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ENVIRONMENT
Regional Government (North-West)
13. Mr. Mans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received about regional government in the north-west. [744]
Mr. Curry: I have received no representations on this issue.
Local Government Finance
14. Mr. Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the future of the area cost adjustment. [745]
Mr. Curry: I have announced my proposals for an independent review of the area cost adjustment.
16. Lady Olga Maitland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on local government spending. [747]
Sir Paul Beresford: My right hon. Friend will be making a statement on the provisional 1996-97 local government finance settlement shortly after my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor's Budget statement.
23. Mr. Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration he has given to changes to the 1995-96 capping criteria guidelines. [756]
Mr. Curry: We review the capping criteria every year. My proposals for criteria for 1996-97 will be announced with the rest of the local government finance settlement after the budget.
Out-of-town Supermarkets
15. Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has as to how many out-of-town supermarkets have been opened in the past five years. [746]
Sir Paul Beresford: The Department does not have information on applications granted by local planning authorities.
Housing
17. Mr. Ian Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many tenants bought their homes under the right-to-buy legislation last year. [748]
Mr. Curry: In England, over 43,000 homes were sold under the right to buy between April 1994 and March 1995. The figure for Great Britain as a whole is more than 66,000.
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Mr. Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will propose changes to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 following the decision in Howson v. Buxton and in relation to persons working in association. [415]
Mr. Clappison: It is not clear how the decision in Howson v. Buxton which was decided in 1928, gives rises to an argument for change to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.
Single Regeneration Budget
18. Mr. Khabra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to announce allocation of the single regeneration budget. [750]
Mr. Curry: My. right hon. Friend intends to announce successful bids under the second round of the single regeneration budget challenge fund by Christmas.
Local Government (Candidates)
19. Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to encourage more business men to stand as candidates for local government. [751]
Sir Paul Beresford: Our aim is to encourage people with a wide range of backgrounds, including business men, to serve as councillors. The changes which we have recently made to the councillors' allowances system are designed to achieve just this.
Biodiversity
20. Mr. Welsh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what further efforts will be made to preserve biodiversity within critical habitats in Britain; and if he will make a statement. [752]
Mr. Clappison: The Government plan to submit further candidate special areas of conservation under the EC habitats directive when the results of the recent public consultation on the proposed list have been fully considered. In addition, the steering group, set up by the Government to advise on biodiversity, will publish its report on 13 December. The report will contain proposals for targets and costed action plans for key species and habitats in the United Kingdom.
Noise Controls
21. Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received about restricting noise. [753]
Mr. Clappison: My Department receives representations about all forms of environmental noise on a regular basis. The vast majority of this correspondence relates to neighbour noise issues.
Regional Government (West Midlands)
22. Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received about regional government in the west Midlands. [754]
Sir Paul Beresford: I have received no representation on this issue.
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Social Housing
24. Mr. Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assistance he will give to local authorities to build affordable social housing. [757]
Mr. Curry: Housing Associations are now the main providers of new social housing. In total, in 1995-96 around 70,000 additional new lettings are expected to be provided through a mixture of public and private funding.
National Parks
25. Mr. Chris Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to announce the creation of any new national parks. [758]
Mr. Clappison: The Government have no plans to designate any new national parks.
Community Forests
26. Mr. Simon Coombs: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many hectares of community forest have been promised to date by local authorities; and if he will make a statement. [759]
Mr. Clappison: We have approved the business plans for 12 community forests in England. The aims of the forests are to assist economic regeneration by landscape and amenity improvements, and to provide recreation opportunities on the edges of towns and cities. Individual planting targets vary, but the overall aim is to increase tree cover in each forest to around 30 per cent. over the next 30 to 50 years. Since 1991, 2,347 hectares of woodland has been planted and over 2,000 hectares of wildlife habitat created.
Building Research Establishment
Mr. Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will place in the Library a copy of the brief which his Department intends to issue to consultants advising on the privatisation of the Building Research Establishment. [314]
Sir Paul Beresford: Consultants have been invited to tender for providing advice on the relative disadvantages and advantages of the options for transferring BRE to the private sector. I have placed a copy of the specification issued to them in the Library of the House today.
Water Industry (Customer Satisfaction)
Mrs. Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to commission any independent research into customer satisfaction with the water industry. [129]
Mr. Clappison: This is a matter for the companies and the independent regulator for the water industry, who carry out research as appropriate.
Mrs. Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what cut-off date has been used for the collection of statistics relating to customer complaints about the water industry in the current year; [125]
(2) what categories are used to identify the subject of a customer's complaints to a water undertaker; [128]
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(3) if he will list the number of (a) written and (b) telephone complaints made to each water or sewerage company in each of the five years from 1990 to 1995; and what month they are calculated from. [899]
Mr. Clappison: Information on the number of written and telephone billing complaints, and the total number of written complaints to water and sewerage companies, is published by the Office of Water Services in its annual "Report on Levels of Service for the Water Industry in England and Wales", covering the period 1 April to 31 March each year, copies of which are in the Library.
Mrs. Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has the number of (a) written and (b) telephone complaints made to Ofwat regional committees in each of the years from 1990 to 1995. [900]
Mr. Clappison: Information on the number of complaints made to Ofwat regional customer service committees is contained in the individual annual reports of the committees and in the Office of Water Services' "Review of Companies' Complaints Procedures" of October 1995, copies of which are in the Library.
Water Supplies
Mr. Chris Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the National Rivers Authority will report to him on the adequacy of water companies' plans to safeguard water supplies next summer; and what is the minimum time required if Government intervention is necessary to protect and provide water supplies if the water companies' plans prove inadequate. [409]
Mr. Clappison: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has asked the National Rivers Authority to report to him by 15 December, following consultation with the companies, on the adequacy of water companies' plans to safeguard supplies next summer. The minimum time required to implement additional measures will depend on the nature of those measures.
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