HL Deb 24 July 2002 vol 638 cc93-4WA
Lord Evans of Temple Guiting

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What financial support is being given to English local authorities to meet the capital costs of dealing with contaminated land. [HL5547]

Lord Whitty

The Contaminated Land Supplementary Credit Approval (SCA) programme has provided support to English local authorities' capital works for 12 years. It assists local authorities to fulfil their responsibilities under the contaminated land regime which was introduced on 1 April 2000, under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The regime makes local authorities responsible for identifying contaminated land as defined in the Act, and they may also be responsible for its remediation in their capacity as regulators or in carrying some responsibility for the land's condition. The SCA programme assists local authorities to meet these obligations.

We have agreed the programme for new projects to start this year. The department has already written to the successful authorities notifying them of the allocations which have been made for these new projects, and in respect of continuing commitments for projects approved in previous years.

Some bids are still being discussed with the authorities concerned, and there may be further allocations in respect of these and any further bids received later this year.

The following table sets out the allocations which have been made so far this current financial year.

£
Local Authority Number of Sites Allocation for each Authority
Barnsley MBC 1 4,000
Bexley LB 1 50,000
Bristol City 2 216,000
Calderdale MBC 2 720,000
Cherwell DC 1 35,000
Cheshire CC 2 150,000
Chorley BC 1 13,500
Darlington BC 1 13,907
Devon CC 7 650,065
Durham CC 5 76,500
Ellesmere Port & Neston BC 1 30,500
Gateshead MBC 1 246,000
Hammersmith & Fulham LB 1 7,851
Newcastle City 3 779,935
Newham LB 1 30,219
Northamptonshire CC 7 344,983
North Lincolnshire C 1 830,000
Oldham MBC 1 9,496
Plymouth City 1 4,275
Poole B 2 60,000
Portsmouth City 1 19,500
Rotherham MBC 3 99,000
Sandwell MBC 2 7,722
Solihull MBC 1 193,000
Southampton City 2 4,200
Stoke-on-Trent City 1 12,000
Thanet DC 1 2,900
Warrington BC 1 126,015
Warwickshire CC 1 23,000
West Sussex CC 1 1,143,304