§ Lord Thomson of Monifiethasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the amount of the research budget allocated to Her Majesty's Inspectorate for Pollution to underpin its regulatory role.
The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Earl Ferrers)Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution (HMIP) was one of the bodies which came together in April 1996 to create the Environment Agency. The HMIP research budget was fully integrated within the agency's research and development programme. For 1996–97 the estimated outturn figure for research and development carried out by the agency in fields previously handled by HMIP is about £3 million. In 1997–98 it is expected that a similar allocation will be made for the same purpose.
The agency also continues to carry out activities which HMIP used to classify as research and development and for which it recovers costs from third parties. These have a value of approximately £3 million per annum.