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Written Answers to Questions
Thursday 25 October 1990
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Information Technology
Ms. Armstrong : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the latest estimate of the balance of trade in information technology.
Mr. Sainsbury : According to the latest estimates, the United Kingdom had a deficit of £685 million in the manufactured products of the electronics and information technology sector in the first quarter of 1990. This sector is defined as the principal products of activity headings 3301-2, 3441-4 and 3453-4 of the Standard Industrial Classification. These figures are for hardware only. There are no separate figures for trade in software.
Trade Deficit
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will next meet his European counterparts to discuss Britain's trade deficit with the rest of Europe.
Mr. Sainsbury : My right hon. Friend holds regular meetings with his counterparts in the European Community over a broad range of issues.
Iraq
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if his Department has any knowledge of the corporate involvement between the Technology Development Group (TDG) of London and the Swiss firm of Schmiedemeccanica of Lugano ; and what assessment his Department has made of the role of TDG in exporting sensitive technologies to Iraq.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 22 October 1990] : My Department is not able to confirm any information about possible links between TDG Ltd. and Schiedemeccanica SA. Exports of goods and technologies as described by the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1989 (as amended) require export licences. No applications for such licences have been received from TDG Ltd.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has initiated any investigation into the
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trading operations of the Technology and Development Group, based in London, in regard to its role in the procurement of military usable technology for Iraq.Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 22 October 1990] : Officials in my Department have had discussions with the Technology and Development Group. It is not our practice to disclose the nature of such discussions.
Giant Hogweed
Mrs. Margaret Ewing : To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will take steps to ban the import and sale of seeds of Heracleum Mantegazzianum.
Mr. Sainsbury [holding answer 22 October 1990] : No. There are currently no plans to ban the import or sale of seeds of Heracleum Mantegazzianum.
However, under section 14(2) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is an offence for any person to plant or to otherwise cause to grow in the wild any plant which is included in part 2 of schedule 9 to the Act. Giant hogweed (Heracleum Mantegazzianum) is listed in the schedule.
SCOTLAND
Road Planning
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list for the 16 schemes in Scotland, identified by the National Audit Office as having a negative cost benefit analysis in its report of 27 October 1988 "Department of Transport, Scottish Development Department and Welsh Office : Road Planning" (a) location and name of each individual project, (b) length of road, (c) date of decision to build and date of completion, (d) capital cost, both estimated and outturn, (e) number of vehicles per day estimated, each way, (f) number of vehicles per day from recent census data, (g) the details of the negative economic appraisal or net present value and (h) in respect of the A74 only, estimated capital value cost and NPV for two-lane and three-lane motorway.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : The information requested is given in the following two tables. Table 1 refers to the 16 schemes identified in the NAO report of 27 October 1988 as having a negative net present value. The originally predicted traffic flows for 1989 were based on the then current national growth projections. Actual traffic growth has generally been higher than predicted at that time.
Table 2 gives the most recent budgetary estimates of costs and net present values for construction of the M74 between Millbank and Gretna.
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Table 2 Motorway design standard |Cost £m (September 1990)|NPV (mid-1988 prices) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dual 3 lane |412 |127 Dual 2 lane |350 |40 Note: All costs exclude VAT
Table 2 Motorway design standard |Cost £m (September 1990)|NPV (mid-1988 prices) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dual 3 lane |412 |127 Dual 2 lane |350 |40 Note: All costs exclude VAT
Greater Glasgow Health Board
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what penalty points have been awarded by Greater Glasgow health board against private contractors providing domestic, catering, portering and associated services to the board.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : One hundred and three penalty points have been awarded against in-house operators ; 21 have been awarded against private contractors. These were mainly incurred during the first six months as the new arrangements settled in.
Eye Tests
205. Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many eye tests were carried out in the first three quarters of each year since 1983 in (a) Scotland, (b) Strathclyde and (c) Glasgow.
Mr. Michael Forsyth : The information is set out in the table below.
Year |Scotland |Strathclyde|Glasgow ------------------------------------------------------------ 1983 |589,182 |284,978 |126,559 1984 |619,999 |298,928 |133,091 1985 |679,756 |330,267 |147,735 1986 |692,400 |333,203 |149,720 1987 |742,883 |359,374 |160,490 1988 |841,030 |404,363 |185,376
The total number of sight tests carried out in Scotland from 1 April 1989 is not available centrally.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will set out in tabular format (a) the number of civil servants in his Department devoted to the planning, building and maintenance of roads, (b) the number of civil servants in his Department devoted to the development
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and maintenance of railways, (c) the number of civil servants in his Department devoted to the development of public transport other than railways and (d) the number of civil servants in his Department devoted to the promotion of cycling.Mr. Rifkind : The roads directorate within the Scottish Development Department has 140 staff and deals with legislation, road safety, traffic regulation orders, road and bridge maintenance and new construction. It has executive responsiblity for the trunk road network in Scotland. The planning, building and maintenance of roads embraces provision for all road users and those employed on this work cannot be categorised by mode.
The responsibilities of transport and local roads division of the Department include the issuing of capital allocations to regional and island authorities who have executive responsibility in Scotland for local roads and transport, and the discharge of the Department's functions relating to other transport modes, principally ferry and bus services. The division has 15 staff. Thirty-one staff are also employed on toll collection and related duties at the Erskine bridge.
The Department of Transport is the sponsoring Department for British Rail.
Young People (Complaints)
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will specify what formal procedures for making complaints and representations, specifying where appropriate under which sections of what Acts, are available locally and nationally to children and young people under 18 years of age who wish to make complaints about matters which are the responsibility of his Department.
Mr. Rifkind : Under section 5(1) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 anyone of any age who claims to have sustained injustice in consequence of maladministration by the Scottish Office may ask a Member of Parliament to refer a grievance to the Parliamentary
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Commissioner for Administration. If the complainant is for any reason unable to act for him or herself, the complaint may be made by virtue of section 6(2) of the 1967 Act by another person on behalf of the complainant. The PCA may also investigate complaints against the following bodies, listed in schedule 2 to the Parliamentary and Health Service Commissioners Act 1987, for which I am responsible or to which I make appointments :Countryside Commission for Scotland
Crofters Commission
Department of the Registers of Scotland
Forestry Commission
General Register Office, Scotland
Highlands and Islands Development Board
Red Deer Commission
Scottish Courts Administration
Scottish Homes
Scottish Legal Aid Board
Scottish Medical Practices Committee
Scottish New Town Development Corporations
Scottish Record Office
Scottish Sports Council
Scottish Tourist Board
Under section 70 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 I have the power to take default action, on complaint by an interested person or otherwise, in respect of the failure of an education authority, school board or school managers to discharge any statutory duty under the 1980 Act.
Persons, including children and young people under 18 years of age or those acting on their behalf, may make complaints or representations about their treatment by the national health service in Scotland in the following ways :
a. by complaining to the appropriate health board about their treatment in hospital (section 1 of the Hospital Complaints Procedure Act 1985) ;
b. by complaining to the appropriate health board that a family practitioner is in breach of the relevant terms of service (various sections of the NHS (Scotland) Act 1978) ;
c. by making representation to a tribunal that the continued inclusion of an individual in a list of those providing family practitioner services is prejudicial to those services (section 29 of the NHS (Scotland) Act 1978) ; and
d. by complaining to the Health Service Commissioner (Section 90 to 97 of the NHS (Scotland) Act 1978), although the Commissioner does not have the powers to investigate actions specified in Schedule 14 to the 1978 Act.
This reply excludes references to procedures in which I have no locus and which are about matters that are the responsibility of local authorities.
Education Authorities (Land Sales)
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on how many occasions since 1979 his Department has compelled education authorities to sell land that was being held for future school building.
Schools (Testing)
Mr. Allan Stewart : To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what arrangements he proposes to ensure that testing in English and mathematics is carried out with P4 and P7 pupils in Scotland in 1991.
Mr. Rifkind : Guidelines containing arrangements for the conduct of primary tests in 1991 were issued by the Scottish Education Department on 10 October. A copy has been placed in the Library. To ensure a consistent and orderly approach to testing I have concluded that it would
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be helpful to place the conduct of testing within a regulatory framework. Accordingly regulations to this effect are being laid before Parliament today.TRANSPORT
Coventry Airport
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many air misses have been filed relating to Coventry airport over the past four years.
Mr. McLoughlin : Two--one on 8 March 1989 and one on 27 June 1989. The first was assessed by the joint air miss working group (JAWG) as a possible risk of collision. The second has still to be evaluated by the JAWG.
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has any plans to change the instructions concerning the investigation of air misses so that complaints notified by members of the public may be so recorded.
Mr. McLoughlin : Reports by members of the public are ocassionally received by the Department and by the CAA. There is no standard procedure for dealing with them ; each one is treated on its merits. None of the reports received from the public in recent years has been found on investigation to indicate any hazardous situation. The height of an aircraft can be accurately measured and maintained. The normal separation by height of aircraft at the lower levels is 1,000 feet, about 300 metres. This close vertical, but quite safe, proximity can mislead even an expert observer into believing that the aircraft are dangerously close. There are no plans to change the instructions concerning reports notified by members of the public.
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the Civil Aviation Authority on the methods of recording air misses ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has had no discussions with the Civil Aviation Authority on the recording of air misses, which are incidents reported only by pilots. However, during 1987 and 1988 discussions between my right hon. Friend and the chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority led to the introduction of aircraft proximity hazard (APHAZ) reports by air traffic controllers. The APHAZ reporting system, which began on 1 April 1989, closely parallels that for air misses.
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many notifiable accidents were recorded for Coventry airport, and how many of those accidents were attributable to controller error, over the past two years.
Mr. McLoughlin : There have been two notifiable accidents at Coventry airport during the two years. On 23 August 1989 an undercarriage leg of a Cessna 172, a private aircraft, dropped into an unmarked pothole on the taxiway. The aircraft was substantially damaged, but there were no injuries. On 22 November 1989, a Cessna 150, a private aircraft, was blown on to its back during taxiing by the propeller wash of a DC6 that was running up its engines prior to take-off. The Cessna 150 was substantially damaged but there were no injuries.
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Three-way Catalyst
251. Sir Trevor Skeet : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether he will provide in the regulations for the testing or replacement of the three-way catalyst in cars after eight years' use ;
(2) if he will make three-way catalyst emission testing one of the conditions for granting an MOT certificate.
Mr. Chope : We are now consulting on proposals for an emissions check for introduction into the MOT test next year. We are proposing that this should include vehicles equipped with catalytic converters. A vehicle with a seriously defective catalyst would not pass the test.
Trams (London)
254. Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what considerations he has given to the introduction of modern trams into London.
Mr. Freeman : No formal proposals for the introduction of modern trams in London have been submitted to the Department of Transport. The Department is co-operating in the study of a possible light rail system in the Croydon area which is being taken forward by London Transport in conjunction with British Rail and the London borough of Croydon. The study is considering options, including some street running.
Road Safety
Miss Lestor : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the current budget for road safety campaigning ; and what percentage is allocated to responding to inquiries from members of the public.
Mr. Chope : Estimates provision on road safety publicity in 1990-91 is £4.254 million. About 1 per cent. of this is allocated to the provision of a freephone inquiry service in connection with the recent child road safety publicity campaign. Each year several thousand written and telephone inquiries on all aspects of road safety are received by my Department. The cost of responding to these is not separately identified in the Department's provision for running costs.
Channel Tunnel
Mr. Carrington : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, further to his announcement on 14 June about the channel tunnel rail link project, what action he has taken to safeguard the route between the channel tunnel terminal and the north downs.
Mr. Freeman : We have made initial safeguarding directions under the Town and Country Planning General Development Order 1988 for this section of route (between Cheriton and Upper Halling). The directions came into force on 13 September to coincide with British Rail's launch of public consultations on the fine detail of this route section. We have invited comments from the local authorities concerned on any aspects of the initial directions that should be improved or changed in any revised directions.
Young People (Complaints)
Mr. Ashley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will specify what formal procedures for making complaints and representations, specifying under which
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sections of which Acts, are available locally and nationally to children and young people under 18 years who wish to make complaints about matters which are the responsibility of his Department.Mr. McLoughlin : There are no formal procedures specifically available to children and young people who wish to make complaints or representations about matters which are the responsibility of this Department. It is, however, open to members of the public, of whatever age, to write to the Department about any issue which concerns them.
Complaints may also be made, through hon. Members, to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, under section 6 of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967, about the administrative actions of Government Departments and certain non-departmental public bodies.
Traffic Lights
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the transport and road research laboratory has made any study of the potential benefit of a traffic light system that allows an approaching bus to activate changes in traffic lights from red to green.
Mr. McLoughlin : The transport and road research laboratory (TRRL) studied bus-activated signals in the United Kingdom in the mid-1970s in both computer simulation and on-street studies. TRRL also participated in international bus priority studies.
At unco-ordinated (non-linked) signals, trials in Swansea showed that average reductions in bus delay of six seconds per bus per signalled junction could be achieved.
In a network of co-ordinated signals in Glasgow, reductions in bus journey times of between 2 per cent. and 15 per cent. were achieved depending on the signalling strategy and the time of day. Conclusions from the research were that modest net benefits could be achieved. Benefits were less where bus flow was high and where there were conflicting bus movements. Disbenefits to other traffic could outweigh the benefit to buses.
Bus and Cycle Lanes
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to increase the mileage of (a) bus lanes and (b) cycle lanes in London.
Mr. Chope : Bus and cycle lanes are primarily for local highway authorities. My Department produces technical guidance to assist with their design.
My Department is planning to develop a network of priority routes which will assist the movement of buses and we are also supporting London Transport's bus priority team. Both initiatives will result in more bus lanes which could also be used by cyclists.
My Department is actively supporting the provision of a 1000-mile cycle network for London. We also consider the provision of cycle lanes and crossings when designing new trunk roads and improvements to existing ones.
Road Accidents
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has on the effects of traffic-calming measures on road accident levels.
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Mr. Chope : The final report of the Urban Safety Projects which was published in May (TRRL report RR263) indicated that traffic calming measures can reduce casualties in residential areas by an average of 13 per cent. If this approach were applied nationally approximately 5 per cent. of all casualties would be saved.Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road traffic accidents occurred in the Macclesfield constituency in the first six months of 1990 ; how many of these involved (a) minor injuries, (b) serious injuries and (c) fatal injuries ; and what are the comparable figures for the same six-month period in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Mr. Chope : The figures requested for the constituency of Macclesfield are available only at disproportionate cost. The figures below relate to the borough of Macclesfield and include accidents reported to the police in the first six months of each year. The data for 1990 are provisional.
0
Road Accidents in the borough of Macclesfield (
January-June)
|Fatal |Serious|Slight |Total
------------------------------------------------
1990 |10 |59 |311 |380
1989 |7 |75 |293 |375
1988 |7 |55 |329 |391
1987 |3 |56 |277 |336
1986 |15 |50 |286 |351
1985 |7 |47 |273 |327
Mr. Nicholas Winterton : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement outlining the circumstances of each of the road traffic accidents which took place in the Macclesfield constituency during the first six months of 1990 and which led to fatal injuries ; and if he will indicate in each case what steps have been taken by the appropriate authorities to minimise future accidents.
Mr. Chope : Information on the detailed circumstances of particular accidents is not held centrally. Investigation of road accidents is the responsibility of the police. Devising appropriate remedial measures is the responsibility of the highway authority. The Department has a continuing programme of engineering measures to improve accident blackspots on trunk roads, as do local highway authorities for their roads. From the next financial year funds from central Government will be made available through transport supplementary grant for engineering remedies on all local roads.
Departmental Staff
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set out in tabular format (a) the number of civil servants in his Department devoted to the planning, building and maintenance of roads, (b) the number of civil servants in his Department devoted to the development and maintenance of railways, (c) the number of civil servants in his Department devoted to the development of public transport other than railways and (d) the number of civil servants in his Department devoted to the promotion of cycling.
Mr. McLoughlin : My Department has the following numbers of civil servants dealing with :
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|Numberk
---------------------------------------
Roads |2,300
Railways |135
Other public transport |20
Cycling |<1>40
<1>Part of the time.
The substantially larger number of roads' staff reflects the Department's direct responsibility for the national roads programme. The development and maintenance of other transport modes is the responsibility of other bodies, for example, British Rail and London Regional Transport.
Severn Bridge
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he is considering to avoid repetition of the prolonged traffic delays experienced on the Severn bridge in the first week of October.
Mr. Chope : Delays on the Severn bridge occurred on 5 and 6 October due to a combination of road works, restrictions due to high winds, and traffic incidents.
Resurfacing work will stop in November for the winter months thus easing traffic conditions. This work should be completed next year. Some windshielding is about to be installed adjacent to and either side of the towers of the existing Severn bridge, where most of the high wind accidents occur. Additionally the proposed second Severn crossing will be windshielded over its entire length.
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