asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will arrange for his Department to monitor the results of the inspections he has recommended of every Airey house in England for structural defects.

I did so in May of last year.

Will the Minister take account of the fact that there are 800 such houses in Doncaster, 200 in Barnsley and 300 in Rotherham and that the tenants are now worried about the fire hazard and structural defects? Is he aware that the local authorities are deeply worried about the future costs to them of replacing those houses? Will the hon. Gentleman also bear in mind that the poor owners—like some local authorities—purchased those houses not knowing about their structural defects and the fire hazard, and are extremely worried about how much they will cost them in the near future?

I assure the hon. Gentleman that I am well aware of the number of Airey houses in his constituency, which, geographically, has one of the highest concentrations of such houses in the country.

I should like to reinforce what was said by the hon. Member for Dearne Valley (Mr. Wainwright). As my hon. Friend will be aware, a number of my constituents have purchased Airey houses. Will he ensure that, however the sum is arrived at, the owners will get at least as much in compensation as they would get if the houses were compulsorily acquired for a motorway or some other purpose and were perfectly good houses?

I assure my hon. Friend that I am aware of the problem. I, too, have constituents in the same position. I cannot today make any commitment of a financial nature, but I have said that we have this aspect under consideration.

Will the Minister confirm that he has received the report from the National Building Agency about defective houses in new towns? If so, will he guarantee that the district councils involved will have the opportunity to study not only the report but the Minister's comments before he takes any action? Is he aware—I am sure that he is—that thousands of tenants are involved, including hundreds of tenants in my constituency in the new town of Peterlee?

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that that matter does not arise on this question. I am not aware of there being any Airey houses among the new town housing that he mentioned. I can confirm that we have now received the report.

Is my hon. Friend aware that in rural areas many Airey houses have large gardens? If they are to be demolished, there may be scope for building perhaps three times the number of new dwellings, but there will be no scope for providing special dwellings for old people. Therefore, there will be a grave knock-on effect from the defects of Airey houses. Can my hon. Friend assure us about the provision of special accommodation for old people, because many old people are living in Airey houses?

I am well aware that my hon. Friend and geographical neighbour in constituency terms has a considerable concentration of Airey houses in his area. The decision about the type of accommodation that may be provided is entirely a matter for the district council, but I am sure that the Maidstone borough council will want to draw attention to the capital implications in the HIP submission that it will shortly make to the Department.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce legislation to enable local authorities to require the fitting of water meters into all new domestic properties as a condition of planning permission.

No, Sir. Optional metering is now available in most areas of England and Wales and purchasers of new houses can ask the builder to fit a water meter during construction. Detailed guidance notes on the installation of household water meters can be obtained from the water authorities.

Does my hon. Friend agree that there is evidence that suggests that water meters significantly reduce the water charges on both domestic and commercial properties? Does it not make sense to encourage the installation of water meters in all new properties?

I accept that there is evidence that water metering can be beneficial. However, I do not consider it right to make it other than an optional service to the consumer. The benefits available for high street shops and other commercial premises are considerable. The benefits for domestic premises depend very much on rateable value.

Does the Minister accept that one of the pressures for metering is the imposition of water rates, particularly on elderly people and widows living by themselves and people on low incomes? If he does not intend to make any change in respect of water metering, will he consider changes in legislation to allow water rebates for such people?

No, Sir. Water bills now reflect charges for a service that has already been consumed, whereas rates are local taxes. Therefore, as with other energy bills, the householder who finds it difficult to pay can obtain some redress through the DHSS.

Does my hon. Friend recognise that the advantages of the metering of water supplies are to some extent not being realised because of the high cost of installation of the meters? Will he keep that matter under review?

There is a variable cost. Much depends on the individual property and the distance from the main. The average cost of internal domestic fitting is about £60.

The Minister agreed with his hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth, East (Mr. Atkinson) that industrial and domestic users were better off as a result of water metering. Who is paying the bill?

I made it clear that industrial and commercial consumers were likely to be significantly better off. The position of the domestic consumer depends on the rateable value. However, the costs and the benefits should be spread amongst all consumers.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment which local authorities are still not completing council house sales with what he judges to be sufficient speed.

Those authorities whose right-to-buy progress is being monitored were listed in the answer that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Griffiths) on 13 May. To those authorities there should now be added the Wrekin district council and the Orbit Housing Association.

Is there not a strong case now for introducing legislation specifying the maximum period between an application by a council tenant to purchase his house and the completion of the sale by the council? Why does it take some councils so much longer than the private sector to effect such sales?

I have every sympathy with the spirit behind my hon. Friend's question. The problem of specifying a statutory maximum period is that there are enormous variations in the complexity of sales of individual houses and flats. To prescribe a practical and realistic maximum would give rise to the danger of its being applied to every property, when there are many simple cases that can be dealt with very quickly. We must rest on the basic provisions of the present legislation.

When will the Government apply the same urgency to the building of council houses as they do to their sale? Should there not be some kind of hit-list or penal action against the Government for allowing the building of council dwellings to fall to its lowest level since the early 1920s?

I do not think that that question arises on the right-to-buy. The Labour Government whom the hon. Gentleman supported allowed the construction of council houses to fall to the lowest level since 1945 before they left office.

Notwithstanding the encouraging reply that was given to my hon. Friend the Member for Leek (Mr. Knox), will my hon. Friend confirm that some Labour-controlled authorities are still employing intimidation tactics by imposing onerous restrictive covenants, black lists, and so on, to dissuade council tenants from exercising their democratic right to buy their homes?

My hon. Friend draws attention to the fact that some of the covenants that have been used by, I am glad to say, a limited number of authorities are not considered to be reasonable. We have taken up this matter in detail with certain authorities. In some instances, the local authorities concerned have agreed to make changes to their basic conveyancing documents. We are watching this aspect extremely closely.

Is the Minister aware that several of my constituents have been struggling for well over a year to buy their flats and maisonettes from the London borough of Greenwich? Now that a purchase price has finally been agreed, they are being asked for service charges which in some instances amount to £75 a week for an ordinary council flat on a not particularly attractive estate. Does the Minister regard that as fair and reasonable? If not, what will he do about it?

I am glad to tell the hon. Gentleman that we have already taken this matter up with the Greenwich council and are actively pursuing it.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the current levels of rates for local authorities in the North-West of England.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what have been the latest levels of rate increase in the North-West region.

The average general rate poundage in local authorities in the North-West region is 177p. Average general rate increases in April were just over 14 per cent.

Does the Minister agree that the rate increase for the Cheshire county council is 18·6 per cent? If so—I see that the Minister agrees-will he explain why, in a party political broadcast on 5 May, the Secretary of State stated that, because of the SDP-Liberal Alliance and the Labour group in Cheshire, the rate increase was 32·5 per cent?

I should like to see the figures that the hon. Gentleman is quoting. The figure that I have here is 18·6 per cent. I am not sure whether he was quoting from the original rate increase or the supplementary rate increase. The Liberal Party is not the only party capable of using figures to suit its purposes.

Does the Minister accept that, instead of criticising Liberal-controlled councils, such as Liverpool city council, which had an 8 per cent. increase in its rates this year, it would be far better if his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State were to restore the massive cuts in the rate support grant than to crow about Liberal or Labour authorities having to grapple with the problems that he has created? Liverpool has sustained cuts of about £63 million over the past four years, which have resulted in massive reductions in service.

With respect, I shall not take lectures from the hon. Gentleman on how to help the city of Liverpool, nor shall I condemn my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. Nobody could have done more to alleviate the problems of Merseyside. I should have thought that the hon. Gentleman would take the opportunity to rise to his feet and pay tribute to the work that has been done.

Even if the Liberals on the Cheshire county council prevented the realisation of the Labour party's worst intentions, does my right hon. Friend agree that the rate increase of 18·6 per cent. is well above the level of inflation and that Cheshire ratepayers are now paying for having been stupid enough to put in a Labour authority?

My right hon. and learned Friend is correct to draw attention to the fact that in those counties controlled by Conservative authorities rates increased on average by 11 per cent., in Labour-controlled authorities by, on average, 31 per cent. and in counties that were unfortunate enough to end up with a mish-mash of Opposition parties, rates increased on average by 21 per cent.

Eight per cent.

I agree with the hon. Member for Liverpool, Edge Hill (Mr. Alton) that it is a question not of who is in control of a council but of that council's problems. Does the Minister agree that the rate support grant arrangements do not accord with the problems of a council, whether that council is Labour-controlled, Liberal-controlled or Conservative-controlled? That is the fault of the rate support grant.

It would be the biggest delusion to blame the problems faced by several authorities on difficulties in the rate support grant. The problems faced by the vast majority of authorities are those of management, organisation and the need for determination to achieve value for money. That is a high priority.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the ratepayers of the North-West should be very pleased that they are not in the GLC area? Unless something is done to curb the financial irresponsibility of that lunatic body, and particularly the way in which it conducts London Transport, the burden will fall on, among others, the taxpayers of the North-West.

I am aware that on walking out of the Chamber and looking across the river I see a record of the number of unemployed in London. As the figure increases, it will become the most telling epitaph to the GLC's disastrous policies. As a result of its rating and transport policies, it is clearly driving both jobs and people out of London.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the reduction in craft apprenticeships in his own Department and in local authorities during the past three years.

The latest figures from the Local Government Training Board show that the number of craft apprentices in local authorities in England and Wales was more than 300 greater at the end of 1981 than it was three years earlier—6,897 in 1981 compared with 6,574 in 1978. Over the same period the number of craft apprentices in my Department fell from about 1,100 to 600, mainly because the Property Services Agency direct labour force was being reduced.

Is the Minister aware that only three months ago the Secretary of State said that he wanted training programmes in the construction industry to be maintained? However, as a result of the cuts, Manchester has had to cut its apprentice intake from 140 in 1979 to 39 in 1982, and there have also been cuts in other cities and in his Department. Handing over Government and local authorities work to private industry has not solved the apprenticeship problem. Will the Secretary of State begin to take his word seriously?

I am aware of the situation in Manchester, and I understand that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Employment has offered to meet representatives of the city's direct works committee. As the PSA direct labour force is being reduced because work is being contracted out, its apprentice requirement has fallen.

Is the Minister aware that the report of the independent training research group shows that direct labour organisations have a far better record on apprenticeships than private builders? Why does he continue to put pressure on the PSA and on direct labour organisations when it means that they must reduce training and apprenticeships? If the Minister is concerned about circular 6/82, will he meet local authorities and representatives of the building industry, such as the Union of Construction and Allied Trades and Technicians, because they are concerned that skills will not be available if there is an upturn in the economy? If the Minister wants to improve training, will he discuss that matter? However, if he does not intend to help—

Order. Both questions and answers have been unreasonably long. That is very unfair to those who have questions on the Order Paper.

The figures show that there has been an increase, not a decrease, in the number of apprentices in direct labour organisations. I have seen representatives of the trade unions. The PSA's intake may be higher in the next few years than it is at present.

In the meeting to discuss the reduction in the number of craft apprentices in Manchester, will the Minister ensure that his ministerial colleague remembers that one in three youngsters in Manchester between the ages of 16 and 24 are unemployed? That makes the issue of craft apprentices crucial.

I am sure that that type of issue will be raised at the meeting with my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Employment.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to monitor the level of rents currently being charged in enterprise zones.

We have commissioned consultants to monitor the effects on rents of enterprise zones. We are being kept informed of interim findings, but they will not be reporting fully on what has happened in all the zones until the autumn. This report will include information about rents being charged on comparable properties in the zones and in the surrounding areas.

I welcome that aspect of comparability. Is my hon. Friend aware that a business that sets up in an enterprise zone is not charged rates for 10 years, whereas businesses that are striving to create new jobs in the surrounding local authority area have to pay rates? It is senseless that people should be encouraged to move out of one area into an enterprise zone, thereby causing the loss of jobs in one area and the creation of jobs in another. Is that not silly?

That inference cannot yet be drawn. We are monitoring the performance of the zones. The results will undoubtedly be varied, but to date the information is that many jobs and prospects have been created in zones and that they are of great benefit to the area as a whole.

Has any information been fed back to the Department to show that, as a result of the concessions given to enterprise zones, some of the owners of land in those zones are increasing rents considerably? If so, that means that we, as taxpayers, are subsidising those landowners.

The consultants will monitor that problem and we shall consider the results carefully.

Is my hon. Friend aware that local authorities, which own much of the land in enterprise zones, are charging far higher rents than those dictated by market forces and that, in addition, they are claiming back money from the Treasury for rates that would have been paid if the companies had not been exempt from them? Will he ensure that that aspect is monitored?

Rating valuations and the rates charged outside zones are matters not for me but for my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. We have no evidence that rents have risen to a level that nullifies the benefit of the rate concession offered in the zones.

May we have an early report on the Department's monitoring of the zones? The original idea of the zones was to attract manufacturing industry, but are they not attracting retailers and wholesalers and gaining financial benefits that are denied to those outside the zones who are competing with them?

We shall consider the report carefully when it is available and take advice on whether to make it available to hon. Members. The way in which zones affect local industries and produce net additional jobs undoubtedly varies. However, the Government remain committed to the view that the experiment is catalytic in nature and, therefore, of great benefit.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is satisfied that the present method of calculating the rate support grant gives sufficient weight to the problems of rural depopulation.

The Association of County Councils has made proposals for increasing the recognition given to the cost of providing services in areas of sparse population in the 1983–84 rate support grant settlement. These proposals are currently under discussion. I shall be reviewing the position on this during the summer.

Will my hon. Friend consider extending the sparsity factor beyond education to other essential services? Will he relate it to the local community and not to the county as a whole, which penalises counties, such as Hereford and Worcester, which have declining rural populations offset by growth points such as Redditch new town?

Such matters are under discussion in the grants working groups. I shall be interested in the outcome of those discussions. It would be unwise to go further than that now, although we are aware of the problems to which my hon. Friend has referred.

Is giving more money to the county councils the answer to the problem, since many county council members are farmers and landowners who are causing the depopulation? Will the Minister consider the suggestion that the Government should do for rural problems in specific grants what they have been doing for the inner cities?

We shall examine the problem in the light of the RSG settlement. There has been a sparsity factor, as we recognised in the previous needs assessment. That is a matter to be examined. There is something on which to spend the money, in the sense that there are higher costs for services provided by councils, such as school transport, when much greater distances might have to be covered than in the inner urban areas. That is an illustration of how higher costs may fall on a rural and more depopulated area.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what extra funds have been provided by his Department for the ethnic minorities since the appointment of the hon. Member for Ealing, Acton (Sir G. Young) as the Minister responsible for race relations within his Department.

There is no special allocation of funds for ethnic minorities within the Department's programmes. However, urban programme approvals announced since my appointment show that the upward trend in support for ethnic minority projects is continuing.

Does my hon. Friend agree that no level of public expenditure and no level of extra resources devoted to the inner city areas will be sufficient to avoid a deterioration in race relations and further riots this summer?

When I need advice on these matters I shall turn to a large number of my hon. Friends who represent the inner cities before I turn to the hon. Member for Basildon (Mr. Proctor).

Is my hon. Friend aware that the Asians in my constituency, the majority of whom support the Government, greatly admire the work done by him and welcome his appointment, as I do?

I am grateful for my hon. Friend's support. He represents more members of my party than the hon. Member for Basildon (Mr. Proctor).

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the take-up of the increased improvement grants announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget Statement; and if he will extend these arrangements.

We shall not have authority-by-authority figures for improvement grant applications received since the Budget until the autumn, but the early indications of the response to the Budget initiative are encouraging. We have no present plans to extend the higher rate of grant announced by my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor beyond the end of this calendar year.

Will the Minister keep the matter under review, because 400,000 building workers are on the dole and many properties could benefit from improvement? Does the Minister agree that the general economic effects of continuing the work would be immeasurable?

I note what the hon. Gentleman says. One of my right hon. and learned Friend's objectives was to make the 90 per cent. grant time-limited to ensure an early influx of applications for improvement grant work to produce an early benefit in employment for the construction industry.

In view of the rising costs of heating, what response has there been to circular 11/82 on home insulation grants?

Following the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget announcement, there has been a further allocation of funds for home insulation work. The bids from local authorities were somewhat below the total available. It seems that local authorities have sufficient funds in hand for the work.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he is satisfied with the progress of the partnership authorities.

I believe that the partnerships are now operating in a more effective way following the changes that we have made, and we are anxious to stimulate further activity to tackle inner city problems. In this connection my right hon. Friend, myself and other Ministers will be holding a series of one-day presentations in different parts of the country covering the whole range of initiatives that can help these problems.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the new Conservative-controlled Birmingham city council values its partnership authority and would welcome an early meeting with the Minister to discuss the many problems that we must solve if we are to put Birmingham on the move again?

I welcome what my hon. Friend says. As chairman of the Birmingham partnership I can say that there has been good bipartisan support from both sides of the council. In recognition of the importance of these issues I can confirm that the first of the one-day presentations, with my right hon. Friend, myself and other colleagues, will take place next Monday in Birmingham, with representatives from Birmingham and other neighbouring areas.

Do not Ministers contradict themselves when they recognise the needs of the partnership areas and yet, using the illustration of Manchester, take away assisted area status, which would help to create jobs and prosperity in an area?

I do not want to trespass into the problem of assisted area status, but one of the problems was the wide distribution. In an effort to help everybody, nobody was helped. We are determined to bring real help to the assisted areas.

Does the Minister agree that one of the best ways to help the inner city areas is to reclaim derelict land? Can he explain why the Government's plan in the Derelict Land Bill is to give the public sector a 100 per cent. grant towards land reclamation, but the private sector only 80 per cent.? Surely we should discriminate in favour of the private rather than the public sector.

My hon. Friend will be aware that the Bill to which he has referred, which I hope will complete its progress in the House by the end of this week, concerns much more than the possibility of more flexibility in the derelict land programme. The 80 per cent. grant is an improvement on the arrangements that exist. Derelict land reclamation is an important part of our inner city programme. We have taken a range of initiatives for which we shall seek wider understanding in the country. We believe that we have created a package of considerable size to help with the problems.

Does the Minister appreciate that the word "partnership" rings somewhat hollow in Lambeth, because the Secretary of State has decided that, in relation to the biggest development in the Lambeth partnership area for many years—the Vauxhall bridge foot development—the local consultation and democratic procedures are being swept away by the use of a special development order, which means that the local people, with whom the Secretary of State claims to be in partnership, have no say at all in what happens on that site?

I understand that the development is taking place in accordance with local planning policies and conforms with them. I understand that local people were invited to be involved in the procedure. I do not wish to trespass on a matter that will come up later, but in relation to the south bank of the Thames one can only pray for some initiative to bring more distinction to the architecture. If the present process contributes to that it should be welcomed.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many copies of the map of the European Community, its member States, regions and administrative units, which marks Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland but not England, have been distributed by the Ordnance Survey; and if he will take steps to prevent further circulation of this map until the word "England" has been added.

Ordnance Survey has distributed about 9,500 copies of the smaller version of the European Community map, at 1 in 8 million scale, and about 6,000 copies of the larger version. The map is published by the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. The Office and not the Ordnance Survey is responsible for its editorial content. The map is concerned with the major regional units of a member State. In this context the nomenclature is appropriate and I do not intend to seek its alteration.

How was it that the Ordnance Survey, a distinguished agency of the Crown, could bear to distribute this matter? Will my hon. Friend take steps to ensure that either it is overprinted with the word "England" in the appropriate place, or reprinted?

No, Sir. I shall not take that step. I remind my hon. Friend that the United Kingdom, and not England, is shown on the map as the member State. The other regions of England that are shown are comparable with Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland because they are regional planning areas.

Is my hon. Friend aware that increasingly, unfortunately, there is a tendency to omit, or be shy about mentioning, the words "England" or "English"? Is that not thoroughly disgraceful? Should not the Government put a stop to it immediately?

I trespass on dangerous territory when I have to clash with my hon. Friend the Member for Halesowen and Stourbridge (Mr. Stokes). I can plead only that the map is produced neither by the Government nor by the Ordnance Survey as an editorial matter. It is produced for a customer—the European Economic Community.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he plans further to expand the inner urban programme.

I announced last December that in 1982–83 urban programme resources would be £270 million, the highest level ever in real terms. Public expenditure plans for 1983–84 are still under consideration.

I welcome the increase that has already taken place. Does the Secretary of State accept that since his announcement evidence in my constituency and elsewhere has shown that youth unemployment is 50 per cent. higher even than last year and that there is a need for a massive increase in next year's inner urban programme to provide not only temporary work but successful schemes to help viable enterprises survive and provide long-term jobs?

I am not sure that I wholly agree with the solutions advocated by the hon. Gentleman, but he will be aware that his London borough has been invited to bid for part of the £70 million worth of urban development grant. which aims to attract private sector funds at a considerable gearing ratio into the inner cities. I hope that the borough will participate.

Does the Secretary of State accept that the partnership committees are a much better way of channelling money into the inner cities than organisations such as urban development corporations, which are about as democratic as the Argentine junta? Does he also accept that far too many agencies are meddling in the affairs of inner cities and that a partnership committee, using the urban programme, is a better way of channelling resources? Will he also consider involving the industrial and commercial communities in their organisation?

The hon. Gentleman reveals clearly that he has never attended a meeting of a partnership committee.

Does my right hon. Friend agree that urban areas such as the Greater London Council area need every penny that they can get for urban renewal? Is he not disturbed to hear that the chairman of the proposed Greater London enterprise board will cost London ratepayers £72,000 a year and that he is the deputy Labour leader of Wandsworth borough council?

I do not make such appointments, but the issue is not how much a person is paid but whether he can deliver the results. The matter will be judged by that standard.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many homes in England and Wales are without inside sanitation.

The 1981 census of population shows that 479,000 households living in permanent buildings in England and Wales did not have an indoor WC. That figure represents 2·7 per cent. of all households in permanent dwellings.

In view of the seriousness of the position, what plans does the Minister have to help local authorities to solve the problem?

We have introduced mandatory intermediate grants to owner-occupiers, landlords and tenants to help with the cost of installation. Applications made before the end of this year are eligible for a grant of up to 90 per cent. That is one of the best offers that has been made to try to tackle this serious problem.

Does the Minister agree that it is a condemnation of the Government that they allow so many hundreds of thousands of houses to have no indoor toilet facilities? What will the Government do? We have 3 million unemployed, among them thousands of building workers. Why cannot we build more houses and cure that terrible crime against society?

I outlined the action that the Government are taking to make a further impact on the problem, but it is right to put the matter into perspective. The present figure of 2·7 per cent. must be contrasted with the 1971 figure of 12 per cent. We are tackling the problem.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received on the effects of lead in petrol.

Between 1 January and 24 May, 75 letters were received by the Department, three-quarters from right hon. and hon. Members, the remainder from industrialists, local authority representatives, officers of other organisations and members of the public. The Campaign for Lead-Free Air invited its supporters to write to me on 24 May, and a further 130 letters had been received by the end of last week, mainly from members of the public.

Do the Government believe that there is a safe level of lead?

The Government believe that there is a tolerable level of lead that is free from hazard, but our overall policy must be directed to closing the gap between what is regarded as totally safe and what is regarded as acceptable. We are closing the gap by the fastest possible means and are reducing the lead content of petrol from 0·4 to 0·15 grams per litre.

For how long do the Government intend to withstand the overriding pressure of the evider ce that any amount of lead is harmful to adults and children?

I apologise to my hon. Friend. I did riot fully hear his question.

My question was: for how long does my hon. Friend intend to withstand the overriding pressure of evidence that any amount of lead is harmful to adults and children?

I have made it clear to my hon. Friend several times that we are taking steps substantially to reduce the hazard across the wide range of its applications in petrol, water or the air. That is the correct policy for us to pursue.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many acres of vacant and derelict land within new town boundaries are currently entered on the register set up for that purpose.

I fear that it would require a disproportionate effort to estimate the total, but if my hon. Friend has a case in mind I shall consider it.

Although I thank my hon. Friend for that answer, may I ask whether, because the amount is quite large, he is prepared to give further encouragement to new towns to release surplus land?

We certainly wish to do so. My hon. Friend will be aware that there are many other owners in new towns besides the new town development corporations. The land registers are based on local authority districts, but I accept the tenor of my hon. Friend's remarks.

As the Under-Secretary of State well recognises that the best way to rid the country of derelict and dormant land is to reclaim it and to use private money to do so, will he explain why, in the new Bill, the private sector receives only an 80 per cent. grant whereas nationalised industries and the public sector receive 100 per cent. grants?

The reason is simply that the public sector grant-aid system is designed to encourage private sector investment in the development of land thus reclaimed. It is wrong for my hon. Friend to insist that the only benefit to the private sector is the absolute rate of grant available. It also benefits from the major activities undertaken by local authorities.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to encourage local authorities to ensure that derelict land once cleared is developed and occupied.

In the programme for this year I have given priority to schemes by local authorities that involve firm prior agreements with private sector interests for immediate development after reclamation. Those arrangements will continue in 1983–84, and I have just invited authorities to submit bids for the priority schemes by 1 October.

I thank my right hon. Friend for his reply. Is he aware that large amounts of land in the inner city area of Birmingham that are owned by British Gas and British Rail are still lying idle? Will he apply the same pressures to those nationalised industries as he has applied so successfully to local authorities to release the land for development?

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising the matter. I assure him that my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State has had conversations with the Gas Board. I and my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and Environmental Services have discussed those matters with the city authority. We shall be continuing the dialogue.

The Secretary of State will be aware that the Opposition fully support the Derelict Land Bill and related measures. We wish to see encouragement for the reinstatement of land, but we are worried about the continuing decline in the number of employees at the Department of the Environment. Will the Secretary of State assure us that there will be sufficient inspectors to ensure that when land is reclaimed there is not deposited on it toxic waste and other noxious substances? We are anxious because a shortfall in the number of inspectors many lead to decisions by the operators to negate the conditions that are attached to planning permissions.

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. The number of staff employed in my Department is now about 12,000 to 13,000 less that it was three years ago. However, we should not prejudice our ability to carry out essential work, such as inspecting for toxic threats.

Does my right hon. Friend agree that many local authorities are unaware that they can pass derelict urban land to the private sector and build houses on half-and-half, shared ownership schemes? Will he do all that he can to ensure that the local authorities that are ignorant of that fact involve the private sector forthwith?

There is some lethargy and political prejudice in local authorities, but it is not ignorance.

Does the Secretary of State agree that one of the best ways to use derelict land owned by local authorities is to build council houses on it? Will he help authorities in places such as Merseyside, where waiting lists are becoming longer and longer, to do that?

The most casual observation of Merseyside would reveal that it has the highest number of empty properties in Britain. The idea that we should build more houses—whereas the local authorities make a priority of renovating existing houses—has nothing to do with housing policy.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on compensation for the owners of the cars damaged by the falling tree outside the Norman Shaw, North building in October 1981.

At my request the Treasury Solicitor is discussing with the North Thames Gas Board how claims for damage might be met.

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Has he become aware that this interdepartmental nationalised industry pregnancy has now run its full term of nine months and that two secretaries of hon. Members have had their cars damaged and are considerably out of pocket? Cannot the Government recompense these secretaries while they continue arguing?

Others were affected, apart from the two secretaries. The tree fell because its roots were cut, but they were not cut by my Department. The finger of suspicion has alighted on the North Thames Gas Board, which was seen digging near the area shortly before the tree fell. Time-consuming inquiries were needed to ascertain exactly what had happened. I am having a meeting with the Treasury Solicitor next week and I hope that the matter can shortly be resolved.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received about the phasing of rent increases arising from the operation of section 60 of and schedule 10 to the Housing Act 1980.

A number of letters have been received from hon. Members, the National Federation of Housing Associations and housing association tenants.

Is the Minister aware of the problem created by the operation of the Act for housing association rents? The increases in service charges are no longer able to be phased over three years and have to be paid immediately. Is he aware that as a result of this some pensioners are having their rents increased by up to £10 a week? Will he and the Government take action to limit such increases?

I shall examine the statutory service charge position and if I can shed any further light on it for the hon. Gentleman I shall do so. The problem goes back to 1972, when a statutory ceiling on housing association rent increases of 75p was imposed as part of the counter-inflation policy of that time. Throughout the tenure of office of the Labour Government there was no upward adjustment of that figure. That is why there is a certain amount of catching up to be done to meet the fair rent level.

As the hon. Gentleman is taking us down memory lane, does he remember that in Committee on the Housing Bill 1980 Opposition Members told him that housing associations were deeply concerned that statutory burdens would be placed on them to create exactly the unfairness and hardship that my hon. Friend the Member for South Ayrshire (Mr. Foulkes) has mentioned? Does he recollect that the Opposition tabled amendments that would have averted these impositions?

My memories of the proceedings in Committee while considering the Housing Bill 1980 will for ever be with me. I think that the hon. Gentleman will remember that the statutory position created by that measure places housing association tenants within the existing fair rent system. No housing association tenant is being asked to pay a higher rent than any private sector tenant. All housing association tenants have exactly the same rent allowance protection as all other private tenants.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the current average levels of council rents in England and Wales.

Full details are not yet available, but preliminary estimates indicate that average unrebated rents of local authority dwellings in England and Wales stood at some £13.54 per week at the end of April.

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his reply. Is he aware of the soaring discrepancy in many areas between housing association rents and local authority rents due to rent officers' registrations? Will he consult rent officers so that all rents in the community housing sector can be kept at parity?

My Department has no control over the rents that are fixed by rent officers. If we were to start to go down the road that the hon. Gentleman has outlined, there would have to be a major change of policy.

Is my hon. Friend aware that many of my constituents are paying rent for between six months and two years longer than they should because of the unwillingness of the Peterborough city council to sell council houses? When will he take action to assist these people so that they can stop paying rent and start to pay mortgages?

My hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Construction keeps under close scrutiny the progress made by local authorities in implementing the right-to-buy policy. I understand that he will shortly be writing to the local authority at Peterborough on this subject.

The Minister says that his Department has no responsibility for the decisions of rent officers, is it not a fact that his Department has issued beacon rents, which are guidelines on regional averages, and that rent officers are using these guidelines to increase rents in their areas?

I understand that the Department gives no advice or direction to rent officers. However, it makes available some information, which the officers asked the Department to supply.

In how many local authority areas is the rent revenue from council house rents less than the cost of management, administration and maintenance?

I should need notice of that question before I could even begin to answer it.

How many local authorities' housing revenue accounts are in surplus because of the high rents that are now being charged? How many of them are making a profit out of their council tenants?

I refer to the answer that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North (Mr. Marlow).

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has had from the heads of the construction industry concerning the future prospects of the industry.

My right hon. Friend and I met the Group of Eight on 15 February and we are regularly in touch with many people in the construction industry. Whilst the industry is still concerned with its work load, the measures taken by my right hon. and learned Friend in his Budget have been welcomed, and it is encouraging that so far this year there has been a rise in new house building in both the public and private sectors, in home improvement grants, and in construction new orders.

When will the Government realise that the best possible stimulant for the economy is a major boost for the construction industry? Such a boost would be the means of putting the unemployed back to work. There are so many schemes—for example, road building, sewerage, railway electrification and housing—that are crying out for action. When will the order be given for the go-ahead?

The hon. Gentleman should consider the announcement by my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget Statement and the overall provision that has been made in this financial year. I am glad to say that private housing starts for the past three months were 38 per cent. more than for the same period last year and 49 per cent. more than those for the previous three months. Total orders for new construction were 13 per cent. higher than a year ago. In the first quarter of this year the improvement grants paid were 29 per cent. up on a year ago.

Despite the cosmetic figures that the hon. Gentleman has offered the House, unemployment and bankruptcies in the building industry are at the highest levels ever recorded. As the Government were ready to respond at short notice to the Argentine crisis by spending £1 ¼ billion, will they spend £1¼ billion on constructing 50,000 houses, thereby putting 125,000 building workers to work?

I am interested in the right hon. Gentleman's definition of "cosmetic". The increase in private and public sector house building starts and the increase in home improvements, as well as the general rise in new orders for total construction work, do not suggest to me that the figures are merely cosmetic. We have made a significant increase in the gross provision available for housing and we look forward to all local authorities making full use of it this year.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many meetings he has had to date with the football authorities to discuss arrangements for the World Cup.

I first met the chairman of the three Football Associations last November to discuss arrangements for the World Cup. At that meeting I established a liaison group between the Government and the football authorities to carry things forward. This group has met formally on four occasions, and has also met together in Spain for discussions with the Spanish authorities in the areas where our teams were due to play. There has been regular and informal contact in between these meetings.

Has the Minister yet been able to ascertain the exact circumstances of the violent confrontation between Scottish and English football fans at Lloret de Mar last night after the Scotland v Soviet Union match? As the Scottish Office Minister responsible for sport is reported to have been at the match, would he not be an appropriate person to conduct an on-the-spot investigation into this tragic and deplorable incident, which should not be allowed to mar one of the greatest sporting occasions in the world?

So far I have not had detailed reports of the incident to which the hon. Gentleman refers. I and other Ministers have attended some of the matches over the past week and, from what I have seen, the behaviour of our fans in the stadium has been exemplary. There have been one or two bad examples outside the stadium. I shall look into the incident at Lloret de Mar and report back in due course.

Does my hon. Friend agree that the most important meetings in the World Cup that are now about to take place will be carried out by the English team and that we hope that it will win all those meetings?

That is a statement which I—and I am sure other hon. Members—wholeheartedly support.

England got an easy draw.

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the progress made in selling council houses to sitting tenants.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Leek (Mr. Knox).

Does my hon. Friend agree that we have every reason to be proud of the fact that we have ensured that so many thousands of families have the opportunity of becoming owner-occupiers who otherwise would never have had that opportunity? Is my hon. Friend satisfied with the arrangements in his Department to ensure, first, that councils that are not co-operating with the Government's policy are sorted out and, secondly, that councils meeting genuine problems, such as difficulties over the ownership of property, can be assisted by his Department?

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend that it is an important achievement by the Government that about 300,000 council dwellings have become owner-occupied since the Government came to office. I assure my hon. Friend that I am satisfied with the rigorous and detailed measures that we take inside the Department to monitor progress in general. I am also aware that we must take into account the limited number of cases when there are special technical difficulties, to which my hon. Friend has referred.

On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. In view of the important letter that the Prime Minister wrote on 3 February stating that the Falkland Islands were sufficiently protected against aggression, should we not, as a matter of urgency, have a statement from the Prime Minister? Some 250 members of the Armed Forces died in the Falklands operation. Many more were injured. In view of the letter that has now come to light, a statement should be given at once to the House of Commons.

Order. The hon. Gentleman knows that that is not a matter for which I am responsible.