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Estuary Management Zones
Mr. Barry Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many coastal management zones are now fully integrated and operating successfully; [2596]
- (2) how many authorities have published estuary management plans; and if he will publish guidance on their implementation. [2594]
Mr. Clappison: In England, 20 estuary management plans have so far been published as part of the estuaries management initiative promoted by English Nature and further plans are in preparation. Estuaries represent the areas of major pressure on the coast but there are also other initiatives under way with the objectives of managing areas of open coast. On 31 October, the Department of the Environment issued a best practice guide on coastal zone management which will assist in taking forward both types of schemes.
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Water Abstraction
Mr. Barry Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many sites have been identified by English Nature as being at risk from water abstraction; and what proposals he has for the conservation of these sites and for reducing water consumption in the surrounding areas. [22562]
Mr. Clappison: In its report published in September 1996, English Nature reviewed 152 wetland sites of special scientific interest, of which 18 were assessed as being at high risk from water abstraction and 38 were considered to be at medium risk, with a further 23 at high risk and 10 at medium risk if water demands continue to increase. The Environment Agency will be reviewing the report with English Nature, with a view to establishing an agreed list of sites at risk and from that deciding actions which may be needed for alleviation.
Homelessness (Durham)
Mr. Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of the number of homeless people in the county of Durham. [2401]
Mr. Clappison: I refer the hon. Member to the supplementary table which accompanies the quarterly information bulletin, entitled "Households found accommodation under the homelessness provisions of the Housing Act 1985: England" for the available information. A copy of the bulletin, the latest of which provides statistics for the second quarter of 1996, is in the Library.
Disabled Facilities Grants
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the average level of (a) discretionary and (b) mandatory disabled facilities grants in each year since 1990. [2462]
Mr. Clappison: The information requested is shown in the table.
| Average final grant payment (£s) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mandatory grants | Discretionary grants | |
| 1990 | 1,820 | 2,860 |
| 1991 | 2,950 | 3,470 |
| 1992 | 3,740 | 4,640 |
| 1993 | 4,100 | 2,740 |
| 1994 | 4,190 | 2,200 |
| 1995 | 4,180 | 2,190 |
Mr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many applications for disabled facilities grants were refused in each year since 1990. [2463]
Mr. Clappison: The Department does not collect regular data on unsuccessful applications for disabled facilities grant. However, recent research for the Department indicates that about 7,000 applications for disabled facilities grants in England were refused in the year 1993-94.
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Mr. Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many (a) mandatory and (b) discretionary disabled facilities grants have been made in each year since 1990 in (i) the west midlands and (ii) the United Kingdom. [2461]
Mr. Clappison: The table shows the available information about the west midlands and about England. Figures about the United Kingdom are not available as the grants system in Scotland differs from that in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
| West Midlands | England | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mandatory grants | Discretionary grants | Mandatory grants | Discretionary grants | |
| 1990 | 40 | -- | 360 | 10 |
| 1991 | 990 | 40 | 10,790 | 180 |
| 1992 | 1,590 | 70 | 15,450 | 290 |
| 1993 | 1,450 | 30 | 16,720 | 430 |
| 1994 | 2,090 | 10 | 20,410 | 500 |
| 1995 | 2,310 | 20 | 22,730 | 420 |
Area Cost Adjustment
Mr. Barry Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of the impact on council tax levels in the south east of England of the abolition of the area cost adjustment. [2564]
Sir Paul Beresford: The abolition of the area cost adjustment was not proposed by the team reviewing the area cost adjustment or by other participants in the discussions this year. I have not estimated the impact on council tax levels in the south-east of England of the abolition of the area cost adjustment. To do so would involve making assumptions about capping limits in the new circumstances and about local authority responses.
Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals the Department's working party has made for the future of the area cost adjustment; and what assessment he has made of the impact on the Isle of Wight of the abolition of area cost adjustment. [2563]
Sir Paul Beresford: The review of the area cost adjustment recommended a new method for calculating the adjustment, using data from the labour force survey to determine a factor for each local authority in England. Several variations of this approach were included as options in the report of the standard spending assessments sub-group to the Consultative Council on Local Government Finance. No proposals to abolish the area cost adjustment were made by the review team or in the sub-group report. For illustrative purposes, the effect on SSAs for 1996-97 of abolishing the area cost adjustment has been estimated. The SSA for the Isle of Wight would be reduced by £3.4 million, which is 3.5 per cent. of its SSA.
Conservation
Mr. Barry Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the sites in the Solent and the
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lagoons that have been submitted to the European Commission for designation as special areas of conservation. [2565]
Mr. Clappison: A third tranche of candidate special areas of conservation was forwarded to the European Commission on 14 October 1996; I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment on Wednesday 16 October, Official Report, column 1073-74. As indicated in that reply, the Solent and Isle of Wight lagoons was one of the candidate sites. This site includes all or part of the following sites of special scientific interst:
- Brading Marshes to St. Helen's Ledges;
- Gilkicker Lagoon;
- Hurst Castle and Lymington River Estuary;
- Langstone Harbour.
Information Technology Projects
Ms Church: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many information technology projects have been undertaken since 1992, and are planned for the coming year, arranged in cost bands of £1,000,000. [1893]
Sir Paul Beresford: The table sets out the number of projects and expenditure incurred in respect of information technology projects undertaken or planned by my Department for the project requested.
| Cost bands £ millions | Projects undertaken and completed since 1992 | Projects planned for the coming year and/or ongoing |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1 | 21 | 12 |
| 1-2 | 3 | 1 |
| 2-3 | Nil | 1 |
| 3-4 | Nil | Nil |
| 4-5 | Nil | Nil |
| 5-6 | Nil | Nil |
| 6-7 | Nil | 1 |
| 7-8 | Nil | 1 |
Energy Efficiency
Mr. Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of mortgage lenders provided standard assessment procedure ratings as part of valuation surveys in (a) 1994, (b) 1995 and (c) 1996; and what estimate he has made of the likely percentages in (i) 1997 and (ii) 1998. [2962]
Mr. Clappison: My Department is working with mortgage lenders to encourage the uptake of energy efficiency measures and to promote the wider use of standard assessment procedure ratings via mortgage valuation surveys. A total of 4,000 SAP ratings were issued by the Nationwide building society in 1995 under a joint initiative with the Department; under a similar initiative with the Halifax building society this year, 6,500 SAP ratings were issued. We are not aware of any statistics on or estimates of the percentage of mortgage lenders providing SAP ratings.
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Mr. Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the effect upon household energy efficiency measures of providing standard assessment procedure ratings in valuation surveys. [2964]
Mr. Clappison: My Department continues to work with mortgage lenders to encourage the uptake of energy efficiency measures through the provision of standard assessment procedure ratings. In particular, the Department and the Halifax building society are co-operating on a joint project to evaluate the impact of providing SAP ratings as part of the valuation process. The results are expected shortly.
Mr. Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of property valuation surveys included standard assessment procedure ratings in (a) 1994, (b) 1995 and (c) 1996; and what estimate he has made of the likely percentages in (i) 1997 and (ii) 1998. [2963]
Mr. Clappison: My Department is working with mortgage lenders to encourage the uptake of energy efficiency measures and to promote the wider use of standard assessment procedure ratings via mortgage valuation surveys. We are not aware of any statistics collected on this subject.
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