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Dioxin
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Mr. Loughton) of 24 May 2000, Official Report, column 539W, on dioxin, if he will list the research programmes which assess and monitor the levels of dioxins in the environment which have been sponsored by his Department, stating in each case the level of sponsorship, for each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [126262]
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Mr. Meacher: Since 1995 DETR has sponsored the following research programmes to assess and monitor the levels of dioxins in the environment. Many are co-sponsored with other Departments and/or Agencies and include a range of organic contaminants in addition to dioxins. A year by year breakdown of costs is not readily available for all the projects but the overall contribution by DETR is indicated in brackets:
- Monitoring of hazardous air pollutants programme (HAPs) (around £250,000 per year);
- Compilation of EU dioxin exposure and health data (in kind support through HAPs programme);
- National air emissions inventory includes dioxins among many other pollutants (around £250,000 per year);
- Organics in sewage sludge (£123,000 over three years);
- Modelling of Persistent Organic Pollutants on a national and global scale (£160,000 over two years);
- Modelling human exposure to dioxins and PCBs: projection of future UK exposures (£30,000).
- Chemical contaminants in human milk: a pilot study towards establishing an archive of samples from the UK (around £80,000);
- UK soil and herbage pollutant survey (around £100,000)
Waste Disposal
Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was the percentage of waste produced by his Department which was (a) re-used and (b) recycled during the last year for which figures are available. [126635]
Ms Beverley Hughes: My Department is at present compiling and validating the figures for the annual greening operations report--published in November. The percentage of total office waste separated (and collected) for recycling in our headquarters buildings over each of the past two years was 37 per cent. and 46 per cent.
Sir Paul Beresford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on the proximity principle relating to planning applications and permissions for new waste incinerators. [126466]
Ms Beverley Hughes: PPG10 "Planning and Waste Management" advises that waste management decisions should in part be based on the proximity principle. It should therefore be taken into account by waste planning authorities alongside other issues in deciding planning applications for all waste management facilities.
Brownfield Development
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on his policy on land value taxation and brownfield development. [126105]
Ms Beverley Hughes: The Government are considering the potential role which fiscal instruments could play in helping to regenerate our towns and cities
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and protect our countryside. Our forthcoming Urban White Paper will take forward the Government's programme for achieving an urban renaissance and our response to Lord Rogers's Urban Task Force.
The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions has no plans to make a statement. Final decisions on taxation are a matter for the Chancellor.
Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many local authority private finance initiative schemes (a) are in progress, (b) have been completed and (c) are currently awaiting approval by region, what is the (i) average cost per scheme and (ii) overall cost of approved schemes to date; how many of each type of scheme (1) have been approved, (2) are awaiting approval and (3) have been turned down; and what type of scheme has been approved in each region. [126106]
Ms Beverley Hughes: The information is as follows:
- (a) 126 local authority PFI schemes have been endorsed by the inter-departmental Project Review Group. This means that they have been awarded central government financial support and that the local authorities concerned can proceed with the procurement for their schemes.
- (b) 38 schemes have reached contract signature and of these, 23 are in operation.
- (c) About 35 schemes are currently awaiting approval. The breakdown of these schemes by region is:
| Region | Number |
|---|---|
| Eastern | 3 |
| East Midlands | 3 |
| London | 4 |
| North East | 3 |
| North West | 7 |
| South East | 6 |
| South West | 1 |
| West Midlands | 5 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 3 |
(i) The average cost per scheme of all the schemes endorsed so far is approximately £20 million. However, the schemes vary greatly in size, scope and type of service provided and the costs of individual schemes range from less than £1 million to more than £100 million.
(ii) The overall cost of all the endorsed schemes is approximately £2.5 billion.
(1) The breakdown of endorsed schemes by type of scheme is:
| Scheme | Number |
|---|---|
| Depot and Vehicle Services | 2 |
| Fire Service | 6 |
| Housing | 13 |
| Information Communication and Technology | 6 |
| Leisure | 2 |
| Magistrates Courts | 6 |
| Police schemes | 14 |
| Property rationalisation and libraries | 10 |
| Residential homes and other social services | 11 |
| Schools | 43 |
| Transport and street lighting | 6 |
| Waste Management | 7 |
| Total | 126 |
(2) How many of each type of scheme are awaiting approval:
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| Scheme | Number |
|---|---|
| Housing | 2 |
| Information Communication and Technology | 2 |
| Leisure | 6 |
| Schools | 7 |
| Transport and street lighting | 7 |
| Waste management | 3 |
| Cross-agency | 8 |
| Total | 35 |
(3) All schemes which are selected for assessment need to satisfy various criteria. There are a number of stages in the approval process and schemes may be turned down at any of these stages. Records are not kept of the number of schemes that are turned down.
Ms Beverley Hughes: 86 local authorities, including fire, police and waste authorities and one passenger transport executive, have initiated PFI schemes that have been endorsed by the inter-departmental Project Review Group. The total number of endorsed local authority PFI schemes is 126. It should be noted that these figures exclude PFI schemes that are financially free standing or which do not require central government revenue support.
Motor Vehicle Traffic
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the estimated annual percentage change in motor vehicle traffic was in (a) Great Britain and (b) each region for each year since 1984. [126108]
Mr. Hill: Regional estimates of traffic are not available for the years requested. The annual percentage changes for all GB roads for each year from 1984 to 1998 are shown in the table.
| Year | Percentage change |
|---|---|
| 1983 | -- |
| 1984 | 5.2 |
| 1985 | 2.2 |
| 1986 | 5.1 |
| 1987 | 7.7 |
| 1988 | 7.2 |
| 1989 | 8.3 |
| 1990 | 1.0 |
| 1991 | 0.2 |
| 1992 | 0.1 |
| 1993 | 0.0 |
| 1994 | 2.5 |
| 1995 | 2.0 |
| 1996 | 2.7 |
| 1997 | 2.3 |
| 1998 | 1.5 |
Regional Development Agencies
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment
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he has made of the effectiveness of (a) the north-east regional development agency and (b) other regional development agencies; and if he will make a statement. [126497]
Ms Beverley Hughes: My Department has commissioned consultants to undertake an evaluation of the strategies and action plans produced by all eight RDAs, including One North East. Research is also being carried out by consultants into partnership working by RDAs in the development and production of their strategies. It is the aim that both pieces of research will be published and that the findings will contribute to a report on the RDA's performance in their first year of operation.
The 2000-01 research programme of my Department's Local and Regional Government Research Unit also includes provision for a long-term evaluation of the operation and effectiveness of RDAs.
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the relationship between the north-east regional development agency and local regeneration partnerships; and if he will make a statement. [126498]
Ms Beverley Hughes: One North East sees the four sub-regional partnerships in the north east as having a key role in delivery of the Regional Economic Strategy, and is giving high priority to developing and supporting those sub-regional partnerships.
My Department has employed consultants to undertake research on partnership working by RDAs in the development and production of their regional economic strategies. This will examine the extent and form of partnership working by all the RDAs, including One North East, with sub-regional and local partnerships, including those with a regeneration remit. We hope to publish this research in the autumn.
The 2000-01 research programme of my Department's Local and Regional Government Research Unit includes proposals to undertake a review of the nature and form of governance relationships at the regional and sub-regional level, including partnership working with, and ownership by, local and regional stakeholders and the wider community.
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