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Packaging Waste Regulations
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to issue the statutory guidance regarding the packaging waste regulations.[15574]
Mr. Gummer:
The Advisory Committee on Packaging, chaired by Sir Peter Parker, is currently developing recommendations to the Environment Agency and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency on the preparation of statutory guidance on compliance with the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations, which are before the House. I understand that the advisory committee hopes to make public its recommendations in the very near future. The agencies will be responsible for issuing statutory guidance once the regulations have been made.
19 Feb 1997 : Column: 583
Mr. Nigel Evans:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which 10 local councils in England have the highest budget deficits. [16158]
Sir Paul Beresford:
All local authorities are required to set balanced budgets, taking into account the amount of financial reserves that they estimate they will use in the year to finance expenditure. The following authorities budgeted to draw down the highest amounts from reserves in 1996-97:
| £000s | |
|---|---|
| City of London | 41,343 |
| Hampshire | 35,375 |
| Metropolitan Police Authority | 26,519 |
| Staffordshire | 21,002 |
| Berkshire | 18,474 |
| Cheshire | 18,000 |
| Birmingham | 17,658 |
| Kent | 17,088 |
| Hereford and Worcester | 16,020 |
| Hertfordshire | 15,410 |
Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimates he has made of the total amount of local authority debt and local authority unused capital receipts in (i) 1985, (ii) 1990 and (iii) the latest year for which figures are available. [16162]
Sir Paul Beresford: The amounts outstanding at 31 March each year were:
| Total debt £ billion | Usable capital receipts £ billion | |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 31.6 | n/a |
| 1990 | 41.2 | 2.4 |
| 1996 | 37.6 | 1.1 |
Source:
Debt: DOE borrowing and lending surveys and Public Works Loan Board.
Capital receipts: capital outturn returns.
The total debt figures include both long term and short-term borrowing; £4.5 billion of local authority debt, mainly amounts borrowed from the Public Works Loan Board, was commuted by the Government in 1992.
Figures for the amounts of set-aside capital receipts are not available. These form part of the provision for credit liabilities, which also includes amounts set aside from revenue. It is not possible to give figures for usable capital receipts for years before 1990, when a different capital finance system was in operation.
Mr. Thurnham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to publish his assessment of business improvement districts; what measures would be required to introduce similar initiatives in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [16211]
19 Feb 1997 : Column: 584
Sir Paul Beresford:
The research is expected to be completed by late spring. We will consider the results of that research carefully in determining whether this approach could be applied in the UK context.
Mr. Sheerman:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will assist Kirklees metropolitan borough council in meeting the costs of providing secure accommodation for Glenn and John Howells. [16439]
Sir Paul Beresford:
Local authorities are responsible for decisions on how to accommodate young persons remanded by the courts to local authority accommodation. Provision for these costs is included within the children's personal social services block of the standard spending assessment. This provision is not identified specifically.
Mr. Raynsford:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list for each local authority the amount set aside as provision for credit liabilities as at 31 March 1996. [16474]
Mr. Curry:
A list of the provision for credit liabilities at 31 March 1996 for each English local authority has been placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. John Greenway:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he plans to publish the revised planning policy guidance note 7 on the countryside; and if he will make a statement. [16899]
Mr. Gummer:
I am today publishing revised policy planning guidance note 7 on the countryside.
This new guidance note carries forward our commitment to a living countryside. It will help to ensure that the countryside is increasingly a place in which communities and businesses can thrive, while maintaining the unique qualities which make the English countryside such an attractive place in which to live and work.
The revised note fulfils key commitments in our rural White Paper by giving greater encouragement to business diversification in the countryside while ensuring that necessary development is of a good quality, complementing and respecting the character of the countryside around it.
The majority of the over 400 responses to the consultation draft welcomed the revised PPG7's comprehensive coverage of planning in the countryside and felt that it struck a fair and realistic balance between environmental protection and the need to stimulate rural economic activity. There was particular support for its coverage of sustainable development principles; its recognition of the interdependence between urban and rural policies; its acknowledgement of the value of rural strategies and its increased emphasis on good design.
The new guidance note restates and clarifies policy on protecting from development the best agricultural land as a national resource. This means that we will maintain a stock of the best agricultural land, with its versatility and efficiency for farming, while making it clear that a more flexible approach may be adopted where there is an
19 Feb 1997 : Column: 585
overriding need for development and any alternative land has a recognised, high environmental value or there is little suitable land of lower agricultural quality available.
In addition, the guidance note clarifies policy on the reuse of rural buildings, allowing greater discrimination in favour of reuse for business rather than residential purposes; it stresses the importance of thoroughly checking the lawfulness of developments to be carried out under agricultural permitted development rights; advises on the possible removal of new buildings which abuse permitted development rights, without placing unnecessary additional burdens on genuine farmers; and advises local planning authorities on the scope for making planning permission conditional on the removal of unused ugly or derelict buildings in certain circumstances.
I am also pleased to announce today that Charles Nunneley, chairman of the National Trust, has agreed to chair a small working group on the possible introduction of a rural business use class. This proposal, also included in the Rural White Paper, is designed to encourage enterprise in rural areas by giving local planning authorities an additional control, where needed, over the intensification of new businesses. The working party will consider how best to achieve the implementation of this proposal, taking account of the various practical issues and difficulties identified during the recent consultation exercise.
Mr. Wigley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total cost of the Thames barrage scheme; and how much of this cost was met by central Government. [16446]
Mr. Boswell:
I have been asked to reply.
The total cost of works under the Thames Barrier and Flood Protection Act 1972 was some £700 million, with the Thames barrier itself costing some £450 million and associated downstream works, including a second barrier at Barking, accounting for the remainder. Government grants made under the Act totalled approximatly £540 million.
Mr. Pendry:
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what steps she plans to take to ensure the future of the Crystal Palace national sports centre as (a) a venue for national and international sporting events and (b) a training centre for British athletes. [15823]
Mr. Sproat:
The future of facilities at Crystal Palace national sports centre is, in the first instance, a matter for the London borough of Bromley and the English Sports Council. An independent feasibility study is being undertaken on behalf of the London borough of Bromley and the English Sports Council as one stage in the process to determine the future needs and use of the national sports centre. The English Sports Council has given an assurance that no decisions about long-term investment in the future of the centre will be taken without prior consultation with the relevant sporting governing bodies.
19 Feb 1997 : Column: 586
Mr. Pendry:
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will make a statement on the contract of (a) the chairman of the United Kingdom Sports Council and (b) the chairman of the English Sports Council, indicating their remuneration. [12638]
Mr. Sproat:
Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth was appointed chairman-designate of the United Kingdom Sports Council from 1 April 1995. Lord MacLaurin's position as chairman of the United Kingdom Sports Council was formalised from the 19 September 1996 following the issue of letters patent under the great seal granting charters of incorporation to the new council. The appointment will expire in March 1998. Lord MacLaurin has chosen not to draw remuneration for this position.
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