House of Commons
Tuesday 29 July 1997
The House met at half-past Two o'clock
PRAYERS
[Madam Speaker in the Chair]
PRIVATE BUSINESS
King's College London Bill [Lords] (By Order)
Read the Third time, and passed.
Order for Second Reading read.
To be read a Second time on Tuesday 28 October.
Mobile Homes
1. Mr. Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to review the Mobile Homes Act 1983. [9346]
The Minister for Local Government and Housing (Ms Hilary Armstrong): My Department is currently considering a number of concerns raised by mobile home residents relating to mobile home legislation. It is too early to say what will be the outcome of those considerations.
Mr. Dawson: I am delighted to hear that the matter is under active consideration. Does my hon. Friend agree that, although park home living can be a comfortable, peaceful and safe way of life for elderly people in their retirement, there are significant difficulties with the legislation due to severe loopholes within which poverty and exploitation can exist? I am pleased that my right hon. Friend is considering the legislation. Will she also examine the role of local authorities in the inspection and registration of park home sites? Does she agree that the way forward is through a clear partnership between the sensible and able parts of the industry, park home owners, local authorities and a reforming Labour Government?
Ms Armstrong: I agree with my hon. Friend. I have been learning a great deal about park homes as they are now called, or mobile homes as most of us know them. I look forward to meeting the all-party group later in the year to consider some of the issues that he has raised.
Mr. Viggers: If the hon. Lady reviews the law relating to mobile homes, will she take care not to diminish
excessively the rights of site owners to control the sites, because in areas such as my constituency, where Kingfisher park has a central location, a site could deteriorate rapidly if site owners did not have their current powers to control the site and maintain high standards?
Ms Armstrong: Of course we are concerned to support the overwhelming number of reputable site owners. However, we are also concerned about a number of disreputable site owners. We want to achieve the correct balance so that site owners and those living on the sites feel safe, secure and able to work together for the betterment of all.
Regional Development Strategy
2. Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to involve a comprehensive range of expertise in developing his proposals for a regional development strategy. [9347]
The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Mr. John Prescott): We are conducting wide-ranging consultation with all the main stakeholders nationally and in the regions on our proposals for regional development agencies involving stakeholders.
Mr. Sheerman: I congratulate my right hon. Friend. I know of his long interest and campaigning zeal for regional development since the early 1980s. Will he take great care to make sure that all the stakeholders are involved? If the regional development strategy seems to be in the ownership of local authorities, we shall lose enormous expertise from the private sector, co-operatives and--very importantly--the universities. I hope that all the stakeholders will be at the forefront of implementing the policy and making sure that it works.
Mr. Prescott: I very much agree with my hon. Friend about those matters, which we are discussing with all the parties that he has mentioned. We would need public- private partnership operations to be reflected in the development associations and agencies, as they have been in Scotland and Wales--another successful innovation of a previous Labour Government.
Mr. Dafis: Will the Secretary of State tell us something about the Government's proposals in relation to integrating environmental policy into regional development policy? Does he have proposals, for example, at regional level to build on local Agenda 21s so that we have regional sustainable development strategies? How does he envisage that linking with the development of regional government in England?
Mr. Prescott: We very much support what the hon. Gentleman has said. Indeed, it is reflected in today's announcement of proposals for the Greater London authority, which see a strategic role for the environment in London as much as in any other region. It is important that sustainable development means that economic and environmental considerations are taken together, which is often to the benefit of the prosperity of the regions involved.
Mr. Blizzard: May I say how much businesses and local authorities in East Anglia are looking forward to the
establishment of a regional development agency? When my right hon. Friend considers the siting of the agency's headquarters, will he consider the economic impact that it could have, and consider siting it in the less prosperous parts of the region rather than in parts which always seem to be used by the Government for offices?
Mr. Prescott: I have never had any doubt that every region wanted a development agency. The tours in which my hon. Friend the Minister for the Regions, Regeneration and Planning has been involved have convinced us all the more of that. I recall that, before the previous Government came to power, they proposed in their manifesto to abolish the Welsh and Scottish agencies. They chose not to do so as soon as they saw the very valuable work done by the agencies.
With regard to the second point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney (Mr. Blizzard), we must be very careful, in the name of decentralisation, not to centralise in the regions themselves. That applies as much to the development agency as it does to political accountability. We are very sensitive to that.
Sir Norman Fowler:
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the welcome for regional development agencies about which the hon. Member for Waveney (Mr. Blizzard) talked is not remotely shared around the country? Is it not a fact that the new regional development agencies will not only have exceptionally wide powers, from acquisition of land to financing of business, but that every member of the boards of the RDAs will be appointed by the Secretary of State? Rather than reducing the power of quangos, as he often claims, is he not in the process of creating one of the most powerful new quangos that the country has ever seen?
Mr. Prescott:
It is a bit of a cheek for any Opposition Member to talk about the role of quangos, since they created many thousands of them--involving billions of pounds--which were not accountable to the ordinary electorate. We intend to make our agencies accountable. Today's statement on London showed that. When we have completed the consultation and the White Paper is published, the right hon. Gentleman will see--if he waits--the conclusions of those discussions. He belonged to a Government who did not believe in a directly elected mayor. I see that they have changed their position in opposition. Perhaps he will change with the consultation.
3. Mr. Canavan:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he is taking to encourage recycling for environmental reasons. [9350]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Angela Eagle):
We are looking carefully at both existing measures and at possible further measures to increase recycling. Recycling makes sense only if it represents the best practicable environmental option for a particular waste stream.
Mr. Canavan:
As the foundry industry is a recycling industry, will my hon. Friend support its strong case that
Angela Eagle:
As my hon. Friend will know, the landfill tax has been in existence for less than a year. We plan to look at how it operates this autumn, and I shall ensure that his comments are passed on to the people responsible for doing that. We shall see whether we can ensure that greensand has been properly classified for the purposes of landfill charge.
Sir Sydney Chapman:
Have the Government accepted, and are they implementing, the strategy set by the previous Government, aimed at recycling one quarter of all household waste by 2000 AD?
Angela Eagle:
We certainly hope to achieve the targets set by the previous Government, and perhaps even to improve on them. However, the mechanisms that they put in place for achieving the recycling targets are totally inadequate. As yet, only 6.5 per cent. of material is recycled and 12.5 per cent. recovered. The previous Government were good at setting the target but not so good at examining ways to achieve it. We shall consider issues such as recovery, waste minimisation, recycling, and the effects of the way in which the landfill tax works, so that we can introduce better incentives for reaching the targets that the hon. Gentleman mentioned.
Mrs. Anne Campbell:
I welcome the progress made towards increasing the recycling of glass, but will my hon. Friend examine ways of encouraging manufacturers to recycle bottles, which is common in other countries, as a means of making further energy savings?
Angela Eagle:
As my hon. Friend will know, the markets for recycled material are only just beginning to be established, and because of the large fluctuations in prices for such materials, they are not yet stable. My hon. Friend will be aware of the waste packaging regulations that have just been introduced, and we are assessing how those work. The Government are not only examining ways of encouraging the creation of markets for recyclable materials, but thinking about what we can do to encourage a more stable atmosphere, in which people can recycle.
There is overwhelming evidence that individuals wish to recycle. In response to a Gallup poll, 95 per cent. said that they wanted to do so. We want to create stable conditions in which it is easy for people to recycle, so that the streams of recyclable materials now being produced can be put to proper use, rather than ending up wonderfully separated but back in the landfill.
Mr. Bob Russell:
On the basis that Governments should lead by example, is the ministerial team happy with the record that it inherited, especially with regard to Government Departments? What steps do Ministers plan to take to improve on the previous Government's record?
Angela Eagle:
We are more than anxious to examine best practice at local authority level and in other areas. The Government can learn a good deal from some of the innovative schemes that local authorities have put in place. However, only 8 per cent. of local authorities are approaching even the targets that the previous Government set. Clearly, we must look to our own behaviour, which is why I recently hosted a conference on green procurement.
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