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5 Dec 1996 : Column: 721

Written Answers to Questions

Thursday 5 December 1996

TRANSPORT

US-UK Air Service Agreements

Mr. Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make statement on his objectives in the renegotiation of the US-UK air service agreements (Bermuda II). [7120]

Mr. Bowis: The Secretary of State's objective is to secure a liberal aviation agreement with the USA, to the benefit of the UK.

Traffic Area Offices

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 25 November, Official Report, column 59, if he will list the cost of overtime hours worked in the traffic areas. [6973]

Mr. Bowis: Staff submit their overtime claims weekly, and overtime is paid monthly in arrears. Therefore, the full overtime costs for staff in the north eastern and north western traffic areas have not yet appeared on the Department's staff payroll. During September and October 1996, overtime payments in the two offices were £1,830. It is estimated, however, that the total cost of the hours worked will be approximately £9,000.

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what direct payment will be required to be made by Her Majesty's Government to their landlords to relinquish the lease of the north west traffic area office, Portcullis house. [7668]

Mr. Bowis: The Department has exercised a break clause in the current lease for Portcullis house, which means that the only payment to be made to the landlord under the terms of the lease will be to cover dilapidations. The amount to be paid is still the subject of negotiation between the landlord and the Department.

National Road Transport System

Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what have been the three largest new roads projects within his investment programme for the provision and maintenance of the national road transport system in each year since 1992-93. [6741]

Mr. Watts: I have listed the three largest new road projects in terms of cost, started in each year since 1992-93.

1992-93
Second Severn crossing ¹
Second Severn approach roads
A46 Leicester western bypass
1993-94

M66 Denton-Middleton contract 4

5 Dec 1996 : Column: 722

M65 Blackburn southern bypass
A50 Blythe Bridge-Queensway phase 1, Stoke on Trent
1994-95
A564 Derby southern bypass and Derby spur
M25 J8-10 widening
M6 J20-21A bridge renewal
1995-96
M66 Denton-Middleton contract 1
A1(M) Alconbury to Peterborough DBFO ² project
M1-A1 Yorkshire link DBFO ² project
1996-97
A34 Newbury bypass
A13 west of Heathway--Thames avenue improvement (LB Barking and Dagenham)
A30/A35 Exeter to Bere Regis DBFO+ project (including A35 Honiton to Exeter improvement and A35 Tolpuddle to Puddletown bypass)
¹ Privately financed.
² Design, build, finance and operate.

Second Tamar Crossing

Sir Robert Hicks: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the status of the proposed A38 second Tamar crossing; and if he will make a statement. [8091]

Mr. Watts: In the light of a recently completed economic study on the impact of the second Tamar crossing on Plymouth and south-east Cornwall, I have decided to abandon the proposed scheme announced in May 1994.

This will remove the present uncertainty about the proposals and lift the planning blight from this area of Saltash. A number of properties have been acquired under the blight provisions, and these will be put back on the market as soon as possible.

The study report has concluded that the effects would be mixed, but that there was no clear case for a second crossing. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library.

MV Cap Afrique

Mr. Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if all necessary statutory marine notice and logging requirements were properly completed for a sailing of the MV Cap Afrique from Dover on 30 November. [7717]

Mr. Bowis: I have asked the chief executive of Marine Safety Agency to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from R. M. Bradley to Mr. Elliot Morley, dated 5 December 1996:

The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your Question relating to the sailing of the MV CAP AFRIQUE on 30 November 1996.
The CAP AFRIQUE is a French registered cargo ship. It is only possible to give assurances concerning the compliance of such vessels with regulations when they are inspected. The vessel was last inspected by the Marine Safety Agency under the port state control system on 9 August this year, on which date all the necessary documentation was in order and no deficiencies were identified. No information has been made available to the MSA to suggest that the CAP AFRIQUE did not comply with the requirements on 30 November 1996.

5 Dec 1996 : Column: 723

Metrolink

Mr. Alfred Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to announce a decision on the Manchester airport-Wythenshawe loop of Metrolink; and if he will make a statement. [7673]

Mr. Watts: We hope to announce a decision shortly.

PRIME MINISTER

Correspondence

Mr. Barnes: To ask the Prime Minister when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Derbyshire, North-East reference GK/HB/311096, which was acknowledged on 4 November. [7512]

The Prime Minister: The letter will be replied to shortly.

Engagements

Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 5 December. [6334]

Sir Peter Tapsell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 5 December. [6335]

The Prime Minister: This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD

Land Management Schemes

Dr. Strang: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the (a) planned expenditure in 1996-97 following the 1995 public expenditure settlement, (b) estimated outturn expenditure in 1996-97 and (c) planned expenditure in 1997-98 on the (i) moorland scheme, (ii) countryside access scheme, (iii) habitat scheme, (iv) organic aid scheme, (v) countryside stewardship scheme, (vi) nitrate sensitive areas, (vii) farm and conservation grant scheme and (viii) farm woodland premium scheme. [7688]

Mr. Douglas Hogg: Details are contained in the table, which relates to payments to land managers in England.

Scheme	1996-97 planned estimated expenditure	1996-97 current (1996 PES provision)	1997--98 planned (1996 PES provision)
Moorland scheme	0.35	0.10	0.25
Countryside access scheme	2.50	0.08	0.12
Habitat scheme	2.00	1.42	1.82
Organic aid scheme	0.46	0.41	0.85
Countryside stewardship scheme	12.22	12.20	17.65
Nitrate sensitive areas	6.10	3.65	4.74
Farm and conservation grant scheme	4.00	8.89	2.43
Farm woodland premium scheme(1)	6.16	4.23	5.55

(1) Includes payments on the farm woodland scheme.

5 Dec 1996 : Column: 724

Directorate of Fisheries Research

Mr. Gill: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are his plans for converting the directorate of fisheries research into an agency. [8176]

Mr. Baldry: Work is in hand for the management and organisational changes to convert the directorate of fisheries research into an agency of the Ministry with effect from 1 April 1997. In anticipation of the changes of status, and to reflect more fully the range of work done, the directorate will be known as the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science--CEFAS--with effect from 13 January 1997.

Intervention Board (Recruitment)

Sir Donald Thompson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what arrangements are in place in the Intervention Board executive agency for recruitment; on what basis these are drawn; how many staff have been appointed at each level during 1995-96; if he will indicate the proportion of (a) women, (b) members of ethnic minorities and (c) disabled people successful at each level; and what exceptions were made to the recruitment rules to allow appointments to be made. [8177]

Mr. Baldry: I can confirm that there are systems in place in the Intervention Board to ensure that recruitment is carried out on the basis of fair and open competition and selection on merit, in accordance with the recruitment code laid down by the civil service commissioners, and that these systems are subject to internal check.

During the 1995-96 financial year, the Intervention Board conducted three recruitment campaigns to appoint staff at administrative assistant, administrative officer, and higher executive officer (auditor) levels. These exercises were conducted on the basis of fair and open recruitment and selections were made on merit in each case. The following statistical information on the competitions may help to put the exercise into context:

Administrative assistant competition

		There were 37 applicants of which:
	Applicants	Interviewees	Successful candidates
Gender
Male	21 (57 per cent.)	20 (67 per cent.)	16 (69 per cent.)
Female	16 (43 per cent.)	10 (33 per cent.)	7 (31 per cent.)
Totals	37 (100 per cent.)	30 (100 per cent.)	23 (100 per cent.)
Ethnic origin
White	31 (84 per cent.)	25 (83 per cent.)	19 (83 per cent.)
Black	1 (3 per cent.)	1 (3 per cent.)	1 (4 per cent.)
Asian	2 (5 per cent.)	2 (7 per cent.)	2 (9 per cent.)
Unknown	3 (8 per cent.)	2 (7 per cent.)	1 (4 per cent.)
Totals	37 (100 per cent.)	30 (100 per cent.)	23 (100 per cent.)

There were no disabled applicants for this competition.

Also, from the successful candidates, eventually only eight accepted appointments of which one was a part-time appointment. Of these six were male and two female, and of this group, seven classified themselves as white and one as black.

5 Dec 1996 : Column: 725

Administrative officer competition

		There were 69 applicants including one disabled, of which:
	Applicants	Interviewees	Successful candidates
Gender
Male	37 (54 per cent.)	24 (62 per cent.)	20 (61 per cent.)
Female	32 (46 per cent.)	15 (38 per cent.)	11 (39 per cent.)
Totals	69 (100 per cent.)	39 (100 per cent,)	31 (100 per cent.)
Ethnic origin
White	56 (82 per cent.)	33 (84 per cent.)	26 (84 per cent.)
Black	1 (1 per cent.)	1 (3 per cent.)	1 (3 per cent.)
Asian	11 (16 per cent.)	4 (10 per cent.)	3 (10 per cent.)
Unknown	1 (1 per cent.)	1 (3 per cent.)	1 (3 per cent.)
Totals	69 (100 per cent.)	39 (100 per cent.)	31 (100 per cent.)

Of the successful candidates, 11 accepted appointments. Included among these was the disabled candidate. Also, of the 11, eight were male and three female, and all classified themselves as white.

Higher executive officer (auditor) competition

		There were 19 applicants of which:
	Applicants	Interviewees	Successful candidates
Gender
Male	16 (84 per cent.)	3 (60 per cent.)	0 (0 per cent.)
Female	3 (16 per cent.)	2 (40 per cent.)	2 (100 per cent.)
Totals	19 (100 per cent.)	5 (100 per cent.)	2 (100 per cent.)
Ethnic Origin
White	14 (74 per cent.)	5 (100 per cent.)	2 (84 per cent.)
Black	3 (16 per cent.)	--	--
Asian	1 (5 per cent.)	--	--
Unknown	1 (5 per cent.)	--	--
Totals	19 (100 per cent.)	5 (100 per cent.)	2 (100 per cent.)

One application was received from a disabled individual for this competition. This applicant did not meet the minimum qualification criteria and, therefore, was not invited for interview. The two successful candidates were subsequently appointed, both were female, and both classed themselves as white.

Finally, I can confirm that no exceptions to the recruitment rules were made during the period to allow appointments to be made.

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