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Incapacity Assessment
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has had from the Terrence Higgins Trust in regard to the Consultation Panel of 80 (Incapacity Benefit) ; what reply he is sending ; what action he will be taking ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : The Terrence Higgins Trust has written to me asking why no member of the assessment panel has experience of medical incapacity for work in relation to people with AIDS or symptomatic HIV infection. I have explained that the new medical incapacity test will assess the effects of all medical conditions. It is not based on particular diagnoses. The members of the panel have been selected for their individual expertise, not as representatives of particular organisations.
Equipment Thefts
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a list of the equipment stolen from his Department in the last three years for which information is available ; and what was the approximate value of each item.
Mr. Hague : This Department does not separately maintain centralised records of individual items stolen. Losses due to theft, fraud, arson or sabotage are recorded in a single category. The number of individual losses within this category, and the total value for each of the last three years for which information is available, is as follows :
Financial year |Number of |Total value
|individual
|cases
|£
------------------------------------------------------------
1990-91 |364 |89,799
1991-92 |411 |72,315
1992-93 |94 |84,500
Correspondence
Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the hon. Member for Caerphilly may expect a reply to his letter of 23 August 1992 in respect of Mr. A. J. Silcox, of 3 Bryn Huelog, Penyrheol, Caerphilly.
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Mr. Hague : I have no trace of this outstanding correspondence. If the hon. Member will provide me with further details I will look into the matter.
Child Maintenance Deductions
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many absent parents in receipt of income support are currently having deductions made from their benefit in respect of child maintenance.
Mr. Burt : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for East Kilbride (Mr. Ingram) by the Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency on 9 February at columns 377-80.
Child Support Agency
Mr. Bayley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security by how many people the Child Support Agency has recently increased its staffing level ; and for what reasons.
Mr. Burt : The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the Chief Executive. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Ros Hepplewhite to Mr. Hugh Bayley, dated 16 February 1994 :
I am replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about staffing levels in the Child Support Agency.
Recruitment of staff to the Agency has continued during 1993/94 in order to meet a projected staffing level of 5,220 by the end of March 1994. At 31 December 1993, there were 4,982.5 whole time equivalent staff in post.
I hope you will find this reply helpful.
OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT
Indonesia
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 7 February, Official Report, column 68, regarding the water projects funded by the Overseas Development Administration in Indonesia, which companies have won the contracts for work on the water projects.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The company which is implementing the general research programme into canal system maintenance in a number of countries, including Indonesia, is Hydraulics Research Limited, Wallingford. No companies are involved with village-based water schemes as they are being undertaken by local communities.
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which water projects the Overseas Development Administration has funded in Indonesia over the last five years ; which companies have won those contracts ; what was the value of those contracts ; and which of those projects were funded under the aid and trade provision.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The following water projects in Indonesia have been supported with bilateral aid over the last five years :
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-- Project management of the Madura Groundwater project. Company : Groundwater Development Consultants (International) Ltd. Value : £2.99 million (all but some £500,000 of this expenditure occurred before 1989).-- Water Quality Improvement Planning Study for the Kali-Sunter River. Company : Binnie and Parners Ltd. Value : £0.60 million. -- Lake Toba Water Level study. Company : Institute of Hydrology. Value : £0.10 million.
-- Research into canal system maintenance (part of a wider project involving a number of countries). Company : Hydraulics Research Ltd. Wallingford (covering all the countries involved). Value : £0.46 million.
Eighteen projects were jointly funded with non-governmental organisations during this period at a total cost of £137,000. In addition, 11 small water projects were funded during this period at a total cost of £42,000. No companies were involved with these 29 projects as they were small, mainly village-based, schemes undertaken by local communities.
None of the projects mentioned was funded under the aid and trade provision.
Malaysia
Mr. Tom Clarke : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consideration he has given to the eligibility of the proposed construction of a second airport at Kuala Lumpur for support under (a) the aid and trade provision and (b) the United Kingdom aid programme.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The Government are still considering the request from the Malaysian Government for grant finance from the aid and trade provision budget to develop a new airport at Sepang.
Aid Targeting
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will consider targeting aid to countries which renounce the arms trade.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We target aid on countries which need it and can use it effectively in support of sound policies for economic and social development and the reduction of poverty. Most of our bilateral aid goes to countries with which we have close historical ties. It is for each country to assess and provide for its own legitimate defence needs.
The United Kingdom actively supports the increased emphasis placed by the International Monetary Fund and the World bank on analysing the implications for economic and social development of the composition of public expenditure. We consider the setting of an appropriate level of military expenditure to be an important part of good government. It is one of the factors we take into account when deciding our allocations of bilateral aid.
Russian Federation
Mr. Henderson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out details of the disbursements from the sum of £11,201,000 which was allocated to the Russian Federation during 1992-93.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : A list of all know-how fund projects to date, including disbursements under the
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1992-93 programme for Russia, was recently placed in the Libraries of the House. Details of know-how fund activities are placed in the Libraries on a regular basis.Madagascar
Dr. Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will allocate emergency relief for the people of Madagascar, following the cyclone resulting in deaths and homelessness.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : In addition to a donation of 500,000 ECU by the EC, we have provided the non-governmental organisation CARE with a grant of £31,267 in support of its emergency programme of agricultural rehabilitation in Brickaville. We are ready to consider any further requests.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Cloisters (Allocation of Areas)
Mr. Connarty : To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee what is the policy and intention of the Committee on the allocation of areas in the Cloisters for (a) hon. Members and (b) secretaries.
Mr. Ray Powell : The Accommodation and Works Committee has yet to reach firm decisions on the use of accommodation released by recent additions to the parliamentary estate. Proposals for the future of the Cloisters and other areas will be included in that consideration.
LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL
Equipment Thefts
Mr. Menzies Campbell : To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will publish a list of the equipment stolen from his Department in the last three years for which information is available ; and what was the approximate value of each item.
Mr. Newton : There is no record of any equipment having been stolen from the Privy Council Office in the last three years.
TRANSPORT
Public Bodies
Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who are the members currently appointed to Trinity house.
Mr. Norris : The current membership of the board of the Trinity House Lighthouse Service is as follows :
Captain P. M. Edge-- Chairman, and Deputy Master of Trinity House Captain D. J. Orr-- Chief Executive
Captain N. MacD Turner RD
Captain P. H. King
Mr. W. A. C. Thomson
Captain M. J. F. Rawlinson OBE, RN
Mr. M. J. Faulkner
Mr. K. W. Clark FCA
Mr. D. A. S. Vennings BSc (Eng), C Eng, MICE
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A further appointment is pending, following the retirement of Sir Michael Colman Bt.Mr. Kilfoyle : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who are the members currently appointed to the Northern Lighthouse Board.
Mr. Norris : The current membership of the Northern Lighthouse Board is as follows :
Mr. J. Hann CBE (Chairman)
Sheriff-Principal R. C. Hay CBE, WS
Mr. T. Macgill
Captain A. F. Dickson, OBE, RD, FRIN
Mr. A J. Struthers
Sheriff-Principal N. D. MacLeod QC
The Rt. Hon. Lord Rodger of Earlsferry QC, Lord Advocate Mr. W. F. Hay CBE
Sheriff-Principal C. G. B. Nicholson QC (Vice-Chairman) Sheriff-Principal J. J. Maquire QC
Sheriff-Principal D. J. Risk QC
Sheriff-Principal G. L. Cox QC
Captain D. N. Cowell (Isle of Man)
Mr. T. Dawson QC, Solicitor General
The Rt. Hon. Norman Irons, Lord Provost of Edinburgh
Mr. W. A. E. Fraser, Provost of Inverness
The Rt. Hon. Robert Innes, Lord Provost of Glasgow
Mr. J. Wyness MA, Lord Provost of Aberdeen
Mr. G. McMillan, Chairman of Argyll and Bute District Council
Air Misses
Mr. Luff : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many air misses there have been in each of the last five years involving aircraft taking off from or landing at each of (a) Heathrow, (b) Gatwick, (c) London City and (d) Birmingham airports.
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Mr. Norris : According to the records of the Civil Aviation Authority, reports of air miss type incidents submitted by pilots and air traffic controllers over the past five years, involving aircraft taking off from or landing at the airports in question, are given in the table. These figures include all reports, including those which were subsequently judged to involve no risk of collision :
Year
Airport |1989 |1990 |1991 |1992 |1993
------------------------------------------------------------
Heathrow |3 |5 |8 |7 |4
Gatwick |3 |3 |4 |5 |1
London City |0 |0 |0 |1 |0
Birmingham |1 |2 |1 |0 |2
Advertising
Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list all television advertising, newspaper advertising, radio advertising and other promotional campaigns with a budgeted cost in excess of £10,000 conducted by (a) his Department and (b) his agencies (i) in the current financial year and (ii) planned for 1994-95, showing for each the objectives and mechanisms for assessing the effectiveness of the advertising.
Mr. Norris : The following publicity campaigns costing more than £10,000 have been or are being carried out in the current financial year by the Department and its agencies.
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TV Advertising |Radio Advertising |Newspaper |Other Promotional
|Advertising |Campaigns
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Department of Transport
Road Safety Campaigns
Drink Drive |None |None |Coastal Safety
Kill Your Speed |Marine Safety
Rear Seat Belts
|Other Road Safety Topics
|Booklet to complement the BBC
|Drive' programme
Department Agencies-DVLA
Road Tax Evasion |Road Tax Evasion |Road Tax Evasion |None
Vehicle Registration Numbers |Vehicle Registration Numbers |Vehicle Registration Numbers |None
The objectives for road safety campaigns are to reduce road casualties by a third by the year 2000. Coastal and marine safety campaigns are designed to promote sea safety messages and awareness of coastguard services. The road tax and sale of vehicle registration numbers scheme campaigns are intended to encourage people to re-license their vehicles and to increase the sale of personalised numbers. The Department commissions independent research on all major campaigns to establish the effectiveness of its advertising. For 1994-95 the Department plans to run television advertising on Drink Drive and Kill Your Speed and promotional campaigns on other road safety topics.
The Department's agencies plan to run television, newspaper and radio advertising on road tax evasion and sale of vehicle registration numbers and promotional campaigns on coastal and marine safety.
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London Transport Projects
Mr. Simon Hughes : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the Government's principal proposals for new (a) rail, (b) underground, (c) road and (d) river projects in London ; and on which of them progress is expected in 1994.
Mr. Norris : On Network SouthEast, work continues on the Kent link route modernisation at a total cost of £800 million, involving infrastructure upgrading and rolling stock replacement. On the London, Tilbury and Southend line, an £83 million contract for the major physical works on the line was signed with GEC Alsthom Signalling Ltd. in January last year. An £85 million re-signalling scheme on the Great Eastern is steadily being extended on lines out of Liverpool Street. We expect good progress to be made on all of these schemes in 1994, including the completion of the Kent link and much of the London, Tilbury and Southend work.
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On the existing London Underground network, further progress is being made on a range of schemes in 1994 including the £750 million modernisation of the Central line and the train refurbishment programme. Construction of the Jubilee line extension is under way, and we expect the Crossrail Bill to continue its passage through Parliament, with a view to the project proceeding as a joint venture with a substantial private sector contribution. The DLR extension to Beckton is expected to open by the end of March, and the Lewisham extension is being taken forward as a private finance initiative. Progress with implementing the London trunk road schemes in "Trunk Roads, England : Into the 1990s" is continuing. The A406 Harrow road and A40 Long lane trunk road schemes will be completed this year. The Department has also let contracts for the advance and main works on the A13 Thames avenue to Wennington scheme, two of the three main contracts have also been let for the A406 Silver street to Hall lane scheme and the main works contract has been let for the A406 east of Falloden way to east of Finchley road scheme. Implementation of the 315-mile red route network will begin later this year. We are conducting a review of the trunk road programme, and we shall make an announcement when the results of the review are known.The River Thames working group, which I chair, is examining the benefits and potential of maximising transport on the Thames. I hope to publish a report of the group's findings in the summer. The Thames festival is now being planned for 1995 by the London Arts Board and the London Council for Sport and Recreation, with Government support towards the planning stage. This will be a major cultural and recreational celebration embracing many events on the River Thames and its banks.
A303 (Stonehenge)
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consideration he is giving to the proposal advanced by English Heritage, the National Trust and the Council for British Archaeology to tunnel the A303 trunk road under the Stonehenge world heritage site.
Mr. Norris : I am considering the proposal for a tunnel very carefully and the implications of its construction and future maintenance for the world heritage site. At more than 4 km, it would be the longest road tunnel in the United Kingdom by a substantial margin.
Mr. Maclennan : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what objections he has received to his proposals to upgrade the A303 road at Stonehenge in respect of (a) the yellow route and (b) the grey route ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norris : Our public consultation in 1993 has attracted many helpful comments which are now being analysed. The question of objections does not arise since no draft orders under the Highways and Acquisition of Land Acts have yet been published. The next step is the announcement of the preferred option on which further development work can take place.
Channel Tunnel Rail Link
Mr. Rowe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many metres of tunnel there are on the channel tunnel rail link in Kent ; what percentage of the channel tunnel rail
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link route length in Kent this represents ; and if he will list, with their lengths, the channel tunnel rail link tunnels in Kent.Mr. Freeman : The route of the channel tunnel rail link to be safeguarded very shortly has the following tunnels in Kent :
|Metres
----------------------------------------------------
Thames tunnel (portion in Kent) |1,505
North Downs tunnel |3,175
Park Wood West tunnel (Boxley) |330
Hollingbourne tunnel (Eyhorne Street) |240
Sandway tunnel (under Headcorn road) |170
Tunnel at Church Road, Mersham |160
Sandling Park tunnel |90
Decisions will follow on the route at Pepper Hill and Ashford which may involve further tunnels. The route for consultation issued last year had the following tunnels at these two locations :
|Metres
-------------------------------------------------------
Pepper Hill tunnel |910
Tunnel at Ashford Junction (Leacon Lane) |205
Tunnel at Ashford Junction (A20) |450
Sandyhurst Lane tunnel |135
Willesborough Lees tunnel |1,150
The total length of tunnels on the route in Kent, including the 1993 route for consultation at Pepper Hill and Ashford, is approximately 8,520 metres. This is 11.3 per cent. of the total length of the route in Kent.
Mr. Rowe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the minimum length of a tunnel on the channel tunnel rail link is for it to be defined as a tunnel, rather than a bridge.
Mr. Freeman : The terminology chosen by Union Railways defines a tunnel as any structure over the railway longer than 50 metres. Shorter structures are defined as bridges.
Mr. Rowe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the organisations which made representations to his Department in support of the Boxley long tunnel on the channel tunnel rail link.
Mr. Freeman : The organisations which in response to an invitation for formal comments made representations to the Department in favour of a long tunnel in mid-Kent were as follows :
Kent County Council
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
Maidstone Borough Council
Kent Association of Parish Councils
Aylesford Parish Council
Boxley Parish Council
Detling Parish Council
Thrunham Parish Council
Bearsted Parish Council
Bluebells Action Group
Kits Coty Action Group
North Aylesford Action Group
Boxley and Penenden Heath Rail Concern
Detling Rail Action Group
Thurnhan Action Group
Sandling Residents' Association
Cuxton and North Halling Rail Action Group
Association of Men of Kent and Kentish Men
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