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Crookston Station
Mr. Sillars : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made to date on the consideration by his Department's inquiry reporter of the appeal against planning refusal for the demolition of the listed building known as Crookston Station.
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton : I have been asked to reply. The papers in connection with this appeal are presently with the Scottish Office inquiry reporters unit and in common with most planning appeals it is proposed that this case be determined by a reporter acting under delegated powers. This appeal is due to be heard at public local inquiry along with an associated planning appeal in respect of proposed residential development on the site of the old station.
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As Glasgow has many appeal cases, it is not possible to fix an inquiry date before February.It is expected that a suitable date can be arranged towards the end of February 1990.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Libel
Mr. Snape : To ask the Attorney-General when the recommendation in the Faulks committee report 1977 that the defence of innocent dissemination should be available to printers in libel cases will be implemented.
The Attorney-General : In a consultation paper published in July 1990 the Lord Chancellor invited views on whether the defence of innocent dissemination should be made available to printers. The consultation period has recently ended, and he is now considering the responses he has received.
Law Centres
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Attorney-General what consideration he has given to providing national funding for law centres.
The Attorney-General : The Lord Chancellor has asked the Legal Aid Board to consider the position of law centres in the context of improving access to legal services generally.
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Bailiffs
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Attorney-General if he will set upper limits on the expenses which bailiffs may claim against debtors ; and if he will make a statement.
The Attorney-General : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell on 21 November 1990 at column 125. There are at present no plans to increase the fees, charges and expenses which may be recovered under the Distress for Rent Rules 1988.
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Attorney-General (1) if he will establish a unit to receive complaints against private bailiffs and advertise its address and telephone number to the public ;
(2) what steps he takes to consult consumers' organisations and advice agencies before agreeing to changes in the charges imposed by bailiffs ; and if he will make a statement.
The Attorney-General : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) on 21 November 1990 at column 125.
Belmarsh Prison (Court Complex)
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Attorney-General when he now expects the court complex associated with Her Majesty's prison Belmarsh to be in operation.
The Attorney-General : The contractor's programme, together with a period for fitting out the building, provides that the Crown court at Woolwich will be in operation in October 1992.
TRANSPORT
Public Transport, London
2. Mr. Ground : To ask Secretary of State for Transport what measures are planned to improve public transport in London.
Mr. Parkinson : We have set the public transport operators two challenges. To improve every aspect of their existing services ; and to achieve historic increases in capacity. To these ends we have set tough quality of service objectives ; massively increased the resources available for investment ; and approved the building of major new lines. And we have announced legislation designed to create the clear roads needed to run attractive bus services.
New Motorways
12. Mr. Knox : To ask Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent on new motorway construction in each of the past four years at constant prices.
Mr. Chope : Capital expenditure on motorways, at 1990-91 prices, was £466 million in 1986-87, £398 million in 1987-88, £459 million in 1988-89 and £576 million in 1989-90.
Road Safety
13. Mr. David Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures are being taken to educate children in road safety.
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Mr. McLoughlin : We believe all schools should teach road safety as an integral part of the national curriculum. We have a wide range of teaching material and are developing guidelines to help local authorities organise road safety education in schools.
Official Visits
14. Mr. Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will pay an official visit to Southend-on-Sea by train.
Mr. Freeman : I have written to my hon. Friend that I should be happy to do so.
Transport Expenditure
15. Dr. Michael Clark : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport by how much expenditure on transport will increase over the next three years.
Mr. Parkinson : In the areas where I have responsibility investment on transport will increase from some £9 billion in the three years to April 1991 to nearly £16 billion in the three years to April 1994.
Bus Services
16. Mr. Pike : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received regarding bus services in rural areas and off-peak hours.
Mr. McLoughlin : I have received very few representations about bus services in rural areas and in off-peak hours. Bus mileage overall has increased by 19 per cent. and local authorities are able to subsidise those socially necessary services which are not provided by operators on a commercial basis.
Rail Freight
17. Mr. Robert Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with British Rail on rail freight infrastructure.
Mr. Freeman : We are continuing to encourage British Rail to build on the strengths of rail freight, which are primarily in bulk trainload traffic. Where there are sound commercial prospects, we are backing the necessary investment. In the autumn statement we have endorsed over £600 million of investment in rail freight over the next three years.
Light Rapid Transit (Nottingham)
18. Mr. Allen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assistance his Department has given to the proposal for a light rapid transit system in Nottingham.
Mr. McLoughlin : Officials in the Department of Transport have had a number of discussions with the promoters of this project on how best to work up their proposals.
Bedford Bypass
19. Sir Trevor Skeet : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are his current plans for bypassing Bedford ; and if he will make a statement on the timetable.
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Mr. Chope : My Department has two schemes for bypassing Bedford--Bedford southern bypass and Bedford western bypass. Tenders for the construction of Bedford southern bypass are programmed to be invited in 1992. The scheme is due to be completed in 1995, following a two-year construction period. The programme for a Bedford western bypass depends largely on the outcome of our consideration of the results of Bedfordshire county and North Bedfordshire borough council's public consultation exercise on an outer western option, together with analysis of recent traffic survey data. We expect to announce the results of that consideration early next year.Transport Investment
20. Mr. Knapman : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what he estimates will be the total level of transport investment in the United Kingdom, in real terms, over the next three years ; and what were the comparable figures for the last three years.
Mr. Parkinson : In the areas where I have responsibility, approximately 14 billion pounds at 1990-91 prices is planned in the next three years compared with some 10 billion pounds in the last three years.
Humber Bridge
21. Mr. Cran : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the latest estimate he has as to the current level of debt being carried by the Humber bridge board.
Mr. Chope : The debt on the Humber bridge at 31 March 1990 was about £373 million.
British Rail (West Midlands)
22. Mr. Conway : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the public subsidy to the British Rail provincial network in the west midlands sector in 1979 and 1989.
Mr. McLoughlin : The public service obligation grant payable to British Rail is a block grant, and cannot be attributed to any individual area of service. Services in the area covered by the west midlands passenger transport authority are subsidised by them under section 20 of the Transport Act 1968. In 1989-90 this subsidy totalled more than £12 million.
Bus Routes, London
23. Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next plans to meet the chair of the London Buses board to discuss bus routes in London.
Mr. Freeman : My right hon. Friend and I have regular meetings with the chairmen of London Transport and London Buses Limited. Both the Government and London Transport believe that buses have a major contribution to make to meeting London's public transport needs, and we frequently discuss ways of furthering this goal.
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Road Casualties
24. Mr. John P. Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to meet his road casualty reduction target of a reduction in road casualties by one third by the year 2000.
Mr. Chope : I set out in the road safety debate on 16 November the wide range of measures which we have in hand for reducing road accident casualties.
British Rail (Investment)
25. Mr. Holt : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much British Rail will invest over the next three years ; and what were the comparable figures for the previous three years.
Mr. Freeman : We have given British Rail an investment ceiling of £4 billion cash over the next three years. This represents £3.65 billion at 1990-91 prices, a 58 per cent. real increase on the comparable figure, £2.3 billion, for the previous three years.
London Transport (Investment)
26. Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much London Transport will invest over the next three years.
Mr. Freeman : Approaching £3 billion. That is equivalent to well over £400 per head for every man, woman and child in the greater London area.
Channel Tunnel
27. Mr. Wray : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates he has of the average speed of (a) passenger and freight trains running between Glasgow and the continent once the channel tunnel is open and (b) TGV trains between Lille, Lyon and Paris running to Britain.
Mr. Freeman : The average speed for the proposed Glasgow to Paris night sleeper will be about 65 mph. Convenient departure and arrival times will matter more than speed. The average speed of passenger trains between Lille and London will be 90 mph, between Paris and London 100 mph, and on the daytime through service between Paris and Edinburgh will be 85 mph. SNCF do not propose to run direct services from Lyon to London. International freight trains will be able to travel both in the United Kingdom and in France at a maximum speed of 75 mph.
Regional Airports
28. Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on his policy towards greater use of regional airports.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Government encourage the maximum use of regional airports, both to meet local demand and to relieve pressure on the London airports.
Over the past decade some £450 million of capital expenditure has been facilitated through special borrowing approvals for the development of local authority airports. Special borrowing approvals totalling £59 million are available for 1990-91, facilitating investment which the
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airports concerned estimate could total some £149 million this year. For 1991-92 £87 million worth of special borrowing approvals will be available, facilitating investment which the airports concerned estimate could total some £179 million in that year. We also very much welcome the contribution to the development of local authority airports which the private sector already makes through direct investment and joint venture schemes ; and we continue to look to the airports concerned and their local authority owners to take full account of the opportunities for private sector involvement as they formulate their plans for further expansion.The working group now being established to take forward the Civil Aviation Authority's recent advice on long term United Kingdom airport capacity is to examine regional airports, role in meeting overall growth in demand into the next century.
We are continuing to pursue liberalisation policies, both in the European Community and in bilateral negotiations, which increase further the scope for services from our regional airports.
Black Country Spine Road
Mr. Snape : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has yet concluded his financial review of the black country spine road between West Bromwich and Wednesbury ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : The review is making good progress but is not yet complete. A decision will be announced as soon as possible.
Road Casualties
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in tabular form the number of road deaths for each year from 1970 to 1989, inclusive, showing (a) total figures and (b) by category of (i) car drivers, (ii) car passengers, (iii) lorry drivers, (iv) lorry passengers, (v) motor cyclists, (vi) motor cycle passengers, (vii) other occupants of motor vehicles, (viii) cyclists, (ix) pedestrians, (x) bus drivers and (xi) bus passengers.
Mr. Chope : I have placed a copy of the information requested in the Library.
RAF Bentwaters
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will indicate the cost of road realignments and improvements which affect access to RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk.
Mr. Chope : Improvements planned in the vicinity of the base are on the A1152 road for which Suffolk county council is the local highway authority.
My Department will ask the council to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
Dock Workers
Mr. Hood : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many dockers are employed in handling coal produced in Britain.
Mr. McLoughlin : No information is collected centrally about the number of dock workers handling specific commodities. In 1989, there were five ports at which
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British coal accounted for over 40 per cent. by weight of goods loaded in the port : Tyne, Blyth, Ayr, Garston and Workington. These ports accounted for 84 per cent. of the coal shipped from all British ports. The latest available survey of port manpower, carried out in March 1989, showed that 308 dock workers were employed in these ports.Public Service Vehicles
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to publicise clause 4 of the Public Service Vehicles (Conduct of Drivers, Inspectors, Conductors and Passengers) Regulations 1990.
Mr. Freeman : Regulation 4 was fully publicised in the Press Notice issued on 11 May 1990 when the regulations were laid before Parliament. Publicity was also given in the trade press. I have no plans for further publicity.
Fishing Boat Antares
Mr. Foulkes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make an urgent statement on the incident involving the fishing boat Antares and a royal naval submarine off the coast of Arran in the early morning of 22 November ; if he will institute an inquiry into the incident ; and what action he is now taking to ensure there are no further similar incidents.
Mr. McLoughlin : My hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces made a statement to the House on 23 November about this incident. An inspector from the marine accident investigation branch commenced an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the loss of the fishing vessel Antares on the same day. A separate inquiry is being carried out by the Royal Navy. The results of these inquiries will be given urgent consideration to see what lessons can be learnt.
Airports, South-East
Mr. Jacques Arnold : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what further steps have been taken towards identifying possible locations for additional runway capacity to serve the south-east, following the publication by the Civil Aviation Authority in CAP 570 of advice on the adequacy of airport capacity in the longer term.
Mr. Parkinson : I announced in July my intention to establish a working group to examine the wider implications of development at airports identified by the Civil Aviation Authority in CAP 570 as likely to be able in air traffic control terms to accommodate additional air traffic. Work has since been going forward on the group's terms of reference, structure and membership.
I have concluded that the terms of reference for the group should be :
"To evaluate the wider implications of developing additional runway capacity at the sites identified by the Civil Aviation Authority in Cap 570 as likely to be feasible for such development in air traffic control and airspace terms ;
"To have regard to the considerations, including the environmental considerations, which led the Government in 1985 to the view that second runways should not be built at either Gatwick or Stansted ; and to the relevance of those considerations at Heathrow and at other airports ;
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"To test the Authority's conclusions in CAP 570 on the contribution of regional airports, and to gauge the extent to which these airports can play a part in meeting the overall demand into the next century ;"And in the light of these considerations to advise the Secretary of State on the possible courses".
I intend that the group should be chaired by a senior official from my department, and that it should be assisted by four subgroups addressing, for each of the locations identified in CAP 570, the implications for regional development and the environment ; for aircraft noise ; for surface access ; and capital costs, lead times and other practical and technical considerations. The first of these subgroups will be chaired by the Department of the Environment, the second and third by my own department and the last by the CAA. Invitations to join the working group or one of its subgroups have today been sent to a variety of organisations. We have asked SERPLAN to co-ordinate the local authority input, and have also sought the involvement of the Kent Economic Development Board. To represent the interests of airports we have issued invitations to the Airport Operators Association, BAA plc and the Joint Airports Committee of Local Authorities. We have in particular asked JACOLA to take the lead in assessing the contribution of regional airports. The International Air Transport Association, the International Air Carrier Association and the British Air Transport Association have been invited to represent airlines.
We have asked the Association of British Travel Agents, the British Tourist Authority and the Air Transport Users Committee to represent, respectively, the interests of the travel and tourism industries and of consumers of air services (passenger and cargo).
To ensure a thorough examination of the important environmental implications of airport development we have extended invitations to a number of bodies and organisations. These are the Federation of Heathrow Anti-Noise Groups ; the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign, the North West Essex and East Herts Preservation Association ; and the Airfield Environment Federation. We have also invited the participation of the chairmen of the consultative committees at each of the airports in question.
The local management of the different airports have been asked to contribute to the work of the airport technical subgroup, and British Rail and London Regional Transport have been invited to join the subgroup which will consider surface access. Finally, the working group will involve officials from the CAA and from the trade and industry, employment, defence and agriculture departments, as well as from my own department and the Department of the Environment. I am confident that the expertise of those we have invited will enable the group to engage fully with the many issues it will address. Inevitably, it has not been possible to offer places to all of those wishing to participate. I hope that many of those not included will be able to put views forward through the various representative organisations on the group. I also intend to initiate shortly a wider, written consultation, to ensure the group has access to the views of others with an interest in the issues. The results of this consultation will be an important contribution to the group's work.
Once we have heard from those invited to join the group arrangements can go forward for the first of the meetings. I expect this to take place early next year.
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London Underground (Crime)
Sir David Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will provide the figures for the number of violent crimes committed on the London underground for the years 1989 and 1990 ; and if he will list the initiatives that have been taken by London Underground to reduce the incidence of violent crime.
Mr. Freeman : I understand from the British Transport Police that in 1989 there were 1,755 crimes of violence on the London underground. During that time some 765 million passenger journeys were made. In the 10 months to 31 October 1990, the number of crimes of violence was 1,137. This represents a 22 per cent. reduction compared with the same period for 1989 and continues the downward trend for such crimes. Crimes of violence have been defined as robbery and assaults on passengers, staff and police.
A programme of passenger security measures has been introduced at thirteen pilot scheme stations on the Northern line, Central line and at Oxford Circus to assess the effectiveness of various anti-crime measures at different types of station. These involve :
--trained staff with personal radios
--help-point booths
--passenger help-point alarm panels
--closed circuit television and video monitoring
--supervised safe waiting areas
--mirrors and improved lighting
Similiar measures will be implemented in 1991 at stations between Hammersmith and Paddington on the Hammersmith and City line. London Underground is also planning to extend these measures to other stations throughout the network. In addition a new communication network is being provided at 123 stations which will enable the police to use radios underground. The complement of the British Transport Police's (BTP) London Underground division has been increased to 400 and area police stations established. These enhancements enable the BTP to mount increased numbers of patrols which, together with the new culture of co-operation between staff and the BTP, will improve the effectiveness of community policing on the Underground.
London Underground (Grant)
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total Government grant to London Underground in the current financial year ; how much it will be in 1991-92 ; and how much of this grant has been set aside for the repair of escalators.
Mr. Freeman : Total grant to London Transport, in 1990-91 will be £474 million. In 1991-92 it will be £669 million. It is for London Transport to decide how that grant should be distributed to its subsidiaries, and it is for London Underground to decide how much to spend on the repair of escalators. The Government do not earmark specific amounts of grant for specific purposes. I understand that in 1990-91 London Underground will spend approximately £11 million on the repair of escalators.
Winchester Bypass
Mr. Hill : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the fatality figures, including major injuries, over the last 10 years on the Winchester bypass.
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Mr. Chope : The number of recorded accidents, in the stated categories, on the A33 Winchester bypass from its junction with the A27 (M3) to A31 Compton in each of the last six years were :Year |Fatal injuries |Serious injuries ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1984 |2 | 8 1985 |3 | 8 1986 |0 |12 1987 |1 | 5 1988 |1 | 3 1989 |1 | 3
Figures for years before 1984 are not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
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