§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration he has given to which sectors of industry would incur financial costs if the duty to further nature conservation were extended to the pollution control functions of the Environment Agency; what is his estimate of those costs; and what costs are currently imposed by the duty to have regard to nature conservation.
§ Mr. AtkinsThe costs to regulated organisations of either a qualified duty on the Environment Agency to further conservation or an unqualified duty on it to have regard to conservation will depend upon the way in which the duty is discharged in practice. In either case they will depend upon judgments to be made by the agency as to what is reasonable in the particular circumstances. However whereas a duty to have regard to the desirability of conservation applies to all cases, a qualified furtherance duty would not apply to those cases falling within the terms of the qualifications. This may be uncertain and difficult to establish in relation to pollution control functions.
§ Ms RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the purpose of the Environment Agency.
§ Mr. AtkinsThe Government issued on 17 January a draft outline showing the scope of the statutory guidance Ministers propose to issue on the agency's aims and objectives, including a proposed principal aim for the agency to help to promote sustainable development through high quality, integrated environmental protection, management and enhancement.