| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Homelessness
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) how many homeless households are in temporary accommodation in (a) the UK, (b) England and (c) Scotland; [118225]
- (2) how many households were defined as homeless in (a) the UK, (b) England and (c) Scotland in the last year for which figures are available. [118228]
Mr. Mullin: Information on households accommodated under statutory homelessness provisions in England is published in a quarterly Information Bulletin, "Statistics of local authority activities under the homelessness legislation: England". Table 2 of the Bulletin presents a summary of those households accepted as unintentionally homeless and in priority need under the homelessness provisions of the 1985 and 1996 Housing Acts. Tables 5 and 6 show the number of these households in accommodation arranged by the local authority, as at the end of each quarter.
Copies of the Bulletin are held in the Library and the latest edition, published on 15 March, presents statistics up to and including the fourth quarter of 1999.
For information about other parts of the United Kingdom, I refer my hon. Friend to my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Housing Registers
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many people were excluded from housing registers in (a)1996, (b) 1997, (c) 1998 and (d) 1999. [118227]
Mr. Mullin: This information is not held centrally.
11 Apr 2000 : Column: 118W
Wildlife
Mrs. Brinton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is the annual cost of maintaining the Wildlife Inspectorate; and what plans he has to increase the funds available. [118339]
Mr. Mullin: The annual cost of maintaining the Inspectorate is £158,500; and there are no plans to increase the current level of funding.
Mrs. Brinton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the role of the Wildlife Inspectorate; what criteria he uses to monitor its effectiveness; and if he will make a statement. [118338]
Mr. Mullin: The Wildlife Inspectorate's key role is to discharge the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions' inspection responsibilities in accordance with sections 7(6) and 14(5) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in England and Wales; and regulations 9(4) and 9(5) of the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997 in the United Kingdom. It undertakes a range of inspection programmes throughout the year to gather and verify information to enable informed decisions on the licensing of trade in endangered species and on the registration of birds of prey.
Wildlife Inspectors also provide specialist advice on species identification to assist the Police and HM Customs and Excise officials during wildlife-related investigations.
The Wildlife Inspectorate plays an important role as a deterrent to those who may otherwise consider acting outside of the legislation. While this deterrent effect is hard to quantify, results from a DETR questionnaire issued to 1,436 registered keepers of Schedule 4 birds in 1993 showed that 89 per cent. of respondents considered inspection programmes to be an effective way of monitoring the registration scheme, and 76 per cent. felt that inspections acted as a significant deterrent against the illegal taking of wild birds.
Mrs. Brinton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what action he will take in response to the recommendations of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee on the effectiveness of wildlife species protection legislation. [118337]
Mr. Mullin: In Autumn 1998, my Department requested the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) to review the effectiveness of the species protection Schedules to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The JNCC have recently concluded their review and advise that the Schedules have been generally effective in deterring persecution of the species listed, that they should be retained to give legal protection to appropriate animals and plants and also make a number of recommendations.
I am already actively considering all of the issues raised in the JNCC's recommendations.
The recommendations concerning enforcement of wildlife legislation relate to those made last year by the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime and are being addressed in the context of the Countryside and Rights of Way Bill.
11 Apr 2000 : Column: 119W
I recognise that improvements to protection for threatened species in the wider countryside beyond the provisions of this Bill may be warranted and am considering what might be appropriate. Some measures may not necessarily require primary legislation, including JNCC's recommendation concerning the Quinquennial Review of the Schedules. I look forward to receiving JNCC's advice at the next Quinquennial Review in due course.
I also agree the problem caused by invasive alien species does need to be addressed and we plan to review the effectiveness of policy concerning non-native species which can present an ecological threat to the United Kingdom's indigenous wildlife.
Mobile Telephone Masts (Croydon)
Mr. Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many mobile telephone masts (a) over and (b) under 15 metres high there are in the London Borough of Croydon. [118523]
Ms Beverley Hughes: The Government do not hold this information.
Departmental Spending
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will set out detailed future spending plans for his Department. [118771]
Mr. Prescott: I have today published my Department's Annual Report for 2000, and copies have been placed in the House Libraries. The Report sets out the Department's achievements over the last year and its detailed plans to continue to meet our over-arching aim of improving everyone's quality of life, now and for the future.
DIYSO Scheme
Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many houses have been allocated to owner/tenants under the DIYSO scheme in each of the last five years; and by which local authorities. [118755]
Mr. Mullin: The total number of units provided under the DIYSO (Do it Yourself Shared Ownership) scheme in England over the last five years is 11,887, of which 1,235 were funded by local authorities and 10,652 by the Housing Corporation.
I will write to the hon. Member with a detailed breakdown by local authority area of the number of units provided through the DIYSO over the past five years.
Housebuilding (England)
Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he expects to publish the housebuilding requirement figures for each of the English regions not already released. [118767]
Ms Beverley Hughes: Proposed housing provision figures have now been published by regional planning bodies for all the English regions, apart from the North West and the West Midlands which will follow later this year and in 2001 respectively. These proposals will be considered at public examinations into the draft Regional Planning Guidance. Subject to any proposed changes
11 Apr 2000 : Column: 120W
published by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, and consultation on those, final RPG will then be issued. The current target timetable for the publication of final RPG in each of these regions is as follows:
| Region | Target for issue of revised RPG |
|---|---|
| North East | Summer 2001 |
| East Midlands | Summer 2001 |
| South West | Winter 2000-01 |
| West Midlands | Autumn 2002 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | Summer 2001 |
| North West | End 2001 |
Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what analysis he has made of the age profile of those people likely to inhabit the new houses he has recently announced in the South East and East of England regions. [118766]
Ms Beverley Hughes: Table 4 (page 41) of the "Projections of households in England to 2021" (ISBN 1851123261) sets out the household projections for England by age, gender and marital status. A copy of this publication is in the Library.
Press Officers
Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many of the press officers appointed to his Department since 1997 have (a) declared political affiliations with the Labour Party and (b) have held previous positions (i) with the Labour party and (ii) with Labour party members. [118756]
Ms Beverley Hughes: Press officers in my Department are recruited on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. Political affiliation or previous association with any political party is not relevant and is not recorded.
All civil servants must abide by the Civil Service Code. This makes clear that they should conduct themselves with integrity, impartiality and honesty. In addition, the Civil Service Management Code sets out principles underpinning restrictions on civil servants' participation in political activities.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |