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Noise Barriers

Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times in each of the last 10 years noise mitigation barriers have been (a) replaced, (b) repaired and (c) upgraded; and what has been the cost to his Department. [38303]

Mr. Watts: I have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. David Chidgey, dated 23 July 1996:

The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent question asking how many times in each of the last 10 years noise mitigation barriers have been (a) replaced, (b) repaired and (c) upgraded; and what has been the cost to his Department.
The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

23 Jul 1996 : Column: 141

Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much money his Department has spent on noise mitigation barriers adjacent to motorways in each of the last 10 years. [38304]

Mr. Watts: The following amounts have been spent in the past two financial years.

1994-95: £437,000
1995-96: £6,116,000

Data for this previous eight years are not available without incurring a disproportionate cost to the Department.

Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what design standards currently exist for noise mitigation barriers adjacent to (a) motorways and (b) railway lines; [38299]

(2) what procedures currently exist for (a) checking whether noise mitigation barriers adjacent to (i) motorways and (ii) railway lines meet the required design standards and (b) ensuring that those barriers which are found not to meet the required design standards are improved to meet them; [38300]

(3) what assessment he has made of the site supervision and checking of structural calculations for noise mitigation barriers adjacent to (a) motorways and (b) railway lines. [38301]

Mr. Watts: I have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency to write to the hon. Member. Noise mitigation barriers adjacent to railway lines are a matter for Railtrack.

Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. David Chidgey, dated 23 July 1996:

The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about noise mitigation barriers.
Guidance on the design of environmental barriers which include noise mitigation barriers is provided in the HMSO publication Design of Roads and Bridges: Volume 10 Environmental Design. This includes advice on the structural options available, acoustic considerations and resistance to wind forces. Standards of material quality and workmanship for particular forms of barrier structure are prescribed in the HMSO publication Specification for Highway Works, which sets out the standard requirements for motorway and trunk road construction contracts. In addition, contracts may either provide a complete design or specify that barriers are to be provided by the contractor to meet certain criteria. In either case, it is usual for designs to be required to conform to the Agency's published guidance. When specialist proprietary products are offered by contractors, evidence of the basis of their design and of their performance to the prescribed standard is required.
Noise mitigation barriers are prescribed in principle by location, length and height; various other characteristics may be provided for in particular contracts to prescribe quality and type of materials, structural form and acoustic properties. Some aspects of materials and functional properties are assessed prior to erection; others such as overall form, position and integrity are assessed during and after erection. For all procurement it is the contractor's responsibility to supervise the installation of barriers on site and to check their compliance with the contract under their quality assurance procedures. This supervision is backed up by arrangements which depend on the type of contract for vetting of proposals and inspection of their construction by the client's representative or the site agent.

23 Jul 1996 : Column: 142

Noise mitigation barriers are routinely inspected and maintained as part of the highway infrastructure and defects are rectified as and when necessary. In designing the appropriate form of barrier, the maintenance requirements and expected life of the proposed system are taken into account. Planned maintenance includes for the replacement of barriers at an appropriate time, as indicated by inspection reports.

Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will investigate whether the noise mitigation barriers between junctions 8 and 10 of the M25 meet the required design standards. [38302]

Mr. Watts: I have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. David Chidgey, dated 23 July 1996:

As you know, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the noise mitigation barriers between junction 8 and 10 of the M25.
The barriers already in place meet the relevant design standards; those still to be provided will also be built to the same standard.

Airports

Mr. Alfred Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what criteria were used to determine which airports were designated under section 40 of the Airports Act 1986; [37815]

(2) to what extent the criteria used to determine which airports were designated under section 40 of the Airports Act 1986 take account of trends in competition in the aviation industry following air service liberalisation in (a) Europe and (b) elsewhere; and if he will make a statement. [37819]

Mr. Norris: No formal criteria for the designation of airports are included in the Airports Act. However, the criteria that the Government consider relevant to designation are the market position, including extent of competition from other airports and other modes; prima facie evidence of excessive profitability or abuse of monopoly position; the scale and timing of investment, and their implications for profitability; and the efficiency and quality of service.

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of staff currently employed at (a) Heathrow and (b) Gatwick airports. [39510]

Mr. Norris: These are matters for BAA plc.

Supplementary Grant

Mr. Devlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what powers he has to grant transport supplementary grant in respect of only part of a proposed bypass where other parts are not expected to be constructed. [38921]

Mr. Norris: The power to pay transport supplementary grant is contained in sections 87 and 88 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. Guidance on bidding is issued annually, and copies are deposited in the Library--the latest is local authority circular 2/96. It is for local authorities to decide, and justify, what constitutes a viable scheme, and to bid for resources accordingly. All bids are considered competitively, on merit.

23 Jul 1996 : Column: 143

Rural Roads

Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he is taking to improve safety on B, C and unclassified roads in rural areas; and if he will make a statement on the annual proportion of accidents, fatalities and injuries that have occurred on such roads in recent years. [38948]

Mr. Norris: Safety on B, C and unclassified roads is the responsibility of the local highway authority. The wide range of Government measures to reduce accidents--including anti-drink driving and speeding campaigns, and measures to reduce young driver risk--influence drivers on all roads, and are reflected in the reduced numbers of accidents on non built-up B, C and unclassified roads. Fatal and serious injury accidents have fallen by 37 per cent. on these roads since the 1981 to 1985 baseline. Local highway authorities can improve the road layout at known accident blackspots and the Government have given £55 million this year to fund local safety schemes.

Casualties on non-built up B, C and unclassified roads in England and Wales in 1995 were:

Fatalities: 498
Seriously injured: 5,281
Slightly injured: 22,175

The proportion of Great Britain casualty accidents on non-built up B, C and unclassified roads has remained very stable--in 1994, it was 8.7 per cent., which was unchanged from the 1981 to 1985 baseline proportion.

Birmingham Relief Road

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to announce his decision on the public inquiry into the building of the Birmingham northern relief road. [39482]

Mr. Watts: The Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Transport will announce their decision as soon as possible after receiving the inspector's report, which is not expected before November this year.

Road Accidents (Fatigue)

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to establish a research programme into the extent that fatigue influences road accidents. [39386]

Mr. Norris: Interim results from our research programme into the influence of fatigue on road accidents were announced last September; work continues on the appraisal of possible countermeasures and will report next year.

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