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Housing Associations
Ms Jennifer Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many housing associations have been registered by the Housing Corporation since May 1992; and what proportion of them were housing co-operatives. [14709]
Mr. Raynsford: Since May 1992 a total of 163 social landlords have been registered with the Housing Corporation; 16 per cent. (26) of these were housing co-operatives.
Drink-Driving
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will introduce a lower permitted maximum alcohol blood level for drivers of road vehicles. [15038]
Ms Glenda Jackson: We are currently considering a number of measures to combat drink-driving, including the case for reducing the present maximum permitted blood-alcohol level for drivers.
Derelict Sites
Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimates he has made, by county, of the number of derelict sites in England; and how many of these sites were formerly used for (i) sport and (ii) recreation. [15155]
Mr. Raynsford:
The latest information is from a survey of derelict land undertaken in 1993, which provides estimates of the area of derelict land by type of dereliction at county and district level. This information
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is included in Table 5 of "Survey of Derelict Land in England 1993 Volume 2--Reference Tables", a copy of which is in the House of Commons Library. There is no information available on the number of derelict sites at county level.
Derelict land is defined as
It is unlikely that sites formerly used for sport and recreation would fall under this definition, and such sites were not separately classified within the types of dereliction recorded.
The Department's Land Use Change Statistics for England show that from 1985 to 1992, some 640 hectares of land previously used for outdoor recreation, or leisure and recreational buildings, became vacant or derelict. However, in some cases this will have been an intermediate stage before redevelopment.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the breakdown was by region of (a) freight facilities grants and (b) track access grants in the most recent available year; and if he will make a statement. [15313]
The Government are committed to encouraging greater take-up of grants from all regions.
Ms Glenda Jackson:
In the 1996-97 financial year seven rail and one inland waterways freight facilities grants were awarded in England:
"land so damaged by industrial or other development that it is incapable of beneficial use without treatment".
It is not possible to allocate track access grants to specific regions since the grant aided traffic traverses more than one region and, in one case, all regions. Awards of track access grant are paid over a number of years; in 1996-97 £12.3 million was paid to five claimants.
| Region | Number of awards | Value of awards £ |
|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 2 (rail) | 1,335,472 |
| Yorkshire and Humber | 2 (rail) | 509,787 |
| North West | 1 (rail) | 230,805 |
| North East | 1 (rail) | 402,029 |
| London | 1 (rail) | 1,904,032 |
| South East | 1 (Inland Waterways grant) | 47,338 |
Home Energy Efficiency Scheme
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what the total amount of money available is under the home energy efficiency scheme in the current winter to help meet the cost of loft, tank and pipe insulation, draught proofing and energy advice; [15177]
- (2) what is the maximum award available under the home energy efficiency scheme. [15176]
Angela Eagle
[holding answer 10 November 1997]: The Home Energy Efficiency Scheme helps vulnerable families keep warmer and use less energy by paying grant, to a maximum of £315, towards the cost of improving the
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energy efficiency standards of their homes. The measures available are loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, controls for heating systems, draught proofing, energy efficient lamps and water tank insulation. In addition, personal advice on energy use is offered. The scheme is open to householders who receive income-related benefits, disability allowances or are aged 60 or over; £75.1 million has been allocated to it in 1997-98. Expenditure is spread evenly throughout the year for maximum efficiency.
I shall review the scheme shortly to check that it is helping the people who need it most. I will also ensure that it complements effectively the home insulation schemes to assist pensioners which I expect to emerge from our Capital receipts and Environment Task Force initiatives.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the landfill sites where disposal of (a) clinical waste, (b) radioactive waste and (c) special waste is permitted, and where no liner is in place within the landfill site. [14525]
Angela Eagle:
Site licences and supporting information is available on the public register. The information is not available in the form requested. However, the Environment Agency is undertaking work to provide a fuller response, and I will write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Baker:
To aske the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many landfill sites have been in operation in England in each of the last 10 years; and how many, in each year, have operated with no liner in place on all part of the site. [14526]
Angela Eagle:
There are currently a total of 1,838 sites of which 256 are notes as lined or leachate managed and 1,582 where liner and leachate management is not mentioned. Some of these sites may, however, be lined or leachate managed. Data for site licences prior to 1997 are also publicly available, but additional time would be needed to undertake the numerical analysis as these data were originally collected by the individual waste regulation authorities--prior to the establishment of the Environment Agency in April 1996. The information could not, therefore, be obtained other than at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions at what percentage of landfill sites in England the methane produced is used to feed electricity into the national grid. [14530]
Angela Eagle:
The Environment Agency is responsible for waste regulation in England and Wales. Separate figures are not immediately available for England. However, 499 landfill sites in England and Wales accept significant amounts of biodegradable waste which will generate methane; 108 of these sites extract the methane gas and flare it; 52 sites utilise the methane they extract to produce electricity. This represents 10.4 per cent. of the sites that are capable of producing methane.
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Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions in what circumstances landfill sites are allowed to operate with no liner. [14531]
Angela Eagle:
Any planning permission or site licence granted for landfill in the past 10 years will have been based on a site specific risk assessment, which will have established the need for, and specification and performance standard of, a liner system. This accords with the guidance provided in Waste Management Paper 26B. There will be examples where the risk assessment confirms that no liner or specific containment system is necessary in order to achieve the required environmental protection. In these cases the site can operate without a liner. Considerations will include the nature of the wastes and prediction of degradation processes (inert or biodegradable wastes), site characteristics (natural clay containment of fissured limestone) and proposed after use. The approach is therefore based on the concept of deriving design performance standards through the use of probabilistic risk assessment, to estimate an acceptable impact on the surrounding environment.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list (a) the total waste disposal in each year since 1986 (i) in absolute terms and (ii) per head of population and (b) the percentage of waste in each year since 1986 which has been (1) landfilled, (2) incinerated and (3) recycled. [14527]
Angela Eagle:
Annually updated information has not been collated centrally on a regular basis for the disposal of all controlled waste streams. Best estimates of the proportion of controlled wastes, excluding sewage sludge and dredged spoils going to each of the main waste management options in 1990 are given in the table:
| Type of waste | Landfill | Incineration | Recycled/re-used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Household | 90 | 5 | 5 |
| Commercial | 85 | 7.5 | 7.5 |
| Construction and demolition | 63 | 0 | 30 |
| Other industrial | 73 | 1 | 18 |
| Total | 70 | 2 | 21 |
In a new survey of household and municipal waste carried out by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Welsh Office, local authorities in England and Wales reported that 83 per cent. of municipal waste was disposed of to landfill, almost 10 per cent. was incinerated, about half of that with energy recovery and about 7 per cent. was recycled.
Information on the disposal of sewage sludge is published annually in the "Digest of Environmental Statistics". Typically in recent years approximately 10 per cent. of sewage sludge was disposed of to landfill and around 5 per cent. was incinerated. A further 8 to 10 per cent. was used beneficially in land reclamation and soil and compost products.
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