| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Village Shops and Post Offices
22. Mr. Riddick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to introduce rate relief for village shops and post offices. [3139]
Sir Paul Beresford: The Local Government and Rating Bill, which was introduced on 24 October, will give 50 per cent. mandatory rate relief to certain general stores and post offices in villages of 3,000 people or less. This will halve their bills. Local authorities will be able to top the relief up to 100 per cent., if they choose.
The Bill will also give local authorities significant new discretionary powers which will enable them to reduce or waive the rates bills of any other business in the village which is important to the local community.
Local Authority Capital Investment
23. Mr. McAvoy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from the construction industry concerning local authority capital investment. [3140]
Mr. Robert B. Jones: Some construction industry organisations have proposed in their budget submission the further release of local authority capital receipts to encourage capital investment.
Thames Gateway Initiative
24. Mr. Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on progress with the Thames gateway initiative. [3141]
Mr. Curry: Achieving the vision for Thames gateway is a long-term, 20 to 30-year project. Nevertheless, I am greatly encouraged by progress since publication of the Thames gateway planning framework in June 1995, both in general awareness of the area and its opportunities and in the investment which is already being made.
London Government
25. Mr. Booth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received concerning regional government in Greater London. [3142]
Environmental Targets
Mr. Tredinnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the Government's policy on the setting of environmental targets. [3143]
Mr. Clappison: The Government consider that sustainable development targets can be important and are ready to set quantified targets where this would be sensible. Such targets must be underpinned by scientific analysis and an assessment of the likely costs and benefits--including those to the environment. The Government list the quantified targets that they have agreed or are considering in their "The Common Inheritance" annual reports.
19 Nov 1996 : Column: 485
Urban Land (Development)
28. Sir Irvine Patnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much new development currently takes place on derelict or underused urban land; and what was the situation three years ago. [3145]
Mr. Gummer: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer that I gave to my hon Friend the member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Smith) earlier today.
Gosport Borough Council
Mr. Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will compensate Gosport borough council for the loss of standard spending assessments in 1997-98 and 1996-97 resulting from errors in the population date relating to service personnel in Gosport. [3930]
Sir Paul Beresford: The population data used in standard spending assessments are those estimated by the Registrar General, using the best information available to him at the time. Information on service personnel is provided to the Registrar General by the Defence Analytical Services Agency. I understand that, following consultations with DASA, the Registrar General's estimates took account of concerns expressed by Gosport borough council relating to service personnel, to the extent that they appeared to him to be valid. I am aware that the methods of deriving the components of the population estimates are continually being refined; consequently, it is sometimes possible to produce updated estimates which differ from those provided previously for the calculation of SSAs. In the interests of certainty in financial allocations to local authorities, it is our general policy not to take account of any such subsequent refinements to any indicators, once the data have been used in the calculation of SSAs.
Sewage Effluent (Hormones)
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the conclusions of the report by Brunel university on the levels of female hormones found in sewage effluent discharged into watercourses and the sea around the United Kingdom; and what plans he has to ensure that water companies extract these hormones from discharges. [4482]
Mr. Clappison: The Environment Agency commissioned this report. Further work is needed to establish whether these hormones need to be removed from sewage effluent. The water industry is investigating further how they are affected by the sewage treatment process. The Environment Agency plans further work to establish how the hormones are broken down naturally after discharge. With the Natural Environment Research Council, it is also examining whether the presence of these substances has any implications for fish populations and their fertility. Most of the rivers adjacent to the seven treatment works tested in this study support thriving fish populations.
19 Nov 1996 : Column: 486
Water Payments
Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when water payments ceased to be treated as part of Government accounts in (a) England and Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland. [4356]
Mr. Clappison: The information is as follows:
In England and Wales, the 10 water and sewerage companies ceased to be within the public sector and their external finance requirement ceased to be counted against public expenditure for Government accounting purposes from the date of their privatisation on 12 December 1989;
In Scotland, the external finance requirements of water authorities and domestic sewerage relief grants have counted against public expenditure since 1 April 1996; prior to April 1996 the capital expenditure financed by borrowing by the predecessor local authorities scored against public expenditure totals, as did central Government assistance through the revenue support grant and grants such as the rural water grant.
In Northern Ireland, the Water Service, an executive agency of the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland, is the provider of public water and sewerage services and its finances are included in Government accounts.
Mr. Hawksley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the legislation will be implemented in respect of disabled facility grants for local authorities. [4748]
Mr. Clappison:
Part I of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, which includes the provisions on disabled facilities grants, will come into force on 17 December 1996.
Mr. Harry Greenway:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many individuals have bought their council houses under the right to buy; and if he will make a statement. [3521]
Mr. Clappison:
Local authorities and new towns in England reported have that between the introduction of right-to-buy legislation in October 1980 and the end of June 1996--the latest date for which information is available--the total RTB sale is 1.270 million homes.
Sir Michael Neubert:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received in respect of the London borough of Havering and other outer-London boroughs and the standard spending assessment and area cost adjustment. [3637]
Sir Paul Beresford:
My right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Urban Regeneration received a delegation led by the London borough of Havering which included representatives from the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Harrow, Kingston and Sutton about the area cost adjustment on 11 November.
19 Nov 1996 : Column: 487
Other written representations have recently been received on standard spending assessments, including from outer-London boroughs.
Mr. Bill Michie:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from Sheffield city council regarding the area cost adjustment and its effect on Sheffield's standard spending assessment. [3826]
Sir Paul Beresford:
I have received a number of representations on the area cost adjustment from Sheffield city council, both individually and as part of larger groups of local authorities. The city council has drawn attention to the reduction in its standard spending assessment which would follow from the recommendations of the review of the area cost adjustment. It has urged us not to implement those recommendations.
Mr. Nicholls:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what decision he has made on the proposed abolition of the regime of special advertisement control; and if he will make a statement. [4798]
Mr. Robert B. Jones:
After consideration of the extensive public consultation exercise over the future of special controls, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has decided that they will remain for the time being.
The regime of special advertisement control was originally introduced in 1948 to remove the proliferation of poster panels along main roads in the countryside and to ensure continued protection against further unsuitable displays.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |