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Infrastructure
25. Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he has taken in the last year to improve transport infrastructure in south-east England. [8761]
Sir George Young: The Government are committed to a wide range of measures to improve transport infrastructure in the south-east. In the last year, this has included signing the development agreement for CTRL, continuing work on the Jubilee line extension and funding for 27 local authority transport packages and including in our revised trunk road programme schemes in the south-east with a total value of about £2 billion.
Rail Safety
26. Dr. Goodson-Wickes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultations he has had recently with bodies responsible for rail safety. [8760]
Mr. Watts: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I met Frank Davies, the chairman of the Health and Safety Commission, on 21 October 1996, to discuss various railway safety matters.
We have also had reports both from the Anglo-French Intergovernmental Commission and from the independent Channel Tunnel Safety Authority on the recent fire in the channel tunnel.
Passenger Rolling Stock
27. Mr. Dunn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the total investment in cash terms in new passenger rolling stock serving north Kent and south London destinations over the last 10 years. [8758]
Mr. Watts: Expenditure on new passenger rolling stock serving north Kent and south London destinations, for the 10 years from 1986-87 to 1995-96 totalled £510 million at cash prices.
Infrastructure Expenditure (London)
28. Mr. Spearing: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent representations he has received
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from (i) the Board of London Transport and (ii) London Underground Ltd. concerning their allocation of expenditure for renewal of their infrastructure. [8757]
Mr. Bowis: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport and I meet the chairman and other members of the board of London Transport on a regular basis and discuss a wide range of issues including finance.
Shipping Safety
29. Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to promote safety for shipping in United Kingdom waters; and if he will make a statement. [8756]
Sir George Young: We have successfully pursued a number of proposals, through the International Maritime Organisation and the European Community, leading to agreements on improving safety standards in shipping. These include the Stockholm agreement on ferry safety, which we shall be implementing shortly through new regulations. We shall continue to work towards the implementation of higher standards in construction and management of ships.
Ministerial Leave
Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many days of leave he plans to take during the Christmas adjournment; [9797]
- (2) how many days leave he has taken in the Easter, Whitsun and summer adjournments; and how many days leave he took during the time in which Parliament was prorogued this year. [9796]
Sir George Young: I refer to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster today.
Second Tamar Bridge
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what were the estimated costs to his Department of (a) consultancy work and (b) compulsory purchase in relation to the second Tamar bridge projects in each of the last three years; and what was the total cost to his Department. [10207]
Mr. Watts: The costs for consultancy work are as follows:
1994: £44,000
1995: £16,000
1996: £45,000
However, properties have been acquired in response to blight notices served on the Secretary of State under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 or applications under discretionary powers in the Highways Act 1980. The approximate costs of these acquisitions are as follows:
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1994-95: £48,000
1995-96: £1,880,000
1996-97: £2,425,000
Following the abandonment of the project, the properties will be re-sold as soon as possible.
InterCity West Coast
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the public subsidy for InterCity West Coast for services to (a) Watford and (b) Milton Keynes in each of the last five years. [9760]
Mr. Watts: It is not possible to provide subsidy figures for individual rail services. The grant claim for InterCity West Coast over the last three years is as follows:
1996-97: £92.53 million
1995-96: £84.69 million
1994-95: £99.05 million
Manchester Metro
Mr. Eastham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if departmental grants towards the costs of the Manchester metro Salford Quays-Eccles extension are conditional on the best and final lowest tender price being secured for this contract. [9842]
Mr. Watts: No. Bidding for the contract to build the Manchester metrolink extension to Salford Quays and Eccles has been conducted under rules prescribed by the
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European procurement directive. Award criteria were set at the outset of the competition, and notified to the tenderers; bids were evaluated against these criteria.
Mr. Eastham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what account he will take when considering funding for the Greater Manchester metrolink extension--Salford Quays to Eccles--of any subsidies paid to EU manufacturers successful in the competitive tendering; and if he will make it a condition of funding that no such subsidies have been or are being paid. [10653]
Mr. Watts: Funding of £17.3 million for the Manchester metrolink extension to Eccles via Salford Quays, through the capital challenge programme, was announced on 16 December. Greater Manchester passenger transport executive is responsible for the award of tenders to build and operate the system.
State aids to manufacturers are regulated and policed by the European Commission. Her Majesty's Government would not knowingly provide support towards a contract to any firm which is in receipt of illegal state aid.
Consultants
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the amount spent on external consultants by his Department's non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years. [10180]
Mr. Bowis: The following amounts were spent on external consultants by the Department of Tranpsort's non-departmental public bodies in the last five years:
| £ thousands | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | |
| Trinity House | 42 | 30 | 34 | 32 | 88 |
| Northern Lighthouse Board | 271 | 216 | 43 | 13 | 59 |
| London Regional Passengers' Committee(37) | -- | -- | -- | 18 | 2 |
| The Traffic Director for London | 40 | 120 | 2,050 | 3,250 | 3,700 |
(37) The Department only assumed responsibility for the London Regional Passengers' Committee in April 1994.
The Department's other non-departmental public bodies--the rail users' consultative committees and the Disabled Persons' Transport Advisory Committee--did not incur expenditure on external consultants in the last five years.
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Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the actions his Department has taken on each of the recommendations contained in the Cabinet Office report, "The Government's Use of External Consultants". [10181]
Mr. Bowis: The actions taken by the Department of Transport in response to the multi-departmental scrutiny on the Government's use of external consultants are listed in the Department's implementation report, which was submitted to the Cabinet Office in April 1996. Copies of the implementation report have been placed in the House Library.
Civil Aviation Authority
Sir Peter Fry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 29 November, Official Report, columns 420-21, when his officials have discussed with the Civil Aviation Authority the issue of commissioning a balance of benefits study in
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relation to the renegotiation of the US-UK air service agreements (Bermuda II); and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the analysis in relation to the bilateral talks. [10292]
Mr. Bowis: Officials regularly discuss UK-US aviation matters with the Civil Aviation Authority, and such discussions have included the feasibility of an overarching "balance of benefits" study of liberalising UK-US air services. We decided not to instruct the CAA to undertake such an analysis: the number of variables which would need to be taken into account, and assumptions which would have to be made, would make it impossible to model results which could be treated with any confidence. I am however satisfied that UK negotiators are fully briefed for the current series of bilateral talks.
Mr. Bowis: The current UK-Thailand air services arrangements do not permit the operation of services between Bangkok and Manchester by Thai Airways International. The Department of Transport has been seeking talks with the Thai authorities for some time now with a view to liberalising these arrangements.
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