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Traffic Levels

Mr. Bennett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment for which local authorities the figures to be used for calculating the standard spending assessments assume a reduced level of traffic ; and what evidence exists that the traffic levels have actually reduced there since the previous figures were calculated.

Mr. Baldry [holding answer 14 January 1994] : The authorities with a reduction in annual average traffic flows on principal roads as calculated for the purposes of 1993-94 and 1994-95 provisional standard spending assessments respectively are listed in the table. The figures used in the calculation of SSAs are estimates of the annual average flow of all motor vehicles on principal

roads--excluding principal motorways--for which the authority is the highway authority. They are based on data from the Department of Transport's traffic census.


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Authorities with a reduction in traffic flow data between1991 and 1992 Manchester

Oldham

Rochdale

Salford

Stockport

Tameside

Trafford

Knowsley

Liverpool

St. Helens

Sefton

Wirral

Barnsley

Doncaster

Rotherham

Sheffield

Newcastle Upon Tyne

North Tyneside

South Tyneside

Sunderland

Birmingham

Coventry

Dudley

Walsall

Wolverhampton

Bradford

Calderdale

Kirklees

Leeds

City of London

Camden

Greenwich

Hackney

Hammersmith and Fulham

Islington

Kensington and Chelsea

Lambeth

Lewisham

Southwark

Barking and Dagenham

Barnet

Bexley

Brent

Bromley

Croydon

Enfield

Haringey

Harrow

Havering

Hillingdon

Hounslow

Merton

Redbridge

Richmond upon Thames

Sutton

Waltham Forest

Isles of Scilly

Avon

Berkshire

Buckinghamshire

Cumbria

Derbyshire

Devon

Dorset

East Sussex

Essex

Gloucestershire

Hampshire

Hertfordshire

Humberside

Kent

Northumberland

Somerset

Surrey

West Sussex

Wiltshire


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Statutory Sick Pay

Mr. Ingram : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the impact of the changes to statutory sick pay provision upon his departmental budget for the financial year 1994-95.

Mr. Gummer [holding answer 17 January 1994] : The abolition of the 80 per cent. statutory sick pay reimbursement rate will be offset in the same way as for all employers, by a reduction in employers' national insurance contributions. Any additional costs will be absorbed within the Department's existing running costs baseline.

Noreast Building Management

Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out (a) the proceeds from the sale of Noreast Building Management, (b) the amount of money set aside to cover possible redundancy costs and (c) on the latest available figures, the total number of redundancies and the cost involved.

Sir George Young [holding answer 18 January 1994] : The vendor will receive proceeds of £8 million from the sale of the Noreast Building Management business. The agreed limit to the Department's liability for severance payments to Noreast Building Management staff is£29.5 million, covering staff made redundant in the first five years post sale. The Department shares liability pound for pound with the purchaser for severance costs in excess of £25 million--until the cap of £29.5 million is reached. The total number of staff made redundant since sale is 222, at an estimated cost of £9.1 million ; of these only one was a transferred member of staff made redundant by the purchaser.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Common Agricultural Policy

Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is her latest estimate of the effect of common agricultural policy reform upon the cost of the CAP on the average European Union citizen in (a) tax transfers and (b) consumer transfers as indicated by the right hon. Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer) on 12 June 1992, Official Report , column 555.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard : The estimates provided by my predecessor at the time of the CAP reform agreement still stand. To provide revised estimates, revised assumptions would need to be made about the situation if the reform had not taken place. There is no basis for making any such assumptions.

Birds (Imports)

Mr. Rendel : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when her Department will publish the mortality statistics for imports of birds for 1993 ; and what plans have been made for the publication of these statistics in future years.

Mr. Soames : We aim to publish the 1993 importation of birds mortality statistics by the middle of this year. Arrangements for publication of future studies will be kept under review.


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Tied Cottages

Dr. Strang : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many (a) male and (b) female agricultural workers live in tied cottages in England and Wales.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard : No official figures are available for the number of agricultural workers living in tied cottages. However, the results of the sample survey of earnings and hours of agricultural workers indicate that 38per cent. of male regular hired workers and salaried managers and 7 per cent. of female regular hired workers and salaried managers in England and Wales in 1992 received a house or cottage as payment of wages in lieu of payment in cash.

Horses (Exports)

Mr. Morley : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what measures there are to ensure that horses exported live to the Republic of Ireland are not subsequently exported to other EC member states for slaughter ;

(2) how many cases are known to her of horses being exported to (a) the Republic of Ireland, (b) other EC states and (c) elsewhere for slaughter, in each of the last three years ; how many horses were involved ; and how many of these horses had false documents ;

(3) what tonnage of horse meat was exported from Britain to (a) the Republic of Ireland, (b) other EC states and (c) elsewhere in each of the last three years ;

(4) how many horses were exported live from Britain to (a) the Republic of Ireland, (b) other EC states and (c) elsewhere in each of the last three years.

Mr. Soames : Welfare regulations made under the Animal Health Act 1981 require all horses exported to the continent of Europe, except race horses certified by the Jockey club, to be licensed. The Ministry does not license horses exported for immediate slaughter. Any trade in animals from the Republic of Ireland is a matter for the Irish authorities. I am not aware of any horses travelling with false welfare documents.

No horse meat was exported to the Republic of Ireland in 1991-92. Exports of horse meat to other member states were 1,069 metric tonnes in 1991 and 1,010 metric tonnes in 1992. In 1992, seven metric tonnes were sent to other destinations.

The number of horses exported to the Republic of Ireland were 3,042 in 1991 and 2,538 in 1992. Exports of horses to other member states were 2,786 in 1991 and 2,844 in 1992. Exports to other destinations were 2,717 in 1991 and 3,765 in 1992. In 1992, three horses were exported to the Republic of Ireland for slaughter.

Trade data for 1993 are not yet available.

Source : H M Customs and Excise.


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