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Mr. Portillo : Current annual salaries of the board members of London Regional Transport are as follows :
|Salary |Time Commitment
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|£
Chairman
Mr. Wilfrid Newton |80,000 |Full time
Full-time Members
Mr. John Telford-Beasley |60,000 |Full time
Mr. Michael Marsh |60,000 |Full time
Part-time Members
Sir Neil Shields |18,900 |2 days per week
Mr. Oscar Roith |9,450 |1 day per week
Mr. Keith Brown |5,775 |half day per week
Dr. Stephen Glaister |5,775 |half day per week
Mrs. Helen Robinson |5,775 |half day per week
Miss Patricia Steel |5,775 |half day per week
Mr. Roy Thomas |5,775 |half day per week
Members' expenses are a matter for London Regional Transport.
Dial-a-Ride
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much each local transport authority spent on its dial-a-ride services in 1987 and 1988 ; and what was the average number of journeys for each authority.
Mr. Portillo : I regret that the information requested is not readily available.
Unleaded Petrol Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will consider making conversion of an engine to run on unleaded petrol compulsory as part of the MOT test.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : Where cars are convertible we are encouraging owners to have this done right away. There are now significant tax advantages. From October 1990 all new petrol engined vehicles must be capable of running on unleaded petrol.
Legislation leaves the choice with owners so compulsion would be impracticable. Some cars--especially older ones--cannot be converted to unleaded running.
Road Tax Offences Mr. Cox : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many motorists have been charged with driving without a road fund tax following the recent campaigns by his Department.
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Mr. Peter Bottomley : The 20 vehicle excise duty enforcement campaigns run by the Department in conjunction with police forces in England and Scotland during 1988 resulted in 12,000 motorists being reported for not having a valid tax disc.
Some 8,000 of these have already been prosecuted and many more cases will be dealt with by the courts in the coming months.
Accident Statistics Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road traffic accidents in (a) Suffolk, (b) Norfolk and (c) England were attributed to (i) roads requiring remedial works, (ii) alcohol, (iii) criminal driving and (iv) others in the latest year for which figures are available.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The STATS 19 return made to the Department of Transport does not record the causes of road accidents ; it is therefore not possible to provide information on the number of accidents attributable to a particular factor.
Information is available on the number of accidents in which a driver or rider failed a breath test, and this is shown in the table, along with the total number of accidents for 1987, the latest year for which these figures are available.
L
|c|Total accidents and those in which a driver|c|
|c|or rider failed the breath test|c|
|c|Norfolk, Suffolk, England-1987|c|
|Failed breath test|Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Norfolk |155 |3,403
Suffolk |136 |2,715
Rest of England |9,041 |203,788
|------- |-------
England |9,332 |209,906
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what were the total fatalities in motor vehicle accidents in (a) Suffolk, (b) Norfolk and (c) England every year from 1979 to the most recent year for which figures are available.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The figures are as follows :
|c|Fatalities in motor vehicle and road accidents in Norfolk, Suffolk|c|
|c|and England from 1979 to 1987|c|
|c|Number of fatalities|c|
|Norfolk |Suffolk |Rest of England|England
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1979 |97 |76 |4,630 |4,803
1980 |72 |72 |4,465 |4,609
1981 |81 |63 |4,360 |4,504
1982 |79 |60 |4,416 |4,555
1983 |74 |58 |4,099 |4,231
1984 |99 |71 |4,208 |4,378
1985 |75 |67 |3,856 |3,998
1986 |85 |53 |4,006 |4,144
1987 |88 |58 |3,835 |3,981
Noise Standards
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what is the policy of his Department with regard to acceptable noise standards in areas adjacent to major new rail and road projects ; and if he will make a statement ;
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(2) whether he will accept the noise standard of 65 dba for compensation purposes for the Docklands Railway Extension Bill ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Portillo : Noise insulation standards for new road schemes are laid down in the Noise Insulation Regulations 1975, made under part II of the Land Compensation Act 1973. Because major new rail schemes have been comparatively rare, no regulations have ever been made laying down noise insulation standards for such schemes. However, I am now setting in hand the work necessary to establish a national noise insulation standard for new railway construction. The objective will be to establish the standard at a level which equitably relates to the standard set by regulation for new highways.
In connection with their proposal for a new rail link to the Channel tunnel, British Rail is offering to provide noise insulation on a similar basis to the scheme which operates in respect of new roads if noise resulting from the new link exceeds 70 dB(A) on the 24 hour Leq noise index. BR consider, on the basis of advice from independent experts, that this level is equivalent to the level at which insulation is provided for properties affected by new road schemes. LRT have also taken independent expert advice and share this view.
Before promulgating any national standards for railway noise, the Government would wish to take its own independent view, and consult other interested parties on the appropriate standard to be adopted. We are therefore not yet in a position to take a view on the appropriateness of any particular noise standard, including that now proposed for the Docklands railway extension.
Seat Belts
Mr. McCrindle : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has received any representations concerning exemption of children from the Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Rear Seat Belts by Children) Act 1988, where the available seat belts are being used by adult passengers ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : Responses so far favour exempting children where the available seat belts are being used by adults.
This issue is discussed in our consultation document, "Rear Seat Belt Wearing by Children". Comments are invited by 2 May. Where belts exist they should be used, either by children or adults. Seat belt wearing saves lives.
No responsible parent should wait for the law before properly restraining their children in the car.
Taxis
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will consider, as part of his review of the operation of taxi services, the abolition of the power of local authorities to restrict the number of taxis which might be operated in their area.
Railways (Privatisation)
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has as to the number of private national railways operated in different parts of the
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world and moves being made by national Governments to privatise existing state-owned railway networks ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Portillo : I am aware of privately owned railways in the United States of America and Canada, and of the privatisation process in Japan. These and other relevant international comparisons will be taken into account in our consideration of the case for privatising British Rail.
Pollution (Alaska)
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assistance the marine pollution control unit is offering the authorities in Alaska ; if he will list the United Kingdom equipment available to assist in cleaning up this disaster ; if the Frogmat has been brought to the Alaskan authorities' attention ; and if he will make a statement on the use of dispersants.
Mr. Portillo : The marine pollution control unit's resources exist to deal with oil spills around United Kingdom coasts. Some of these can be offered to assist neighbouring European states under an agreement for co- operation in dealing with pollution of the North sea by oil (the Bonn agreement). Assistance is not normally offered to an authority as far away as Alaska since to do so would reduce unacceptably our ability to respond to any incident at home. Any request for assistance from the Alaskan authorities would nevertheless by sympathetically considered. The United Kingdom developer of Frogmat has advised the marine pollution control unit that he has brought his product to the attention of the Alaskan authorities. The use of dispersants for dealing with oil spills is a well proved method, but their effectiveness depends on the type of oil, how quickly they can be applied, and the weather conditions.
Channel Tunnel (Irish Link)
Mr. Beggs : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what decision has been made by the Irish and British Governments, on a Belfast- Dublin-Dun Laoghaire-Holyhead link to the Channel tunnel ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Portillo : The planning of rail services in the United Kingdom is the responsiility of British Rail and Northern Ireland railways. Under section 40 of the Channel Tunnel Act 1987, British Rail is required to publish a plan by the end of 1989 setting out its proposals for Channel tunnel rail services serving various parts of the United Kingdom. It has not yet completed the regional consultations which it is undertaking in preparation for this plan.
Thermal Neutron Analysis Machines
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will consider the encouragement of research and experimentation into thermal neutron analysis machines to detect Semtex.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : As explained to the hon. Member for St. Helens, South (Mr. Bermingham) on 8 March at
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column 538, research and development work on this technique is being funded by a commercial organisation in the private sector under a contract with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority's Harwell laboratory.Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has assessed the efficiency of the recently produced thermal neutron analysis machines ; whether he intends to introduce them at British airports ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : I refer to my reply to the question by the hon. Member for St. Helens, South (Mr. Bermingham) on 27 February at columns 55-6.
Settle-Carlisle Railway
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with British Rail about the surcharging of charter trains using the Settle-Carlisle railway line ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Portillo : Decisions on the level of fares and charges are entirely a matter for BR's commercial judgment.
New Drivers
Mr. Atkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the Transport and Road Research Laboratory's current study into the performance and behaviour of new drivers will also include research into the experience of other countries including Australia.
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Mr. Peter Bottomley : The current study is confined to United Kingdom drivers.
A specific study of new driver experience in other countries is not included in TRRL's research programme. We do keep in touch with relevant overseas research.
A423 (Compulsory Purchases)
Dr. Glyn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the necessary compulsory purchases will be completed in relation to the A423 west of Maidenhead-Oxford trunk road (Maidenhead
Thicket-Burchetts Green section) and work on the road able to commence.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : Most of the land required for this scheme is covered by made compulsory purchase orders. An order for the remaining small area will be made shortly. Advance works for cable diversions at Maidenhead Thicket are in progress. The road works are programmed to start in the summer of next year.
Public Service Obligation
Mr. Bowis : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the PSO grant cash ceiling will be for 1989-90.
Mr. Portillo : The cash ceiling on PSO grant for 1989-90 will be £496 million.
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