§ Mr. TredinnickTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what studies he has made of practice in other countries regarding the use of economic instruments as a means to deliver policies to protect the environment; and what plans he has to make use of such measures in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryI have had placed in the Library of the House the report of a recent study by Environmental Resources Ltd. which examines the uses which 10 selected countries make of charges and subsidies as means of pollution control. Seven EC countries (United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain), two Scandinavian countries outside the European Community (Norway and Sweden) and Japan were chosen for study. The report considers both the effectiveness of such schemes in improving environmental conditions and the trends emerging over the past five years. The study shows that there has been a notable shift away from subsidies as a means of pollution control—in line with increasing emphasis on the "polluter pays" principle. At the same time, much greater attention is being paid to possibilities for using charges.
In the United Kingdom, little use has until now been made of charges as a means of pollution control. However, charges covering the costs of operating a number of pollution regulation systems, including integrated pollution control, are proposed in the Environmental Protection Bill. Moreover, the Government recognise that in appropriate circumstances it is possible that environmental policies could be delivered more efficiently by market-based instruments.