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Mr. Freeman : I understand that British Rail has carried out a study of locations where there are platform starting signals which protect a single lead junction at a through passenger station. As a result of the study, 10 locations, including Newton, have been identified at which enhanced protection arrangements are being introduced. Consideration is being given at Newton to a number of options to guard against the possibility of a similar incident to that which occurred and these include a revised layout and/or trap points.
Currently Newton junction is operating under special restricted arrangements to ensure safety pending the outcome of a technical investigation. It will be necessary to recommission the signalling before normal train operations restart.
Future policy on the singling of double junctions is a matter for British Rail, though Her Majesty's railway inspectorate will continue to consider the safety of individual proposals before giving approval. As part of the independent inquiry into the Newton accident which is to be conducted by the Health and Safety Executive's deputy director general, Mr. David Eves, the safety of single lead junctions will be examined.
Drink Driving
Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what special measures he intends taking to deal with the problem of drink driving over the Christmas and new year period ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : Drink driving is an all year round problem. As part of our continuing campaign against it, there will be television advertising over the Christmas period backed up by vigorous enforcement.
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A427
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has received the Action A427 document sent to him by the hon. Member for Harborough ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : Yes. The promotion of road improvements on the A427 is the responsibility of Leicestershire county council as the local highway authority. I regret, therefore, that I cannot intervene in the way in which my hon. Friend wishes.
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will adopt the A427 between Lutterworth and Market Harborough.
Mr. Chope : No. The A427 is not a route of national strategic importance catering for the movement of long-distance traffic.
Sir John Farr : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents to pedestrians on the A427 from Lutterworth to Market Harborough there have been in the last two years ; and if he has any plans to reduce the incidence.
Mr. Chope : I understand from Leicestershire county council, the highway authority for the A427, that there have been nine accidents involving pedestrians in this period. The responsibility for specific accident prevention measures on the A427 rests with Leicestershire county council.
Trunk Roads
Mr. Barry Field : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent representations he has had about trunk road status for the Isle of Wight.
Mr. Chope : None. I am now considering a case put by the Isle of Wight county council for certain roads on the island to be incorporated into the primary route network.
Passenger Ferries
Mr. Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list those passenger ferries which have been granted or are seeking exemption from the requirement to have a radio officer on board ;
(2) what advice his Department has given to the operators of passenger ships, on the withdrawal of radio officers following the implementation of the global maritime distress and safety system.
Mr. McLoughlin : I will write to the hon. Member.
Winter Rail Services
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement as to what review his Department has carried out with British Rail in respect of arrangements for dealing with severe weather during the forthcoming winter.
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Mr. Freeman : Department of Transport officials will be having discussions with British Rail in the next few weeks.Tees and Hartlepool Port
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measure of price preference he intends to give to the bid from the management and employee consortium for the Tees and Hartlepool port.
Mr. McLoughlin : I will write to the hon. Member.
Nuclear Material
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list by year for the last 10 years, and for 1991 to date, the number of occasions that nuclear fuel has been transported to (a) Dounreay and (b) Sellafield via Doncaster.
Mr. Chope : The data requested are not collected by the Department of Transport. I understand, however, that irradiated nuclear fuel is not normally transported through Doncaster.
Rail Safety
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the current arrangements provided by British Rail for the safety of its customers.
Mr. Freeman : British Rail's safety plan sets out the board's safety policy and objectives and the wide range of initiatives under way. These include new safety management systems, improved training, investment in new equipment and changes in working methods. Copies of the plan are in the Library. The board's railway code gives advice on the safe use of railway services.
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 20 June, Official Report, columns 275-82, to the hon. Member for Don Valley, if he will list those accidents that involved passengers falling from passenger trains that were in motion ; and at what approximate speed the train was travelling.
Mr. Freeman : All the accidents listed in my previous answers involved falls from moving trains. Details of train speeds are not available.
Mr. Alton : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the recent rail crash at Liverpool's Lime Street station ; and whether the findings of the British Rail inspectorate will be made public.
Mr. Freeman : An empty diesel multiple unit train collided with the buffer stops at Liverpool Lime Street station at about 1330 hours on Saturday 5 October after its brakes had failed. It came to rest on the concourse. Fortunately, the signalman at Edge Hill was able to warn the station of the impending collision and the concourse was cleared. There were no serious injuries or serious damage to the station, though the buffer stops and one coach of the two-car train were damaged beyond repair. Earlier in the day the train had hit an obstruction on the line and received attention at Lime Street before being placed back in service.
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Nuclear Material
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list for the last 12 months, the number of cargos of spent nuclear fuel flasks that have been carried on roll-on roll-off ferries.
Mr. McLoughlin : I will write to the hon. Member.
Norwich Southern Bypass
Mr. Patrick Thompson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about progress of work on the Norwich southern bypass and explain the reasons why problems involving the surfacing mix have not been fully resolved.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 21 October 1991] : Site trials and tests are being carried out to ascertain the cause of problems with the road pavement which has been laid. The results of the tests will be available shortly, and I hope that a solution will be found which will still enable the bypass to be completed and open to traffic on schedule in the latter part of next year.
A120
Mr. Haselhurst : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to give grant approval for commencement of the A120 improvement between Stansted and Braintree.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 21 October 1991] : When statutory procedures have been completed, a decision on grant approval for commencement of works will be made.
M25
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many lanes are proposed for the recently announced filter/distributor road running alongside the M25.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 21 October 1991] : The feasibility of schemes for collector distributor roads is still in the preliminary stages of investigation. Dual two or three-lanes could be required, depending on forecast traffic levels, which will vary from section to section.
Driving Licences
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the proposals to include the photograph of the licence holder on the driving licence involves disclosure of such photographic data to the police ; whether he has given any fresh consideration to the data protection implications of the obtaining, disclosure and use of all driver information held by the driver and vehicle licensing centre ; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 21 October 1991] : Police have access to the driver licensing records for law enforcement purposes under the terms of the Road Traffic Act 1988 which removes any data protection restriction on such statutory disclosure. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency would seek the advice of the Data Protection Registrar on the disclosure of photographs on driving licences should the proposal to include photographs be implemented.
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Diesel Emissions
Mr. Anthony Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action his Department is taking to ensure that the level of heavy diesel fuel emissions is reduced.
Mr. Chope : Standards for new vehicles are set by European Community directives. Amendments to the heavy duty diesel emissions directive (EC 88/77) have recently been adopted. These set two mandatory stages of emission limits, the first coming into force next July, with a more stringent second stage in 1995. This second stage is of similar stringency to the standards to be applied in the United States from 1994.
We shall be equipping all heavy goods vehicle test stations with smoke measuring instrumentation by next summer. This will offer scope to measure smoke emissions more accurately in the test station and at roadside checks, and also facilitate the introduction of tighter limits in the future.
Lorry Speeds
Mr. Ward : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how he intends to make the control of the speed of heavy lorries effective.
Mr. Chope : Enforcement of speed limits is primarily a matter for the police. Fitment of speed limiters to heavy goods vehicles will prevent speeding on motorways by those classes of vehicle to which they are fitted.
Mr. Ward : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultations he has had with the European Commission about the maximum permitted speed for heavy lorries.
Mr. Chope : None. The Commission has made two proposals about the fitment of speed limiters to heavy goods vehicles, buses and coaches. Each proposal requires that the limiters should be set at certain speeds, which are about 10 mph below the motorway speed limits for these vehicles in this country. It is wholly inappropriate for Community directives on speed limiters to specify the speeds at which the limiters must be set. Speed limits are matters for individual nations to determine in the light of national considerations such as road design standards and rules governing driver behaviour. The speeds which are proposed also raise major practical difficulties going beyond the question of principle.
Mr. Ward : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has finalised his plans to fit speed limiters to heavy lorries ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : Regulations have been made requiring heavy goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes maximum weight, and first used on or after 1 August 1992, to be fitted with speed limiters in order to restrict their maximum speed. The Department has consulted about proposals for fitment of speed limiters to some heavy goods vehicles over 16 tonnes maximum weight first used on or after 1 August 1988. The responses to that consultation are being considered.
Motor Fuel
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates of long-term elasticity of demand for motor fuel are used by his Department.
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Mr. Chope [holding answer 21 October 1991] : Minus 0.4 for petrol used in private vehicles, and minus 0.1 for all fuel used by commercial vehicles.
Passenger Safety
Mr. Brian Wilson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the safety implications of the global maritime distress and safety system and the effect on safety of the withdrawal of radio officers from passenger ferries.
Mr. McLoughlin : The global maritime distress and safety system is an internationally agreed system that will use the latest technology, including satellite communications, to enhance distress communications. It will introduce a quicker and more accurate response to distress calls without necessarily requiring a radio officer.
ENVIRONMENT
Bed-and-breakfast Accommodation
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a table showing the most recent estimate of expenditure by local authorities on accommodating homeless families in temporary or bed- and-breakfast accommodation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Yeo : I will write to the hon. Member.
Listed Buildings
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the lidos in England and Wales that have been given a listed building status.
Mr. Yeo : This information is not readily available either in my Department or in the Welsh Office.
Business Invoices
Mr. Simon Coombs : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his Department's policy on the payment of invoices to small and medium-sized businesses.
Mr. Heseltine : It is my Department's policy to ensure that payments to contractors and consultants are made promptly within the period stipulated in the appropriate contract or within 30 days of receipt of a valid invoice.
I am fully aware of the serious cash flow problems that small and medium- sized businesses may face if payments are late and special attention is given to the payment of their bills. My officials monitor payment performance, and make quarterly returns to the Department of Employment which intends to publish them.
Land Disposal
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has on sales or other disposals of land owned by water public limited companies ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : I will write to the hon. Member.
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Private Sector Tenancies
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the increase or decrease in percentage terms of available private sector tenancies for the two years following the Housing Act 1988, over the two preceding years.
Mr. Yeo : I will write to the hon. Member.
London Docklands
Mr. Leighton : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much money in the current year's London Docklands development corporation budget has been allocated to affordable housing ; and how many houses that will provide.
Mr. Yeo : The corporation proposes to spend £8.6 million on schemes of this kind during 1991-92. This is likely to result in 90 new housing units. The investment will, in addition, allow refurbishment works to some 1,500 properties.
RNAD Coulport
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what measures have been taken during construction at Royal Navy Armaments Depot Coulport to ensure quality assurance for all steel being brought on site.
Mr. Yeo : The design, manufacture and supply of all steel for nuclear-related facilities being constructed at RNAD Coulport are subject to a PSA quality plan and PSA quality assurance requirements for contractors which comply with BS5882 and BS5750 respectively and are agreed with MOD. Steel for other facilities at RNAD Coulport is subject to quality control to ensure compliance with British Standard and contract specifications.
Wath Recycling Company
Mr. Hardy : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will request the Wath Recycling Company to send the consignment of toxic waste which it has held for almost two and a half years to the same company which has dealt with that part of the consignment which was held by British Rail.
Mr. Baldry : As the hon. Member knows, we have been actively seeking an appropriate solution to this problem for two years and this has included requests to Wath Recycling to consider disposal methods such as that used by British Rail. However the fate of the waste at Wath now appears to depend firmly upon the outcome of current court action in the United States.
Thamesmead
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has received the report of the inspector presiding over the public inquiry into the proposed development of Thamesmead town centre ; and when he expects to announce his decision on the planning application.
Mr. Yeo : The report has only just been received. It is hoped to issue a decision shortly.
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Uniform Business Rate
Mr. David Howell : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many appeals against uniform business rate assessments are currently outstanding ; what is the average length of time since outstanding appeals were lodged ; and what rate of interest is being paid on monies returned to businesses where appeals have been successful.
Mr. Portillo : At 30 September there were 673,237 outstanding appeals concerning non-domestic rates in England and Wales. A total of 91,074 appeals had been settled by the same date. Information on the average length of time since outstanding appeals were lodged is not available, but approximately 630,000 appeals were made in the initial period for challenging 1 April 1990 values which expired on 30 September 1990 ; some 300,000 of these were received just before the final deadline. Valuation officers have six months to deal with cases before referring unresolved disputes to the valuation and community charge tribunals. The interest rate applied to overpayments arising from successful appeals is 14 per cent. for 1990-91 and 12 per cent. for 1991-92.
Private Security Firms
Mr. George : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the number of private security firms currently employed by his Department, the number of employees for each firm on the contract, the total value of each contract and the total value of all contracts for each financial year since 1984-85.
Mr. Heseltine : The number of security firms currently employed by my Department is six. The number of employees used at each location can vary from week to week depending on circumstances. For this reason contract values can also vary. The figures given for 1991-92 are therefore estimated.
Year |Annual |Number of
|contract value|employees
|(£)
------------------------------------------------------------
1984-85 |18,000 |5
|57,556 |7
|16,188 |1
|----
Total |91,744
1985-86 |56,000 |8
|20,000 |5
|57,556 |7
|16,917 |1
|187,044 |21
|----
Total |337,517
1986-87 |64,000 |8
|21,000 |5
|60,434 |7
|11,568 |1
|195,224 |21
|----
Total |352,226
1987-88 |72,000 |8
|21,000 |5
|76,000 |7
|65,864 |7
|12,048 |1
|239,549 |25
|----
Total |486,461
1988-89 |80,000 |8
|22,600 |5
|76,000 |7
|65,864 |7
|13,169 |1
|351,644 |25
|----
Total |609,227
1989-90 |88,000 |8
|23,700 |5
|76,000 |7
|89,856 |7
|13,987 |1
|369,070 |24
|----
Total |660,613
1990-91 |112,000 |8
|24,900 |5
|80,000 |7
|60,000 |15
|130,678 |7
|16,320 |1
|430,597 |27
|----
Total |854,495
1991-92 |125,000 |9
|16,000 |2
|88,000 |7
|67,000 |15
|138,331 |7
|34,792 |1
|452,040 |33
|----
Total |921,163
Community Charge
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out the sums included for other adjustments in the 1991-92 community charge accounts of each of the London borough councils.
Mr. Key : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) on 21 June 1991, Official Report column 329.
Global Warming
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list in the Official Report the research activities sponsored by his Department into global warming ; and what information he has regarding scientific and policy research currently under way by (a) non-governmental organisations and (b) university and polytechnic research departments into ways of predicting and mitigating the greenhouse effect.
Mr. Baldry : Full details of every research project commissioned under the Department's global atmosphere research programme this year are currently being collected together in a single report which I expect to be placed in the Library of the House next month. The largest single project is the climate prediction programme at the Hadley Centre, Bracknell, which includes a specific requirement to liaise and co-ordinate with all relevant research both in the United Kingdom and abroad. There are in addition some
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specific projects on the impacts of climate upon water resources, and building and construction sponsored in other DOE programmes. My Department represents relevant research interests and responsibilities of the Government on the inter-agency council for global environmental change which published its first report on the United Kingdom research framework this year. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House. My Department is represented on the relevant research councils and received many reports and documents on research carried out by non- governmental organisations, at higher education institutes and by independent research institutes and organisations.Toronto Environmental Declaration
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when Her Majesty's Government received a copy of the Toronto declaration on world cities and their environment, concluded at the congress of municipal leaders on 28 August ; and if he has taken any steps to respond to the appeals made to national Governments in resolution 15, resolution 22 and resolution 23.
Mr. Baldry : My Department has seen a copy of the "Toronto Declaration", which appears to be designed as an input to the United Nations conference on development and the environment, to be held in Brazil in June 1992. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has already announced that he hopes to attend, and the Government are participating actively in the preparatory work.
UN Environmental Conference
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what input was made by his Department to the seminar sponsored by UNEP-UK on the non-governmental organisations' agenda for the 1992 United Nations conference on environment and development, held in London on 9 and 10 October ; and what new information was collected by his Department as a result of its involvement in the seminar.
Mr. Baldry : The seminar was part of a programme, organised by UNEP- UK and funded by the Department of the Environment, aimed at focusing the views and aspirations of the non-governmental community on the 1992 conference. In his summing up of the proceedings the Director General of Environmental Protection undertook that the Department would study the conclusions of the various working groups as soon as written versions were available.
Dry Cleaning
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what Government-sponsored research has been undertaken into the use of perchloroethylene in the dry cleaning process.
Mr. Baldry : I am aware of the following relevant research which has been or is being undertaken by Government Departments. The Building Research Establishment is preparing an environmental hazard assessment document on perchloroethylene--dry cleaning is covered as a source of release into the environment--as part of my Department's research programme. This will be published in due course.
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The Department of Trade and Industry published a report in 1990 entitled "Chlorinated solvent cleaning--the impact of environmental and regulatory control" by Coopers and Lybrand Deloitte.The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is curently surveying perchloroethylene levels in food purchased from shops near to dry cleaning establishments. This work was initiated after reports appeared in the literature which indicated that there was a possibility of food contamination via this route. The results of this survey will be published in the normal way when they become available.
In addition there is a requirement to monitor drinking water levels of perchloroethylene. Levels must not exceed 10 lg/litre on an annual basis.
Nuclear Power
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his policy towards the proposal put forward by the Swedish Ministry of the Environment to the IAEA-sponsored conference on the safety of nuclear power ; strategy for the future, that a legally binding international convention on nuclear waste management and final disposal safety be established.
Mr. Baldry : The IAEA-sponsored conference discussed the Swedish proposal and concluded that the IAEA should develop international safety objectives for use by participating member states with regard to the implementation of waste management and disposal. My officials will be working with the IAEA to help develop such objectives, and to discuss the content of a possible convention.
Environmental Management
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will arrange for a subscription to be taken out by his departmental library to the new bulletin of the United Kingdom Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management.
Mr. Heseltine : The Library has it under consideration.
Waste Recycling
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the kerbside recycling schemes his Department is monitoring ; what form the monitoring is taking ; when he expects the results ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Baldry : The Government are conducting a three-year programme, which is currently monitoring schemes in Sheffield, Adur, Leeds and Cardiff. The programme, which will encompass other kerbside collection schemes and schemes using "bring" systems of recycling collection, is designed to provide information and advice on the operation of source separation schemes for recovering recyclable materials from household waste. It will provide an impartial assessment of United Kingdom recycling schemes by studying such factors as recovery rates, costs, and inputs into existing waste management strategies and will compare and evaluate the schemes to identify the best options for increasing recycling rates. As part of this monitoring programme, a report on the first two years of the Sheffield recycling city experiment will be published during November.
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