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Written Answers to Questions
Monday 18 November 1991
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Meat Production
Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has made to the National Farmers Unions of England and Scotland and the Farmers Union of Wales to encourage their members to continue producing beef, lamb and pig production to meet consumers' requirements.
Mr. Curry : At the Prime Minister's seminar on food marketing on 15 November my right hon. Friend the Minister announced two important new initiatives to help farmers produce what consumers want. A new group marketing grant, worth £5.4 million over the next three years, is being introduced to encourage groups of farmers to develop and expand. Within the Ministry a new market task force has been set up to identify and disseminate information on broad market opportunities to farmers. All sectors of the industry have welcomed these new initiatives.
I am pleased that the National Farmers Union has also announced a new food from the countryside initiative to bring farmers and customers together, and to help farmers develop the necessary business skills.
The message to livestock and other producers is that they should collaborate and get closer to the market. That will provide opportunities to increase the market share for British food at home and abroad.
Milk
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will pay compensation to commercial producers of sheeps' and goats' milk who are suffering financial hardship.
Set-aside Scheme
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list each of the claims for set-aside which have been scrutinised during 1990-91 giving the location of the farm and the size of payment involved ; and if he will list the cases where the participants failed to receive the payment, with the reasons in each case why they did not comply with their undertakings ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : This information is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Moreover, data identifying individual farms cannot be provided without breach of
confidentiality.
All set-aside claims are properly scrutinised, but it is not my Department's policy to publish details of its inspection arrangements, as this could seriously impede effective enforcement. Inspections in England during the 1990-91
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set-aside year identified 18 serious irregularities and a number of additional cases involving minor breaches of the scheme rules. Payments were withheld or recovered in full or in part in 39 cases.Aerial Photography
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about his Ministry's aerial photography, including the counties covered, the frequency with which the photographs are taken, what is identified, and to what use the photographs are put.
Mr. Gummer : The aerial photography unit, which is part of the Agricultural Development Advisory Service, undertakes aerial survey work both in support of the activities of my Department and as a commercial service. Aerial surveys have covered sites in all counties in England and Wales. Many sites are photographed only once, others at infrequent intervals. The environmentally sensitive areas have been photographed at three-yearly intervals to assist in my Department's long-term monitoring programme. Other work for my Department is used in a wide range of applications related to environmental monitoring, land use, crop husbandry and disease studies. Commercial applications include photography in connection with land use and planning, coastal and flood protection, conservation and landscape inventories and crop trials.
Property Sales
Dr. David Clark : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all the properties and their locations which he has sold during 1990-91 ; if he will list in each case their estimated value and the amount realised at the sale ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Gummer : Details of the property sold in the period 1 April 1990 to 31 March 1991 are as follows :
Property |<1>Estimated |Sale price
|value
|£ |£
385, Kirkstall road, Leeds |<2>550,000 |550,000
Land at Pill Heath Andover,
Hampshire |<3> |7,000
No. 2, The Cottages, Lee Valley
Experimental Husbandry Farm,
Hertfordshire |59,500 |51,000
No. 1, High Barns, Boxworth,
Cambridgeshire |<4>66,667 |70,000
No. 2, High Barns, Boxworth,
Cambridgeshire |<4>66,667 |67,000
The Hermitage, Batchmere,
West Sussex |<5>65,000 |65,000
Land at Bury Hill, Potton,
Bedfordshire |<6>500,000 |525,000
Notes:
<1> Estimated value when first marketed.
<2> Property sold to the Leeds Development Corporation at price determined by the District Valuer.
<3> Part of a larger piece of land offered for sale. Price agreed by the District Valuer.
<4> One of three identical houses valued together at £200,000.
<5> Property sold to sitting tenant.
<6> Sold by tender.
Surplus property is disposed of in accordance with Treasury guidelines. I am content that the prices achieved for these properties reflect their true open market values.
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Sea Defences
Mr. David Porter : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his planned allocation of money to Suffolk and Norfolk for river and flood protection and sea defence coast protection, in the light of the autumn statement.
Mr. Curry : The provision for flood and sea defence and arterial drainage underlying the autumn statement announcement will facilitate an increase in grant to the National Rivers Authority in England from £30.1 million in 1991-92 to £37.7 million in 1992-93. This should fund an increasing capital works programme of about £80 million in 1992-93.
In recognition of the particular problems of that area, an increased allocation for capital works of £7 million will be made to the National Rivers Authority for Norfolk and Suffolk and the basic rate of grant in that district will be raised from 45 to 55 per cent., plus the existing 20 per cent. supplement for tidal and sea defence work. The increases in allocation and grant rate are conditional on the local flood defence committee, including county council members, agreeing to increase levies to fund the programme of works. The provision for grants to local authorities, internal drainage boards and maritime district councils in England for flood and coastal defence works amounts to £24.7 million in 1992-93. Such authorities within Norfolk and Suffolk will decide on priorities within their areas of responsibility and any scheme proposed will be considered for approval and grant aid by the Department.
TRANSPORT
Road Closure, Ealing
Mr. Harry Greenway : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will call in the application to Ealing council for the closure of Berkeley avenue from Oldfield lane, North to Greenford road.
Mr. Chope : If a private development requires the closure of a highway it is for the developer to make application to the Secretary of State for Transport for the necessary order under section 247 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. No such application has been made in respect of any development affecting Berkeley avenue.
Vehicle Safety
Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he intends to publish the data received by the vehicle inspectorate on the incidence of safety-related defects in motor vehicles manufactured in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Chope : The Department publishes details of safety-related design and manufacturing defects which result in recall campaigns by the vehicle manufacturers. Details are published bi-annually and circulated to all major United Kingdom public libraries, the Consumers Association, trade associations, motoring journals and to the police and local authority trading standards departments.
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Mr. Campbell-Savours : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has to require motor manufacturers to provide information as to the number of complaints received as to defects in motor vehicles.
Mr. Chope : The Department and the vehicle manufacturers agreed in 1979 that manufacturers would provide information to the Department on safety defects in vehicles and components, under a voluntary code of practice. Since this and subsequent additional codes were put in place, 897 recall campaigns have been initiated by the manufacturers, involving 7.8 million vehicles.
Pedestrian Accidents
Mr. Rees : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has on the proportion of the population in the higher age groups who are statistically shown to be involved in pedestrian accidents while crossing roads.
Mr. Chope : The police complete a standard report form for each injury road accident of which they become aware, in Great Britain. This report includes information on the age and activity of all casualties in those accidents. The table shows the number of people over 60, in five year age bands, who were injured while crossing roads in Great Britain in 1990, the resident population in each of those age bands, and the rate of casualties injured while crossing the road per 100,000 population.
Pedestrian casualties injured while crossing roads:
By age: Great Britain 1990
|Rate per
Number of |Population |100,000
Age |casualties |(thousands)|population
------------------------------------------------------------
60-64 |1,455 |2,828.4 |51
65-69 |1,605 |2,778.2 |58
70-74 |1,681 |2,116.9 |79
75-79 |1,898 |1,830.1 |104
80-84 |1,517 |1,217.4 |125
85 and over |952 |850.3 |112
Pelican Crossings
Mr. Rees : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will arrange for the control times on pelican crossings to be lengthened.
Mr. Chope : The timing of phases at crossings is set on the basis of traffic and pedestrian flows and the width and layout of the crossing. Trials have been carried out with new equipment that provides for the length of the pedestrian crossing phase to meet demand. The results of these trials are being evaluated.
Heathrow Airport
Mr. Pawsey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Rugby and Kenilworth of 13 November, Official Report, column 522, on directional signing for Heathrow, if he will bring forward the planned 1994 revision to an earlier date.
Mr. Chope : I regret that as the planned revision is a complex project involving the redesign and replacement of 10,000 existing signs, it would not be practical to bring it forward, but if my hon. Friend has any specific problems with signing at Heathrow I shall be pleased to have the matter investigated.
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Freight Operations
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will discuss with the chairman of British Rail the number and location of continental-gauge freight terminals and depots required in the United Kingdom following the opening of the channel tunnel.
Mr. Freeman : British Rail has already announced the locations of the nine intermodal terminals it proposes to use to feed channel tunnel freight on to British Rail's existing track network. These will handle intermodal and other freight traffic which will be moved in wagons compatible with British Rail's existing structure gauge, subject to certain limited gauge enhancements on specific route sections.
Air Traffic Control
Mr. Arbuthnot : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Civil Aviation Authority has made a further response to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission's report on the CAA's provision of navigation and air traffic control services to civil aircraft published in July 1990 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Rifkind : The Civil Aviation Authority publishes its second, interim, response today. I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Library.
The authority's initial response, made in December 1990, said that the authority had accepted all but one of the MMC's 40
recommendations and that work had already begun on implementing many of them. This work has continued, and the authority has made progress in such important areas as consultation with users on charges and airspace planning ; introducing improvements to project management ; and laying the foundations for more efficient and effective manpower planning.
I shall be keeping in close touch with the chairman of the CAA about the programme of change which the CAA has instituted in response to the MMC's recommendations.
Woolwich Ferry
Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the latest available estimates of the number of vehicles using the Woolwich free ferry ; and what were the comparable figures at a similar point in each of the preceding five years.
Mr. Chope : The average number of vehicles carried per day was as follows :
|Number
-------------------------------
October 1991 |2,740
October 1990 |2,590
October 1989 |2,840
October 1988 |2,930
November 1987<1> |440
November 1986<1> |1,860
<1> Figures for October are
not readily available.
SK Link
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will hold a full investigation and inquiry into all the circumstances relating to the sinking of the SK Link including the spreading of the fire from the engine room to the cargo.
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Mr. McLoughlin : A comprehensive investigation into the fire and subsequent explosions on the Swedish registered ro-ro cargo ship Stora- Korsnas-Link 1 is being carried out by the marine accident investigation branch as the fire broke out when the vessel was in UK territorial waters, off the River Tees. The Swedish authorities are also investigating the incident.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give details of arrangements for the transportation and handling of the cargo on board the SK Link.
Mr. McLoughlin : The Swedish registered Stora-Korsnas Link 1 was carrying a cargo of forest products and two containers of sodium chlorate which were stowed at the after end of the main deck. These were loaded at Gavle, Sweden for Hartlepool.
The Department is investigating the circumstances surrounding the loading of the cargo in co-operation with the Swedish authorities.
Fire Fighting at Sea
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give details of those occasions when county council fire services have used good will agreements to assist with fire fighting at sea within the 3-mile limit of United Kingdom coastal waters ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. McLoughlin : Since 1 January 1989, fire services around the coast of the United Kingdom have assisted with fire fighting at sea within the 12-mile limit of United Kingdom coastal waters on 15 occasions. Arrangements for use of fire services in fire fighting at sea are made by the local fire authorities as part of emergency contingency planning involving all relevant emergency services, including HM Coastguard and local port/harbour authorities rather than good will agreements.
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport to what extent he relies on the availability and expertise of the county council fire services in coastal areas for fighting fires within United Kingdom coastal waters.
Mr. McLoughlin : Availability and expertise of fire services in coastal areas for fighting fires within United Kingdom coastal waters is dependent upon local emergency contingency planning arrangements, and the nature of the incident.
Docklands Light Railway
Mr. Spearing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he made of driverless traction systems before deciding to adopt such a form of control on the docklands light railway ; and what assessment was made by the chief inspector of railways of the reliability of such transport.
Mr. Freeman : Under the provisions of section 11 of the London Docklands Railway Act 1984 the London Transport Executive was required to submit to the Secretary of State for his approval plans of its proposals with respect to, among other things, signalling and rolling stock. These plans were assessed and approved on behalf of the Secretary of State by Her Majesty's railway inspectorate.
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Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will meet the chairman of the docklands light railway to discuss its meeting of its quality of service objectives in relation to reliability and punctuality of (a) the bus service and (b) the rail service ; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Freeman : Sir Peter Levene has just been appointed as the new chairman of the docklands light railway and one of his primary tasks is to ensure that the quality of docklands light railway services improves as quickly as possible. London Transport is responsible for providing or securing the provision of bus services in docklands, as elsewhere in London. It has been set exacting service quality objectives some of which it has achieved ahead of the April 1992 target date.
Mr. Amos : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will meet the chairman of docklands light railway to discuss the provision of information to the public regarding major changes of routes and the replacement bus service ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman : London Transport makes every effort to publicise changes to its bus routes in docklands. I understand that, in order to publicise the next major changes in November and December, London Transport plans to place advertisements in local papers and to distribute 100,000 free newspapers in the area. This is in addition to the on-bus publicity and press releases which normally accompany London Transport bus route changes.
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which bodies and councils he consulted before announcing his decision to transfer responsibility for the docklands light railway to the London Docklands development corporation ; if he will publish the results of those consultations, including a list of those councils which supported and those which opposed the proposal ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman [holding answer 15 November 1991] : I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State's reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Mr. Bowis) on 12 November. The decision in principle to transfer the DLR to the LDDC will be subject to formal consultation under section 10(2) of the London Regional Transport Act 1984. We shall consult LRT and LDDC, those councils through whose area the DLR runs or will run, and the London Regional Passengers Committee.
Ms. Ruddock : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he plans to introduce primary legislation to transfer responsibility for docklands light railway to the London Docklands development corporation ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Freeman [holding answer 15 November 1991] : No. Powers are already available to LT under section 9 of the London Regional Transport Act 1984.
Local Safety Schemes
Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total amount of money requested by local authorities for local safety schemes in the transport policies and programmes submissions for 1992-93.
Mr. Chope : A total of £84.6 million.
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Carbon Dioxide Emissions
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff within his Department have specific responsibility for (a) setting objectives for meeting targets of pegging carbon dioxide emission by 2005 and (b) monitoring those objectives ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : The transport policy unit with a staff of 13 is responsible for co-ordinating the Department's work on environmental matters including carbon dioxide emissions.
Motorway Service Stations
Mr. Wareing : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how often his Department inspects facilities provided at service stations on motorways.
Mr. Chope : Inspections are made annually to ensure compliance with the terms of leases granted by the Secretary of State.
Copeland
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next plans to visit Copeland.
Mr. Chope : I last visited Copeland in August and shall be in West Cumbria shortly for the commencement of works on the Dalton bypass.
West Cumbria Transport Plan
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will receive a deputation from West Cumbria led by the hon. Member for Copeland to discuss the proposals in West Cumbria's "Transport Plan for Survival in the 90s".
Mr. Chope : When I have received a copy of the plan I shall consider the hon. Member's request.
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has had on West Cumbria's "Transport Plan for Survival in the 90s" ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : I have received one formal representation from the West Cumbria transport study group.
Dr. Cunningham : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what response he intends to make to the report of the West Cumbria transport study group "West Cumbria's Transport Plan for Survival in the 90s" ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope [holding answer 15 November 1991] : I understand that a summary of the report was published on 7 November. I have not yet seen a copy of the full report, but it will be studied carefully before any response is made.
Juggernauts
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has had from local authorities concerning measures to deal with overloaded juggernauts on roads.
Mr. Chope : Various representations are received during the course of regular liaison meetings with local authorities.
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Lorry Loads
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will bring forward legislation to empower county councils to confiscate lorries found to be above the load limits.
Mr. Chope : No. Local authority trading standards offices already have powers to prohibit overloaded vehicles from further movement and to prosecute drivers and operators. Licensing authorities have the power to revoke operators' licences where there is persistent or serious overloading.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will consult the Association of County Councils over measures to curb the hauliers of cargoes transported on overloaded lorries.
Mr. Chope : There is regular discussion with local authority associations, including the Association of County Councils, on overloading issues, and how to deal with them.
Mr. Fearn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessments his Department has undertaken on the number of road accidents which have been caused by overloaded lorries.
Tees and Hartlepool Port (Cargoes)
Ms. Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many metric tonnes of (a) chemical and (b) petrochemical cargoes were carried into and out of the United Kingdom via the Tees and Hartlepool port in 1989 -90 and 1990-91.
Mr. McLoughlin : Her Majesty's Customs and Excise figures for the import and export of chemicals and petroleum products through Tees and Hartlepool in 1989-90 and 1990-91 are as follows :
|1989-90 |Thousand
|tonnes
|1990-91
|(provisional)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Chemicals
Imports |1,454 |1,386
Exports |2,349 |2,008
Total |3,803 |3,394
Petroleum Products:
Imports |1,987 |1,647
Exports |1,330 |1,556
Total |3,317 |3,202
Provisional Car Licences
Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many provisional car licences were issued in 1990-91.
Mr. Chope : A total of 1,010,663 provisional car licences were issued in 1990-91.
Road Fund Taxes (Evasion)
Mr. Adley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to prevent the evasion of British road fund taxes by coach operators registering their vehicles in Eire but operating them within the United Kingdom ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Chope : Bilateral agreements with other EC states--and the treaty of Rome--provide exemption from vehicle excise duty for temporarily imported vehicles registered in other EC states. All passenger service vehicles used for journeys in the United Kingdom must comply with the relevant regulations, including those relating to cabotage.
Road Accidents
Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will provide additional information to that published on 11 November in his "Road Safety Report 1990-91" disaggregating further the information in charts A and B into numbers of casualties at different levels of severity for each road user type in urban--speed limits up to 40 mph--and rural-- speed limits over 40 mph--areas separately.
Mr. Chope : The information requested is given in the table. "Built- up roads" refers to roads with speed limits of 40 mph or less and "Non built-up roads" refers to speed limits over 40 mph.
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Casualties: by built-up and non built-up road, road user type<1> and severity: 1982 to 1990
Number of casualties
|1982 |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |1990
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Built-up roads
Pedestrians
Killed |1,473 |1,535 |1,509 |1,442 |1,477 |1,362 |1,413 |1,395 |1,357
KSI |17,254 |17,191 |17,885 |17,945 |17,595 |16,279 |16,525 |16,228 |16,086
All severities |58,096 |58,579 |60,357 |58,428 |58,079 |54,684 |56,071 |57,495 |57,608
Pedal cyclists
Killed |187 |186 |189 |166 |151 |168 |142 |177 |152
KSI |4,748 |5,189 |5,309 |4,562 |4,225 |4,189 |4,034 |4,204 |3,748
All severities |24,984 |27,389 |27,551 |24,070 |23,268 |23,419 |23,230 |25,596 |23,701
Motorcyclists
Killed |593 |517 |523 |425 |399 |401 |336 |322 |313
KSI |15,643 |14,073 |14,165 |12,923 |11,652 |9,850 |8,869 |8,553 |7,531
All severities |55,382 |50,253 |49,969 |44,394 |41,032 |35,965 |33,551 |32,986 |30,095
Car Users
Killed |690 |581 |631 |590 |561 |555 |485 |534 |528
KSI |14,607 |11,129 |12,097 |12,329 |12,005 |12,391 |12,068 |11,823 |11,646
All severities |86,771 |74,284 |82,147 |85,488 |90,642 |91,309 |97,018 |104,174|108,211
Non built-up roads<2>
Pedestrians
Killed |396 |378 |359 |347 |364 |341 |340 |311 |337
KSI |1,709 |1,586 |1,576 |1,524 |1,461 |1,381 |1,354 |1,245 |1,273
All severities |3,323 |3,082 |3,115 |2,958 |2,793 |2,769 |2,765 |2,581 |2,614
Pedal cyclists
Killed |107 |137 |156 |120 |120 |112 |85 |117 |104
KSI |1,219 |1,207 |1,286 |1,090 |1,026 |942 |843 |926 |850
All severities |3,152 |3,183 |3,387 |2,928 |2,861 |2,774 |2,615 |2,910 |2,717
Motorcyclists
Killed |497 |445 |444 |371 |363 |322 |334 |361 |346
KSI |7,044 |6,240 |5,844 |4,878 |4,814 |4,046 |3,784 |3,935 |3,588
All severities |14,156 |14,234 |13,851 |12,196 |11,244 |9,836 |9,283 |9,638 |8,942
Car Users
Killed |1,753 |1,438 |1,548 |1,471 |1,670 |1,651 |1,655 |1,892 |1,841
KSI |19,378 |15,915 |16,899 |16,778 |17,681 |16,695 |17,276 |17,861 |17,467
All severities |63,116 |56,122 |61,472 |63,963 |68,532 |68,156 |73,680 |80,490 |82,307
<1> Excludes drivers and passengers of LGV, HGV, PSV and other vehicles.
<2> Includes motorways.
School Buses
Mr. Speller : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many representations he has received about the regulation allowing three children below the age of 14 years to occupy a two-seater bench in a school bus ; and if he will revoke this regulation.
Mr. Chope : In the last 12 months we have received about 30 representations about the concession which allows three seated children under the age of 14 to count as two passengers.
There are no plans to change the regulations at present.
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