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Cleaner Vehicles Task Force

Mr. Ivan Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he will publish the Government's response to the final report of the Cleaner Vehicles Task Force. [139898]

Mr. Hill: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has announced the publication of the Government's response to the final report of the Cleaner Vehicles Task Force, which contains further measures to improve air quality and reduce carbon dioxide emissions,

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including £69 million funding to accelerate the take-up of cleaner fuels and cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Packaging Waste

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what changes he plans to make to the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 for 2001; and if he will make a statement. [139899]

Mr. Meacher: The Government are proposing to make two changes and have laid before Parliament the draft "Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2000" which are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure.

The first targets to be met under the EC Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste fall due in 2001. The recovery and recycling obligations placed on producers under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations ('the Regulations') are to enable the UK to meet its obligations under the Packaging Waste Directive, in particular, to meet the recovery and recycling targets--that is at least 50 per cent. of packaging waste to be recovered, at least 25 per cent. recycled and 15 per cent. of each packaging material recycled.

The recovery carried out in the first three quarters of this year suggests that we are on course to make further progress in 2000 towards the directive targets and I am placing a copy of a "Note on 2000 Packaging Data" in the Library of the House.

The Government published a consultation paper in August 2000 on targets for 2001 and proposed, on the basis of the data available at the time, and taking account of estimates for the additional tonnages which were expected to be obligated in 2001, that there should be a recovery target of 58 per cent. and a material-specific recycling target of 18 per cent. for each material.

However, because there are now more recent data available from industry, my Department has reviewed all the figures that were used to inform the development of the targets in the consultation paper. The revised figures suggest that a recovery target of 56 per cent., together with a material-specific recycling target of 18 per cent., would allow the UK to discharge its targets under the Packaging Waste Directive, and these are the targets which I am proposing, subject to parliamentary approval. These targets are expected to achieve recovery of 51 per cent. against the 50 per cent. target. We estimate that a cushion of 1 per cent. (which is around 96,000 tonnes) should be sufficient, provided that the underlying data and assumptions are broadly correct. I think it is only prudent to provide a small safety margin to allow for error in the Department's assessment of the additional tonnages which have to be brought within the scope of obligated packaging by 2001 and also to take account of the possibility that the tonnage reported by the smaller businesses (with turnover between £2 million and £5 million) who were obligated for the first time this year may decrease in their second year of obligation, as their figures improve, as was the case with the data provided by the larger (turnover over £5 million) businesses in their second year of obligation.

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The national targets for next year need to be seen as leading on to higher targets and they need to be high enough to sustain a tighter PRN market and avoid a repeat of the imbalance between supply and demand of reprocessing capacity that has recently prevailed.

In the responses to the consultation paper on targets for 2001 a number of comments were made about the UK system. I will be discussing these with the Advisory Committee on Packaging and will be considering with them what issues need to be looked at once the targets for 2001 have been met and once we know the outcome of the review of the packaging directive next year.

The Government is also proposing to change the mechanism according to which the registration fee paid each year by members of compliance schemes is determined. I am proposing to replace the previous sliding-scale system with a flat fee of £460 per scheme member per year, regardless of the size of the compliance scheme. The flat fee more accurately reflects the enforcing authorities' monitoring costs and takes account of concerns about a system that was perceived by most compliance schemes to be unfair and anti-competitive. I believe that a registration fee based on an equal-for-all principle will provide for competition between schemes on the grounds of their performance and operational efficiency, rather than on the grounds of a regulatory fee differential.

Business Tenancies

Ms Rosie Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what proposals he has to reform legislation on business tenancies. [139901]

Mr. Raynsford: We propose shortly to consult on use of the order-making procedure in the draft Regulatory Reform Bill to implement a number of detailed improvements to the workings of business tenancies legislation.

Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 gives business tenants, in most circumstances, a statutory right to renew their leases. We do not propose to change this, but we wish to improve the workings of the Act to ensure that it operates more efficiently in the interests of both landlords and tenants. Many of our proposals stem from the Law Commission's 1992 review of the workings of the Act.

Among the proposals are changes in the arrangements under which parties may mutually agree to exclude security of tenure before the lease comes into effect. The Law Commission considered that the present procedure of applying to the court serves little purpose, and we are instead proposing that in most cases tenants should receive advance notice with a "health warning" drawing attention to the implications of excluding security of tenure. The tenant would have time to take professional advice and consider alternative arrangements.

Our proposals would also streamline the renewal process, making it simpler and quicker for tenants to renew their leases. They would remove traps for tenants, generally making the system fairer between the parties. Tenants as well as landlords would be able to apply for

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interim rent, pending settlement on the rent for the new tenancy; while the method for determining interim rent would be fairer.

We are also about to issue a consultation paper on section 57 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. This enables certain landlords of business premises who are in the public sector or who are public sector providers to apply to central Government for certificates which they can then use to circumvent or curtail the renewal of a business tenancy. The consultation paper seeks views on a change of policy by my Department in considering applications for certificates, and on options for repeal bearing in mind the facility for parties to agree to exclude security of tenure from business leases.

Both the Deregulation Committee here and the Delegated Powers and Deregulation Committee in the Lords have approved the principle of advance consultation on prospective use of the powers in the Regulatory Reform Bill.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Departmental Employees (New Deal)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff his Department employs under the New Deal for Young People. [137954]

Mr. Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office on 13 November 2000, Official Report, columns 551-52W.

European Ombudsman

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government's policy on the special report from the European Ombudsman to the European Parliament on the Code of Good Administrative Practice (OI/1/98/OV). [138167]

Mr. Vaz: The Government strongly support the work of the Ombudsman and good administrative practices throughout all EU institutions.

Occupied Territories

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many schools in the Occupied Territories have been (a) closed and (b) unable to operate (i) because of Israeli military order or curfew and (ii) because they are located in areas which are not safe for children or employees. [138708]

Mr. Hain: I understand that a total of 41 schools (serving over 20,000 pupils) in the Occupied Territories were closed either because of Israeli military order or curfew or by the Palestinian Authority for safety reasons.

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many schools in the West Bank and Gaza have been hit by Israeli army (a) shelling and (b) shooting. [138710]

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Mr. Hain: I understand that 16 schools in the West Bank and Gaza have been hit by Israeli Defence Force fire.

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received about when the Israeli Government proposes to lift the curfew on the Palestinians of Hebron and Hawara. [138706]

Mr. Hain: There is still a curfew in Hebron and Hawara. The curfew is lifted occasionally (approximately every 3-4 days) for 4-5 hours, usually in the morning.

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many schools in Hebron and Hawara have been (a) closed and (b) unable to operate because of the curfew imposed by the Israeli Government. [138707]

Mr. Hain: I understand that four schools in Hawara and 28 schools in Hebron were closed for 45 days because of the Israeli-imposed curfew. The schools opened on 12 November but were closed again when the curfew was re-imposed on 14 November.

Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many schools in Hebron have been taken over by the Israeli Defence Force for use as military bases. [138709]

Mr. Hain: I understand that the Israeli Defence Force took over four schools in Hebron for use as army posts.

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