§ Mr. David Watkinsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what criteria are applied in awarding grants for new land reclamation projects; and by whom.
§ Mr. King[pursuant to his reply, 10 November 1982, c. 198]: Derelict land grants are available for approved expenditure on restoring to beneficial use land which is in a state of man-made dereliction.
Individual schemes are approved by the Department on the basis of local needs, value for money, and the priority of the scheme in relation to others within the limits of the expenditure provision.
In allocating resources priority is given to joint local authority-private sector reclamation schemes which lead to immediate disposal to the private sector for development and which offer greatest private sector enhancement of public expenditure.
§ Mr. David Watkinsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what funds were made available in 1981–82 for the reclamation of the Consett steelworks site; and from what allocations these funds were derived.
§ Mr. King[pursuant to his reply, 10 November 1982, c. 198]: A special provision of £1 million was included within an enhanced "Other Services" block allocation of £1.942 million made to the Derwentside district council under the new expenditure control arrangements. This £1 million formed part of the overall PESC provision for local authority expenditure on derelict land reclamation of £37.004 million.
§ Mr. David Watkinsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the underspend, in total and as a proportion of the allocation of funds for land reclamation, for each English region in 1981–82.
§ Mr. King[pursuant to his reply, 10 November 1982, c. 198]: The PESC provision for local authority expenditure on derelict land reclamation in 1981–82 was £37.004 million, of which £36.9 million was allocated to the Department's regional offices, leaving a small reserve for contingencies. Actual expenditure on reclamation amounted to £29.68 million, resulting in an underspend of £7.324 million or 20 per cent. of the provision.
Details for each region are given in the following table: 257W
Region Allocation Actual Expenditure Percentage Underspend £ million £ million per cent. Northern 6.5 5.26 19 North-West 13.0 11.87 9 Yorkshire and Humberside 3.7 3.06 17 West Midlands 5.4 3.61 33 East Midlands 4.0 2.28 43 South-West 0.5 0.33 34 London 3.5 3.14 10 South-East and Eastern 0.3 0.13 57
§ Mr. David Watkinsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the current procedure for allocating funds for the reclamation of derelict land; and in what ways it differs from the practice in 1981–82.
§ Mr. King[pursuant to his reply, 10 November 1982, c. 198]: Funds for derelict land reclamation are allocated to local authorities on the basis of applications received.
In 1982–83 priority was given to the reclamation of Consett steelworks—designated as a project of national or regional importance under section 73 of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980—and to one or two other special schemes in other areas. Following my right hon. Friend's statement to the House of 9 December last year—[Vol. 14, c. 865.]—general preference was given to joint public-private sector schemes involving development of the reclaimed land.
In 1981–82 the provision for derelict land reclamation was, initially, included as an element in the total amount available for expenditure on "Other Services". Subsequently allocations were made to individual authorities on the basis of recommendations by the local authoritiy associations.