| Previous Section | Home Page |
Mr. Sainsbury : I have nothing to add to the answer I gave to the hon. Members for Newcastle-upon-Tyne, East (Mr. Brown) and for Wallsend (Mr. Garrett) on 29 November 1988 at column 217.
Surface Escorts
Mr. Rogers : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of surface escorts in the Royal Navy in 1987 had the type of anti-missile defences required for Royal Navy frigates deployed in the Gulf.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : For operational security reasons, it is not our general practice to disclose specific capabilities of individual components of the fleet.
Iran
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arms have been sold to Iran since the end of the Iran-Iraq war.
Mr. Sainsbury : It has never been the practice to give details of specific arms sales, but the hon. Member can be assured that we continue to adhere scrupulously to the guidelines announced by my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary on 29 October 1985 at column 454.
ENVIRONMENT
Rating Reform
Mr. Patnick : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what a typical ward sister would pay in (a) rates, (b) community charge, (c) a system of capital value rates plus local income tax and (d) local income tax paid in the proportion of 80-20, respectively, if she lived in a typical one-bedroom flat in Sheffield, Hallam.
Mr. Gummer : A ward sister earning £13,000, living in a flat in Sheffield worth £25,000 and with a rateable value of £200, would pay a rates bill of £658, a community charge of £285 (disregarding the transitional safety net) and £385 under a system of capital value rates plus local income tax.
Football Membership Scheme
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects the relevant Minister in his Department to reply to the letter dated 9 January from the hon. Member for Newham, South ; and if, in the light of its contents, he will correct any information in the letter sent from his Department dated 21 December 1988 to hon. Members concerning the Football Spectators Bill [Lords].
Column 46
Mr. Moynihan : I replied to the hon. Member on 23 February.
Water Industry
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the number of (a) officials in his Department, their grade and overall estimated cost and (b) consultants and their cost engaged upon matters relating to the water industry, including its privatisation, in the years 1979, 1983, 1986, 1988 and 1989.
Mr. Ridley : I will write to the hon. Member.
Listed Buildings
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will restore statutory protection for those previously grade 3 listed buildings of local interest ; if he will reinstate the local list for designated conservation areas ; and if he will make a statement.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : Grade III was a non-statutory category of buildings of mainly local interest which did not qualify for the statutory list and, consequently, never did enjoy statutory protection. The category was abandoned almost 20 years ago with the start of the national resurvey of listed buildings, now nearing completion. Those former grade III buildings which have been reassessed during the national resurvey, which satisfy the current listing criteria as buildings of special architectural or historic interest, and which are thought to be of more than local interest, are now included in the statutory lists.
I assume that by "local list" my hon. Friend is referring to the list of important conservation areas which was included in circular 23/84. English Heritage was to be notified of planning applications which might affect the character or appearance of areas on this list. This arrangement was, however, superseded in 1987 by a requirement to notify English Heritage of any development in any conservation area exceeding a specified size. The purpose of this is to enable English Heritage to concentrate on more significant development proposals affecting conservation areas.
London Docklands Development Corporation
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many jobs have been lost in the London Docklands development corporation area because of relocation, or closures since 1981.
Mr. Trippier : Information on the great majority of firms which move out of the urban development area is not collected. Department of Employment figures show that 2,230 jobs were lost in the 41 firms which closed in the seven years 1981 to 1988 where closures were required to be notified to that Department.
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the London Docklands development corporation will receive the payments derived from enhanced land values to pay for the extension of the Docklands light railways.
Mr. Trippier : As land disposals are completed.
Column 47
Acid Water
Mr. Gordon Brown : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he intends to publish the acid waters review group report.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The second report of the acid waters review group will be published within the next few weeks. Copies of the report will be placed in the Library of the House.
Water Pollution
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report (a) the volume and (b) the locations in England at which discharges take place into the aquatic environment of (i) ethylene dichloride, (ii) perchloroethylene and (iii) trichloroethylene.
Column 48
Mr. Moynihan : The information sought is not held centrally. Control of discharges is the responsibility of the regional water authorities.
Mr. Onslow : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements to monitor the effects of low winter rainfall have been agreed with the water industry, with special reference to the levels of abstraction from rivers into which there have regularly been discharges of effluent in breach of discharge consent standards.
Mr. Howard : The water industry associations are supplying us with twice-monthly reports on regional rainfall, the state of water resources, measures taken and assessments of the outlook. The Institute of Hydrology with the British Geological Society, and the Meteorological Office, are supplying us with monthly reports. Management of levels of abstraction from rivers which receive effluents is the responsibility of the water authorities within the terms of abstraction licences.
Column 49
Cambridgeshire (Population)
Sir Eldon Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has studied the estimates made by the standing conference of East Anglian local authorities, about the number of new homes that will be required to accommodate the expected increase in population in the administrative county of Cambridgeshire over the period between 1989 and 2011 ; and what steps he is taking to diminish the pressures on land, traffic and prices in the city of Cambridge by refraining from moving Government offices into the city from Newmarket.
Mr. Chope : The estimate of the number of new houses likely to be required in Cambridgeshire between 1986 and 2011 is included in a consultation draft of a regional strategy being prepared by the standing conference of East Anglian local authorities. The standing conference is expected to invite the Secretary of State to publish regional strategic guidance for the region on the basis of their proposed regional strategy.
Policies to deal with the expected growth of Cambridgeshire up to 2001 are already included in the submitted alterations to the approved structure plan. The move of 35 staff to Cambridge from Newmarket will not have a significant impact on the economy of Cambridge.
Housing (Greater London)
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has about the total number of dwellings in the Greater London area owned by (a) the London residuary body and (b) housing associations which are unlawfully occupied.
Mr. Trippier : This information is not held centrally.
Caravan Sites
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Cambridgeshire, South-East of Thursday 16 February, Official Report, column 389, on caravan sites, if he will provide similar information as at 1 May 1985.
Mr. Trippier : The information is as follows :
Column 50
|(a) |(b) |(c)
County |Number of local authority|Number of caravans on |Number of caravans on
|sites at 1 January 1985 |local authority sites<1> |private sites<1>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bedfordshire |5 |81 |3
Cambridgeshire |5 |183 |146
Essex |7 |134 |45
Hertfordshire |8 |137 |18
Lincolnshire |4 |120 |10
Norfolk |2 |49 |21
Suffolk |2 |72 |71
<1> Based on 17 July 1985 count.
Applications for designation under section 12 of the 1968 Act, as amended, as at 1 May 1985 were as follows :
District |Number of local authority|Number of caravans on |Number of caravans on
|sites |local authority sites |private sites
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cambridge |0 |0 |24
East Cambridge |3 |49 |40
Fenland |3 |61 |17
Huntingdonshire |1 |0 |43
Peterborough |3 |126 |23
South Cambridgeshire |2 |30 |58
|------ |------ |------
|12 |266 |205
Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many (a) local authority and (b) authorised private, individual sites under section 6 of the Caravan Sites Act 1968 exist in each of the district council areas in Cambridgeshire.
Mr. Trippier : Details of sites and numbers of caravans in each of the district council areas in Cambridgeshire as at 1 January 1989 are as follows :
Column 49
District |Number of local authority|Number of caravans on |Number of caravans on
|sites |local authority sites |private sites
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cambridge |0 |0 |24
East Cambridge |3 |49 |40
Fenland |3 |61 |17
Huntingdonshire |1 |0 |43
Peterborough |3 |126 |23
South Cambridgeshire |2 |30 |58
|------ |------ |------
|12 |266 |205
Information on individual sites licensed by local authorities is not held by the Department.
Column 50
Housing Subsidy (Manchester)
Mr. Bradley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether Manchester's share of the national total available for a transitional housing revenue account
Column 51
subsidy in 1990-91 will be based on the rate fund contribution in 1988-89, or the average of contributions over the three years 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89.Mr. Trippier : The consultation paper "A New Financial Regime for Local Authority Housing in England and Wales" proposed that housing revenue account subsidy for 1990-91 should reflect, among other things, the average rate fund contributions over the three years 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89. A number of comments were received on this proposal and these are being considered.
Insulation
Mr. Win Griffiths : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, in the light of the conclusions of the Eurisol report, "Pollution Reduction Through Energy Conservation", he will (a) make the insulation standards of the proposed new building regulations compulsory, (b) provide grants for this work and (c) bring existing homes up to these proposed standards.
Mr. Trippier : A consultation paper issued last July proposed that the existing thermal insulation requirements in the building regulations should be upgraded. Responses to the consultation paper are being considered. It was also proposed that the form of this part of the regulations should be brought more into line with that of other parts, by requiring reasonable provision to be made for the conservation of fuel and power, and by including guidance on insulation standards in the approved document. Experience has shown that this approach enables effective control to be maintained, but in a clearer and more flexible way. While it would not be appropriate to provide grants towards the cost of complying with building regulations requirements, there are provisions in the Local Government and Housing Bill to enable local authorities to pay grants towards the cost of providing adequate thermal insulation in existing dwellings.
Toxic Waste
Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps Her Majesty's Government are taking to stop the Antarctic being used as a dumping ground for toxic waste.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley : The Government are actively supporting a proposal, in the negotiation of a global convention on the transboundary movement of hazardous waste, to prohibit the export of such waste for disposal in Antarctica.
Mining (Tinsley Park)
Mr. Barron : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he is going to answer the letter of 13 February sent to him by the hon. Member for Rother Valley on the request for a public inquiry into the proposed open cast coal mine at Tinsley Park.
Column 52
Waste Disposal (Rixton)
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he received information from Cheshire county council or Colliers Waste Disposals, Rixton, that waste from the Chemstar plant at Stalybridge was dumped at Rixton following an accident there in 1981 ; when he was told of the materials that were dumped at Rixton ; if he will list them ; and whether there were any traces of dioxin in the materials that were dumped.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 23 February 1989] : The Department was informed early in February by Cheshire county council that some 2,500 drums of paint residues and pigments from the drum store of the Chemstar plant had been landfilled at the Colliers waste disposal landfill at Rixton. The records of special wastes for this site indicate that no dioxin contaminated wastes were deposited.
Hospital Waste (Rixton)
Mr. Hoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 16 February, Official Report , column 282 , what was the clinical waste which had been dumped ; what information Cheshire county council supplied on who was responsible for the dumping ; and what advice was given on the possible prosecution of the person concerned.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley [holding answer 20 February 1989] : Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution is preparing a report on the landfill in which clinical waste was deposited at the Collier landfill, Cheshire. I shall write to the hon. Member when the report is available.
Docklands
Ms. Mildred Gordon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total amount of rate allowance claimed so far in the Isle of Dogs enterprise zone.
Mr. David Trippier [pursuant to his reply, 23 January, col. 458] : Schedule 32 of the Local Government,Planning and Land Act 1980 provides that my right hon. Friend shall make grants to rating authorities who lose revenue from properties within enterprise zones that are exempt from the payment of rates. To date, the rating authorities affected by the Isle of Dogs enterprise zone, have claimed £27,053,715.
TRANSPORT
Trains (Doors)
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many wrong door openings have occurred on British Rail trains since 1980 ; how many in each year resulted in (i) minor injuries, (ii) major injuries and (iii) deaths ; and what were the numbers in each case.
Mr. Portillo : Details of incidents prior to 1984 are not readily available. The information for the period 1984-88 is in the table.
Column 53
|c|British Railways door irregularities resulting from a failure
or ending in a collision|c|
|1984|1985|1986|1987|1988
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of incidents |302 |226 |218 |256 |266
Number of incidents involving injury |24 |14 |14 |12 |11
Number of injuries
fatal |- |- |- |- |1
serious injury |1 |- |- |1 |-
minor injury |41 |20 |20 |23 |13
Roads and Car Parks
Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the reasons for the revision of the underspend on local authority capital spending for 1988-89 on roads and car parks from £42 million in table 8.1 of Cm. 288-11 to £100 million in the equivalent table of Cm. 608.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The £42 million underspend is indicated by comparing the estimated outturn in Cm. 608 with the provision in Cm. 288 -II. The estimated outturn in Cm. 608 is based on spending returns from the first quarter of the year only and hence is subject to wide margins of error. The provision in Cm. 288-II was subsequently revised upwards by £36 million during the year, to reflect an additional £36 million of spending power which became available to local authorities because they underspent their net provision in 1987-88.
The £100 million underspend estimate in paragraph 70 of Cm. 608 is a later Department of Transport forecast which takes account of the revised provision.
Traffic (London)
Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the use of the London area model developed by his Department's transport and road research laboratory as a means of easing traffic congestion in London.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The transport and road research laboratory's experimental London area model (LAM) was designed to assist in the analysis of strategic policy options. The London planning advisory committee (LPAC) commissioned consultants to test four transport options using the model.
The base scenario portrayed in the report by the LPAC's consultants did not represent current Government policies. The conclusion drawn were not a realistic assessment of the likely outcome. The base against which other policies are compared are ill-founded. The options described in the LPAC scenarios have included the impact of selective road improvements, stricter parking controls, selective radial rail improvements and new RER-style railways. None were suitable for testing using LAM.
The sensitivity testing work was commissioned by the LPAC. The Department received a copy of the report in late January. It is for the LPAC to publish the results if they so wish.
The Department commissioned an audit by consultants, the results of which were received last spring. These identified deficiencies with the LAM including its representation of road and rail capacity levels ; and inadequate representation of peak demands ; and an
Column 54
inability to reproduce travel patterns experienced in recent years--particularly the growth in travel demand which has taken place since travelcards were introduced.It was decided to withdraw the model from further use. I will be placing a copy of the consultant's audit report in the Library. The model does not provide measures to ease traffic congestion.
Road Works (Legislation)
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if necessary consultations with local authorities have been completed prior to his publication of a Bill to replace the Public Utilities Street Works Act ; and what is his policy as to whether that replacement will contain powers for determining priorities for work on busy roads.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The Government response to the Horne report on the review of the Public Utilities Street Works Act 1950 accepted most of the recommendations in that report. Consultations with the local authorities under the auspices of the highway authorities and utilities committee on matters of detail are now substantially complete. Proposals for legislation are being drawn up with the benefit of advice from the street works advisory committee. As far as work on busy roads is concerned, we have accepted the Horne recommendation that highway authorities should be empowered to designate certain roads as traffic-sensitive and that undertakers proposing to carry out works that will obstruct the carriageway of such roads will have to consult the highway authority in advance. All utilities and highway authorities will also generally be required to establish procedures for co-ordinating major projects in advance.
Tube Trains (Door Openings)
Mr. Meacher : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many wrong door openings have been reported on the London Underground each year since 1980 ; and how many in each case resulted in (a) injuries and (b) deaths.
Mr. Portillo : Details of incidents prior to 1984 are not readily available. Since then three incidents (all in 1987) involving London Underground trains were reported ; none gave rise to injury or death.
Commuter Trains
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his response is to the recommendations in the report of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (a) that British Rail should increase by £50 million the bills for running commuter trains and (b) that a review should be made on the way in which local train fares are fixed.
Column 55
Mr. Portillo : My right hon. Friend will in due course present to the House British Rail's response to the commission's report along with the Government's observations. Until then it would be premature to comment.
Haulage Operators (Licences)
Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road haulage operators have had their operators' licences revoked while still operating as haulage companies during each of the last five years.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The figures for each year ending 31 March, are :
|Number
---------------------
1984 |67
1985 |90
1986 |100
1987 |109
1988 |80
Road Safety
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will be implementing a scheme for the education of parents and children of the dangers on roads as recommended by the Public Accounts Committee, HC 142 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The Government's response to the PAC report will be by Treasury minute, to be published shortly.
Mr. Thurnham : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many child pedestrians in Bolton were injured in road accidents during 1987 and 1988 ; how many child fatalities occurred during the same period ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : We do not yet have complete figures available for 1988.
The number of child pedestrians injured in road accidents in Bolton metropolitan district area was 191 in 1986, and 208 in 1987. Included in these child pedestrian casualties was one who died in 1986 and four who died in 1987. In 1986 there was one other child killed in a road accident, as a vehicle passenger, and none in 1987.
Explosives (Detection)
Mr. Bermingham : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when a neutron beam detector using an artificial neural system computer programme was installed at Heathrow airport ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) whether the Californian-developed SNOOPE system is under evaluation by his Department ; and if he will make a statement ; (3) if he has any plans to install the SNOOPE system at all British airports in the near future following evaluation ; and if he will make a statement ;
(4) if there are any British-made systems technologically similar to the SNOOPE system under consideration for evaluation at United Kingdom airports ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The SNOOPE system is the American thermal neutron activation analysis equipment
Column 56
for detecting explosives mentioned in my reply to the hon. Member on 17 January at column 126 . It is not under evaluation by the Department, though we receive information about it from the United States Federal Aviation Administration. Neither the SNOOPE system nor any other system using the thermal neutron activation technique has been installed at Heathrow. We have told the FAA that we should look favourably at any proposals they might make to us for installing at a United Kingdom airport one of the six production machines they now have on order (for delivery during the second half of 1989). There is a British project to develop a system using a similar technique. We understand that preliminary trials have been promising. When those concerned with the development are ready for a prototype to be tried out at a civil airport we shall give that very careful consideration.The Department's position on whether either system should be deployed operationally at United Kingdom airports will depend on the results of the tests.
Lighthouse Service
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made in implementing the recommendation of the Public Accounts Committee in its 29 report of Session 1981-82 that the deficit on the lighthouse service in the Republic of Ireland should not continue to fall upon shipping calling at United Kingdom ports ; and when he expects the Government of the Republic of Ireland to meet the full cost of their international obligations in respect of navigational aids for shipping.
Mr. Portillo : The United Kingdom and Irish Governments reached a financial agreement in 1985 under which an increasing proportion of the expenditure of the Commissioners of Irish Lights deemed to be incurred in the Republic is being met from sources within the Republic. We are in the transitional stage of that agreement but, when it is fully in place in 1989 -90, half the deemed expenditure in the Republic will be met from a combination of light dues collected in the Republic and a contribution from the Irish Exchequer. My right hon. Friend has no plans to reopen negotiations on this agreement.
Condoms (Fishing Vessels)
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how he intends to implement the European Community directive requiring British fishing vessels to carry condoms ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Portillo : No such directive has been adopted nor has any proposal for a draft directive been made by the Commission to the Council of Ministers.
Leeds/Bradford Airport
Mrs. Peacock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to announce the decision on whether to permit an extension of operating hours at Leeds/Bradford airport ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Transport and for the Environment expect to announce a decision soon.
Column 57
Channel Tunnel
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made of the impact of the Channel tunnel on air traffic between London, Paris and Brussels ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : Estimates of the likely effects of the Channel tunnel are available in the Department's recently published forecasts of air traffic. For reasons given in the forecast report, the London-Brussels and London-Paris routes are expected to be heavily affected.
| Next Section
| Home Page |