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London Transport
Mr. Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 25 February 1999, Official Report, column 404, on London Transport, what is the asset value of buildings held by London Transport. [81115]
Ms Glenda Jackson: As at 31 March 1998, the total net value for the London Transport Group, net of depreciation and disposals and based on (1) infrastructure and other property and (2) assets in the course of construction, is £6,133.1 million.
Water Metering
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what consultations he has had with water companies and the Water Regulator about extending the scope of water metering to include homes which have undergone extensions and conversions since 1990. [80904]
Mr. Meale: Under the Water Industry Act 1991, water undertakers may fix charges by reference to such matters, and may adopt such methods and principles for the calculation and imposition of the charges, as appear to them to be appropriate. They therefore have considerable scope to extend metering to customers, including to those whose properties have been extended or converted since 1990.
However, clause 7 of the Water Industry Bill, currently before Parliament, would introduce a new right for households to remain on an unmeasured charge in their present homes, save where they are meeting certain conditions. My right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment indicated during the Second Reading of the Bill, 7 December 1998, Official Report, column 46, that we envisaged the right to remain on an unmeasured charge would not apply where premises are used for commercial purposes, where there is a garden sprinkler or swimming pool use, where they have a power shower consuming more than 20 litres per minute or where there is use of a water-softening unit that requires backwashing.
Regional Development Agencies
Mr. Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has had from each regional development agency concerning the budgets given to them by his Department; what his response has been; if he will list the regional development agencies with which his Department is in dispute over the budget allocation; what mechanisms he plans to introduce to enable regional development agencies to negotiate for their budgets in the future; what impact disputes between the regional development agencies and his Department on the budget allocation are having on the day-to-day running of the agencies; and if he will make a statement. [80795]
Mr. Meale:
My right hon. Friend the Minister for the Regions, Regeneration and Planning has received a letter from the Chairman of the South West of England Regional Development Agency about funding for staff engaged on projects to regenerate the Royal William Yard, Plymouth and Temple Quay, Bristol. Discussions
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are taking place between officials of the Department and officers of the Agency and my right hon. Friend will reply to the Chairman as soon as these are complete.
There have also been contacts between officials in the Department and officers in other regional development agencies about their budgets. These discussions have been constructive and do not amount to our being "in dispute" with the agencies.
For future years, the agencies will bid for resources as part of an annual corporate planning round.
Mr. Sanders:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to cap the prices charged by water companies which raise their charges by unjustifiable amounts; and if he will make a statement. [80787]
Mr. Meale:
Water companies in England and Wales are subject to economic regulation by the Director General of Water Services. The Director General sets annual price limits and oversees the operation of the tariff basket, to which overall price limits apply.
Mr. Sanders:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the (a) expected and (b) actual receipts from council tax for each year since the council tax was introduced. [80789]
Ms Armstrong:
The information requested is in the table.
| £ million | ||
|---|---|---|
| Expected receipts | Actual receipts | |
| 1993-94 | 7,349 | 6,807 |
| 1994-95 | 7,721 | 7,220 |
| 1995-96 | 8,220 | 7,770 |
| 1996-97 | 8,830 | 8,404 |
| 1997-98 | 9,562 | 9,134 |
Shorthold Tenancies
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to seek powers to prevent the practice of charging rent premiums on assured shorthold tenancy renewals; and if he will make a statement. [81143]
Mr. Raynsford:
We have no plans at present to seek powers to prevent the practice of some landlords and letting agents charging fees to renew assured shorthold tenancy agreements. However, we will keep the situation
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under review and if there is clear evidence that there is significant abuse, we will consider whether anything can be done to prevent excessive fees from being charged.
Mr. Edwards:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the objectors to the application to release genetically modified organisms in Monmouthshire. [81347]
Mr. Meacher:
The objectors who wrote to the Department to raise concerns about the proposed release were private individuals and we do not have their authority to publish their names.
Mr. Ottaway:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he expects to announce the interim location of the Greater London Authority. [81575]
Mr. Raynsford:
I expect to be able to make an announcement shortly.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will investigate the appearance on beaches in the South West of beheaded dolphins; and if he will make a statement. [81393]
Mr. Meale:
The Department continues to contract the Institute of Zoology to post-mortem small cetaceans that strand around the shores of England and Wales. The two animals found since the beginning of 1999 on the south Devon coast, which were reported to have been decapitated, were not post-mortemed because they were in too decomposed a state to yield reliable results.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what measures the Government have taken to tackle fuel poverty in pensioner households. [80944]
Mr. Meale:
We have taken a number of actions to help people suffering from fuel poverty, including pensioner households.
We have reduced the level of VAT on fuel, so that people can more easily afford to keep warm. We have also reduced the VAT on energy saving materials installed through Government grant schemes, so that they can more easily insulate their homes. We are now exploring with the European Commission the possibility of a wider reduction in VAT on energy saving materials.
We have released substantial additional funds to help improve our housing stock; in total some £5 billion is being made available over the lifetime of this Parliament for investment in housing. Most of the additional resources are going to local authorities and will be spent according to the needs and priorities identified in their housing strategy. We estimate that around one third of the money is likely to lead directly or indirectly to improvements in energy efficiency.
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We have also allocated an additional £150 million specifically to tackling fuel poverty through domestic energy efficiency improvements. This is in addition to the existing £75 million a year expenditure on the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme, our main programme to help insulate the homes of the neediest householders.
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