HC Deb 30 April 1990 vol 171 cc452-3W
Mr. Andrew Welsh

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his answer on 23 April,Official Report, column 59, what steps his Department will take to identify the risk of contamination in those 58 per cent. of vacant land sites in Scotland for which the question of contamination was unknown.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

The 1990 Scottish vacant land survey and any subsequent surveys will identify the extent of contamination in the 58 per cent. of vacant and derelict sites for which the situation was unknown in 1988. It is the responsibility of the local authorities to collect the data for the survey and to identify the extent of contamination.

Mr. Andrew Welsh

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if, pursuant to his answer of 23 April,Official Report, column 59, he will list the names and locations, with grid references, of the 10 per cent. of vacant land which is known or suspected to be contaminated.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

The 1988 Scottish vacant land survey was a pilot study of partial coverage. The data were collected on an in-confidence basis by the local authorities. This arrangement precludes me from giving site-specific information and is in accordance with the Government statistical service code of practice (Cmnd 9270).

Mr. Andrew Welsh

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what funds his Department has made available for the purpose of cleaning up contaminated land or leaky waste disposal sites.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

Responsibility for dealing with contaminated land or problem waste disposal sites rests with the site owners.

As far as local authorities are concerned the capital allocation to their general services budget is not targeted and it is for each council to determine its own priorities for expenditure on such work.

The Scottish Development Agency is empowered to provide assistance for the clearance of derelict land which can include contaminated land. For this financial year the agency will have available approximately £58 million to carry out its derelict land function.

Mr. Andrew Welsh

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Angus, East on 24 April, he will state how many of the (i) open and (ii) closed landfill sites, as contained in the Scottish Development Department Survey 1989, were operational prior to the introduction of the Control of Pollution Act 1974; and how many constitute a serious risk to groundwater.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

All the sites included in my reply of 24 April operate under licences or resolutions issued under the requirements of the Control of Pollution Act 1974. The licensing provisions came into operation on 1 January 1978. About 100 of the sites were already operational at that time.

The identification of sites causing pollution to groundwater is the responsibility of the river purification authorities. Although the numbers may fluctuate from year to year, authorities' annual reports for 1988 indicate that 10 active and two or three closed landfill sites are of concern.