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25 May 2000 : Column: 569W

Written Answers to Questions

Thursday 25 May 2000

ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS

Departmental Vehicles

Mr. Pearson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many (a) cars and (b) commercial vehicles operated by his Department were manufactured (i) in the UK, (ii) in the EU and (iii) elsewhere. [122260]

Ms Beverley Hughes [holding answer 17 May 2000]: The position at 1 April 2000 was as follows:

	Cars	Commercial	Total
UK	179	361	540
EU	317	79	396
Elsewhere	118	42	160
Total	614	482	1,096

Regional Airports

Mr. Plaskitt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he proposes to begin the consultation on proposed changes to planning regulations in relation to small regional airports. [122784]

Mr. Mullin: The Department has no plans to change planning regulations for small regional airports. If my hon. Friend wishes to write to me with more details of his concerns in this area, I will provide a substantive reply.

Local Authority Housing

Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the funds required to clear the current backlog of repairs to and modernisation programmes of local authority housing stock; and how much this figure represents per dwelling. [123013]

Mr. Mullin: We estimate, on the basis of sample data collected in the 1996 English House Condition Survey, that the backlog of renovation work on the council housing stock amounts to around £10 billion with a further £9 billion being required for improvement/ modernisation work. This equates to an average of between £5,500 and £6,000 a dwelling. The renovation backlog will have been tackled in around a quarter of a million homes by March 2002 as a result of the extra resources we have made available for housing investment.

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Joannou and Paraskevaides Group

Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations his Department has received from the Joannou and Paraskevaides Construction Group in the last three years. [123139]

Ms Beverley Hughes [holding answer 22 May 2000]: The Department is not aware of any representations received from the Joannou and Paraskevaides Construction Group in the last three years.

Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what construction contracts his Department has awarded to the Joannou and Paraskevaides Group in the last three years. [123143]

Ms Beverley Hughes [holding answer 22 May 2000]: None.

Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what planning appeals his Department has received involving the Joannou and Paraskevaides Construction Group in the last three years. [123141]

Ms Beverley Hughes [holding answer 22 May 2000]: I am not aware of any planning appeals received from the Joannou and Paraskevaides Construction Group in the last three years.

Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what studies he has carried out to ascertain the possible contamination by methyl tertiary butyl ether from the discharge of unburned fuel from water craft on inland waters in England and Wales. [123444]

Mr. Mullin: I am not aware of any studies currently under way on this issue. Although the Environment Agency considers that the main risk from MTBE is to groundwater and has commissioned research on this, it has also carried out limited monitoring for MTBE in surface waters. Many water craft are powered by diesel fuel which does not contain MTBE.

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the (a) terms of reference of and (b) people carrying out, the study on the incidence of methyl tertiary butyl ether in groundwater in England and Wales; and when he expects the study to be completed. [123442]

Mr. Mullin: The Environment Agency has commissioned a study to investigate known fuel oxygenate occurrence in groundwater in England and Wales, gathering evidence from (a) Environment Agency regional and area records (b) water companies, and (c) additional bodies and sources of information; to review and evaluate the presence and behaviour of oxygenates in groundwater; to inform the EA's strategic regulatory thinking, the risk assessment process and monitoring strategy, and to recommend any future research directions. The study, which is being carried out by the environmental consultancy firm Komex Clarke Bond, is expected to be available in the summer.

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Fire Safety

Ms Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 12 May 2000, Official Report, column 485W, on housing, what plans he has to include guidance to local authorities and fire authorities on the standard of fire safety provision for houses in multiple occupation, in the guidance documents that accompany the draft legislation; and whether that guidance will include reference to the installation of residential automatic fire sprinkler systems. [123532]

Mr. Mullin: As we indicated in the Housing Green Paper we are developing a housing health and safety rating system to replace the existing housing fitness standard. Within this we envisage risk-based guidance on

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fire safety precautions for certain high risk houses in multiple occupation. The guidance will include advice on when residential sprinklers might be appropriate.

Waste Disposal

Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list in order of the quantity of waste dealt with the main waste disposal facilities in the east of England. [123383]

Mr. Mullin [holding answer 23 May 2000]: The list of main waste disposal facilities in the east of England, in order of quantity of waste dealt with, is given in the table. For the purpose of this response, a main waste disposal facility is taken to mean their taking in excess of 90,000 tonnes of waste per year. The figures relate to 1998-99 (or the nearest available year).

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Site operator	Site location	Type of facility	Waste planning authority area
Shanks and McEwan	Brogborough	Landfill	Bedfordshire
Cory Environmental	Mucking	Landfill	Thurrock
Cleanaway	Pitsea	Landfill	Essex
Shanks and McEwan	Stewartby	Landfill	Bedfordshire
Cleanaway	Ockendon	Landfill	Thurrock
Greenways Waste Management	Aveley	Landfill	Essex
Viridor	Great Blakenham	Landfill	Suffolk
Cory Environmental	Stanway	Landfill	Essex
SITA	Godmanchester	Landfill	Cambridgeshire
Shanks and McEwan	Arlesey	Landfill	Bedfordshire
Lafarge Redland	Radlett	Landfill	Hertfordshire
Shanks and McEwan	Dogsthorpe	Landfill	Peterborough
Fenside Waste Management	Warboys	Landfill	Cambridgeshire
Star Quarry Products	Hertford	Landfill	Hertfordshire
Anti Waste	Milton	Landfill	Cambridgeshire
Greenways Waste Management	Ongar	Landfill	Essex
Cory Environmental	Barling	Landfill	Essex
Anti Waste	Buckden	Landfill	Cambridgeshire
Pioneer Aggregates Ltd.	Ware Quarry	Landfill	Hertfordshire
Hales	Ugley	Landfill	Essex
Greenham Construction Materials	Elsenham	Landfill	Essex
Anti Waste	Feltwell	Landfill	Norfolk
Mick George Haulage Ltd.	Southorpe Quarry	Landfill	Peterborough
Hales	Attlebridge	Landfill	Norfolk
Lafarge Redland	Roxwell	Landfill	Essex
St. Albans Sand and Gravel	Ware	Landfill	Hertfordshire
St. Albans Sand and Gravel	St. Albans	Landfill	Hertfordshire
Suffolk Waste Disposal Company	Lackford	Landfill	Suffolk
M. Dickerson	Hemingford Grey	Landfill	Cambridgeshire

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Housing Associations

Mr. Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the mechanisms for ensuring the accountability of housing associations for their decisions; and if he will make a statement. [123771]

Mr. Mullin: Housing associations (now known as registered social landlords) are regulated by the Housing Corporation, an Executive NDPB of my Department, through published performance standards covering governance, finance, lettings, tenant involvement, development and management. Registered social landlords are expected to meet these standards. Where they do not, the Housing Corporation has regulatory powers to enforce compliance.

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In the course of this year, the Housing Corporation is reviewing governance arrangements in the registered social landlord sector. It will be issuing revised performance standards, following consultation, in April 2001.

My Department has also contributed to the work of the Committee on Standards in Public Life in producing its reports on Local Public Spending Bodies.

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