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Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the name, location, acreage and date of sale of each site or other property sold by Railtrack since its creation; and what is the total amount of money received from those sales.
Mr. Watts: I am advised by Railtrack that to date Railtrack has received £8 million in sales receipts from 134 individual transactions. This figure includes compensation from compulsory purchase orders, notably the Jubilee line extension scheme. Details of the individual transactions are commercially confidential.
Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what date Railtrack's east coast zone and its north-east zone will merge; and where the headquarters of the new merged zone will be situated.
Mr. Watts: Railtrack's north-east and east coast main-line zones are scheduled to merge on 26 June 1995. The headquarters of the combined zone will be situated in York.
Mr. Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy that the safety directorate of Railtrack should not be privatised. [14429]
Mr. Watts: No. The legislative framework for railway safety developed by the Health and Safety Commission ahead of privatisation will remain robust following the privatisation of Railtrack as a single entity.
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Kingskerwell Bypass
Mr. Allason: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what date has been set to start work on the Kingskerswell bypass.
Mr. Watts: It is too early to say when this scheme may enter construction. Future progress will depend on the satisfactory completion of the statutory planning procedures and the availability of funds.
Red Routes (Wandsworth)
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the present plans for implementing the red route proposals in the London borough of Wandsworth; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norris: The Traffic Director for London is considering a revised timetable under which Wandsworth's red routes would begin to come into operation later this year.
Kent Coast Lines
Mr. Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many carriages used currently by BR Network SouthEast's South Eastern train operating unit are due to be withdrawn from service on its Kent coast lines over the next 18 months; and if he will indicate the class numbers of these carriages and the dates they are expected to be withdrawn from service.
Mr. Watts: South Eastern has confirmed to me that over the next 18 months it is planning to withdraw progressively 116 class 411 coaches from service on Kent coast lines. The precise dates of the withdrawals have yet to be determined.
Railways (Road Bridges)
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what statutory duties with regard to the maintenance and strengthening of road bridges over railway lines have been transferred from British Rail to Railtrack; and what will be their responsibility with regard to this strengthening necessary to take 40 tonne road vehicles. [14579]
Mr. Watts: Any statutory duties relating to the maintenance and strengthening of former British Rail road bridges now owned by Railtrack have been transferred to Railtrack so far as permitted under the provisions of the Railways Act 1993. Railtrack maintains its bridges to the standards set by the Railway Bridges (Load-Bearing Standards) (England and Wales) Order 1972; any strengthening beyond this level will be the responsibility of the relevant highway authority.
Royal Train
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the individuals other than Her Majesty the Queen, who used the royal train in 1993 94. [14728]
Mr. Watts: I understand from British Rail that, between 1 April 1993 and 31 March 1994, the royal train was used by the following members of the royal family, other than Her Majesty the Queen: The Duke of Edinburgh
The Prince of Wales
The Princess Royal
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The Prince EdwardThe Duke of Kent
The Duchess of Kent
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many and what occasions was the royal train used in 1993 94. [14729]
Mr. Watts: Between 1 April 1993 and 31 March 1994, the royal train was used on 47 separate occasions, involving use of the royal train coaches on 95 days, to enable members of the royal family to carry out official engagements.
Compensation
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which court judgments delivered in the last two years have resulted in the Department needing to review its rules of compensation to take account of a reduction in property values resulting from its schemes. [14726]
Mr. Watts: I am aware of no judgments which have resulted in a need for change in the compensation payable under the provisions of the statutory compensation code. The Court of Appeal judgment in the case of the Secretary of State for Transport and Lt. Col. David Owen requires the Department to take into account loss in value of property when assessing whether its enjoyment is seriously affected and therefore whether it falls to be considered for discretionary purchase.
Eurostar
Mr. Rowe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the likely traffic demand on the proposed channel tunnel rail link following the inauguration of the Eurostar service. [14978]
Mr. Watts: I have not made any such assessment; it is for the operators and the channel tunnel rail link bidders to do so.
WALES
Welsh Development Agency
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Welsh Development Agency in relation to his Department's agreement to the agency's three-year business plan with reference (a) to its projections of projected capital expenditure and (b) its conditionality on receipt of increased levels of grant from the European regional development fund.
Mr. Redwood [holding answer 17 March 1995]: I met the chairman and board of the agency on 1 November 1994 to discuss its draft corporate plan. The agency quite properly plans its activities with reference to a number of factors, including the sale of capital assets and anticipated funding. In the event that the agency is more or less successful with its project bids for ERDF, the agency would need to adjust its levels of gross expenditure accordingly. Those ERDF projects are additional to the programme financed by grant-in-aid and asset receipts.
Mr Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Welsh Development Agency concerning the future
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headquarters location of the agency; and if he will make a statement. [15076]Company Liquidations
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to collect information pertaining to the number of Welsh businesses going into liquidation; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood: No. Information is collected by the Insolvency Service, an executive agency within the Department of Trade and Industry, on liquidations in England and Wales. I do not consider that attempting a separate count for Wales could be justified in terms of the cost to public funds.
National Continence Day
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what financial support he is giving to National Continence Day.
Mr. Richards: The Welsh Office has funded the cost of producing bilingual leaflets and Welsh language stickers, amounting to £3,273, which will support local NHS initiatives.
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what literature accompanying National Continence Day is to be published in the Welsh language; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Richards: Welsh language stickers and bilingual bookmark style leaflets have been distributed widely.
Mr Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has had regarding the forthcoming National Continence Day; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Richards: The Welsh Office has not received any
representations regarding the forthcoming National Continence Day, but a set of publicity material has been produced and widely distributed.
Housing
Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 13 March, Official Report , column 446 , if he will publish his estimate of the extent of unmet housing need in terms of housing condition, population growth and housing location. [14575]
Mr. Redwood: Local housing authorities are responsible for assessing housing need. The 1991 census showed that there were more household spaces than households in Wales. I expect to publish the 1992-based household projections for the counties of Wales on 5 April 1995. These will inform local estimates of housing need. Local housing authorities also have available the results of the 1993 Welsh house condition survey, which I published last September.
Building Signs
Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 13 March, Official Report, column 445, on the recognition of Welsh Office funding, if he will define significant funding; to which current schemes the provisions would apply; and if the
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provision covers European Community programmes where local authorities spend money in unison with Community money. [14616]Mr. Redwood: These matters will be addressed in the proposals being drawn up by my officials.
Civil Service
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what was the total number of civil servants employed by (a) his Department, (b) the agencies under his Department's responsibility and (c) public and other bodies under his Department's responsibility, for each year since 1992, divided into (1) full-time equivalents,(2) overtime, (3) casuals and (4) other; and whether he will also provide for each year his estimates of (A) civil service job reductions due to privatisations, (B) civil service job reductions due to contracting out, (C) civil service job reductions resulting from other transfer of responsibilities, (D) the total of all other staff undertaking work for the Department or its agencies without being categorised as civil servants, including external consultants, researchers, agency secretarial staff and staff substitution and (E) total manpower expenditures, in 1994 prices. [15091]
Mr. Redwood: "Public Bodies", published annually since 1982, contains staffing information for those bodies not covered by "Civil Service Statistics".
Details of running costs and the Civil Service pay bill for my Department can be found in table 10.01 of my Department's annual report (Command 2815). The table also gives details of overtime from 1991 92 onwards.
Copies of all of these publications are available in the Library of the House.
The remaining information sought could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Cardiff Bay Barrage
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the expected date for the publication of the firm proposals for the acquisition of land in south Gwent for bird habitat migration measures in relation to the Cardiff bay barrage; what consultation he has had with the two local authorities concerned; if the acquisition of the land required will be by voluntary or compulsory purchase; and if he will make a statement. [15080]
Mr. Redwood: I hope to make an announcement about the most appropriate site within the next two or three months.
The consultation and land acquisition procedures are matters the development corporation are pursuing with the Land Authority for Wales.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales pursuant to his answer of 14 March, Official Report , column 531, if he will give the dates of the answers in each category and state the underlying principle behind the increase in the numbers since 1 January of answers requesting a chairman or chief executive of a non-departmental public body to write in answer to a parliamentary question. [15078]
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Mr. Redwood: The dates are as follows:
PQ number |Date answered --------------------------------------------------- (a) 168N |30 January 1995 114N |7 February 1995 41N |10 February 1995 38N |10 February 1995 146N |15 February 1995 153N |15 February 1995 104N |23 February 1995 (b) 77N |15 December 1994
There is no underlying principle behind the increase in numbers of answers stating that a chairman or chief executive of a non-departmental body will write to the hon. Member.
I or my Ministers answer on policy matters; the chairman or chief executive answer on day-to-day running and management of their organisation.
Southern Damselfly
Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he is taking to prevent further loss of breeding populations of coinagroin mercuriale--the southern damselfly. [14877]
Mr. Redwood: The southern damselfly has been fully taken into account in the selection of conservation sites in Wales including both sites of special scientific interest and proposed special areas of conservation under the EC habitats directive.
Killarney Fern
Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measure he is taking to maintain six sites in Wales that contain trichomanes speciosum, Killarney fern, and to restore the population of Killarney fern to the site in Meirionnydd where it has been depleted by collecting. [14878]
Mr. Redwood: The Killarney fern is fully taken into account in the conservation strategies of the Countryside Council for Wales. Sites containing the largest populations are designated as sites of special scientific interest and great caution is shown on releasing information relating to the location of the fern. Proposals to reintroduce the fern in Meirionnydd are under consideration.
Secondary School Reorganisation
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if his decision on the proposed reorganisation of secondary education in Ely will be based on the principle of commencement in September 1995. [15075]
European Regional Development Fund
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list in full the members of the single programming document monitoring committee for Wales of the European regional development fund and the offices and
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bodies they represent; if he will list the dates of each meeting that has been held and of the next meeting. [15079]Mr. Redwood: The rural Wales committee and the industrial south Wales single programming document monitoring committee met on 16 and 21 February 1995 respectively. It is anticipated that the next meetings of the monitoring committees will take place late Summer 1995. The membership of those committees is set out in the following list.
Rural Wales
Mr. M. J. A. Cochlin (Chair), Welsh Office
Miss E. N. M. Davies, Welsh Office
Dr. M. C. Dunn, Welsh Office
Mr. J. Burns, Department of Employment
Mr. R. Liddell, DGVI European Commission
Ms C. Wendt, DGXVI European Commission
Mr. N. Scott, DGV European Commission
Mr. H. V. Thomas, Gwynedd County Council
Ms J. Jones, Powys County Council
Mr. D Bown, Dyfed County Council
Mr. M. Royles, Dwyfor District Officer
Mr. A. Carr, Aberconwy, Borough Council
Mr. G. Davey, Montgomeryshire District Council
Mr. H. James, South Pembrokeshire District Council
Mr. D. L. Evans, Wales Council for Voluntary Action
Mr. S. White, West Wales TEC
Mr. W. R. Jones, Barclays Bank plc
Mr. T. Jones, Farmer
Prof. J. Hughes, Development Board for Rural Wales
Mr. Pride, Wales Tourist Board
Mrs. E. Allinson, Welsh Funding Councils
Two Monitoring Committee places are available to the County Councils and two of the three County Councils nominees attend meetings.
Industrial South Wales
Mr. M. J. A. Cochlin (Chair), Welsh Office
Miss E. N. M. Davies, Welsh Office
Dr. M. C. Dunn, Welsh Office
Mr. J. Burns, Department of Employment
Mr. R. Royce, DGV European Commission
Ms C. Wendt, DGXVI European Commission
Mr. A. G. Corless, West Glamorgan County Council
Mr. M. J. Perry, Gwent County Council
Mr. R. Leadbeter, Blaenau Gwent Borough Council
Mr. M. Boaden, Merthyr Tidfil Borough Council
Mr. I. K. Lewis, Port Talbot Borough Council
Mr. G. Byrne, Cardiff City Council
Ms. S. Stephens, Wales Council for Voluntary Action
Mr. G. Vaughan, Mid Glamorgan TEC
Mr. R. Thomas, Eversheds Phillips and Buck
Mr. A. Clegg, Railtrack
Mr. G. Moore, Welsh Development Agency
Mr. J. Pride, Wales Tourist Board
Mrs. F. Pickard, Further and Higher Education Funding Councils
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