HL Deb 23 July 1998 vol 592 cc139-41WA
Baroness Lockwood

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will publish details of the public expenditure plans for environmental protection programmes. [HL3009]

Baroness Hayman

Yes. We are today publishing details of the provision for environmental protection programmes, as agreed in the context of the Comprehensive Spending Review. In addition to the extra £174 million for energy efficiency announced by my right honourable friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 14 July provision for our other environmental protection programmes is being increased by £80 million over the next three years.

£150 million of the new energy efficiency money is added to the existing £75 million a year expenditure on the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme creating a new expanded fuel poverty programme to help another 1,000,000 vulnerable households whose homes cannot be heated to the minimum level for good health.

Support for the Energy Saving Trust is increased from £19 million, this year, to £22 million for 1999–2000 and to £25 million for each of the later years. An extra £1.5 million is provided for Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme in 1999–2000 and further increases are planned to provide, among other things, new programmes of advice to businesses to help improve energy efficiency.

The extra £80 million for environmental protection will enable us to:

  1. (a) make £50 million available to local authorities to support implementation of the new provisions for contaminated land in Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (inserted by Section 57 of the Environment Act 1995), which we intend to bring into force in July 1999. The funds will support local authorities in developing inspection strategies, carrying out investigations of individual sites and taking forward necessary enforcement action; and
  2. (b) increase grant to the Environment Agency by a total of £13 million over three years to help implement new European Directives, and to support the Agency's role in the new contaminated land regime; and
  3. (c) increase funding for environmental research, for a number of small programmes which promote environmental improvements and for pneumoconiosis compensation grant.

Details are set out in the table below:

DETR Environmental Protection Programmes Actual and Planned Resource Provision 1998–99 to 2002–2
Programmes Actual Provision 1998–99 £ millions Planned Provision 1999–2000 £ millions Planned Provision 2000–2001 £ millions Planned Provision 2001–2002 £ millions
Energy Efficiency
Home Energy Efficiency Schemes 75.1 75.1 125.1 175.1
Energy Efficiency Best Practice 15.1 16.7 19.8 22.5
Energy Savings Trust 19.0 22.0 25.0 25.0
Sub-total Energy Efficiency 109.2 113.8 169.9 222.6
Contaminated Land
Implementation of S57 by Local Authorities — 14.0 18.0 18.0
Capital Funding for Local Authorities 14.0 15.0 15.0 15.0
Sub-total Contaminated Land 14.0 29.0 33.0 33.0
Environment Agency 100.9 106.1 106.0 103.4
Small Programmes Promoting Environmental Improvement (national)1 15.6 18.5 18.5 18.5
Programmes Promoting environmental improvement through international co-operation2 10.6 12.9 12.9 12.9
Environmental Research 28.3 29.8 29.8 29.8
Other environmental monitoring3 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.8
Grants towards main water supply and sewerage in rural areas etc. 6.2 6.2 5.5 5.4

DETR Environmental Protection Programmes Actual and Planned Resource Provision 1998–99 to 2002–2
Programmes Actual Provision 1998–99 £ millions Planned Provision 1999–2000 £ millions Planned Provision 2000–2001 £ millions Planned Provision 2001–2002 £ millions
Air quality, smoke control and other capital programmes4 5.9 4.6 3.1 3.1
Pneumoconiosis Compensation grant5 6.9 7.7 7.7 7.7

Notes:

1 Includes: Environmental Technology Best Practice, Tidy Britain, Going for Green, Environment Action Fund, UKEB, Environmental Publicity and Mersey Basin Foundation.

2 Includes: Darwin, UNEP, East European Environmental know-how fund, Chernobyl Sarcophagus and other international subscriptions for 2000–1 and beyond. For 1998–99 excludes provision for Know-How and Chernobyl following transfers.

3 Includes: Radon Measurement, NETCEN and Met Office Emergency Pollution Response (part of the Radio-Active incident monitoring Network (RIMNET).

4 Includes: provision for supplementary credit approvals for Air Quality and Smoke Control, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and the Isles of Scilly.

5 Pneumoconiosis compensation grant is administered by the Health and Safety Executive.