HC Deb 20 February 1990 vol 167 cc663-4W
Ms. Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the dates of all meetings of his Department's working party to examine the feasibility of compiling a register of contaminated land, referred to in his answer of 10 April 1989,Official Report, column 399; and if he will place a copy of the committee's proceedings in the Library.

Mr. Trippier

Full working party meetings took place on 7 January and 3 March 1988 and on 21 February and 20 March 1989 with related policy discussions between and since those dates. The next meeting is proposed for 28 February 1990. I expect to receive a report from officials shortly and would want to announce my proposals on the subject as soon as possible. However, it is not our practice to supply records of interim discussions by an internal group preparing proposals for my consideration.

Ms. Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make available in the Library work completed under the site survey conducted by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in conjunction with local authorities as detailed in his answer of 11 April 1989,Official Report, column 459.

Mr. Trippier

Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution, working with the waste disposal authorities, has sought to survey the likely scale of the potential problem posed by landfill gas. The results of the survey have now been agreed with the waste disposal authorities and the report, which will be published shortly, will be placed in the Library.