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Heavy Vehicle Licensing
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of checks undertaken (a) on a weekend and (b) outside normal office hours in order to collate the statistics for the recently published report into the illegal operation of heavy goods vehicles. [30472]
Mr. Norris: There were 114 check sites used during the survey altogether. During the survey, 3,927 vehicles were checked. Six sites were used at weekends, where 210 checks were undertaken. On Monday to Friday, four sites were used entirely outside office hours and a further 80 were used partly outside office hours. In total, 880 checks were conducted outside office hours--between 0900 and 1700--on Monday to Friday. Therefore, in total, 1,090 checks were undertaken outside office hours.
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of the goods and public service vehicle operator licensing fees is transferred to Treasury funds. [30463]
Mr. Norris: All fee revenue is paid into the Consolidated Fund.
A2
Mr. Dunn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to improve the A2 trunk road to accommodate the proposed Ebbsfleet station contained in the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Bill. [30831]
Mr. Watts: I have today announced that a scheme to widen the A2 between Cobham and Bean has been added to the national roads programme. The scheme will proceed in two phases. The first will complement work already in hand in association with the Blue Water park development and will result in additional capacity on the A2 in both directions between Bean and the A227 at Tollgate junction. The second will add a fourth lane in both directions between Tollgate and Cobham.
The first phase will be contained within the existing highway boundary. The other requires additional land.
Fares (London)
Ms Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to introduce a capping formula for London Transport fares. [30338]
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Mr. Norris: None; I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 9 May 1996, Official Report, columns 195-6.
Rail Contracts
Ms Glenda Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list (i) all contracts awarded by his Department to (a) Eurorail Ltd. and (b) Eurorail CTRL Ltd. (ii) the date those contracts were awarded, (iii) the length of those contracts, (iv) the purpose of those contracts and (v) the total value of those contracts. [30339]
Mr. Watts: My Department has not entered into any contracts with either of these firms.
Ms Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list (i) all contracts awarded by Union Railways to (a) Eurorail Ltd. and (b) Eurorail CTRL Ltd. (ii) the date those contracts were awarded, (iii) the length of those contracts, (iv) the purpose of those contracts and (v) the total value of those contracts. [30342]
Mr. Watts: Union Railways has not let any contracts to these firms since it was formed as a separate company from the BR Board, but it did take over two contracts with Eurorail Ltd. from the British Railways Board rail link project group in connection with the channel tunnel rail link project. These are (a) for the provision of personnel on secondment, awarded in December 1990 and (b) for the provision of engineering design services, awarded in April 1992. Both contracts are still in force as at 21 May 1996. The commercial terms and value of the contracts are commercially confidential.
"Transport: The Way Forward"
Ms Short: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) which recommendations made by the royal commission on environmental pollution in its 18th report have been specifically addressed in the Government's report "Transport: The Way Forward"; [29282]
- (2) which recommendations made by the royal commission on environmental pollution in its 18th report have not been specifically addressed in the Government's report "Transport: The Way Forward". [29283]
Sir George Young: The Green Paper "Transport: The Way Forward" is a response to the national debate on transport, and as such it picks up most of the major points
22 May 1996 : Column: 237
made by the royal commission in its call for sustainable transport policies. It did not include a point by point response to the royal commission report.
I recently met the chairman of the royal commission to discuss how to take forward the debate, including further consideration of the commission's recommendations and its views on the Green Paper.
Central Railway
Mr. Keith Hill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent submissions he has received from Central Railway plc. [30678]
Mr. Watts: On Monday 20 May, an application was received from Central Railway plc for an order under the Transport and Works Act 1992. I have decided that Parliament should have an opportunity to debate the principle of the proposals before a public local inquiry is held. A notice to this effect will appear in the London Gazette on Friday 24 May and in local newspapers along the route of the proposed railway as soon as practicable.
DEFENCE
Married Quarters
Mr. Home Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many married quarters in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland will remain in his ownership following the sale of the married quarters estate; and how many of these require upgrading to bring them to a satisfactory condition. [30002]
Mr. Arbuthnot: The sale of the married quarters estate does not involve properties in Scotland or Northern Ireland, where my Department owned 6,707 and 3,130 married quarters respectively at 31 March 1996. Of these totals, 159 in Scotland and 120 in Northern Ireland require work in order to bring them back into use.
The sale of the married quarters estate in England and Wales is being progressed as an integrated package and separating the two for the purpose of this reply would incur disproportionate costs. Figures for the sale have yet to be finalised, but I am able to advise that, after the sale, my Department will continue to own some 3,000 married quarters in England and Wales not included in the sale, and will continue to own the freehold on the properties in the sale which we will then take back for service use through underleases. Out of all the properties involved, some 1,700 require work to bring them back into use.
Low Flying
Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many low-level sorties were flown in the Borders tactical training area in each of the last five years. [30320]
Mr. Soames: The numbers of operational low flying movements authorised into the Borders tactical training area--TTA--in each of the last five years are as follows:
1991: 1,256
1992: 2,067
1993: 2,389
1994: 1,127
1995: 1,545
22 May 1996 : Column: 238
Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many representations he has received on the subject of low flying in the Borders tactical training area in each of the last five years. [30321]
Mr. Soames: Since July 1988, when the Borders tactical training area--TTA--was extended to include what was at the time referred to as the western sector, complaints from that sector have continued to be counted in the totals for low flying area 16 within which the TTA lies, rather than being recorded as coming from the TTA. Accurate records of the number of complaints received from the Borders TTA as a whole are therefore not available and could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost. Action is being taken to ensure that complaints from the TTA are identified as such in future.
Service Personnel (Cyprus)
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the total financial cost to date in providing legal aid for the three British military personnel who were charged and convicted of the manslaughter of a Danish tour guide in Cyprus; and if he will make a statement. [30206]
Mr. Soames: The total cost of defending the three soldiers convicted of the abduction and manslaughter of Miss Louise Jensen is, so far, about £260,000.
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the terms of the Army legal aid scheme under which the legal expenses of the three British service men convicted of the manslaughter of a Danish tour guide are paid until all legal processes have been exhausted. [30201]
Mr. Soames: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 20 May 1996, Official Report, column 52.
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