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Council Housing
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the housing waiting list, on 1 January, in each of the London borough council authorities; and if he will make a statement. [11313]
Mr. Clappison: Local authorities in England report the numbers of households on their housing waiting list at 1 April each year in their annual housing investment programme--HIP1--returns.
The numbers reported as being on by London borough councils' lists at 1 April 1996 were as follows:
| London borough | Number of households on the waiting list |
|---|---|
| Camden | 6,873 |
| City of London | 822 |
| Hackney | 10,294 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 6,187 |
| Haringey | 3,793 |
| Islington | 8,485 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 4,725 |
| Lambeth | 13,081 |
| Lewisham | 11,766 |
| Newham | 8,975 |
| Southwark | 6,662 |
| Tower Hamlets | 6,718 |
| Wandsworth | 5,620 |
| Westminster | 3,674 |
| Barking and Dagenham | 1,679 |
| Barnet | 2,975 |
| Bexley | 3,863 |
| Brent | 9,503 |
| Bromley | 2,983 |
| Croydon | 5,496 |
| Ealing | 9,669 |
| Enfield | 3,557 |
| Greenwich | 6,445 |
| Harrow | 1,772 |
| Havering | 2,332 |
| Hillingdon | 3,387 |
| Hounslow | 6,232 |
| Kingston upon Thames | 1,901 |
| Merton | 3,737 |
| Redbridge | 1,903 |
| Richmond upon Thames | 3,071 |
| Sutton | 1,921 |
| Waltham Forest | 8,555 |
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Bed-and-breakfast Accommodation
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people were in bed-and-breakfast accommodation in each of the London boroughs on 1 January. [11314]
Mr. Clappison: Information is published on households accommodated under statutory homelessness provisions in a quarterly information bulletin, entitled "Households found accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the Housing Act 1985: England". The bulletin includes a table on homeless households temporarily accommodated and this identifies those in bed-and-breakfast accommodation.
In the Library are copies of the bulletin, the latest of which provides statistics for the third quarter of 1996.
Revenue Support Grant (Sunderland)
Mr. Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the revenue support grant for the borough of Sunderland at current prices in each year since 1990. [11336]
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Sir Paul Beresford: The information requested is as follows. The figures in real terms in 1995-96 prices have been rebased using the gross domestic product deflator.
| Year | Revenue support grant (£ million) |
|---|---|
| 1990-91 | 86.326 |
| 1991-92 | 82.395 |
| 1992-93 | 121.324 |
| 1993-94 | 117,333 |
| 1994-95 | 133.464 |
| 1995-96 | 126.283 |
| 1996-97 | 122.837 |
| 1997-98 | (5)120.383 |
(5) Provisional.
Environmental Protection Act 1990
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the sections of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 which are not in force. [11521]
Mr. Clappison: The Department does not hold information centrally on those provisions of Acts which are not in force. However, the annex to Statutory Instrument No. 3056 of 28 November 1996 sets out the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 which have been brought into force by commencement orders. A copy has been placed in the Library.
Granny Annexes (Council Tax)
Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 17 December to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Martin) Official Report, column 551, on changes to the payment of council tax for granny annexes, what estimate he has made of (a) the number of elderly and disabled people who will gain financially from the changes, (b) the number of households which will face a higher council tax banding following the changes and (c) the total fall in income for local councils from the changes; and what plans he has to compensate local councils for the fall in income. [11430]
Sir Paul Beresford: We estimate that up to 50,000 dwellings will be removed from valuation lists as a result of this measure, with an offsetting one-band increase in
21 Jan 1997 : Column: 522
banding in around one quarter of cases. This would reduce the tax yield by around £15 million to £20 million, or less than 0.2 per cent. We do not expect the impact on local authorities to be significant. None the less, future rate support grant settlements will take into account the change in yield.
Child Care Facilities
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if Ministers are entitled to use child care facilities supported by his Department. [11595]
Sir Paul Beresford: Ministers' eligibility to use available child care facilities supported by my Department could be considered on the basis of value for money, in accordance with the Department's delegated responsibility for establishing and maintaining such schemes.
Household Estimates (Tyne and Wear)
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out the mid-year population and household estimates for each district in Tyne and Wear for each year from 1986 to 1996; and how changes in these estimates have affected the projections for 2016. [11613]
Sir Paul Beresford: Mid-year population estimates for 1986 to 1994--the latest data available from stated sources--are reproduced in the following tables. Population projections for 1997 and 2016 are also given together with projected change between those two dates.
| Percentage | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local Authority | June 1997 | June 2016 | Change | Percentage change |
| Gateshead | 201,978 | 195,333 | -6,645 | -3 |
| Newcastle | 282,496 | 280,645 | -1,851 | -1 |
| North Tyneside | 193,565 | 188,112 | -5,453 | -3 |
| South Tyneside | 158,483 | 160,549 | 2,065 | 1 |
| Sunderland | 298,128 | 297,689 | -439 | 0 |
Source:
NOMIS (Crown Copyright Reserved).
21 Jan 1997 : Column: 521
| Local Authority | June 1986 | June 1987 | June 1988 | June 1989 | June 1990 | June 1991 | June 1992 | June 1993 | June 1994 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gateshead | 206,294 | 205,653 | 204,784 | 204,132 | 203,146 | 203,078 | 203,072 | 202,850 | 202,444 |
| Newcastle | 282,401 | 283,719 | 280,834 | 278,825 | 278,996 | 278,161 | 281,706 | 285,310 | 283,556 |
| North Tyneside | 194,338 | 195,346 | 195,809 | 196,078 | 195,548 | 195,456 | 195,166 | 194,751 | 194,082 |
| South Tyneside | 157,120 | 156,575 | 156,148 | 156,314 | 156,638 | 157,210 | 157,290 | 157,200 | 156,665 |
| Sunderland | 297,815 | 297,156 | 296,188 | 296,360 | 296,310 | 296,446 | 297,147 | 297,806 | 297,226 |
Source:
NOMIS.
21 Jan 1997 : Column: 521
| (6)1981 | (6)1991 | (6)1992 | (6)1993 | (7)1994 | (7)1995 | (6)1996 | (6)2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gateshead | 81,000 | 84,000 | 84,000 | 85,000 | 85,000 | 86,000 | 86,000 | 94,000 |
| Newcastle | 110,000 | 117,000 | 119,000 | 121,000 | 120,500 | 120,600 | 123,000 | 137,000 |
| North Tyneside | 77,000 | 82,000 | 83,000 | 83,000 | 83,400 | 84,100 | 84,000 | 89,000 |
| South Tyneside | 62,000 | 65,000 | 65,000 | 66,000 | 65,800 | 66,200 | 67,000 | 76,000 |
| Sunderland | 108,000 | 117,000 | 118,000 | 119,000 | 119,500 | 119,600 | 121,000 | 137,000 |
Source:
(6) Figures as appear in "Projection of Households in England to 2016 (HMSO)".
Figures are rounded to nearest thousand.
(7) Figures as provided by DOE (housing data statistics).
21 Jan 1997 : Column: 523
21 Jan 1997 : Column: 523
| 1996 | 2016 | Change | Percentage change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gateshead | 86,000 | 94,000 | 8,000 | 9.3 |
| Newcastle | 123,000 | 137,000 | 14,000 | 11.4 |
| North Tyneside | 84,000 | 89,000 | 5,000 | 5.9 |
| South Tyneside | 67,000 | 76,000 | 9,000 | 13.4 |
| Sunderland | 121,000 | 137,000 | 16,000 | 13.2 |
Abandoned Mines
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent communications his Department has had with the Environment Agency in respect of the implementation of plans to clean up contaminated waters from abandoned mines. [12097]
Mr. Robert B. Jones: My officials are in regular contact with the Environment Agency regarding proposals for remedial work and the remediation of sites where minewater pollution has a serious impact on the aquatic environment.
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will require the Environment Agency to update the report prepared by the National Rivers Authority in 1993 on the pollution of water in abandoned mines. [12066]
Mr. Jones: There is no specific requirement for the Environment Agency to update its report. However, the agency is constantly collecting new information on water pollution from abandoned mines, and it may wish to issue reports or other communications from time to time.
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have held with the Coal Authority since 31 October 1994 in regard to pollution and decontamination of abandoned coal mines. [12067]
Mr. Jones: Ministers in my Department have held no meetings with the Coal Authority since it was set up. Officials have held a small number of meetings to discuss issues related to water pollution from abandoned coal mines, and they continue to maintain regular contact with the authority. The Environment Agency works closely with the Coal Authority and has held seven meetings in the period. These have dealt with the production and review of a memorandum of understanding between the two organisations and, more recently, joint work to identify sites affected by discharges form abandoned coal mines where remediation is necessary and feasible.
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what visits (a) he and (b) officials of his Department have made to assess the levels of pollution in abandoned mine workings during his term as Secretary of State. [12068]
21 Jan 1997 : Column: 524
Mr. Jones: The assessment of water pollution in abandoned mines is a responsibility of the Environment Agency, which maintains an extensive monitoring programme for that purpose. Officials of the Department of the Environment have made a small number of informative visits to sites affected by minewater pollution, and maintain regular contact with the Environment Agency on this issue.
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information his Department collates on (a) the levels of contamination and (b) the methods adopted to clean up polluted water from abandoned mines (i) previously in private ownership and (ii) currently in private ownership. [12069]
Mr. Jones: The Environment Agency is responsible for the collection and collation of information regarding water pollution from abandoned mines and it collects all relevant data on water chemistry and stream biology. Discharges from abandoned mines are highly site specific but, in general, the parameters recorded are pH, dissolved oxygen, total and dissolved iron, other metals, salinity, flow and biological diversity. Where minewater pollution is being treated, the methods vary according to the nature of the discharge and of the site itself. The current or former ownership of the abandoned mine is not relevant to the approach adopted.
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