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Home Energy Efficiency Scheme
Mrs. Brinton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will expand the new Home Energy Efficiency Scheme to include energy efficiency improvements to the fabric of buildings constructed with solid walls. [101426]
Mr. Meacher: Households eligible for the New Homes Energy Efficiency Scheme (HEES) who live in properties with solid walls will receive loft insulation and draught proofing under the scheme, to improve the energy efficiency of the building fabric.
With regard to the solid wall insulation, as I detailed in the answer I gave on Tuesday 19 October 1999, Official Report, column 491W, this does not appear to be appropriate for the packages of improvements to be offered under the new HEES. Therefore external or internal wall insulation measures will not be available under the scheme.
Instead, the New HEES packages available for these solid wall properties include higher levels of heating improvements than those for cavity walled homes, so providing similar reductions in fuel costs for both types of property.
Sir Nicholas Lyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received as to the ability of Councillor Keith May to speak on behalf of his electorate in relation to former Land Settlement Association property; and if he will make a statement. [102716]
Ms Armstrong:
I have received three representations about this matter--the request for a dispensation under section 97 of the Local Government Act 1972 from Councillor Keith May, a letter from the Head of Members' Services at Bedford Borough Council and a letter from the right hon. and learned Member himself. I replied to the right hon. and learned Member on 22 December 1999.
Mr. Crausby:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what action he is taking to increase the productivity and reduce the running costs of his Department. [103842]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
Delivering efficient and modern public services is a key part of the Government's agenda for improving productivity. Greater efficiency is being sought therefore within the public sector to ensure that the most effective results are obtained from available resources. The Department's Public Service Agreement (PSA), set out in "Public Services for the Future", Cm 4181, includes a range of measures for taking this forward, both within the Department itself and in other public sector bodies.
Those measures which will help raise the Department's own productivity are listed at pages 29-31 of Cm 4181 and include:
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The Department's gross running costs provision for 1999-2000 to 2001-02 is set out in its PSA. The productivity measures listed above will enable the Department to increase the quantity and quality of outputs delivered by its running costs expenditure over this period.
Mr. Green:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many meetings his officials have attended with Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food officials on the joint review of flood and coastal defence funding. [103861]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
My officials have attended one meeting with officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The consultation document was agreed in correspondence and joint consideration is being given to the responses.
Mr. Green:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received on the joint review of flood and coastal defence funding. [103862]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and my Department have received 54 representations from a range of bodies concerned with flood and coastal defence. Copies of the responses have been placed in MAFF's library at 3, Whitehall Place, West Block, London SW1A 2HH and are available for inspection.
Mr. Green:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he is taking to ensure the joint review of flood and coastal defence funding meets his Department's objectives on the water environment; and if he will make a statement. [103860]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
The funding review is taking place in the context of Government policy on flood and coastal defence. The Environment Agency is making a full contribution to the review.
Mr. Wigley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will reply
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to the letter of 18 October sent by Nigel Petrie on behalf of Edison Mission Energy to Mr. L. Jaero of his Department; and if he will make a statement on how this issue has been handled by his Department. [103737]
Ms Armstrong:
The letter concerned the rateable value to be prescribed for pumped-storage energy schemes as part of the current revaluation of non-domestic rates. There are no pumped-storage schemes in England. The values of the plants at Dinorwig and Ffestiniog, which were the subject of Edison Mission Energy's letter, will be prescribed by the National Assembly for Wales.
The letter followed a series of meetings between electricity producers and officials from the Department, the Scottish Executive, the National Assembly for Wales and the Valuation Office Agency.
The Department copied the Company's letter to the Valuation Office Agency, who advise both the Department and the National Assembly for Wales on rating matters. However, officials mistakenly thought that Edison Mission Energy was aware of the constitutional position and that they had written separately to the National Assembly. The letter was not, therefore, forwarded to the Assembly and no reply was sent to the Company.
I regret this misunderstanding, which came to light when the Company wrote again to the Department on 17 December. The Department replied on 20 December and copied both the letters of 17 December and 18 October to officials in the National Assembly for Wales and the Scottish Executive.
Sir Geoffrey Johnson Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received from environmental groups concerning the proposed Countryside Bill. [103932]
Mr. Meacher:
Since the announcement of the Bill in the Queen's speech on 17 November, I have received a number of representations from groups and individuals, many of which have environmental interests. Our proposals have been broadly welcomed. Particular attention is being paid to the scope of our proposals for rights of access and the implications for occupiers of land, the detail of the rights of way proposals and the scope of our proposals for wildlife and for sites of special scientific interest.
Mr. Dobbin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department is taking to tackle the problems caused by drugs in local communities. [103382]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Action by the Home Office is being taken forward as part of the Government's 10-year national anti-drugs strategy "Tackling Drugs to Build a Better Britain", published in April 1998.
The Home Office is contributing to the strategy on several fronts. The Department's Drugs Prevention Advisory Service (DPAS), which succeeded the Drug
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Prevention Initiative on 1 April 1999, is actively promoting effective community-based drugs prevention and supporting the delivery of Aim 1 (helping young people resist drug misuse), and Aim 2 (protecting communities from drug-related anti-social and criminal behaviour) of the national strategy.
DPAS is the first Government drugs prevention organisation to cover the whole of England. It works closely with Drug Action Teams--the bodies charged with local delivery of the national strategy--to encourage and support the development of effective local prevention initiatives. DPAS also provides advice and support to community-based partnerships on how to address drug related problems within communities. In addition, it acts as a pressure point on other relevant initiatives and programmes such as community safety, crime reduction and community regeneration, to ensure that drug issues are included on those agendas.
"Better quality services" reviews over a five year period
Electronic Government measures. The Department's target is that 87 per cent. of its business transactions should be capable of being
conducted electronically by 2002, subject to the private insurance industry and Post Office Counters Limited achieving their own individual targets
sickness absence targets, and introducing measures to reduce the levels of sickness absence
measures to reduce the incidence of fraud
measures to improve procurement practice
specific productivity measures for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the Highways Agency, Planning Inspectorate, Health and Safety Commission and Executive, and DETR Central.
In addition, the 1999-2000 business plan for the Planning Inspectorate includes a target to generate a 3 per cent. efficiency improvement in the use of running costs compared with the previous year. The Highways Agency also has a series of performance indicators related to running costs, listed under key target 17 at Annex B of its business plan for 1999-2000 (copies of which are available in the Library of the House).
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