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7 Nov 2002 : Column 597W—continued
Income
Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, what changes have taken place in the (a) gross and (b) net incomes of the (i) top and (ii) bottom deciles of farmers in each year since 1990. [79406]
Mr. Morley: The information for the years 1996–97 to 2000–01 are given in the table.
| Cash income | Net Farm Income | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First decile (10th percentile) | Ninth decile (90th percentile) | First decile (10th percentile) | Ninth decile (90th percentile) | |
| 1996–97 | 6,200 | 118,100 | -3,400 | 72,000 |
| 1997–98 | 100 | 94,200 | -12,000 | 41,300 |
| 1998–99 | -400 | 83,500 | -14,900 | 38,100 |
| 1999–00 | 0 | 73,800 | -14,800 | 33,600 |
| 2000–01 | -1,400 | 77,500 | -14,800 | 35,500 |
Source:
Farm Business Survey
I regret that the information given in a previous answer to my hon. Friend, Official Report, 22 January, column 779W, was incorrect. The figures had been mistakenly calculated for England and Wales, not for England. The information in this table corrects those figures.
Data for the six years 1990–1995 could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
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Non-devolved Posts
Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many non-devolved posts were advertised in the Press in each year from June 1999; and what percentage of them were advertised in the Scottish Press. [76852]
Alun Michael: This information is being collated and I will write to the hon. Member.
Energy Conservation
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with energy conservation authorities regarding her policy on home energy conservation. [77415]
Mr. Morley: Neither the Secretary of State nor any of Defra Ministers have had any discussions with energy conservation authorities regarding home energy conservation.
Energy Efficiency
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) pursuant to the Answer of 15 October, Official Report, columns 581–2W, on energy efficiency, to the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Mr. Sayeed), if the legal advice obtained by the promoters of the Home Energy Conservation Bill regarding the legal force of a principal aim compared with a statutory duty was made available to her; what steps she took to determine the validity of the promoters' advice; and what her conclusions were about the validity of the advice; [77447]
- (2) pursuant to her answer of 15 October, Official Report, columns 581–2W, to the hon. Member for Mid-Bedfordshire, on energy efficiency, what advice was received about the duties that having a 30 per cent. improvement as a principal aim would place on local authorities; [77446]
(3) pursuant to her answer of 15 October, Official Report, columns 581–2W, to the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire, whether the advice that she received on the implications of having a 30 per cent. improvement in domestic energy efficiency as a principal aim of the Home Energy Conservation Bill suggested that progress towards such a principal aim could legally be made by (a) new regulation and (b) energy efficiency programmes funded by bodies other than the Government. [77440]
Mr. Meacher: The Government have seen the legal advice obtained by the promoters of this Bill. We sought our own advice on it, which did not reach the same conclusions. The Government does not comment on the details of its internal advice, but I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Mid
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Bedfordshire (Mr. Sayeed) on 15th October, Official Report, columns 581–2W, which sets out some of the issues which the Government considered.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Contaminated Land
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the amount of contaminated land that has been restored for beneficial use on an annual basis was, broken down by local authority area, in England and Wales since January 1997. [79596]
Mr. Meacher: I have been asked to reply.
This information is not held centrally in the form requested, because ''beneficial use'' is not a criterion in the main regime which helps to secure the remediation of land affected by contamination. From April 2000, Part IIA (''contaminated land'') of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 placed local authorities in England under a duty to inspect their areas to identify contaminated land, as defined in the Act, and secure its remediation on the ''suitable for use'' principle. Some 40 sites have so far been formally identified under this regime, and remediation is underway in some of these cases. The main aim of this regime is environmental protection, rather than future land use, and contaminated sites may well be in beneficial use already.
The majority of remediation, however, takes place as part and parcel of the development of land, regulated through the planning system and building regulations; through urban regeneration programmes including the activities of regional development agencies and English Partnerships; through voluntary action by landowners including many major companies; through enforcement of environmental protection regimes; and through the programme of supplementary credit approvals for local authorities operated by my department. An overview is provided by a recent Environment Agency report, ''Dealing with contaminated land in England'', copies of which have been placed in the Library.
Census
Bob Laxton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what the population was of each local authority in England based on the 2001 census; what the change was in the population of each authority since the mid year 2000 estimate; and what the change was as a percentage in each case. [79865]
Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply.
The Information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter to Mr. Bob Laxton from Mr. Len Cook dated 7 November 2002
- As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking for details of the population of each local authority based on the 2001 Census; what the change was for each authority since the mid year 2000 estimate; and what the change was as a percentage in each case.(79865)
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- I am placing in the House of Commons Library, a table which supplies the information you have requested. It is also available on the National Statistics website at www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/downloads/Comparison—ONC2001—MYE2000.xls. The current estimates for the years 1982–2000 are based on the 1981 Census figures, rolled forward, and will be shortly revised to take account of the results of the 2001 Census and an assessment of the cumulative errors that have built up in the mid-year estimates. Final revised mid-year estimates for 1991–2000 will be released on 13 February 2003 and those for 1982–1990 at a later date.
- In order to assist users in interpreting changes over time, ONS have issued a set of interim revised national estimates for the period 1982–2000. At the national level, for example, the previous mid-year estimate for population of England and Wales for 2000, of 52,943 thousand has now been accordingly revised to 51,913 thousand.
Littering Offences
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, how many fixed penalty notices were issued in England and Wales broken down by local authority area since 1997. [79670]
Alun Michael: I have been asked to reply.
The total amount of fines issued with respect to Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for littering offences in England and Wales since 1997 was:
- No data in 1996–97
- 727 in 1997–98
- 4,778 in 1998–99
- 2,970 in 1999–2000
- 2,310 in 2000–01
The Department is unable to break down this data into Local Authority region.
Advantage West Midlands
Mr. John Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, if she will list the members of Advantage West Midlands; from what areas they are drawn; what their function is; how they were chosen; how they can be dismissed; what they will cost in 2002–03; and from what vote they are paid. [79846]
Alan Johnson: I have been asked to reply.
The Board members of Advantage West Midlands are;
- Chairman Alex Stephenson, Deputy Chair Cllr Sue Davies, Richard Barnes,
- Prof Kumar Bhattacharyya, Cllr Sir Albert Bore, Dr. Anthony Harris,
- Dr. Christine King, Brian Woods-Scawen, Cllr David Sparkes,
- Sukhvinder Kaur Stubbs, Norman Price, Isabella Moore,
- Cllr Paul Tilsley, Tony Sealey, Bill Holmes.
Board Members are drawn from Business, Local Authorities, Higher Education, the Voluntary Sector, Employees Representation Groups and Rural Interests.
The function of Board Members is;
- To direct and hold the executive team accountable for results
- To reflect regional interests
- To oversee and approve the production and review of the Regional Economic Strategy and corporate plan for presentation to Ministers
- To chair and facilitate meetings
- To represent Advantage West Midlands externally.
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