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Millennium Dome
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the value of the site of the Dome (a) with and (b) without the Dome building. [116364]
Ms Armstrong: A pre-sale valuation of the site is being undertaken in the context of the competition to identify a use for the Dome when the Millennium Experience finishes. The Government estimate of the financial value of the site is commercially confidential until the end of the competition.
Drinking Water
Mr. Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was the cost of removing (a) pesticides and (b) nitrates from drinking water supplies in each of the last five years. [116656]
Mr. Mullin:
The Director General of the Water Services collects this information from each of the licensed water and sewerage companies in England and Wales, via their July Return. The Director General
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informs me that capital expenditure to remove nitrates and pesticides from drinking water supplies (in 1998-99 prices) in each of the five years was:
| To remove nitrates from drinking water supplies | To remove pesticides from drinking water supplies | |
|---|---|---|
| 1994-95 | 20 | 138 |
| 1995-96 | 9 | 160 |
| 1996-97 | 5 | 121 |
| 1997-98 | 6 | 64 |
| 1998-99 | 6 | 11 |
| Total | 46 | 494 |
There are also running costs associated with nitrate and pesticide removal but neither the Director General or the Government hold this information.
New Dwellings
Mr. Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what annual scale of migration of (a) people and (b) households into the South East from (i) London and (ii) the rest of England is assumed in his proposals for new dwellings to be provided in the next five years. [116654]
Ms Beverley Hughes: The latest sub-national population projections, from the Office for National Statistics, project annual net migration in 2001 into the South East Government Office region from London to be 28,200, and annual net migration from the region to the rest of England to be 5,400. By 2006 annual net migration into the region from London is projected to be 28,000 and annual net migration from the region to the rest of England to be 6,700.
The population projections take account of these migration assumptions. They are one of the inputs used to calculate the household projections. No explicit migration components are identified in the household projections.
Household Statistics
Mr. Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will estimate the number of households for each five year period between 1996 and 2021 for each English county and metropolitan area assuming zero net internal migration. [116655]
Ms Beverley Hughes: This information is not currently available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
DVLA
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many birth and marriage certificates have been lost by the DVLA since the introduction of the new driving licence with a photograph. [116507]
Mr. Hill:
DVLA had reimbursed the replacement cost of 220 birth certificates and the 32 marriage certificates. Of these, the Royal Mail accepted responsibility for the
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loss of 141 birth certificates and 20 marriage certificates. During the period April 1999 to date DVLA has issued over 3 million photocard licences.
Jane Griffiths:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the avenues open to a member of the public to resolve a dispute with a water company about the notional rateable value of their home. [116491]
Mr. Mullin:
Notional rateable values are used by water companies to set water charges for some premises. Rateable values ceased to be used for local taxation in 1990.
Customer complaints are investigated by the regional Customer Service Committees (CSC) of the Office of Water Services on behalf of the Director General. If the CSC does not resolve a complaint to the customer's satisfaction, the customer can ask for the complaint to be considered by the Director.
The exercise of the Director's statutory functions is subject to the scrutiny of the courts and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration.
Mr. Oaten:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the levels of traffic growth for (a) England, (b) Hampshire and (c) each local authority in Hampshire in (i) 1979, (ii) 1990 and (iii) for each year from 1992 to date. [116477]
Mr. Hill
[holding answer 27 March 2000]: The table provides annual growth estimates for all motor vehicle traffic on English roads. Separate estimates for England are not available before 1988; the growth figures for 1979 to 1988 are therefore based on Great Britain as a whole.
| Year | Annual percentage change in motorised road traffic |
|---|---|
| 1979 | -0.2 |
| 1980 | 6.2 |
| 1981 | 1.8 |
| 1982 | 2.7 |
| 1983 | 1.3 |
| 1984 | 5.2 |
| 1985 | 2.2 |
| 1986 | 5.1 |
| 1987 | 7.7 |
| 1988 | 7.2 |
| 1989 | 7.8 |
| 1990 | 1.4 |
| 1991 | 0.0 |
| 1992 | -1.2 |
| 1993 | 0.6 |
| 1994 | 2.2 |
| 1995 | 1.4 |
| 1996 | 3.6 |
| 1997 | 2.5 |
| 1998 | 1.7 |
Note:
Data for 1979 to 1988 based on Great Britain averages.
The Department's annual road traffic statistics are currently based on 12-hour manual counts at about 8,500 sites each year, supplemented by data from automatic
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traffic counters. Although this sample is now sufficient to provide reliable estimates by road type at a regional level, it is not large enough to provide estimates at the county or local authority level, particularly for minor roads. The 1999 manual count data are currently being analysed with a view to publication of a 1999 traffic growth estimate in May.
Mr. Corbett:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what research his Department is carrying out or evaluating on the effect of the use of toxic substances in shot. [117523]
Mr. Meacher:
The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions is not currently carrying out or evaluating any research specifically on the effects of the use of toxic substances in shot. However, from 1993 to 1996, the Department part-funded the development by University College, London of a ballistics testing facility, in order to assist the evaluation of non-toxic shot and provide the shooting community with guidelines for judging alternative shot types. In addition, the Department also funded Cranfield University to design a comprehensive computerised predictive model of the effectiveness of differing shot types against wildfowl; this work was completed in 1998.
Mr. Geraint Davies:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he will publish the Government's strategy for more sustainable construction. [117619]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
"Building a better quality of life--a strategy for more sustainable construction" will be published on 4 April. The document will set out how we want the construction industry to contribute to sustainable development. The strategy will be a catalyst for change in the way buildings and infrastructure are designed, procured, constructed, maintained and used. It will lead to greater social, economic and environmental value in the built environment needed to modernise Britain.
Copies of the strategy will be placed in the Libraries of the House on 4 April.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is his estimate of the potential number of residential units which could be formed in empty or under-used space above shops; and what his target is for the number of such units to be formed in the next five years. [116906]
Mr. Raynsford:
We estimate that the potential number of residential units that could be formed in empty or under-used space above shops to be 300,000 in England. This estimate does not take account of any space which may not be suitable for conversion. Nor does it take account of the significant financial, managerial and attitudinal obstacles which will need to be overcome if a high proportion of these spaces are to be brought into use.
Given the constraints that may exist, we have not set a target for conversion of vacant space above shops. However, my Department recently published a report
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"Conversion and Redevelopment: Process and Potential" which looked at the potential for residential conversions in detail. Copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
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