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Planning Appeals

Sir Dudley Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average current period taken for the consideration of planning appeals; and what assessment he has made of the manpower levels of the Planning Inspectorate. [4119]

Sir Paul Beresford: Responsibility for the provision of information on performance on the processing of planning appeals has been delegated to the Planning Inspectorate under its chief executive Mr. Chris Shepley. The agency is therefore responding to the question.

18 Nov 1996 : Column: 389

Letter from J. Greenfield to Sir Dudley Smith, dated 15 November 1996:

The Secretary of State for the Environment has asked me to reply to your Question about the time taken to process planning appeals and the assessment of manpower levels in the Inspectorate.
Inspectors determine planning appeals by one of three procedures: written representations; hearing; and public inquiry. The time in weeks to determine 80 per cent of appeals by each procedure for the period 1 April to 30 September 1996 is shown in the table below:

Procedure	Time to determine 80 per cent. of appeals (weeks)
Written representations	25
Hearing	46
Public inquiry	56

The agency has been set the target of achieving a significant improvement in performance handling planning appeals over the three years ending in March 1999. To achieve the level of performance required and keep abreast of the agency's other work, 33 inspectors were recruited in 1995 and a further 31 this year.

Freedom of the Cities and Trust Councils Initiatives

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the documents published by his Department relating to the (a) freedom of the cities and (b) trust councils initiatives. [4121]

Sir Paul Beresford: There are no such documents.

Health and Safety

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many official speeches he has made specifically on health and safety since his Department took over responsibilities of the Health and Safety Executive. [4122]

Sir Paul Beresford: My right hon. Friend is responsible for a very wide range of subjects. He has addressed the launch of the Health and Safety Commission's noise at work campaign and a conference on inspection for health. As Minister with particular responsibility for health and safety at work, I have made a number of speeches on this subject and will continue to do so.

Opencast Mining

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has made in respect of tighter environmental rules for opencasting to the European Commission; and if he will make a statement. [3915]

Sir Paul Beresford: None.

Building Research Establishment

Mr. Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 12 November, Official Report, column 104, on the Building Research Establishment, if he will list the criteria which were specified in April for the future operation of the Building Research Establishment. [4519]

Mr. Robert B. Jones: My right hon. Friend's 2 April statement did not specify criteria as such, but it made clear that BRE should remain a single entity in the private

18 Nov 1996 : Column: 390

sector. This was because BRE offers a unique range of complementary skills and technologies, and fragmentation would both substantially increase costs to customers and reduce efficiency.

Mr. Ingram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the bidders for the Building Research Establishment. [4570]

Mr. Jones: The competitive sale of BRE is being conducted on a two-stage basis. We shall first be considering indicative bids from parties who have pre-qualified as potential purchasers, and subsequently final bids from a short list of these. We shall be treating information about bids and bidders as commercially confidential until a preferred purchaser is identified early in 1997.

Construction Skills Certification

Mr. Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 12 November, Official Report, column 103, on construction skills certification, what plans he has to encourage the registration of building operatives under the construction skills certificate scheme. [4520]

Mr. Robert B. Jones: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State spoke at the launch of the scheme and we continue actively to support it.

Hedgerows

Mr. Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy not to seek to destroy or weaken the protection recently afforded to enclosure and hedgerows by the courts. [4104]

Mr. Clappison: The Government published draft regulations for the protection of important hedgerows on 21 October 1996. As I explained in the answer that I gave to the hon. Member on 15 October 1996, Official Report, column 844, these regulations will not override restrictions imposed by other enactments or agreements, including enclosure awards. I understand that a judgment is still awaited in respect of the protection afforded to enclosure hedgerows in the case referred to.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

EDS Ltd.

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Attorney-General how many contracts his Department, agencies and associated bodies have had with EDS for each year since 1985; what was the value of each contract; if he will indicate for each contract (a) if it was completed, (b) what modifications were made at the request of (i) the company and (ii) the Department and (c) if work under contract is being undertaken in-house; and if he will make a statement on the number of job reductions in his Department arising from the contracting out of work by EDS. [3817]

The Attorney-General: The Departments and agencies for which I am responsible have not entered into any contracts with Electronic Data Systems Ltd.

18 Nov 1996 : Column: 391

TREASURY

Deregulation

Mr. Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what regulations his Department proposes to repeal by the end of 1996; if he proposes to conduct a compliance cost assessment on each regulation repealed; and what is the estimated cost of undertaking a compliance cost assessment to determine the advantages and disadvantages of each repeal; [1393]

(2) if he will list the rules and regulations he proposes to repeal or amend by means of a reference to the Deregulation Committee before the end of 1996; and if he will make a statement. [2913]

Mr. Jack [holding answer 4 November 1996]: The Treasury has consulted on the following proposals for use of the deregulation order-making power. The timing of any reference to the Deregulation Committee will depend on various factors, including the outcome of consultation.

Industrial Assurance Acts 1923 and 1948
Trustee Investments Act 1961.

In addition, the Chancellor's departments have completed consultation on the following measures, which are now subject to consideration by the Deregulation Committees of both Houses:

Treasury
Deregulation (Bills of Exchange) Order
Office for National Statistics
Deregulation (Validity of Civil Preliminaries to Marriage) Order.

Since the effect in each of the above cases will be to reduce, rather than increase, compliance costs, a compliance cost assessment will not be required. Departments do, however, seek to estimate approximate savings wherever possible. The cost of undertaking a CCA varies from case to case, but is generally modest. Because part of the cost falls on the businesses consulted, a full CCA would be inappropriate for measures designed to reduce business burdens.

Sterling

Mr. MacShane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what has been the change in the value of the pound sterling against (a) the deutschmark, (b) the French franc, (c) the ecu and (d) the US dollar since January 1996; and if he will make a statement on the impact on the economy of fluctuations in (a) to (d); [3985]

(2) what measures he is taking to ensure a stable external value for sterling for export purposes. [3905]

Mrs. Angela Knight: Between 1 January 1996 and 12 November 1996, sterling has risen by (a) 11 per cent. against the deutschmark, (b) 9 per cent. against the French franc, (c) 6 per cent. against the ecu and (d) 6 per cent. against the US dollar. The Government recognise the value of a stable exchange rate but do not have a target for sterling. The exchange rate is only one of many factors which must be taken into account in setting policy.

18 Nov 1996 : Column: 392

Partnership and Closed Company Registrations

Mr. MacShane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) partnerships and (b) closed companies are registered with the Inland Revenue for tax purposes. [3904]

Mr. Jack: At the latest count, the Inland Revenue was dealing with approximately 650,000 partnerships, and an estimate of around 800,000 non-dormant close companies.

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