occurrence.

Mr. Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many, and which, parliamentary constituencies have opencast applications (a) pending and (b) at the appeal stage. [2213]

Sir Paul Beresford: Information about opencast planning applications is not held centrally. Information about appeals is recorded only under the local planning authority and not parliamentary constitiuencies. The current outstanding appeals are as follows:


Mr. Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many appeals have been heard by his inspectors in which opencast developers have sought to reverse local authority refusals of planning permission in each of the last five years; and what is his Department's estimate of the cost to public funds of these appeals. [2215]

Sir Paul Beresford: The figures are as follows: 1992, 11; 1993, 12; 1994, 20; 1995, 4; and 1996, 9. Information concerning the cost of these appeals to the taxpayer is not available.

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