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Public Waste Incinerators
Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what are the current official guidelines on the building of public waste incinerators near densely populated areas. [68136]
Mr. Raynsford:
The building of public waste incinerators will normally require the grant of planning permission under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) and an authorisation under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Government guidance on the location of incinerators is included in Planning Policy Guidance note 23 "Planning and Pollution Control". This will be updated soon when Planning Policy Guidance note 10 "Planning and Waste Management" is published. The Department also issued a guidance note to local authorities in August 1997, on the provision of incinerators in connection with the slaughter of cattle under the "Over Thirty Months Scheme".
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Mr. Loughton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many public waste incinerators have been constructed in the UK in each of the last five years. [68134]
Mr. Meale:
Within England and Wales, one municipal waste incinerator was constructed in 1997. All other plants currently operating in England and Wales were significantly upgraded during the period in question, but no other plants were newly constructed during this period.
Mr. Loughton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what percentage of public waste is currently processed through (a) recycling, (b) landfill and (c) incineration. [68135]
Mr. Meale:
The table gives the percentage of municipal waste, collected by local authorities in England and Wales in 1996-97, which was treated or disposed of by different methods.
| Percentage | |
|---|---|
| Recycling | 7 |
| Landfill | 84 |
| Incineration without energy recovery | 3 |
| Incineration with energy recovery | 6 |
Source:
DETR/WO Municipal Waste Survey, 1996-97
Heavy Goods Vehicles
Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many HGVs have converted to road fuel gases since May 1997. [68164]
Ms Glenda Jackson: The number of HGVs able to run on road fuel gases increased from 41 vehicles in the first quarter of 1997 to 96 vehicles in the third quarter of 1998, according to the latest statistics from the DVLA vehicle register. While this increase is small, the Government expect that there will be strong growth in the number of HGVs converting to road fuel gases, particularly for those vehicles predominantly operating in urban areas.
Buses (Road Fuel Gases)
Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many public transport buses have converted to road fuel gases since May 1997. [68162]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The number of public service buses able to run on road fuel gases increased from 20 vehicles in the first quarter of 1997 to 53 vehicles in the third quarter of 1998, according to the latest statistics from the DVLA vehicle register. While this increase is small, the Government expect that there will be strong growth in the number of buses converting to road fuel gases, particularly for those vehicles predominantly operating in urban areas.
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Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the criteria which apply to (a) districts seeking to attain borough status and (b) boroughs seeking to attain city status; and if he will make a statement. [66804]
Mr. Raynsford:
A district council may petition Her Majesty The Queen for the grant of a charter conferring upon the district the status of borough. The resolution authorising the petition requires a two-thirds majority of the members at a meeting specially convened for that purpose. The title of city is an honour conferred by Her Majesty The Queen, by Letters Patent; it is not a right which can be claimed by the fulfilment of specific conditions.
Mr. Swayne:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many merchant vessels are registered under a British flag; and how many were so registered in May 1997. [68613]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The numbers of trading vessels registered at the end of the quarters nearest to May 1997 and at 30 September 1998, the latest available, are:
| Register | 31 March 1997 | 30 June 1997 | 30 September 1998 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 377 | 380 | 375 |
| Isle of Man | 130 | 139 | 158 |
| Channel Islands | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Jubilee Line
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the contingency plans in the event of the Jubilee Line extension not being completed in time for the Millennium Exhibition. [66796]
Ms Glenda Jackson: The Government have welcomed London Transport's phased opening strategy of the Jubilee Line Extension project and their confirmation that it will open in good time for the Millennium Experience. It would, however, be irresponsible not to have in place contingency arrangements to manage problems on any of the main transport links to the Millennium site over the Millennium Year, including any failure of the Jubilee Line. I therefore asked London Underground Ltd., through my Millennium Access Co-ordination Group, to lead the production of contingency plans for this and other eventualities.
London Underground have, in association with London's other transport operators, developed plans to cover a wide-range of possible scenarios and identified an underlying command and control strategy to direct the plans should they need to be invoked. An overview of the plans has recently been presented to my group, and we will be examining the detailed proposals shortly.
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The next phase will be to test and validate the plans, and to implement the control measures so that they are in a
Mr. Gareth R. Thomas:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he will announce the outcome of consultation on the local government finance settlement for 1999-2000; and if he will make a statement. [68858]
Mr. Prescott:
I have today laid before the House the Local Government Finance Report (England) 1999-2000 and the Special Grant Report (No. 37). These reports establish the amounts of revenue support grant (RSG) and non-domestic rates (NDR) to be paid to local authorities in 1999-2000, and the basis of their distribution; and provide for Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) Reduction Grant and Central Support Protection Grant to be paid to certain authorities for 1999-2000. Drafts of these reports were issued for consultation on 2 December 1998. The Department received written representations from the Local Government Association and the Association of London Government, as well as from 215 individual local authorities and six local authority groups. My Ministerial colleagues at DETR also met the Associations, 72 delegations from local councils and four from local authority groups.
My proposals included changes to grant distribution to give a fairer system. Having considered the views of the local authority associations and others who have commented on my initial proposals, I have decided to make only the changes in the SSA methodology which formed the basis of consultation, and no others. The SSAs for individual authorities may be slightly different from those at consultation, generally reflecting more accurate data that have become available since then.
However, changes in the method of distribution mean that some authorities do much less well than others. The change to the formula for children's social services, in particular, has had a serious impact on some authorities. Following representations, I have concluded that I should make some changes to my proposals for a Central Support Protection Grant. This will ensure that authorities with education responsibilities can continue to provide services while they adjust their spending plans. I shall therefore provide an extra £30 million in Central Support Protection Grant to ensure that all authorities with education and social services responsibilities receive at least 1.5 per cent. more grant in 1999-2000 than they did in 1998-99. I can also confirm that no local authority will receive less grant in 1999-2000 than they did in 1998-99.
I also received representations from local government on council tax benefit subsidy limitation. I have considered these carefully but decided to make no change to the scheme I proposed on 2 December.
This year's local government finance settlement is the most generous since the introduction of the council tax. We have made grant distribution fairer. No authority will lose grant next year. Many will benefit from substantially increased resources, reflecting a 5.5 per cent. overall increase in funding.
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For the longer term, we have published SSA totals for the next three years, and do not expect to make further changes in the method of distribution. Authorities therefore have a firm basis for planning long term, sustained service improvements.
There is no excuse on the basis of this settlement for councils to inflict steep council tax rises on their local communities. Our increased funding for local government is generous, but affordable. We look to councils to strike the same balance.
'state of readiness for implementation' by the Autumn.
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