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Park Homes Working Party
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many meetings have been held by his Department's Park Homes working party. [83285]
Mr. Raynsford [holding answer 4 May 1999]: The Working Party has met five times to date and is making useful progress.
Council Tax
Mr. Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the advantages and disadvantages of the width of council tax bands G and H; and if he will take steps to reduce the width of these bands before any general revaluation. [83237]
Ms Armstrong: We cannot make any changes to the valuation bands unless we carry out a revaluation of all dwellings. Last year we fully considered whether the current council tax bands should be changed and whether a revaluation was required. We set out our conclusions in the White Paper, "Modern Local Government--In Touch with the People". We explained that the council tax was generally working well and that we do not plan to make any fundamental changes to the council tax, or carry out a revaluation, during the course of this Parliament.
Builders and Roofers
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he has taken to protect the public from dishonest and incompetent builders and roofers. [83146]
Mr. Raynsford: I refer the hon. Member to my oral answer of 13 April 1999, Official Report, columns 1-3, which I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Wentworth (Mr. Healey).
Planning Applications (Freight)
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions on how many occasions since March 1994, he or his predecessors have intervened during consideration of (a) a development plan
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and (b) an individual planning application, because the proposals would conflict with the potential to carry freight by water or rail. [82884]
Mr. Raynsford:
Since March 1994 the Secretary of State has issued 34 directions to local planning authorities for them to change policies or proposals in their development plans; none of these concerned conflict with the potential to carry freight by water/rail. Information is not held centrally on the reasons for call-in of planning applications by the Secretary of State in that period. Such information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the circumstances which led to the suspension of services and the closure of Fenchurch Street Station on Wednesday, 20 April; and if he will make a statement on the measures taken to avoid future closures. [83305]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
I understand from Railtrack that services to Fenchurch Street Station on 20 April were suspended as a result of power failure. The decision to close the station was taken by the train operator, LTS Rail Ltd. Railtrack say that they are committed to reducing the delays to train services caused by infrastructure failure.
Mr. Pickthall:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what proposals he has for strengthening the Hedgerow Regulations; [83043]
Mr. Meale:
Recommendations to the Government for strengthening the Hedgerows Regulations 1997, put forward by the group which reviewed them, were published in July 1998. The group recommended that research should be commissioned into the impact of their proposals, before final decisions were taken. We are studying the results of that research.
(2) what measures he proposes for increasing the percentage of hedgerows protected in the North West Region. [83042]
Question Time
Mr. Baker: To ask the President of the Council what changes she plans to make to the allocation of oral question time for the (a) Secretary of State for Scotland and (b) Secretary of State for Wales; and if she will make a statement. [82828]
Mrs. Beckett:
I have asked the Procedure Committee for its views on whether the amount of time allocated for such oral questions should be reduced once the new
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legislatures are functioning. I understand that the Committee is due to report soon and I will take its views into account before reaching a decision.
Cleveland Police
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) if she will publish the references provided for the former Deputy Chief Constable of the Cleveland Police in support of his application for the post of Deputy Commissioner of Royal Turks and Caicos Islands; [82685]
(2) if she will publish the names of individuals who provided the reference for the former Deputy Chief Constable of Cleveland Police for the post of Deputy Commissioner of Royal Turks and Caicos Islands. [82686]
Clare Short: It would not be proper for the Department for International Development to disclose the names of those who supply references for individuals applying for posts with the department.
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Genetically Modified Crops
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence he has obtained that contact with some genetically modified crops could lead to antibiotic resistance in humans; and if he will make a statement. [82628]
Mr. Rooker: There is no evidence that contact with genetically modified (GM) crops will lead to antibiotic resistance in humans. The Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes rigorously assesses each application for a GM food before it is allowed onto the market. As part of this assessment, it looks very carefully at the use of antibiotic markers and recommends against approval in those circumstances where it considers that there is a finite risk that their use might give rise to an increase in resistance against clinically important antibiotics.
Draft Food Standards Agency Bill
Mr. Dafis: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what environmental appraisal was made of the draft Food Standards Agency Bill; and what changes were made to the draft Bill as a result. [82854]
Mr. Rooker: We did not consider that the provisions of the draft Bill establishing this new body with a range of enabling powers would themselves have significant implications for the environment. We do however envisage that the individual actions and decisions taken by the Agency in the exercise of its powers will, where relevant, be subject to environmental appraisal.
School Milk
Mr. Pickthall:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps his Department is taking
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to encourage the uptake of the EU subsidy for school milk. [82772]
Mr. Rooker
[holding answer 4 May 1999]: Last year, my noble Friend Lord Donoughue asked the Intervention Board to promote the EU scheme in England and Wales, and similar exercises were carried out in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Board is also working to identify ways of simplifying the arrangements.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many Salmon letters have been sent out by the BSE inquiry in preparation for Phase II of the inquiry; to whom they were sent; how many have been withdrawn; and what is the total cost of providing legal assistance to recipients of letters pertaining to Phase II of the BSE inquiry. [83262]
Mr. Rooker
[holding answer 4 May 1999]: The distribution of Salmon letters is a confidential process which is entirely a matter for the Committee of Inquiry and individual recipients; I am therefore unable to provide the information requested.
Mr. Blizzard:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made in developing targets for flood and coastal defence operating authorities and in developing the Environment Agency's general flood defence supervisory duty. [83462]
Mr. Morley:
I am pleased to announce the publication, today, of interim targets for flood and coastal defence operating authorities and elaboration of the Environment Agency's supervisory duty. I am placing a copy in the Library of the House.
The targets are designed to assist in developing a seamless and integrated service of flood forecasting, warning and response as well as a more certain delivery of Government policy towards flood and coastal defence. They follow recommendations, which the Government accepted, in last year's Agriculture Select Committee's report on flood and coastal defence and in the Independent Report on the Easter 1998 floods.
These interim targets will, among other things, set in hand arrangements for flood and coastal defence assets to be identified, recorded on a central database and their integrity assessed. There are also targets in relation to other important issues such as completion and implementation of Water Level Management Plans and Shoreline Management Plans, as well as wider environmental objectives.
These targets, and elaboration of the Environment Agency's supervisory duty, have been developed in full co-operation with the Agency, the Association of Drainage Authorities and the Local Government Association and in consultation with a wide range of relevant organisations. I have been impressed by the strong support we have had both for the overall approach we have adopted and for the particular measures we are introducing.
A more comprehensive set of targets, and further elaboration of the Environment Agency's supervisory duty, will be developed over the next year for adoption
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from March 2000. We will continue to work in a consultative way and I shall continue to keep Parliament informed of developments.
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