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ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS
Water and Drainage Utilities (Information)
Mrs. Brinton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what obligations are placed upon the privatised public utilities with particular reference to water and drainage companies, to maintain accurate records of services in the ground; [7245]
- (2) under what arrangements public access to the complete records of adopted sewers installed by private contractors, previously available from the local council highways departments, is maintained. [7246]
Angela Eagle: Sections 198 and 199 of the Water Industry Act 1991 require water and sewerage companies to keep records, in the form of maps, of the location of every water main and adopted sewer vested in them and to make this information freely available for inspection at their offices at all reasonable times. The companies are also required to provide local authorities with copies of sewer maps and any modifications to them. There is no obligation for the companies to keep records of connections to water mains or of private sewers or drains.
Mrs. Brinton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he will take to ensure that decisions on access to water authority and drainage authority information are clearly determined in accordance with the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994. [7244]
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Angela Eagle:
The provision and availability of information relevant to health and safety is a fundamental requirement of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994. It is therefore an important consideration of Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors when determining compliance with the Regulations. Inspectors already give advice or take formal enforcement action in support of this requirement, when appropriate.
Mr. Colvin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact of the recent reduction in VAT on domestic fuel on the Government's environmental obligations; and if he will make a statement. [7660]
Angela Eagle:
We estimate the reduction in VAT on domestic fuel to 5 per cent. will result in an annual increase in carbon dioxide emissions of about 0.24 million tonnes of carbon by 2010, (about 0.15 per cent. of current carbon dioxide emissions). We shall take account of this effect in developing the programme to meet our target to reduce total carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent. by 2010.
Protection from the effects of global warming and the development of sustainable environmental policies cannot proceed in isolation from considerations of social equity. We are developing policy options which will contribute towards our 2010 target and which will include improvements in domestic and industrial energy efficiency, an integrated transport policy to tackle the projected growth in emissions from road transport, and an increase in the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources and combined heat and power schemes.
Mrs. Ballard:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what targets he will be setting for recycling of household waste. [7439]
Angela Eagle:
We will be considering the need for any changes to existing targets for the recovery and recycling of household waste in the light of progress made so far. It is important to improve recycling and increase the proportion of waste managed by the options towards the top of the waste hierarchy. We will be looking carefully at the options for doing this as part of our wider assessment of waste management and recycling policy.
Mrs. Ballard:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what plans he has to extend the time scale for determining applications for hedgerow removals; [7441]
(3) if he will allow local authorities to charge for applications to remove hedgerows. [7443]
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Angela Eagle:
On 29 May the Government announced that a group would be set up, including representatives of statutory agencies, local authorities and the main farming and conservation bodies, to review how the Hedgerows Regulations 1997 might be strengthened. The group have been asked to make recommendations on the time allowed for local authorities to respond to hedgerow removal notices and on the criteria defining important hedgerows.
I have no plans to allow local authorities to charge for applications to remove hedgerows, though the Government would consider any recommendations of the review group in this regard.
Mr. Yeo:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) when the last actuarial valuations of local authority occupational pension funds were carried out; [7886]
(3) how many local authority occupational pension funds were calculated to be in surplus at the time of the last actuarial valuation. [7889]
Ms Armstrong:
The Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 1995, which control this statutory scheme in England and Wales, requires actuaries, as part of each triennial valuation of the 87 separate local authority funds, to set an employer contribution rate to ensure solvency having regard to existing and prospective liabilities and the desirability of maintaining as constant a rate as possible. At the last valuation in 1995, all local authority pension funds complied with this requirement, and at that time the actuaries were able to report that 20 funds were actuarially assessed as having assets in excess of their liabilities.
Mr. Yeo:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was the total dividend income received by local authority occupational pension funds during the most recent available financial year. [7888]
Ms Armstrong:
Information is only available to my Department on total investment income for the Local Government Pension Scheme, inclusive of UK and overseas dividend income, gilts and property. In 1995-96 the figure for England and Wales amounted to £2.1 billion.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to the letter from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of 23 June PT/EE/PSO/5476/97 if he will make a statement on the progress of negotiations to create cleaner fuels in Europe. [7935]
Angela Eagle:
At the European Environment Council of 19-20 June this year, Ministers reached a common position on a directive setting standards for fuel quality. The United Kingdom argued that the standards proposed by the Commission were, in some cases, insufficiently
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tight, and supported in particular a lowering of the Commission's proposals for the sulphur content of petrol (200 parts per million--ppm) and benzene (2 per cent.).
Mandatory standards for petrol and diesel were agreed for the year 2000 as follows: petrol--a sulphur content of 150 ppm, a benzene content of 1 per cent. and an aromatics content of 42 per cent.; diesel--a sulphur content, set at 350 parts per million. Other parameters for 2000 were agreed as proposed by the European Commission. The UK also supported, and Ministers agreed, the Dutch Presidency's proposal of indicative standards for the year 2005 of 50 ppm sulphur in both petrol and diesel (the latter to be phased in from 2005), and 35 per cent. aromatics content in petrol. These figures will be subject to review and the Commission will bring forward proposals by mid-1999 either to confirm or adjust them.
As the adoption of these directives is by the co-decision procedure, agreement with the European Parliament will have to be reached before the directive can be adopted.
Mr. Singh:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement regarding the United Kingdom's funding of the United Nations Environment Programme. [8758]
Mr. Meacher:
I attended the inaugural meeting of the United Nations Environment Programme's High-Level Committee of Ministers and Officials in New York on 28 June. I am glad to be able to report that this was a successful meeting. The Committee gave advice to UNEP's Executive Director on the main priorities for UNEP's Programme of Work. Given the positive outcome, especially on the way forward for UNEP, I announced at the close that the United Kingdom would, forthwith, lift the suspension of its annual voluntary contribution to the Environment Fund. I have, therefore, arranged for a payment of £4.35 million to be made as soon as possible to UNEP's Environment Fund.
Mr. Dafis:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will present to the Kyoto Climate Change Conference proposals to commit convention signatories to the phasing out of the use of fossil fuels. [7129]
Angela Eagle:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell) on 30 June 1997, Official Report, column 49. The EU has proposed that all developed countries should agree to (a) reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and other main greenhouse gases to at least 7.5 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2005 and to 15 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2010 and; (b) adopt a number of binding and other policies and measures to achieve these targets.
(2) if he will revise the criteria determining whether or not a hedgerow is sufficiently important to be protected;[7442]
(2) at what intervals actuarial valuations of local authority occupational pension funds are carried out;[7887]
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