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Council Tax

Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to create new council tax bands below the current band A and above band E. [4885]

Mr. Raynsford: The question of whether any changes should be made to the structure of the council tax valuation bands is one that the Government will wish to discuss with the Local Government Association and others before reaching a view.

Organic Production

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will examine occasions in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) Germany where water companies have (i) encouraged organic agriculture and (ii) promoted the marketing of organic produce from farmers within their watersheds with a view to promoting examples of best practice within the industry; and if he will make a statement. [4887]

Ms Angela Eagle: Water suppliers have an interest in any initiatives which prevent pollution of drinking water sources and work closely with the farming community to protect catchments. My right hon. Friend, the Minister of Agriculture has general responsibility for organic farming; it would be interesting to learn of any specific initiatives by water suppliers either here or in Germany to encourage organic farming and the promotion of organic produce.

Rat Control

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) who has the responsibility for rat control in public sewers; and what steps he has taken to monitor performance in this area; [5156]

(2) what plans he has to review the duties and responsibilities of the sewerage undertakings with respect to the funding of sewer baiting programmes to control the rat population. [5155]

Ms Angela Eagle: No one body has overall responsibility for rodent control because of the diverse factors involved in dealing with both the causes and effects of rodent infestations. Sewerage undertakers have programmes to control and reduce the number of rats

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entering sewers and the funding of these programmes is a matter for each undertaker. All undertakers monitor the level of rat infestation in their sewers and I understand that the water industry will be undertaking some research in this area early next year. Local authorities have the power to take action if the drainage systems in their area pose a threat to public health and this helps to ensure that sewerage undertakers maintain a sufficient programme to control the rat population. I have no plans to review the duties or monitor the performance of sewerage undertakers in this field.

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when it is proposed to review the approved document to part H of the Building Regulations; and what plans he has to strengthen the advice on the prevention of damage (a) by rates and (b) from high pressure water jetting for cleaning drains. [5158]

Mr. Raynsford: We propose to begin a review of the Approved Document to Part H of the Building Regulations next year, when we will consider whether the advice on prevention of damage by rats and from high pressure water jetting needs to be strengthened.

Water Abstraction

Mr. Fearn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he is taking to discourage water companies from abstracting water from rivers. [5270]

Ms Angela Eagle: Abstraction of water from rivers is subject to licensing requirements, set out in Chapter II of the Water Resources Act 1991 and administered by the Environment Agency. At the Water Summit we held in May, we made it clear to water companies that they must make stringent efforts to improve their management of the demand for water. We also said that we would review the water abstraction licensing system, with a key aim of ensuring that the needs of the environment are given due weight in licensing decisions. That review is currently underway.

Cash Limits

Mr. McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what proposals he has to change the cash and running cost limits and external financing limits within his responsibility for 1997-98. [5592]

Mr. Prescott: Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimates, the following changes will be made.

The cash limit for Class VI, Vote 2--Regeneration and Countryside and Wildlife-will be increased by £27,000,000 from £1,453,168,000 to £1,480,168,000. The increase, which will be met by a call on the Reserve, is required for the Urban Regeneration Agency (English Partnerships) to continue with the clearing and preparation of the Greenwich Peninsula site for the Millennium Exhibition.

The external financing limit for the Urban Regeneration Agency (English Partnerships) will be increased by £27,000,000 from £177,779,000 to £204,779,000.

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The cash limit for Class VI, Vote 5 (Administration) covering sections A to J of that Vote, will be increased by £1,146,000 from £393,455,000 to £394,601,000. This change reflects: a new Section (G) for payments of £50,000 in respect of the sale of the Housing Corporation Loan Portfolio; a new Section (H) for payments of £61,000 in respect of the privatisation costs of the Building Research Establishment; a new Section (I) to make a payment of £1,085,000 to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in respect of client deposits; a new Section (J) with a net provision of £1,000 in order to allow short term loans to be made to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre; a reduction of £51,000 to provision for Section A in order to find the increases sought for Sections G and J.

A part payment of £500,000 from the £1,085,000 for client deposits to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, for which provision is being sought in the new Section I, is required urgently. Pending approval of the Supplementary Estimate for Class VI, Vote 5, expenditure on this new service will therefore be met by repayable advances from the Contingencies fund.

All the increases will be offset by savings, transfers or will be charged to the reserve and will therefore not add to the planned total of public expenditure.

Bus Regulation

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he is taking to pursue his commitment to the proper regulation of buses. [5632]

Dr. Strang: As part of the fundamental review of transport policy announced by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister on 5 June at column 226. I announced in a speech to the Confederation of Passenger Transport earlier today a wide ranging bus review. Its purpose is to examine how buses can best play their part in an integrated transport policy. Our aim is to see increased use of the bus as a means of reducing congestion and pollution, particularly by attracting motorists from their cars.

The review will look at all aspects of buses including: the scope for more effective use of bus priority measures, coupled as necessary with traffic restraint; better arrangements for passenger information and ticketing, including inter-modal travel; and regulatory and other measures to improve the quality of bus services, notably through the "quality partnership" approach between operators and local authorities. In addition, it will address financial issues such as costs and support for the industry.

I intend to consult fully with the industry, local authorities, bus users and other interest groups, building on the joint work that has previously been done in this area. The results of the review will form part of the proposed White Paper next Spring on integrated transport policy.

EU Transport Council

Mr. Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was the result of the Transport Council held in Luxembourg on 17 and 18 June. [5794]

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Dr. Strang: The Transport Council met in Luxembourg on 17 and 18 June. My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister and I represented the United Kingdom.

My right hon. Friend made a statement emphasising the importance the Government attaches to Europe and stressing the constructive approach the United Kingdom would seek to take.

The Council reached political agreement on a Directive to co-ordinate and improve Member States' arrangements for safety inspection of third country aircraft using EU airports. The United Kingdom, supported by Germany, asked for a statement to be entered in the Council minutes making clear that we would have preferred the Directive to apply also to EU aircraft.

The Council agreed conclusions on Community involvement in the EUROCONTROL organisation, which co-ordinates air traffic management arrangements within Europe, and on work towards the creation of a new European aviation safety organisation.

The Council held a further discussion on a draft directive on the levels of heavy goods vehicle taxation and of road user charges for those Member States which levy a specific charge for the use of their motorways. By qualified majority (with Germany opposing) the Council agreed a Regulation which will require new commercial vehicles to be fitted with electronic tachographs when such instruments have been type approved. This was the only item on which the Council took a vote. The United Kingdom secured an amendment intended to ensure that the security of new electronic tachograph products will be properly tested before they are approved for use.

The Council debated road safety, and agreed conclusions which, in particular, encouraged the Commission to take forward ideas on exchange of best practice. The Council also agreed conclusions endorsing a Commission report by the Commission on road transport telematics and inviting further work in this area.

The Council agreed conclusions welcoming a Commission communication on trans-European rail freight freeways, whose aim is to encourage the transfer of freight from road to rail by allowing greater freedom of access by train operators to the Community's rail network.

The Council reached political agreement on a Directive requiring counting of passengers on all sea voyages and the registration of the name, gender and other details of passengers on voyages over 20 miles, subject to certain exemptions and derogations. The Council also reached political agreement on a Directive bringing Community rules on seafarer training into line with the 1995 revision of International Maritime Organisation Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers.

The Council held a general debate on a Commission communication on maritime external relations, and agreed conclusions welcoming a Commission report on short sea shipping.

Among other issues raised at the Council were the growth of weekend lorry bans, the Community's aviation negotiations with the US and with central and Eastern European countries, and duty-free sales on travel within

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the European Union. On this a number of Member States sought an independent study of the effects of abolition: no undertaking was, however, given by the Commission.

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