| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Recycling Facility (Warndon)
16. Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received about (a) planning permission for and (b) the licensing of the proposed chemical transfer and oil recycling facility at Warndon, Worcester. [17017]
Mr. Robert B. Jones: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received some 210 representations on these issues. These are in addition to the petition from the residents of Worcestershire which the hon. Gentleman submitted to the House on 26 November 1996 and on which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State submitted observations on 22 January 1997.
Local Government Finance
17. Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the level of local government funding. [17018]
Mr. Curry: The level of local government funding is set at a level which allows efficient local authorities to provide a full range of services, and is in line with overall Government policy on public spending.
19. Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what changes he plans to make to the formulae for the standard spending assessment. [17020]
Sir Paul Beresford: None, at present. We shall consider the formulae for 1998-99 later in the year.
Global Warming
18. Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representation he has received relating to the impact of Government policies on global warming. [17019]
Mr. Gummer: The hon. Member will be as pleased as I am at the successful outcome of Sunday and Monday's Environment Council. The UK played a central part in that success and we are determined to ensure that the world signs up in Kyoto to substantial reductions in polluting gases.
Litter
20. Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to discourage litter. [17021]
Mr. Clappison:
The Tidy Britain Group, which is largely funded by my Department, acts as the national litter abatement agency. The group promotes a wide range of campaigns to discourage litter and we have highlighted its role in the Department's current national publicity campaign "Helping your Environment".
4 Mar 1997 : Column: 595
21. Mr. Bayley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what reports the Government will submit to the UN special session in New York in June to review progress on implementing the decisions of the Rio de Janeiro Earth summit. [17022]
Mr. Gummer:
A report setting out the United Kingdom's overall progress in implementing Agenda 21 will be presented to the special session. The report will also set out some of the Government's objectives for future action towards achieving sustainable development, and cross-refer to other relevant sources of information about the UK's approach.
22. Mrs. Mahon:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the cost-effectiveness of the rents-to-mortgages schemes.[17023]
Mr. Clappison:
None. Rent-to-mortgage is an option under the highly successful right-to-buy scheme, which has enabled over 1.3 million council tenants in England to buy their home since 1980.
23. Mr. Skinner:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will change planning procedures to make it more difficult for opencast coal operators to obtain planning consent. [17024]
Sir Paul Beresford:
No. The mineral planning guidance note on opencast coal was fully reviewed and revised in July 1994. There are currently no plans to revise it again.
24. Mr. Bernard Jenkin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the level of council tax likely to be levied in Essex in 1997-98. [17025]
Sir Paul Beresford:
No such assessment has been made, as it is for local authorities to set their own levels of council tax in their area in the light of local needs and priorities.
25. Mr. Betts:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on his plans for the transfer of local authority housing. [17026]
Mr. Curry:
Transfer is an excellent way of increasing investment in the local authority stock and the Government have therefore recently introduced a package of measures aimed at encouraging local authorities to transfer more of their stock to registered social landlords. We have also announced our intention to use the housing investment programme to encourage local authorities to consider how they can best use transfer to meet the need for investment in their stock and thus also make best use of the limited public funds available for housing.
4 Mar 1997 : Column: 596
28. Sir Colin Shepherd:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his current estimate of the numbers of dwellings in local authority ownership which could be transferred to different ownership through large-scale voluntary transfer. [17029]
Mr. Curry:
With the new package of measures announced by the Government last autumn to encourage stock transfer, we expect the level of transfer to increase significantly. Taken together with sales to individuals, we currently anticipate a reduction in local authority stock of just over 1 million homes or around 30 per cent. in the next 10 years.
26. Mr. Barry Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about air pollution. [17027]
Mr. Clappison:
The Environment Act 1995 set up the legislative framework for a national strategy for air quality and for action by local authorities to assess and manage air quality. The strategy, which will be published shortly, will set out air quality standards and objectives, and will outline the measures which will be taken at international, national and local level in order to meet those objectives.
27. Dr. Lynne Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received regarding air pollution. [17028]
Mr. Clappison:
My Department has received 420 representations, from members of the public, business, local authorities and other bodies, in response to consultation on the draft national strategy for air quality, which the Government are preparing in accordance with the Environment Act 1995.
29. Sir David Knox:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many council houses have been sold to sitting tenants since May 1979. [17030]
Mr. Clappison:
Over 1.48 million tenants purchased their homes from English local authorities and new towns between April 1979 and September 1996.
Mrs. Clwyd:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many questions were tabled for reply by his Department in each Session since 1979-80; in how many instances in each year the reply has been that providing the information involved disproportionate cost; and in how many instances in each year questions have been given the reply that the information was not available centrally. [16796]
Sir Paul Beresford:
A list of the number of written and oral PQs answered by my Department in the Sessions 1982-83 to 1995-96, as supplied by the parliamentary on-line information service unit, is given. This information is also available in the House Library. Figures for 1979-80 to 1981-82 are not available.
4 Mar 1997 : Column: 597
| Year | Written | Oral |
|---|---|---|
| 1982-83 | 1,457 | 367 |
| 1983-84 | 4,181 | 626 |
| 1984-85 | 3,328 | 370 |
| 1985-86 | 3,624 | 415 |
| 1986-87 | 2,355 | 290 |
| 1987-88 | 5,214 | 554 |
| 1988-89 | 4,911 | 423 |
| 1989-90 | 5,947 | 369 |
| 1990-91 | 3,233 | 367 |
| 1991-92 | 1,513 | 182 |
| 1992-93 | 5,029 | 541 |
| 1993-94 | 3,301 | 377 |
| 1994-95 | 2,970 | 405 |
| 1995-96 | 2,481 | 317 |
Providing the number of instances in each year that questions have been given a reply of disproportionate cost or that the information was not held centrally would themselves involve disproportionate cost.
Household Waste-derived Compost
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects the report on the potential markets for household waste-derived compost to be published; and to whom he plans to circulate it. [17714]
Mr. Gummer: The report, entitled "Markets and Quality Requirements for composts and Digestates from the Organic Fraction of Household Wastes", has been prepared under a research contract now managed by the Environment Agency. It was made public in January; and priced copies will be available in March, reference number CWM 147/96, from the Waste Management Information Bureau, AEA Technology plc, F6 Culham, Oxfordshire OX14 3DB, telephone number 01235 463162. Complimentary copies are due to be sent to the Environment Select Committee, the British library, the Composting Association, the National Composting Development Association, the Institute of Waste Management, the Environmental Services Association, the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management and the specialist press. My Department promoted the report at the Composting Association's annual conference in November 1996 and will be doing so again at a National Composting Development Association conference in March 1997.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |