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Railways
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement setting out his policy on exemptions to be granted from the various requirements of part I of the Railways Bill.
Mr. Freeman : I have today published a statement setting out our policy, and placed a copy in the Library. Copies are available from the Department of Transport, Room S18/22, 2 Marsham street, London SW1P 3EB.
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when open access for operators of new services will come into effect, following enactment of the Railways Bill.
Mr. Freeman : It is intended that open access--the opportunity for new operators to run services on the rail network--will start in April 1994, the proposed vesting date for Railtrack. We have already announced that there will be restrictions placed on open access, to the extent
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necessary to allow the successful transfer of British Rail's passenger services to the private sector. Guidance on the restrictions required for each franchise will be given when invitations to tender are issued. If open access operators apply for train paths in advance of invitations to tender for the franchise concerned, they will be informed then of the terms of competition which will apply.Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to decide the full programme for franchising British Rail's passenger services.
Mr. MacGregor : I have today published plans for the restructuring of BR's passenger network into 25 businesses which will be the basis for franchises to be offered to the private sector. Includistance inter-urban services. Copies of the full list of service groupings and illustrative maps of them have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Mr. Welsh : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what further consideration he has given to the Transport Select Committee's first and second reports on the "Future of the Railways" ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. MacGregor : I responded to the Committee's interim report by letter on 20 January. I responded to the Committee's final report on the future of the railways on Friday 21 May. I very much welcome the Select Committee's conclusion
"that the Government is right to examine ways of involving the private sector in the railways as a means of increasing the total amount of investment".
Channel Tunnel Rail Link
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to begin discussions with private sector interests about the channel tunnel rail link.
Mr. Freeman : The Department is today sending a consultation document to a number of private sector interests. Views are invited on the best way of taking the project forward so as to offer the private sector a proper return on its investment and to secure value for money for the taxpayer. The Department will hold follow-up discussions where appropriate. I am placing a copy of the consultation document in the Library.
Road Bridges
Mr. Morgan : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received concerning the merits of design and build of road bridges relative to conventionally commissioned structures.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : No representations for publicly financed design and build road bridges schemes have been received. There is, however, an ongoing dialogue with the industry.
M1-M62 Link
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if an environmental impact assessment of proposals for an M1-M62 link road will be carried out under EC directive 85/337/EEC.
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Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : If proposals for a M1-M62 link road go ahead, an environmental impact assessment will be carried out under EC directive 85/337/EEC. An environmental statement under this directive would normally be issued at the time of publication of draft orders under the Highways Act.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many M1-M62 questionnaires he has received from local residents and those involved in the link road proposals.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Almost 6,000 completed questionnaires have been received in response to public consultation on the M1-M62 link road proposals.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the grey route proposals for the M1-M62 link road are publicly available ; and what assessments have been made of this route.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Details of the grey route were released at the public consultation. It was rejected on the basis of its effect on property in Lower Hopton, higher cost and low value for money.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make publicly available all data associated with traffic studies for the proposed M1-M62 link road.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : All reasonable requests for traffic data in connection with the M1-M62 link road proposals will continue to be met.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when traffic surveys carried out to determine the impact of the proposed M1-M62 link road were undertaken.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Traffic surveys for the proposed M1-M62 link road were undertaken between May 1990 and June 1991.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what weighting was placed upon traffic calculations for the M1-M62 link road.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The calculations for the traffic forecasts for the proposed M1-M62 link road are derived from a complex computer model and depend upon a number of predictions. I will write to the hon. Member in relation to these and their weighting.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures are under consideration to encourage and improve road safety for the (a) purple and (b) yellow route M1-M62 link proposals.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : Both the yellow and purple routes would improve road safety in the area as a whole. If one of these is selected as the preferred route and taken forward for further development, measures to encourage and improve road safety would be pursued.
Traffic Forecasts
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the accuracy of the national road traffic forecasts index.
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Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The national road traffic forecasts give forecasts of traffic by type of vehicle on all roads in Great Britain. The current forecasts were issued in 1989, based on 1988, and are provided up to 2025. The table compares the forecasts in terms of all vehicle kilometres with the outturn. The forecasts are given in a range between low and high.
They are long-term forecasts, and are not expected to be completely accurate year on year, or over short periods.
Indices of
traffic-1988=100
Year Forecast oOutturn T
Traffic<1>
|Low |High
-------------------------
1988 100 100
1989 |104 |105 |108
1990 |106 |109 |110
1991 |108 |113 |110
1992 |110 |117 |108
<1> All motor vehicles
except two-wheelers.
The 1992 statistics of
outturn are provisional.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if COBA 9 cost benefit analysis systems are to be replaced.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The Department uses the principles of cost benefit analysis to assess the economic viability of schemes in the national road programme. The COBA program incorporates the principles of cost benefit analysis and is used to assess the majority of schemes. The techniques and parameters within the program are continually under review and occasionally changes have to be made as the results of new research become available. COBA 9, the version currently in use, is a flexible program and generally parameter changes can be made by the user following instructions issued by the Department. However, periodically it is necessary to revise the program itself and a new version, COBA 10, is currently being developed for release later this year.
Robin Hood Line
Mr. Tipping : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Battersea (Mr. Bowis), of 17 May, Official Report, column 2, in what financial year he intends to make funding available for the Robin Hood line ; under what powers such assistance will be given ; and what discussions he has had about extending the line to Retford.
Mr. Freeman : Assistance will be given either in the form of credit approvals under part IV of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 or, subject to appraisal, in the form of grant under section 56 of the Transport Act 1968. Discussions are in progress with Nottinghamshire county council about the nature and timing of this funding, and about the case for further extending passenger services on the Robin Hood line.
Public Transport
Mr. Nigel Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he is taking to encourage more people to use public transport ; and if he will make a statement.
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Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has to encourage the use of (a) bus and (b) rail public transport.
Mr. Freeman : The best way of encouraging greater use of public transport is to promote increased choice for passengers and increased competition for the provision of public transport services. The Government's policies of deregulation and privatisation will help to achieve these objectives. We are also continuing to make resources available for high levels of investment by those public transport operators who remain in the public sector ; the autumn statement provided for expenditure of some £2 billion a year on public transport over the next three years. We have also made increased resources available this year to enable local authorities to help local bus services through bus priority measures. I look forward to further proposals from local authorities in their transport policy and plans bids later this year. My Department also has a programme of research on city congestion charging, one of whose possible benefits would be to influence people's travel choices and improve the competitive position of public transport.
Road Pricing Schemes
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on his recent visit to Oslo to study road pricing schemes.
Mr. MacGregor : I visited Oslo and Gothenburg on 10 and 11 May to see demonstrations and working examples of road charging systems, and to talk to those involved. I was impressed that technology is now available to make electronic systems work successfully. No decisions have been taken about the introduction of charging for roads in the United Kingdom.
I will shortly be issuing a Green Paper on charging for inter-urban roads that will seek views on the issues involved. The paper and the research will reflect the experience of other countries.
Carbon Dioxide Emissions
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the implications of the decisions taken at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development for United Kingdom transport policy.
Mr. Miller : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has for supporting the commitment to achieve a reduction in motor vehicle carbon dioxide emission levels to 1990 levels by the year 2000.
Mr. MacGregor : Transport must play its part in the national sustainable development plan and in the programme to limit carbon dioxide emissions. The Government are particularly keen to encourage more economical use of fuel by road transport. We have already taken steps to do this. In the Budget speech, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a 10 per cent. increase in road fuel duties. He also announced that in future Budgets he will increase duty on all road fuels by at least 3 per cent. in real terms.
Other measures to improve fuel efficiency include an emissions check into the MOT test which encourages people to keep their engines in tune and the introduction
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of speed limiters for new heavy lorries since August 1992 and for many of the heaviest existing lorries from August 1993.We are encouraging the use of public transport by supporting the highest level of investment in rail for 30 years and we are working with the bus industry and local authorities on ways to make bus travel more attractive, for example, through traffic management measures to speed up journey times.
London Ring Rail
Mr. Austin-Walker : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 16 July, Official Report , column 862 , on the London ring rail, if he will place in the Library details of his response to the proposals of S. B. Tietz and Partners.
Mr. Norris [holding answer 21 May 1993] : We were very interested to read the proposals which were sent to the Department last year. However it is for British Rail--and, in the longer term, for Railtrack--to consider whether such a project would be worth while and what priority it might deserve in their investment plans. My hon. Friend the Minister for Public Transport sent a reply to Mr. Tietz explaining this.
Road Construction
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the economic impact of road construction for urban regeneration.
Mr. Kenneth Carlisle : The Secretary of State includes economic revival in inner cities as one of his objectives for local authority transport investment. New roads will be able to improve access to and within certain urban areas, and ease traffic congestion making them more attractive places for people to live and work. Transport supplementary grant support for road projects in urban areas is particuarly targeted at the 57 Action for Cities locations. However, the Government recognise that there is a limit to the extent to which the construction of new roads can assist inner city areas, and looks to local authorities, where appropriate for their area, to bring forward alternative proposals for dealing with traffic congestion. Central Government support may for example be given towards measures to improve public transport infrastructure, calm traffic, and offer priority to buses.
London Underground
Sir Michael Neubert : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he next expects to meet the chairman of London Underground to discuss the development of the existing underground network.
Mr. Norris : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I meet the chairman of London Underground regularly to discuss a variety of issues, including development of the existing underground network.
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NATIONAL FINANCE
Select Committee Recommendations
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Select Committee recommendations have been made about his Departments since April 11989 ; and how many have been accepted.
Mr. Dorrell : Copies of the Select Committee reports made since April 1989 which contain recommendations for HM Treasury, and copies of the responses made by the Government, are available from the House of Commons Library. The "Sessional Information Digest" lists Select Committee reports and provides reference numbers to Department responses where appropriate up to the start of the current Session. Similar information for the current Session can be found in the House of Commons "Weekly Information Bulletin".
Economy, London
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest assessment on the current state of, and prospects for, the London economy ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Portillo : My right hon. Friend the Chancellor made a statement to the House on the current state of, and prospects for, the national economy, in his Budget statement. It is not our practice to make local forecasts.
Drug Detection
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money HM Customs and Excise has been allocated in each of the last five years for the specific purpose of installing computer intelligence systems to detect drug trafficking.
Sir John Cope : The data are not available in the form requested. Over the past five years, money has been allocated to various computer projects in customs. A number of these include intelligence systems with a specific anti-smuggling function and so make a significant contribution to the detection of drug trafficking.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met representatives of (a) the Civil and Public Services Association and (b) the National Union of Civil and Public Servants to discuss the role of customs officers in drug detection.
Sir John Cope : The role of customs officers in drug detection was last discussed by the Minister responsible for HM Customs and Excise and a joint representation of customs trade unions, which included representativesfrom the Civil and Public Services Association and the National Union of Civil and Public Servants, at a meeting on 4 March 1992. There has since been discussion by correspondence.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of drugs seized within the United Kingdom and its waters in each year from 1988 came from or via other European Community countries.
Sir John Cope : The percentage by weight of drugs seized is shown in the table. The decline in the overall
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percentage for 1992 does not indicate a drop in quantities coming from or via the EC, but reflects a rise in quantities, particularly cannabis resin and cocaine, arriving direct from other countries.
Percentage
|1988 |1989 |1990 |1991 |<2>1992
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Amphetamine<1> |78 |81 |95 |95 |92
Cannabis herbal |4 |50 |67 |7 |44
Cannabis resin |46 |40 |60 |62 |27
Cocaine |36 |65 |3 |6 |8
Diamorphine (heroin) |13 |24 |58 |30 |44
Total via EC |22 |41 |61 |65 |32
<1> Amphetamine includes MDMA (Esctasy).
<2> 1992 figures are provisional.
Animal Smuggling
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were apprehended for smuggling animals into the United Kingdom during 1992.
Sir John Cope : Precise figures are not available on the number of people apprehended for smuggling animals into the United Kingdom. There were, however, 54 seizures in 1992 of animals being smuggled into the United Kingdom. This figure does not include interceptions by customs of animals subject to rabies controls where subsequent action, as a matter of practice, has been passed to the local authorities.
Higher Rate Taxpayers
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effect the reductions in the top rate of tax since 1979 have had on restraining the rate of increase in (i) gross earnings and (ii) in the value of perks, share options and pensions for directors.
Mr. Dorrell : Growth rates of gross earnings, perks, share options and pensions for directors are determined by many factors, of which reductions in the top rate of income tax is only one. It would be extremely difficult to identify and measure the contribution of income tax rates.
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in the United Kingdom pay income tax at the higher rate.
Mr. Dorrell : About 1.6 million.
International Military Services Ltd.
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out the reason for his Department having had the majority shareholding in International Military Services Ltd.
Mr. Portillo : The Treasury has not had any shareholding in International Military Services Ltd.
Car Tax
Mr. Nigel Evans : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the revenue forgone by the Exchequer because of the abolition of the car tax.
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Sir John Cope : Abolition of car tax has an estimated revenue cost of £100 million in 1992-93 and £750 million in 1993-94. The loss from 1993-94 onwards has been offset by an increase in road fuel duties.
Oil Taxation
Mr. Jon Owen Jones : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many proposals for oil wells in the North sea have been cancelled as a result of his Budget proposals.
Mr. Dorrell : We do not have access to information which would allow us to answer this question accurately.
Mortgage Interest Tax Relief
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what monitoring has been undertaken by his Department of the impact of changes made to the system of mortgage tax relief upon low-income mortgage-holding households ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : The restrictions on mortgage interest relief that we introduced in 1988 apply in the same way to borrowers at all income levels. Low-income borrowers were not affected by the abolition of relief at the higher rate from 1991.
Long-term Unemployment
Mr. Barry Jones : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his assessment of the results of the Budget measures designed to assist the long-term unemployed.
Mr. Portillo : The Budget measures designed to provide over 100,000 more opportunities for unemployed people are being implemented as quickly as possible by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Employment. They will be closely monitored to test their effectiveness.
Tax Returns
Mr. Nigel Jones : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much the Inland Revenue paid in postal surcharges for completed tax returns which arrived in envelopes that had no, or insufficient, postage in each year since 1990-91 ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) what estimates he has for the cost of supplying a reply paid envelope with each tax return ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Dorrell : The cost of supplying a reply paid envelope with each tax return would be about £2 million a year. Information is not held centrally on the cost of postal surcharges, but it is clear that this cost is relatively small.
British Telecom
Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his most recent estimate of the likely overall cost of the forthcoming British Telecom share offer including consultancy, financial and legal advice, PR, marketing and advertising, underwriting, receiving banks' costs, selling commission and fees and overseas costs of share shops.
Mr. Dorrell : The costs of the BT3 share offer will be reported to Parliament after the sale has been completed. Sales proceeds will be appropriated in aid of the expenses of the sale.
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Mr. Nigel Griffiths : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the sum provided for the preliminary expenses of the 1993-94 British Telecom share offer in class XVII, vote 17 of the March 1993 Supply estimates has yet been spent ; and when he intends to bring further supplementary estimates before the House.
Mr. Dorrell : Only part of the provision for preliminary expenses of the 1993-94 BT share offer in class XVII, vote 17 of the March 1993 Supply estimates has so far been spent. I will bring further estimates before the House for this expenditure as and when necessary. Proceeds of the sale will be appropriated in aid of the expenses of the sale.
Public Sector Borrowing Requirement
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much foreign investors have contributed to the public sector borrowing requirement in 1991 and 1992 ; what is the forecast for 1993 and 1994 ; what is the annual cost of servicing this increase in overseas debt from 1991 to date ; what is his forecast for the rest of 1993 and 1994 ; and how the increase in the payments deficit will be financed.
Mr. Nelson : Annual net official sales of British Government stocks to the overseas sector for 1991 and 1992 appear in table 3.5 of the March 1993 edition of "Financial Statistics". Official forecasts of the level of such sales to the overseas sector are not available. Statistical estimates of the interest paid to the overseas sector on holdings of British Government stocks are available on the Central Statistical Office databank, series XAMF, which is available in the Library. Official forecasts of the annual level of interest payable to the overseas sector on British Government stocks are not available.
The current account deficit forecast for 1993 is small as a percentage of gross domestic product and is expected to be readily financeable, and the measures put in place in the Budget should help to strengthen the United Kingdom's trade position over the years ahead.
Exchange Rates
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing (a) the fall in the nominal and real rates of exchange between pound sterling and the individual exchange rate mechanism currencies, the dollar and the yen between August 1973 and February 1987 and (b) the corresponding change in the terms of trade for finished manufactures in trade between the United Kingdom, EEC and non-EEC countries, respectively ; and what assessment has been made of the effect on output and unemployment between 1986 and 1988.
Mr. Nelson : Monthly and yearly average daily exchange rates between sterling and the US dollar, the yen and those countries that were members of the ERM during the period in question can be obtained from the CSO database and can also be found in chapter 13 of the CSO's publication "Financial Satistics". Reliable figures for bilateral real exchange rates over that period are not available but real effective exchange rate indexes covering the countries in question can be found in "International Financial Statistics" published by the International Monetary Fund. Prior to 1988, indices for terms of trade are available only on a whole world basis, but these can
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also be accessed from the CSO database by the Library of the House. There are a large number of influences on output and unemployment at any one time and it is impossible properly to assess the effects of exchange rate changes in isolation.Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what criteria he uses when deciding whether sterling is fully competitive ; and if he will make a statement.
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