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Privatisation
Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the capital receipts to the Exchequer for each privatised business since 1979. [5669]
Mr. Jack: Table 5.6 of the public expenditure statistical analyses for 1996-97 gives a breakdown of privatisation proceeds received by the Exchequer for all privatisations from 1979 to the end of the 1995-96 financial year. Proceeds to that date totalled £64 billion. The target for 1996-97 is £4½ billion.
Marriage and the Family
Mr. Alton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what research his Department has commissioned into the effects of the tax system on marriage and the family; [3545]
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- (2) if he will launch a public consultation process on how the tax system could be used to support marriage and the family. [3544]
Mr. Jack: We take careful note of any public representations we receive, and keep track of analysis and research that is produced on tax and the family.
ENVIRONMENT
Village Pubs (Discretionary Rate Relief)
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what factors will determine whether village pubs qualify for discretionary rate relief under the provisions of the Local Government and Rating Bill. [5140]
Sir Paul Beresford: Billing authorities will have the power to grant up to 100 per cent. relief to any public house providing that:
- (i) it is within a rural settlement of 3,000 people or less;
(ii) it has a rateable value of less than an amount prescribed by the Secretary of State by order;
(iii) the billing authority is satisfied that the public house is of benefit to the local community;
(iv) the billing authority considers it reasonable for it to grant relief, having regard to the interests of its council tax payers.
Environment Agency (Councillor David Barlow)
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what will be the role of Councillor David Barlow in the work of the Environment Agency and at what level; how much time he will be required to give to the work of the agency; what qualifications or experience led to his appointment; and if he will make a statement. [5359]
Mr. Clappison: Councillor David Barlow has been appointed a member of the Environment Agency's area environment group for the upper Severn.
Area environment groups are non-statutory consultative forums appointed by the agency which meet quarterly to advise on local delivery of its services. Appointments to them are made by the agency's area managers. DoE Ministers have no involvement in their composition.
Elected Mayors
Dr. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the results of his consultation on elected mayors; and which local authorities expressed interest in the idea. [5132]
Sir Paul Beresford: The responses to the consultation paper, "The Internal Management of Local Authorities in England" published by my Department in 1991, showed very little support for elected mayors. Of more than 600 responses, only four were in favour of elected mayors. None of these were from county councils, shire or metropolitan district councils, or London boroughs.
Computers
Mr. Hoon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many separate computer programmes his Department operates. [5521]
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Sir Paul Beresford: There is no universal definition of what constitutes a computer program. A formula or a simple line of executable code could be said to be a programme. However, my Department is at present responsible for 130 major software systems.
Mr. Hoon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many lines of computer code there are in his Department's computer systems. [5520]
Sir Paul Beresford: My Department uses a number of propriety software packages and for these, information on the number of programs or lines of source code is known only to the supplier.
My Department is carrying out an inventory of that bespoke software which is likely to still be in use in year 2000 as a part of its strategy for dealing with the year 2000 date change issue, but compilation of the inventory is not yet complete.
Battersea Power Station
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what discussions his Department is holding, and with whom, on the future development of Battersea power station; and if he will make a statement. [5503]
Sir Paul Beresford: Wandsworth council has been keeping my Department informed of proposals to redevelop Battersea power station as and when it considers it necessary.
Building Products (Fire Effluents)
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the research evaluated by his Department relating to the testing of the toxicity of the fire effluents of building products. [5580]
Mr. Clappison: The toxicology of the major components of fire effluents such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, is well understood and is not being studied in the Department's present research programme. The programme does include studies of methods for the assessment of toxic hazard in fire, which take into account existing toxicity data and such factors as burning behaviour.
Women
Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Enviornment what steps he is taking to measure and evaluate the effect of his Department's policies on women. [5487]
Sir Paul Bersford: In July this year, the model guidance on policy appraisal for equal treatment was revised and circulated at Cabinet level for Departments to adopt to their own circumstances. A copy was placed in the Library of the House. This guidance requires officials to identify policy issues which might impact differentially on women and men, and other groups, to asses whether this is justified in policy terms, and to adjust the policy if it is not. My Department has existing guidance on policy appraisal in place and is currently in the process of updating this to reflect the new model guidance.
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The recent Government report, "One Year On", outlines action taken by Government to benefit women since the world conference on women, and also includes baseline statistics against which future progress can be measured.
Biodegradable Matter (London)
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of the total volume of biodegradable matter that was composted in London in the current year; and what is his forecast of the figure for 2000. [5161]
Mr. Clappison [holding answer 25 November 1996]: No information is currently held centrally on the amount of biodegradable matter that is composted in London. However, my Department is carrying out a new waste survey which, among other things, asks waste collection authorities to provide the Department with information on the amount of waste they collect for composting, and also what methods they operate towards encouraging home composting in their area. It is expected that the summary results of the first survey covering 1995-96 will be available around March next year.
In the Government's White Paper, "Making Waste Work: A Strategy for Sustainable Waste Management in England and Wales" published in 1995, we have set a target that 1 million tonnes of organic household waste should be composted per year by 2000.
Agenda 21 (London)
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action is being taken by his Department to monitor the Agenda 21 process in London; and if he will make a statement. [5162]
Mr. Clappison [holding answer 25 November 1996]: The Government Office for London is an observer on the group steering the Association of London Government initiative to develop a local Agenda 21 for London.
Pollution (London)
Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimates he has of the carbon deficiency of London in the current year; and what are his predictions for 2000. [5194]
Mr. Clappison [holding answer 25 November 1996]: The term "carbon deficiency" is not known to us.
Water Leakage Targets
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what assessment he has made of the leakage targets submitted to Ofwat by the water companies; [5920]
- (2) what legislation governs the introduction of mandatory leakage targets for the water companies if the leakage targets submitted to Ofwat are judged insufficient. [5977]
Mr. Clappison: The Director General of Water Services has responsibility for assessing water companies' leakage targets. He has said that he will take a company's performance against its target into account when setting
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price limits. Those companies which fail to meet the targets they have set for 1997-98 may also face enforcement action.
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