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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 29 March 1990
TRANSPORT
Ferries (Safety)
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action he has taken to improve the safety of existing roll on/roll off ferries since the sinking of the Herald of Free Enterprise.
Mr. McLoughlin : We have taken a number of steps to improve ferry safety since March 1987. Firstly, new legislation and
guidance--including eight sets of regulations--have been introduced. The control of operational procedures which the new regulations have ensured has been fully supplemented by increased numbers of random and unannounced inspections by Department of Transport marine surveyors. Secondly, we have required all United Kingdom flag ferries, irrespective of year of build, to meet the United Kingdom residual stability standards introduced for new vessels in 1980. All but a handful of the older United Kingdom ships, which are at present being phased out, now meet these standards, which exceed current international stability standards. Thirdly, a wide-ranging research programme to examine the capability of roll on/roll off passenger ships to survive after sustaining collision damage has been undertaken. Its findings will be made public shortly.
Mr. Janner : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether all roll on/roll off ferries now comply with the passenger ships regulations in respect of stability in the event of an incident at sea.
Mr. McLoughlin : All United Kingdom registered roll on/roll off passenger ships comply with the United Kingdom and international passenger ship regulations which include requirements in respect of stability in the event of an incident at sea.
London Underground
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will call for a report from the chairman of London Underground Ltd. about plans to refit the automatic ticket barriers on the London underground and as to what is proposed, for what reason and at what cost ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Portillo : This is an operational matter for London Underground Ltd. I am not aware of any plans to refit the gates, but I understand that a new touch-and-pass system of operating automatic ticket gates will be adopted at certain stations for a trial period of six months.
I am sure that London Underground would be happy to provide the hon. Member with full information on how the system works and what its benefits are.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will call for a report from the chairman of LRT on the
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policy of extending one-person operation of trains on deep tube lines of London ; what assessment has been made of the risk to passengers of such a policy ; whether this policy has been approved by the railway inspectorate ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Portillo : The decision to extend one-person operation on any part of the underground is for London Underground. I understand that it commissioned an independent assessment before introducing one-person operation on the Bakerloo line last year.
Although the railway inspectorate has no statutory role in approving one- person operation, there is full consultation with London Underground over all safety aspects. The inspectorate observed a recent exercise, which simulated an emergency caused by incapacitation of a one-person-operation train driver. The chief inspecting officer of railways has assured me that he regards the arrangements as acceptable in safety terms.
Marchioness"
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what representations he has received to set-up a full public inquiry into the sinking of the Marchioness ; and what has been his response ; (2) whether he will publish in full his Department's inquiry into the sinking of the Marchioness ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : Several requests have been made for a formal investigation into the sinking of the Marchioness. The present preference of my right hon. Friend is to publish in full the report by the chief inspector of accidents as soon as possible.
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Bowbelle and other sand dredgers are working on the Thames outside daylight hours ; and what changes in their operation since the Marchioness sinking his Department had required of them.
Mr. McLoughlin : Bowbelle, other sand dredgers and other ships operate on the Thames at all hours provided that they follow the general directions for navigation issued by the Port of London Authority. These directions have been reconsidered and amended since the Marchioness tragedy, in consultation with the Department of Transport, to improve safety on the river.
Jubilee Line
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) at what stage of the Jubilee line project Olympia and York will pay its contribution to the cost of the extension ;
(2) what was the financial contribution that Olympia and York was going to make to the Jubilee line under the terms of the provisional contract or orginal agreement.
Mr. Portillo : Under the agreement reached last November Olympia and York will make a cash contribution of £400 million to the Jubilee line extension. Of that sum, £100 million will be paid within the next three years with the balance to be paid in the years following the opening of the line.
Mr. Kaufman : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his practice from time to time
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to travel on the Jubilee line of London Underground between St. John's Wood and Charing Cross stations in order to experience for himself the conditions undergone by regular passengers.Mr. Portillo : No, but I have travelled on many parts of the underground at peak times and I am aware that congestion can be severe. London Underground is investing record sums, with Government support, to bring about improvements. St. John's Wood station will be renovated this spring at a cost of about £1 million.
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which developers other than Olympia and York will be contributing to the extension of the Jubilee line.
Mr. Portillo : British Gas and Regalian.
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether there has been any change in the level of the net contribution which Olympia and York will be making for the Jubilee line extension.
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether any options are being considered to reduce the number of intermediate stations in the Southwark stretch of the Jubilee line extension.
Mr. Portillo : Powers are being sought in the Bill for stations in the Southwark stretch of the Jubilee line extension at Waterloo, Southwark, London Bridge, Bermondsey and Canada Water (Surrey Quays). The case for providing stations at Southwark and Bermondsey, where patronage is expected to be light, is still being considered.
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether a provisional contract or agreement for the funding of the Jubilee line has been signed by his Department or London Regional Transport with Olympia and York.
Mr. Portillo : A schedule of terms setting out the agreement reached last November has been initialled by the Department and Olympia and York. The final agreement will be executed by London Regional Transport and Olympia and York.
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether Olympia and York will be taking a share of the ticket revenue from passengers after the opening of the Jubilee line extension.
London Assessment Studies
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many representations he received by 28 February relating to each of the four London assessment studies ; and what percentage of the total (a) supported and (b) objected to these proposals.
Mr. Atkins : The number of responses received from local authorities, national and local organisations, pressure groups and individuals was approximately as follows :
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|Number
-----------------------------
South London |9,700
East London |9,500
West London |4,600
South Circular |2,600
An analysis will be published shortly.
St Columbia"
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the marine accident investigation branch has investigated the role of the radio officer in maintaining vital radio communications with the emergency services during the fire which left the roll-on roll-off passenger ferry St. Columbia adrift without power in the Irish sea on Wednesday 31 January ; and what conclusions have been drawn from the investigation.
Mr. McLoughlin : The purpose of an investigation carried out by the marine accident investigation branch is to determine the circumstances and causes of an accident. To this end, the inspector who carried out the investigation into the fire on board the St. Columbia on 31 January interviewed several of the ship's officers--including the radio officer. The inspector found that the fire occurred when fuel oil escaped from a pipe and sprayed onto a hot exhaust manifold, causing the oil to ignite. A report will be published to apprise the shipping industry of the lessons to be learnt.
Sprinter Units
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received on the safety of sprinter units ; and what steps are being taken to ensure that the doors on such units lock securely.
Mr. Portillo : I have received a small number of representations. Problems with the door-locking mechanisms of class 155 sprinters developed towards the end of 1988. After modification, the doors have worked satisfactorily. The railway inspectorate is now examining at design stage all proposals for new BR rolling stock.
St. John's Wood Underground Station
Mr. Kaufman : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will call for a report on the safety aspects of the closure of both the up and down escalators at St. John's Wood underground station.
Mr. Portillo : I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to his question on 27 March.
Clyde Port Authority
Dr. Godman : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the names of the chairman, chief executive and directors of the Clyde Port Authority ; what are their periods of office and their annual remuneration ; and from which organisation they were recruited and appointed.
Mr. McLoughlin : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has appointed the following non-executive members of the Clyde Port Authority :
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Name |Organisation |Expiry date of
|appointment
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sir Robert Easton CBE |Chairman and managing director of Kvaerner Govan, |31 March 1992
(Chairman) |Shipbuilders
L. McGarry |Chairman of Strathclyde regional council's economic|31 March 1991
|and industrial development committee
W. K. Mackay |Partner in Jamieson & Mackay Partners, consulting |31 March 1992
|civil, structural and transportation engineers
G. S. Milne |Managing Director of Scottish Metropolitan Property|31 March 1992
|plc
T. O'Connor |Chairman of the local port workers branch of the |31 March 1992
|TGWU
C. S. Paterson |Chief Executive of Caledonian McBrayne Limited |31 March 1992
J. M. Young |Former joint general manager and member of the |31 March 1991
|management board of the Bank of Scotland
The executive officers who are members of the board and whose appointments are at the discretion of the authority are :
J. Mather--managing director
G. P. Johnston--director and secretary
Captain D. B. McMurray--director marine and
operations
According to the authority's accounts for 1988, the annual remuneration received by the chairman was £10,000 and by the other non-executive members was £3,500. The highest paid executive on the board received £44,385 and the other two received between £20,000 and £35,000.
Driving Tests
Mr. Andy Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what conclusions have been reached, as a result of the trial carried out by his Department, about conducting driving tests on Saturdays.
Mr. Atkins : The trial was very successful and confirmed that Saturday testing is a practical proposition at many
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centres. In the first year the service was used by some 30,000 candidates, and contributed three to four days to the reduction in waiting times. I have decided to continue the service on a permanent basis, and to extend it to all centres where it is feasible to do so.ENVIRONMENT
Housing, Kent
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the number of council houses, flats and sheltered accommodation owned by each local authority in Kent in 1978 and 1989, together with the amount collected in rent.
Mr. Chope : Local authorities provide estimates of their housing revenue accounts on their second advance subsidy claim returns. The latest available information for local authorities in Kent for 1978-79 and 1989-90 is as follows :
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1978-79 1989-90
|Number of |Rent income<2>|Number of |Rent income<2>
|dwellings<1> |dwellings<1>
|£ million |£ million
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ashford |9,637 |2.962 |7,607 |10.393
Canterbury |8,039 |2.578 |6,375 |7.386
Dartford |7,882 |2.643 |5,971 |6.979
Dover |9,209 |3.172 |6,564 |8.123
Gillingham |5,090 |1.490 |3,935 |5.142
Gravesham |9,425 |3.163 |7,642 |8.562
Maidstone |10,158 |3.854 |8,354 |7.789
Rochester |13,850 |5.202 |<3>8,880 |11.274
Sevenoaks |7,855 |2.389 |61 |0.075
Shepway |4,868 |1.475 |4,149 |5.279
Swale |9,989 |3.176 |7,440 |7.995
Thanet |8,302 |3.240 |<4>7,162 |<4>6.802
Tonbridge |7,697 |2.416 |6,450 |7.099
Tunbridge Wells |7,352 |2.269 |5,650 |6.128
<1>Average of start year and end year stock.
<2>Gross of rent rebates.
<3>Stock at beginning of year, authority planned complete stock disposal at year end.
<4>Figures for 1989-90 not available; 1988-89 figures given.
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Disabled People (Housing)
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps his Department is taking to ensure a more even spread and consistent provision of improvement and disabled facilities grants to disabled home owners across the country.
Mr. Chope : When the main provisions of part VIII of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 are implemented on 1 July, mandatory disabled facilities grants will be available from all local authorities for a much wider range of adaptation works than the current home improvement grant system allows. Authorities will also be able to give discretionary grants for other works, which will vary according to local needs and priorities.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local housing authorities address the housing needs of disabled people in their area.
Mr. Chope : Local housing authorities are required by Section 3 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 to have regard to the special housing needs of disabled people when considering the housing needs of their district.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether his Department will make a supplementary credit approval available for local housing authorities to adapt their own properties for disabled people.
Mr. Chope : Resources for local authority capital expenditure on housing are allocated through the annual round of housing investment programme (HIP) allocations. The distribution of these allocations reflects the entire spectrum of needs for local authority capital expenditure, including the adaptation of council housing stock for disabled tenants. There is no need, therefore, to issue supplementary credit approvals for this purpose.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether his Department will take steps to ensure that landlords taking over local authority property under the Housing Acts 1986 and 1988 address the housing needs both of disabled tenants and of future disabled applicants for housing.
Mr. Chope : Purchasers of council housing, whether acquiring under tenants' choice or by a large scale voluntary transfer from a local authority, will be expected to subscribe to the tenants' guarantee, which requires landlords to pay special attention to the specific housing difficulties experienced by particular groups, including disabled people. Purpose-built housing for the disabled which has special facilities, such as a warden, is excluded from transfers under tenants' choice.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether his Department will update the guidelines contained in HDD occasional paper 2/74 "Mobility Housing" and HDD occasional paper 2/75 "Wheelchair Housing".
Mr. Chope : I am satisfied that the guidelines contained in these papers are sound and have no plans to update them.
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Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps his Department is taking to encourage the provision of wheelchair and mobility housing by general needs housing associations.
Mr. Chope : The Housing Corporation requires new build and, where possible, rehabilitation schemes by housing associations to be built to mobility standards, and the cost criteria used by the corporation in assessing schemes and calculating grant make due allowance for this. Where associations wish to provide new housing designed specifically for tenants confined to wheelchairs, grant is available to cover the extra costs involved.
Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local authorities' action on providing housing for homeless people addresses the housing needs of homeless disabled people.
Mr. Michael Spicer : A revised code of guidance is being prepared which will provide advice to local authorities on meeting their statutory duties to the homeless. This will include the need to recognise special requirements, such as those of the disabled, when securing permanent accommodation for homeless households.
Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps his Department is taking to make supplementary credit approvals available to local housing authorities to provide housing for disabled people leaving residential care.
Mr. Chope : We have no proposals to issue supplementary credit approvals to local authorities for this purpose in 1990-91. The Department takes account of the housing needs of disabled people in the distribution of local authorities' housing investment programme (HIP) allocations each year. In addition, the Housing Corporation plans to maintain the output of their special needs programme in 1990-91 at no less than current levels, and disabled people are one of the groups helped by this programme.
Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether his Department will take steps to ensure that all private developers build to mobility standards with a minimum percentage of dwellings to wheelchair standards.
Mr. Chope : My Department fully supports the initiative by the National House-Building Council, in association with other interested bodies, to encourage private developers to design housing convenient for disabled people to live in or visit. We consider that voluntary action and good practice are the best way forward for private dwellings.
Community Care
Mr. Hannam : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local housing authorities work with social services departments on the new community care initiatives being developed as a result of the White Paper, "Caring for People".
Mr. Chope : My Department has been in regular contact with the Department of Health in the preparation of the
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White Paper and of the ensuing legislation. Clause 43 of the Bill as now amended will require social services departments to consult local housing authorities and other housing providers in the preparation and revision of communtiy care plans.London Docklands
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what the financial arrangements will be for the remaining social homes, after taking account of the Winsor Park development, of the London Docklands development corporation programme of 2,000 new rented homes in the docklands area of the London borough of Newham.
Mr. Moynihan : The memorandum of agreement between the London Docklands development corporation and the London borough of Newham has the objective of producing 1,500 social housing units. The London Docklands development corporation's grants towards schemes at Winsor Park and North Beckton have secured 434 of these. The London Docklands development corporation is considering the arrangements for further schemes in consultation with the Housing Corporation and Newham.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the Government's estimate of the number of households excused from paying rates in the current financial year because of insufficient income and the number who paid a reduced rate for the same reason ; how many in each case were estimated as liable to pay more and how many less under the poll tax in identical circumstances ; and how many who were not eligible for a reduction in rates on income grounds, will be eligible for a reduction under the poll tax.
Mr. Chope : No such estimates were made when it was decided that the community charge offered the best alternative to domestic rates.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will exclude expenditure on education from relevant expenditure for rate-capping purposes ;
(2) if he will exclude expenditure on maintenance of council housing from relevant expenditure for rate-capping purposes ; (3) if he will exclude expenditure on public libraries from relevant expenditure for rate-capping purposes ;
(4) if he will make it his policy as part of his charge-capping proposals to indicate the areas of the capped budget in which he proposes each authority should make reductions.
Mr. Chope : It would not be right for me to speculate on the detailed operation of community charge capping, were my right hon. Friend to use his capping powers for 1990-91.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the Government's current estimate of the number of households paying the full rate whose occupants would contribute less under the poll tax, and the average amount saved in each case.
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Mr. Chope : Had local authorities set community charges at the levels contained in the Community Charge Transitional Relief Report (England), I estimate that 55 per cent. of households with no entitlement to rate rebates in 1989-90 would pay a lower proportion of their net income in community charges in 1990-91 than they did in rates in 1989-90. The average amount paid in rates for these households in 1989-90 was £516 compared to £503 in community charge in 1990-91. These estimates are based on simple survey data taken from the family expenditure survey and are consistent with the analysis of the distributional impact of the community charge placed in the Library on 15 February.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report the estimate of the numbers who would have (a) gained and (b) lost if the level of poll tax had not exceeded the Government's targets.
Mr. Chope : The Government have not set targets for the level of the community charge in each area. An analysis of the effect on household finances of moving to the community charge was placed in the Library on 15 February. This showed 60 per cent. of households gaining.
Mrs. Mahon : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to exempt from poll tax women residing in refuges who have been the victims of domestic violence and have been forced to leave the marital home.
Mr. Chope : A period of residence within a women's refuge does not confer exemption from the community charge unless it is a night shelter or hostel. But, in general, women will not be registered at refuges for the community charge unless, exceptionally, they are solely or mainly resident there. In almost all cases, women stay in refuges for short periods, during which they will be registered for the personal charge at their previous address.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the total figures for 1990-91 local government finance for (a) the distributable amount, (b) the distributable amount per adult, (c) net total standard spending, (d) revenue support grant and (e) population of England.
Mr. Chope : The information requested is as follows :
the distributable amount : £10.4 billion
the distributable amount per adult : 292.51
net total standard spending : £29.8 billion
revenue support grant : £9.5 billion
sum of the relevant populations of English charging authorities : 35.7 million.
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, with reference to paragraph 2.5 of his Revenue Support Grant Distribution Report (England), what definition is used for (a) relevant populations as used in the explanation of distributable amount per adult and (b) relevant population, as used in the subsequent sub-paragraphs ; and if he will list the relevant population for each authority.
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