§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her reply of 5 March 2002,Official Report, column 220W, on pollution control; if she will list the key stakeholders referred to; how her Department uses the comments received from key stakeholders, since when these reports have been published, and if she will place in the Library copies of unpublished reports; if she will provide details of the process by which the reports are considered; if she will list the decisions made on what steps should be taken since these reports were first published; and what steps have been taken to reinforce to local authorities the importance of adopting such practice. [43481]
§ Mr. MeacherThe key Local Air Pollution Control stakeholders are the members of the Industrial Pollution Liaison Committee and the Industry Forum, which meet twice a year. The Committee and Forum comprise respectively, organisations representing local enforcing authority regulators and trade bodies representing regulated industries. A copy of the statistical report is also now sent to the Environmental Industries Commission, who I recently met to discuss Local Air pollution Control among other matters. Any comments made by these stakeholders are carefully considered.
Statistics have been produced from the annual LAPC statistical survey since it was first undertaken for the year 1991–92 and have from the outset been provided to members of the Committee and (from its establishment) the Forum. A copy of the statistics covering the period 1991–00 is being placed in the Library. The reports for 2000–01 is on the Department's website. In addition, "Local Air Pollution Control in England and Wales; Five Year Report 1991–96" was published in December 1996 and contained a statistical review. The reports are considered by officials and the key findings are reported to Ministers. The statistics have helped inform policy on LAPC throughout the lifetime of the regime.
826WOfficials raised the importance of local authorities adopting cost accounting in discussion with the Local Government Association and, when the opportunity arose, in discussion with individual local authorities. The issue was discussed at the Industrial Pollution Liaison Committee.
§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 5 March 2002,Official Report, column 219W, on local air pollution control, what guidance has been given to local authorities in each case; and if she will (a) provide a definition of low inspection record, (b) state on what date all local authorities were written to, provide details of to whom within each local authority these letters were addressed and place a copy of the standard letter in the Library, (c) provide details of responses to these letters and (d) state what outcomes she expects from the letter to chief executives. [43534]
§ Mr. MeacherGuidance on inspection under the Local Air Pollution Control (LAPC) system was issued by the Department of the Environment in 1995 in additional guidance note reference (AQ4(95)). In 2000 local authorities were publicly listed which undertook an average of less than 0.5 inspections per process in a year. In 2001 the threshold was raised to one inspection. Letters were sent on 8 November 2001 to the chief environmental health officer of most of the relevant local authorities; a further four authorities were written to on 28 February 2002. I am placing a copy in the Library of the House. All except two of the local authorities written to on 8 November have responded with improvements they intend to make to their inspection performance. My Department is in contact with the remaining two authorities over their responses. I expect the letter to local authority chief executives to focus the minds of local authorities on the importance of carrying out sufficient process inspection in undertaking their LAPC regulatory functions.