§ Ms. QuinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many written questions on environmental protection and pollution issues he has declined to answer since May 1979 on the grounds that replies could be given only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyNo record is kept of the number of questions which are answered in this way.
1195W
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will set out the investments made between 1974–79, and 1979 to the present respectively, by Her Majesty's Government in(a) energy conservation and efficiency, (b) detoxification of rivers and estuaries, (c) research into acid rain pollution, (d) radioactive waste management and disposal, (e) controlling air and aqueous radioactive discharges and (f) the reprocessing of nuclear fuel from foreign contracts;
(2) what percentage of United Kingdom gross national product has been devoted to environmental protection in each year since 1979; if he has comparable figures for each year from 1975 to 1979; and what information he has for the gross national product/environmental protection expenditure ratio in other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries for the same time period.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyI will write to the hon. Member.