§ Lord Burlisonasked Her Majesty's Government:
When the response to the Panel on Sustainable Development's Fourth Annual Report will be published. [HL3640]
§ Lord WhittyThe Government's response to the Fourth Annual Report of the Government Panel on Sustainable Development has been published. We have been able to respond positively to many of the panel's recommendations. The panel is a valuable source of advice for government in the achievement of sustainable development. We wish to express gratitude to the convenor of the panel, Sir Crispin Tickell, and his colleagues for their continued commitment to helping to identify new sustainable ways of enhancing the quality of life and prosperity for everyone.
Examples of where the Government have been able to respond positively to the panel's recommendations are:
We will place copies of the response in the Library.
- on climate change emissions: we have reached an agreement with our EU partners during our UK Presidency on binding targets to meet the Kyoto Protocol target of 8 per cent.
- on marine biodiversity: we have set up a specialist sub-group to ensure that an integrated approach is taken to preserving the diversity of marine eco-systems;
WA 6 - on endocrine disruptors: we have undertaken a new £3 million research programme to address male reproductive health and the marine environment;
- on building regulations: we have begun a comprehensive review of the existing regulations;
- on economic instruments: we are taking forward the panel's recommendations in a number of areas.
§ Lord Burlisonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What resources they will make available to authorities that were reorganised on 1 April 1996, 1997 or 1998 for reorganisation costs incurred by them in 1998–99. [HL3641]
§ Lord WhittyOn 17 July we invited authorities that have been or are to be reorganised on or before 1 April 1998 to submit estimates of the amount of expenditure they expect to incur on transitional costs of reorganisation in 1998–99. On the basis,inter alia, of the information provided by the authorities, we have decided the revised maximum amounts that it would be appropriate to allocate towards such costs in 1998–99. We have given priority to those authorities that reorganised in 1998.
The amounts allocated are as follows:
7WA
Supplementary Credit Approvals (SCAs): £000 rounded Authority 1998–99 County Councils Cambridgeshire County Council 250 Cheshire County Council 2,217 Devon County Council 765 Essex County Council 2,683 Kent County Council 752 Lancashire County Council 1,465 Nottinghamshire County Council 4,534 Shropshire County Council 994 Worcestershire County Council 2,250 All Purpose Authorities Bath & North East Somerset Council 1,280 Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council 3,349 Blackpool Borough Council 3,188 Bournemouth Borough Council 650 Bracknell Forest Borough Council Nil Brighton and Hove Council 1,407 Bristol City Council 1,268 Darlington Borough Council 1,193 Derby City Council 1,602 The East Riding of Yorkshire Council 4,259 Halton Borough Council 2,832 Hartlepool Borough Council 720 County of Herefordshire District Council 5,155 Kingston-upon-Hull Council 1,823 Leicester City Council No bid Luton Borough Council 1,973 Malvern Hills District Council Nil Medway Council 5,674 Middlesbrough Borough Council 2,284 Milton Keynes Borough Council 2,250 North East Lincolnshire Council 1,853 North Lincolnshire Council 3,288
Authority 1998–99 North Somerset Council 652 Nottingham City Council 3,920 Peterborough City Council 2,061 Plymouth City Council 9,450 Poole Borough Council 1,100 Portsmouth City Council 1,603 Reading Borough Council 3,281 Redcar & Cleveland Council 1,000 Rutland Council 1,065 Slough Borough Council 2,781 Southend on Sea Borough Council 2,690 South Gloucestershire Council 830 Southampton City Council 3,185 Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council 1,646 Stoke-on-Trent City Council 1,348 Swindon Borough Council 742 Telford & Wrekin Council 4,143 Thurrock Borough Council 3,067 Torbay Borough Council 6,396 Warrington Borough Council 2,934 West Berkshire Council Nil The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead Nil Wokingham District Council 2,262 York City Council No bid Total 118,114 Leicester and York City Councils and Bracknell Forest, Malvern Hills, West Berkshire and Windsor & Maidenhead Borough Councils did not submit bids for SCA.