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River Ouse
Mr. Alison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will instruct the Environment Agency to study the increase in the variety of fish life which can be supported in the tidal reaches of the River Ouse in North Yorkshire, and publish the results with particular reference to the vicinity of Cawood, since the implementation of required European water quality standards. [11652]
Mr. Clappison: The physical nature of the River Ouse at Cawood is not conducive to sustaining significant fish populations, because of high levels of natural suspended solids and the strong tidal currents which exist.
The Environment Agency is, however, implementing a strategy for improvements in quality to the discharges in the Selby area. One of the aims is to improve dissolved oxygen levels to allow the passage of migratory fish.
Mr. Alison:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out the time scale, under the European urban waste water treatment directive, relating to crude sewage outfalls, which applies to the crude sewage outfalls at present flowing into the River Ouse at (a) Rythen, (b) Wistow and (c) Cawood in North Yorkshire. [11653]
Mr. Clappison:
The urban waste water treatment directive requires "appropriate treatment" by 2005 for discharges with effective populations less than 2,000. In the case of Cawood and Wistow sewage treatment works, which discharge to the Ouse, and Rythen, which discharges to the River Wharfe, this is likely to comprise fine screening to remove solids, or possibly primary treatment.
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Mr. Alison:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will instruct the Environment Agency to assess and report on the level of water quality in the River Ouse at Cawood in North Yorkshire and its compliance with (a) the European urban waste water treatment directive and (b) other relevant directives. [11654]
Mr. Clappison:
The water quality of the River Ouse at Cawood is class D, "fair". The major influences on existing quality are the River Aire and some direct industrial discharges in the Selby area.
The urban waste water treatment directive applies to sewage discharges, not to the river itself, but is likely to contribute to improvements in water quality once its requirements come into effect in 2000. The Ouse already meets the existing requirements of the EU dangerous substances directive.
Mr. Alison:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will instruct the Environment Agency to assess the risk, in terms of health and safety, of swimming and water sports on the River Ouse in the vicinity of Cawood, North Yorkshire. [11655]
Mr. Clappison:
Advice about the acceptability or otherwise of swimming and water sports on the River Ouse in the vicinity of Cawood, North Yorkshire, is a matter for local public health officials.
Mr. Devlin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many jobs have been created or safeguarded by the Teesside development corporation. [11872]
Sir Paul Beresford:
From its establishment in 1987 to September 1996, the Teesside development corporation had created 10,650 permanent jobs in new developments. The total number of job opportunities created by the development corporation now exceeds 25,000.
Mr. Devlin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the work on (a) the Teesside development corporation and (b) Stockton city challenge. [11873]
Sir Paul Beresford:
The Teesside development corporation was established in 1987 and will be wound up in March 1998. The corporation estimates that during its lifetime it will have achieved:
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Stockton city challenge partnership currently estimates that during the lifetime of the initiative it will:
Mr. Robert Ainsworth:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy for reducing the number of sub-standard homes. [11772]
Mr. Clappison:
Between 1986 and 1991, the number of unfit dwellings in England fell by 10 per cent. to 1.5 million. Of these, 62 per cent. needed less than £2,000 of work to make them fit, the majority being owner-occupied. The Government are investing, through the housing investment programme, to help local authorities maintain their stock, promoting the transfer of local authority stock to not-for-profit private landlords such as local housing companies, encouraging housing associations to buy up and repair run-down stock and providing renovation grants to help private owners make improvements to their homes--in 1995-96 £450 million was spent on 95,000 such grants.
Mr. Alison:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will instruct the Environment Agency and the National Rivers Authority to review the Yorkshire Water Services' plans for an accelerated programme for dealing with crude sewage outfalls at certain Yorkshire coastal villages and to assess whether Cawood, in North Yorkshire, should be added to the list of villages in the programme. [11656]
Mr. Clappison:
The National Rivers Authority was subsumed into the Environment Agency for England and Wales on 1 April 1996.
Yorkshire Water Services' plans to accelerate sewage treatment schemes voluntarily at certain coastal villages take account of the agency's views. The assessment of the agency is that the discharge at Cawood has a lesser effect which would not justify the scheme being given priority in advance of action to meet the requirements of the urban waste water treatment directive by the deadline of 2005.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on how the revised code of practice on access to Government information, second edition, published on 14 January, will affect the disclosure of environmental information. [11776]
Sir Paul Beresford:
The revised code will not affect the disclosure of the environmental information. The code--like its predecessor--is non-statutory, and cannot
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override the existing statutory right of access to environmental information contained in the Environmental Information Regulations 1992.
Mr. Robert Ainsworth:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many families were (a) officially homeless, (b) living in temporary accommodation and (c) have had homes repossessed in (i) Coventry and (ii) the west midlands in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [11773]
Mr. Clappison:
The information requested on homeless acceptances and households in temporary accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the Housing Act 1985 is as follows:
The development corporation has already made substantial progress towards these targets. Its activities are successfully transforming large areas of dereliction around Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Stockton into exciting and attractive developments which are providing jobs, homes and leisure opportunities.
the reclamation of 525 ha of derelict land;
the building or upgrading of 29 km of roads;
the building of 1,400 homes;
provision of 470,200 sq m of non-housing floorspace;
the attraction of £1,090 million of private sector investment;
the creation of over 11,000 permanent jobs in new developments, and over 26,000 job opportunities.
The operation of the city challenge in Stockton has also helped forge closer working relationships between the public and private sectors and the local community.
create 3,400 jobs;
lever in £111 million of private sector investment;
build or improve 4,928 homes;
support 291 new business start-ups;
and provide 81,300 training weeks.
| Homeless acceptances | Households in temporary accommodation at 31 December(11) | |
|---|---|---|
| Coventry | ||
| 1991 | 459 | 5 |
| 1992 | 455 | 9 |
| 1993 | 341 | 6 |
| 1994 | 362 | 3 |
| 1995 | 644 | 1 |
| West Midlands | ||
| 1991 | 18,400 | 2,120 |
| 1992 | 17,520 | 1,650 |
| 1993 | 17,060 | 1,430 |
| 1994 | 16,430 | 1,250 |
| 1995 | 18,090 | 1,470 |
(11) Covers both households accepted as homeless and households awaiting the outcome of inquiries into their application.
Information is not available on repossessions in coventry and the west midlands.
Packaging Waste Regulations
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the Government plan to implement the Producer Responsibility (Packaging Waste) Regulations. [11803]
Mr. Clappison: We hope to lay draft regulations before the House by the end of January.
Radioactive Waste
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made in implementing the proposals concerning transparency in decision making relating to the rock characterisation facility proposals contained in the joint Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee--Advisory Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations. [12109]
Mr. Clappison: In March 1995, the Department published a report by a study group drawn from members of the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee and the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations on "Site Selection for Radioactive Waste Disposal Facilities and the Protection of Human Health".
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