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Water Extraction
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many gallons of water have been extracted by Thames Water from the River Darenth in each of the last five years; and how many gallons it is estimated will be extracted in each of the next five years. [66008]
Mr. Meale: Thames Water Utilities Ltd. make no direct abstractions from the River Darenth itself but the company does abstract groundwater from the river's catchment. The actual and forecast groundwater abstractions by the company from this catchment are set out below. Phase 1 of the Darenth Action Plan came into operation on 1 January 1997 and the forecast figures assume that Phase 2 will become operational, as planned, in 2001-02.
| million gallons | |
|---|---|
| Year | Actual abstraction |
| 1993-94 | 5002.3 |
| 1994-95 | 6231.7 |
| 1995-96 | 6339.8 |
| 1996-97 | 5499.6 |
| 1997-98 | 4792.1 |
| million gallons | |
|---|---|
| Year | Forecast abstraction |
| 1998-99 | 4818.0 |
| 1999-2000 | 4818.0 |
| 2000-01 | 4818.0 |
| 2001-02 | 4095.0 |
| 2002-03 | 4095.0 |
Unadopted Roads
Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what is his estimate of the number of unadopted roads in England; [65896]
- (2) what is his current estimate of the number of unadopted roads made up in each of the last five years, excluding newly-built estates; [65897]
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(3) what estimate he has made of the number of people who live on unadopted roads in England. [65895]
Ms Glenda Jackson: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer to a written question on the same subject on 14 July 1998, Official Report, column 118, from my hon. Friend the Member for North-East Derbyshire (Mr. Barnes).
Given that no central records of unadopted roads exist, it is also not possible to give an overall estimate for England of the number of people who live in them.
Caroline Flint:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is the financial allocation made to local authorities for the making up of unadopted roads in the local government settlement 1999-2000. [65898]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
Financial allocations to local authorities in the 1999-2000 Revenue Support Grant settlement are based on characteristics of local authorities including the lengths of adopted roads weighted to reflect their classifications. RSG is however an unhypothecated grant. The settlement takes no account of unadopted roads, whose upkeep is, in the majority of cases, the responsibility of the frontagers.
19 Jan 1999 : Column: 444
Mr. Gerrard:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he expects to publish his consultation paper on the treatment of contaminated land. [66091]
Mr. Meale:
Our target date for publication of a consultation paper, which will set out a revised draft of the statutory guidance to be issued under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, is the end of February at the latest.
Ms Kelly:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what percentage of new housing was built on greenfield sites in each year from 1992 to 1998. [65759]
Mr. Raynsford:
There is no specific definition of 'greenfield' land. The information available relates to housing built on land that has not been previously developed. The Department's Land Use Change Statistics for England provide information on (a) the percentage of new dwellings (excluding conversions) built on land not previously developed for urban uses and (b) the proportion of land used for new housing that was not previously developed. The table shows results for the above measures for the period 1992 to 1996 (the most recent available).
19 Jan 1999 : Column: 443
| Year | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 (6) | Average 1992-1996 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of new dwellings(5) built on land not previously developed | 47 | 48 | 51 | 47 | 47 | 48 |
| Percentage of land used for new housing that was not previously developed | 54 | 53 | 56 | 52 | 53 | 54 |
(5) Excludes conversions
(6) Provisional estimate
Source:
Land Use Change Statistics
19 Jan 1999 : Column: 443
Waste Strategy
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what responses he has received to his consultation paper on a waste strategy, "Less Waste: More Value"; what is the time scale for implementation of that waste strategy; what conclusions he has reached on the subjects of (a) waste minimisation and (b) recycling; and if he will make a statement. [65769]
Mr. Meale:
The Government's consultation paper on reviewing the waste management strategy for England and Wales, "Less Waste: More Value", was launched by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment on 9 June 1998. During the consultation period over 28,000 copies of the document were distributed. The consultation period ended on 25 September 1998, by which time 652 submissions had been received by my Department, including 267 submissions from local authorities. In addition, 137 members of the public wrote to Ministers following the launch of the consultation document and its attendant publicity in the media.
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"Less Waste: More Value" set out a range of options and questions on what policies the Government should pursue, in order to:
We are now in the process of developing these policies, which will be published for consultation, as part of the draft of the new waste strategy for England and Wales. The Government intend to publish a draft of the new waste strategy during the Spring of 1999 and will consult with all interested parties during the Summer. We plan to publish a final version of the new waste strategy as a Command Paper before the end of 1999.
Mr. Love:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what advice he has sought regarding the strategy to be pursued to achieve the Government's waste recycling targets for Greater London; how the Government intend to achieve these targets without placing greater reliance on landfill sites;
19 Jan 1999 : Column: 445
what is his strategy regarding incineration and the development of combined heat and power; and if he will make a statement. [65771]
Mr. Meale:
The new Mayor of London will have a duty to prepare an integrated municipal waste management strategy for London. This will have regard to the national waste strategy, due to be published later this year, and local authority waste recycling plans. In the meantime, the Government are providing London Boroughs with £12 million under the Capital Challenge Programme to boost recycling levels in London.
Waste to energy incineration must be considered in the context of an integrated approach to waste management, which encourages waste minimisation, re-use and recycling. Where waste incineration with energy recovery is the best practicable environmental option, the potential for incorporating CHP should always be considered in order to maximise the energy which is recovered.
Mr. Love:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what role he envisages for incineration in achieving his waste strategy for London; what plans he has to place a moratorium on the development or expansion of incinerator capacity; what advice his Department will issue to local authorities on (a) the scale of any future facilities and (b) the length of disposal contracts for incineration; and if he will make a statement. [65770]
Mr. Meale:
Waste incineration is currently an integral part of waste disposal in London and in the consultation paper issued last year on the national waste strategy the Government took the view that there was likely to be a need for higher levels of incineration with energy recovery in future. We do not plan to place a moratorium on the development or expansion of incinerator capacity in London, nor do we plan to issue advice to local authorities on the scale of future facilities or the length of disposal contracts.
Mr. McLoughlin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much was paid (a) in total and (b) to individual bus companies under the bus fuel rebate scheme in each of the last five years. [66017]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The information requested in (a) is as follows:
encourage, and emphasise the importance of, actions to minimise the waste that we produce (both in terms of volume and hazardousness); and
substantially increase the recycling and composting rates for waste, as part of an integrated strategy which also addresses the issue of waste that it does not make sense to recycle.
| Year | £ million |
|---|---|
| 1993-94 | 220 |
| 1994-95 | 224 |
| 1995-96 | 229 |
| 1996-97 | 228 |
| 1997-98 | 227 |
Expenditure is expected to be £270 million in this financial year, reflecting the increase in the rate of rebate in line with this year's increase in duty.
The amount paid to individual bus companies is regarded as commercially confidential.
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