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Office Refurbishment
Mr. Terry Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has for the refurbishment of ministerial offices in his Department; and what is the estimated cost of the works and date of completion. [11873]
Angela Eagle: We have no plans for refurbishment of ministerial offices.
Community Land Schemes
Mr. Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will review community land schemes. [11585]
Mr. Raynsford:
If my hon. Friend would let me know those aspects of current arrangements which he believes should be reviewed, I would be pleased to give the matter my careful attention.
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Mr. Peter Bottomley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is the cost to public funds, including the cost of management initiatives, hardware, software and retraining, of changing to common form the differing installations and practices developed by the former Departments of the Environment and of Transport for their internal financial and other information systems, staff records and pay and grading systems. [11944]
Angela Eagle:
Final decisions have not yet been taken on the future of all these systems. It is expected that over time the merger will result in overall reductions in the running costs of the new Department.
Mr. Bottomley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions by what proportions and with what direct full-year consequences in annual cost to public funds, the aggregate staff expressed in full-time equivalents of the former Departments of the Environment and of Transport have been reduced in 1995-96 and 1996-97; and what are the estimated figures for (a) 1997-98 and (b) 1998-99. [11945]
Angela Eagle:
The most recent published information is contained in the respective 1997 annual reports of the former departments of the Environment and of Transport, which show that staff numbers and the associated running costs were as follows:
| 1995-96 (outturn) | 1996-97 (estimated) | 1997-98 (planned) | 1998--99 (planned) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Environment | ||||
| Aggregate staff (FTE) | 4,527 | 3,846 | 3,755 | 3,667 |
| Year on year percentage change | -- | -15 | -2 | -2 |
| Associated running costs (£ million) | 226 | 229 | 204 | 198 |
| Year on year percentage change | -- | +1 | -11 | -3 |
| Department of Transport | ||||
| Aggregate staff (FTE) | 8,532 | 7,704 | 7,649 | 7,550 |
| Year on year percentage change | -- | -10 | -1 | -1 |
| Associated running costs (£ million) | 395 | 401 | 373 | 354 |
| Year on year percentage change | -- | +2 | -7 | -5 |
Mr. Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was his initial estimate of the cost to public funds of reintegrating the former Departments of the Environment and of Transport. [11882]
Angela Eagle: The estimated costs of the merger are still being prepared. These will depend on decisions regarding the systems to be adopted and the structure of the new Department. It is expected that over time the merger will result in overall reductions to running costs.
Mr. Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was the initial estimate of costs at current prices of separating a Department of Transport from the Department of the Environment in 1976. [11883]
Angela Eagle:
At this distance in time the information required to answer the question is no longer available.
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Mr. Cotter:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many business organisations and individual businesses he intends to consult in his review of business rates. [11787]
Mr. Raynsford:
We shall be consulting the business community as widely as possible. We are currently considering the best way of involving representatives of the business community in the work of the review. Any proposals for change will be the subject of a full public consultation exercise allowing all business organisations and businesses to comment.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many hon. Members have requested meetings with Ministers of his Department since 1 May in relations to issues of compulsory competitive tendering; how many such requests have been refused; and how many remain outstanding as of 24 July. [11221]
Mr. Raynsford:
Since 1 May, there have been three requests from hon. Members for meetings with Ministers about compulsory competitive tendering. Two of these requests were declined and the third is under consideration.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what funding is presently committed from his departmental budget for (a) 1997-98, (b) 1998-99 and (c) 1999-2000 to resolve the year 2000 computer problem; and if he will make a statement. [11898]
Angela Eagle:
To date, committed resources primarily relate to internal staff working in line with CCTA guidance to produce detailed, costed plans by October 1997. These plans will inform decisions on budgetary commitments necessary to meet target dates for corrective work. It is expected that costs will be met from existing public expenditure survey provision.
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the previous Government's projections for the number of new homes required by 2011; and if he will make a statement. [11595]
Mr. Raynsford:
The most recent household projections have been subject to considerable public scrutiny since their publication in March 1995, in particular by the Environment Select Committee in evidence for its report on housing need in 1996. I am satisfied that they were the best that could be made with the available data and that they accurately reflect recent trends.
While generally endorsing the projections, the Committee recommended that the Department continue to examine the extent to which household formation is affected by economic and social factors. This is currently being addressed by the department of applied economics,
31 Jul 1997 : Column: 542
Cambridge university, as part of a wider research project for the Department on the modelling of the need for social housing. The project has been extended beyond its original completion date and should now be finalised by the autumn.
Last year, the Department also commissioned Heriot-Watt university to undertake a detailed literature review on household formation, with particular emphasis on evaluating the available evidence on the extent to which economic factors affect the propensity for new households to form. This work has recently been completed and the report will be released on Monday, 4 August. Copies will be placed in the House Libraries.
Mr. Barron:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what decision he has made concerning planning application reference R96/684P for a leisure development at Catcliffe, South Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement. [11600]
Mr. Raynsford:
The Secretary of State has been waiting for further information from Rotherham metropolitan borough council. This has recently been received and he expects to make a decision soon on whether or not to call in this application.
Mr. Terry Lewis:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what decisions Green Ministers took at their meeting, on 30 July. [11881]
Mr. Meacher:
At our first meeting, we agreed to establish a programme of work to support the strategic decisions taken by the new Cabinet Committee on the Environment. We considered ways of building sustainable development into policy formulation at the highest level and looked at ways of ensuring that Departments consider sustainable development and the environment in implementing their policies and programmes.
As background to our work, we are today publishing the results of a consultancy study by KPMG that the last Administration commissioned to gauge how far it was meeting its commitment to assess the potential environmental impact of new policy proposals. The study shows that while Departments had begun to take better account of environmental impacts, much more needed to be done to ensure that policies were systematically considered. Copies of the study will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
To address the shortcomings some of the practical measures we are introducing immediately are:
31 Jul 1997 : Column: 543
(i) a new sustainable development unit in the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions to support all Departments and to produce an aide-memoire for policy advisers, reminding them of the need to incorporate environmental considerations into policy appraisals for those policies where environmental impacts might be significant, and setting out the steps that ought to be taken in doing so. It will also provide a central contact point for Departments.
(ii) DETR economists, in consultation with other Departments represented on the Inter Departmental Group on Environmental Costs and Benefits, will provide more technical guidance to those who are frequently involved in
the environmental aspects of policy appraisal. When available this guidance and the aide-memoirs will replace "Policy Appraisal and the Environment".
We agreed to undertake regular collective reviews of the quality and scope of such assessments.
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