§ Angela SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what effect the contaminated land regime which came into force for England on 1 April will have on the programme of financial support to English local authorities and to the Environment Agency to meet the costs of dealing with contaminated land. [118940]
§ Mr. MullinThe new contaminated land regime (under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990–inserted by section 57 of the Environment Act 1995) came into force in England on 1 April 2000. The Contaminated Land Supplementary Credit Approval (SCA) programme will continue to provide support to English local authorities to deal with contamination. The SCA programme will assist these local authorities in dealing with sites, for which they are responsible, that are deemed to be "contaminated land" under Part IIA. £21 million has been made available under this programme for 2000–01.
The SCA programme has provided valued support to English local authorities in dealing with contaminated land and, in later years, provided additional grand in aid to the Environment Agency. Under the new regime the grant will be available to the Agency in respect of their new duties for contaminated sites that are designated "Special Site" under Part IIA.
Authorities with on-going contractual commitments for projects funded in previous years have already received notification that support will continue to be available this year. I have agreed the programme for new projects to start this year and my Department has written today to the successful authorities and to the Environment Agency notifying them of the financial allocations which are being made.
178WThe Department will discuss the other bids with the authorities concerned and expects to make some further allocations. It will also decide new bids when they are received.
The table sets out the allocations which have been made so far this current financial year.
Local authority Number of sites Allocation for each authority (£) Alnwick DC 1 17,000 Bedfordshire CC 1 70,000 Bexley LB 1 50,000 Bristol City 1 100,000 Calderdale MBC 1 100,000 Derby City 2 49,000 Derbyshire CC 5 288,462 Devon CC 7 213,500 Dudley MBC 1 540,000 Durham CC 3 88,500 Ealing LB 1 23,851 Exeter City 1 332,414 Gateshead MBC 3 2,499,350 Hillingdon LB 1 20,000 Lancaster City 1 43,481 Leicester City 5 123,700 Merseyside WDA 3 397,000 Milton Keynes C 1 100,000 Newcastle-under-Lyme BC 1 7,000 Newham LB 2 1,432,860 North East Lincolnshire C 1 44,000 North Lincolnshire C 1 2,278,570 Nottingham City 2 401,713 Oldham MBC 3 30,300 Oxfordshire CC 9 493,793 Plymouth City 1 6,361 Portsmouth City 1 50,000 Rotherham MBC 2 177,628 Sandwell MBC 17 373,249 Solihull MBC 1 89,229 South Holland DC 1 12,750 St. Helens MBC 1 150,000 Tameside MBC 2 28,000 Trafford MBC 1 20,500 Vale Royal BC 1 10,000 Warwickshire CC 2 247,400 Warrington BC 2 76,135 West Sussex CC 1 672,000 Worcester City 1 5,000 Worcestershire CC 1 6,000 Environment Agency 8 1,164,000