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Privatisation
Q191. Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Prime Minister what
representations she has had on privatisation.
Mr. Wakeham : I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister receives a number of representations from time to time regarding the privatisation programme.
Railway Strikes
Q192. Mr. John Browne : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received representations regarding the recent train strikes.
Mr. Wakeham : I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has received a number of representations on this matter. The rail strikes are pointless and damaging and have shown no regard to the interests of passengers.
Common Agricultural Policy
Q202. Mr. William Powell : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received recent representations regarding reform of the common agricultural policy.
Mr. Wakeham : I have been asked to reply.
The Government frequently receive representations about reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP). The measures agreed at the February 1988 European Council, particularly those providing for budgetary discipline and for the stabilisation of agricultural production and expenditure, represent the most significant reforms to date. The benefits of reform are already apparent and farmers can look to the future with
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increasing confidence. The Government's policy is to build on those major reforms in EC negotiations and to work with our GATT partners to fulfil the commitment to achieve progressive and substantial reductions in agricultural support and protection.Madrid Summit
Q205. Mr. Cash : To ask the Prime Minister if she has received any recent representations regarding the Madrid summit.
Mr. Wakeham : I have been asked to reply.
The statement my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister made in this House on 29 June has been widely welcomed.
Private Currencies
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Prime Minister if she will urge her fellow Heads of Government at the world economic summit to allow private stock banks in their countries to issue their own notes and coins.
The Prime Minister : I have no plans to do so.
Legal Tender Laws
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Prime Minister if she will urge her fellow Heads of Government at the world's economic summit to abolish their legal tender laws and allow competing currencies in their economies.
The Prime Minister : I have no plans to do so.
Central Banks
Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Prime Minister if she will urge her fellow Heads of Government to privatise their central banks.
The Prime Minister : I have no plans to do so.
European Economic and Social Committee
Mr. William Powell : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list in the Official Report the names and current qualifications of the British members of the European Economic and Social Committee.
The Prime Minister : The information requested is as follows : Group I (Employers)
Mr. Ian Campbell, CVO--Former Vice Chairman British Railways Board, part- time member BR Board, responsible for research.
Miss Gina Dodd--Chartered Engineer (rtd).
Mr. Ken Gardner--Consultant in food and food law technology. Mr. Colin Hancock--Management consultant ; adviser to the Enterprise and Deregulation Unit of the Department of Employment ; counsellor within the Small Firms Service, Department of Employment. Mr. John de Normann--Former head of ICI Building Group ; Director, Executive Committee of the National Council of Building Material Producers ; Member, Board of British Standards Institution. Mr. Bill Poeton--President of the Union of Independent Companies ; chairman of the Poeton Group of Electro-plating companies.
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Mr. Keith Tamlin--Director, Mail Order Traders' Association ; member of Post Office Users' National Council ; Member, Council of the Retail Consortium.Mr. John Whitworth--Former Director, International Shipping Federation ; Chairman, Pension Fund.
Group II (Employees)
Mr. Jack Boddy, MBE--Former Agricultural Trade Group Secretary, TGWU.
Mr. Campbell Christie--General Secretary, Scottish TUC ; Chairman, Office Technology, Economic Development Committee, NEDC.
Mr. Eric Hammond, OBE--General Secretary, Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union (EETPU).
Mr. Tom Jenkins--Assistant Secretary, TUC, International Department.
Miss Ada Maddocks--National Organising Officer, NALGO.
Mr. Alec Smith--General Secretary, National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers (NUTGW).
Mr. Larry Smith, OBE--Former Executive Officer Press and Information, TGWU.
Group III (Various interests)
Mr. Wilfred Aspinall--Executive Director, Managerial, Professional and Staff Liaison Group (MPG).
Professor Bill Black--Former Professor of Economics, Queen's University, Belfast ; Economic Adviser, Department of Economic Development, Northern Ireland.
Mrs. Shreela Flather, JP--Councillor and former Mayor of Windsor and Maidenhead ; Member Social Security Advisory Committee ; Barrister ; past Member, Commission for Racial Equality.
Mr. Robert Moreland--Former MEP ; Member, Council for Business Graduate Association.
Dr. Ann Robinson--Head of Policy Unit, Institute of Directors ; former lecturer in Politics, University College Cardiff.
Mr. Graham Speirs--Former Secretary, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities ; Vice Chairman, Age Concern Scotland.
Dr. Peter Storie-Pugh, CBE--Former President, Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Mr. Michael Strauss--Co-ordinating Director--Policy, NFU. Mrs. Alma Williams, MBE--President, National Federation of Consumer Groups ; Vice President, Consumers' Association (UK) ; Permanent Representative to UNESCO of the International Organisation of Consumers.
Gifts
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Prime Minister why, pursuant to her answer of 10 July, she will not list all those gifts she has received in her official capacity over the past 12 months while on overseas visits.
The Prime Minister : It is not my practice to do so.
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Engagements
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 13 July.
Mr. French : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 13 July.
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 13 July.
Mr. Ashton : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 13 July.
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Prime Minister if she will list her official engagements for Thursday 13 July.
Mr. Wakeham : I have been asked to reply.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister is attending the economic summit in Paris.
TRANSPORT
New Road Schemes
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the COBA criteria for construction of new roads being studied in his London transport assessment studies will apply with, or without modification, to any selected road schemes.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : Any road scheme arising from the London assessment studies will be appraised using the Department's normal scheme appraisal methodology. This includes a full economic and environmental assessment.
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what significance is attached to saving in journey time in current COBA assessments of new road schemes ; and what weighting is given therein to design speeds of new roads.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : User benefits on COBA are derived from savings in journey times on links and at junctions, accidents and vehicle operating costs. In a representative scheme 90 per cent. of the benefits could be attributable to time savings. Design speeds are consistent with the anticipated vehicle speeds on the road and are contained in Department of Transport departmental standard TD9/81, "Road Layout and Geometry : Highway Link Design."
A43
Mr. Boswell : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he hopes to announce the preferred route for the A43 Silverstone bypass.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : We are giving careful consideration to route options to the east or west of the village. The choice is difficult. We hope to announce the preferred route soon.
Crash Barriers
Mr. Batiste : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road accidents in the last five years have involved a vehicle crashing through a crash barrier on the central reservation of a motorway or a dual carriageway road.
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Mr. Peter Bottomley : The table shows the number of accidents on motorways or dual carriageway roads in which at least one vehicle left the carriageway offside on to the central reservation. The number of accidents is broken down by whether the vehicle entering the central reservation hit the central crash barrier, and whether it crossed the central reserve.
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The number of accidents in which a vehicle crossed the central reserve after hitting the central crash barrier increased from 94 in 1983 to 118 in 1987, and increase of 26 per cent. This is partly due to the installation of more crash barriers, as reflected in an increase of 54 per cent. in the number of accidents where a vehicle hit the central barrier, but only 12 per cent. where no central barrier was involved.Column 599
Number of Accidents
|1983|1984|1985|1986|1987
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Accidents where a vehicle crossed the central
reservation |694 |842 |800 |869 |838
Accidents where a vehicle hit the central crash
barrier and crossed the central reservation |94 |87 |90 |115 |118
The following table shows the number of accidents involving vehicles on motorways or dual carriageway
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roads, from 1983 to 1987, where the vehicle either crossed the central reservation or the vehicle hit the central crash barrier and crossed the central reservation.
Number of Accidents
|1983|1984|1985|1986|1987
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Accidents where a vehicle crossed the central
reservation |694 |842 |800 |869 |838
Accidents where a vehicle hit the central crash
barrier and crossed the central reservation |94 |87 |90 |115 |118
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Mr. Batiste : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will review the specification for crash barriers on motorways and dual carriageways.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The specification for safety fences is kept under continual review and changes are introduced whenever justified. A recent example is the introduction, subject to approval under European law, of a design of wire rope safety fence that I announced on 22 December 1988, Official Report , cols. 415-16 .
A range of higher containment fences and barriers has been developed. By definition, they are considerably less forgiving than existing safety fences. The Department is therefore undertaking a careful assessment of the costs and benefits of their possible deployment. Some further impact testing is required before this assessment can be fully completed. Research currently being carried out in some other European countries will be relevant. It will be some time before a decision can be made.
Drink-Driving (Durham)
Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will provide details of the number of road transport drink-related accidents in Durham, giving the most recent figures and annual figures for the last five years.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The table below shows the total number of accidents in Durham in each of the years 1983
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to 1987, and the number of accidents in which at least one driver or rider failed a breath test. This is the most common measure of drink-related accidents. These figures will be affected by the proportion of drivers who are tested after an injury crash. It is not possible to produce precise statistics of drink-related accidents because some drivers will have been too severely injured to be breath- tested. The blood alcohol level of drivers who die within 12 hours of an accident are provided from coroner's reports. These are not always complete and exclude those drivers who die after this period but within the 30-day rule for a road accident fatality.
Road accidents in Durham in which
the driver failied the breath test: 1983-87
|1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987
-------------------------------------------------------
Accidents involving breath
test failures |103 |136 |143 |113 |127
All road accidents |1,709|1,771|1,789|1,835|1,789
Road Works (South Yorkshire)
Mr. Devlin : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport why road works are currently taking place on the A1, the M1 and the M62 in South Yorkshire ; and how long he expects this situation to continue.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The road works currently being carried out on these roads are essential major maintenance
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operations. They form part of our phased programme of works, much of which has to be undertaken in the summer months.The works consist of a series of schemes covering both carriageway strengthening and bridge maintenance works. We expect completion of these on the A1(M) and M62 by November and on the M1 by next February.
Motorway Signs
Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department carries out any inspection on the maintenance of motorway signs.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : Detailed inspection and maintenance of motorway signs is carried out by the Department's agents in accordance with the frequencies set out in the Department's code of practice for routine maintenance, a copy of which is in the Library. In addition, agents' staff who travel the motorways in the couse of their duties look out for damage or other defects which require prompt attention.
Plutonium (Jumbo Jets)
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has made an assessment of the implication of a cargo jumbo jet carrying plutonium packages (a) crashing on take-off or landing, or (b) blowing-up in mid-air, in terms of environmental contamination.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : The transport of plutonium by air has been studied by the Advisory Committee on the Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials (ACTRAM). Its conclusions are published in a report entitled "The Transport of Civil Plutonium by Air". A copy has been placed in the Library.
The report concluded that the risks of a breach of the packaging during a severe accident were negligible.
A copy of the report has been passed to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is currently studying the transport of radioactive materials by air.
Hazardous Wastes
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the increased import of hazardous, toxic and radioactive wastes that will be transported by road and rail in the United Kingdom following the border deregulation in 1992.
Mr. Portillo : We have no reason to suppose that there will be an increase in the volume of such materials with the abolition of border controls.
Private Cars
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has any plans to discourage the increased use of private cars in the period up to the year 2000.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : I refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Glanford and Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley) (column 406 ) on 10 July.
I also refer the hon. Lady to "Transport in London" issued in January.
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Road Improvements
Mr. Speed : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the present programme for proposed road improvements to the A27 and A259 roads subject to the necessary funds being available and statutory procedures being approved.
Mr. Peter Bottomley : "Policy for Roads in England : 1987" (Cm. 125) lists the following national trunk road programme schemes for the A27/A259/A261 route :
(a) Planned start of construction April 1989 to March 1991 A27 Westhampnett bypass
A27 Polegate bypass
A259 Winchelsea bypass
(b) Planned start of construction from April 1991 onwards A27 Arundel bypass
A27 Patching junction improvement
A259 Bexhill and Hastings Western bypass
A259 Hastings Eastern bypass
A259 Rye improvement
A259 New Romney bypass
A259 St. Mary's Bay and Dymchurch bypass
A261 M20-A259 Hythe improvement
In addition work is under way on the A27 Pevensey bypass and will start shortly on the first contract for the A27 Brighton bypass. Two further contracts for the Brighton bypass are expected to be let next year ; timing of the fourth contract is subject to outstanding statutory procedures.
The recent White Paper "Roads for Prosperity" (Cm. 693) proposes the following further national trunk road programme schemes, for which timing has still to be determined :
A27 Worthing to Lancing improvement
A27 Lewes to Polegate improvement
A259 Pevensey to Bexhill improvement
A259 Corridor improvements--
Guestling Thorn diversion
Icklesham diversion
Walland Marsh improvement
Brookland diversion
There is also a number of small schemes, particularly junction improvements and accident prevention measures, at various stages of preparation within the Department's south-east regional programme.
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