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Indonesia

Mrs. Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will release the correspondence and minutes of the meetings between the Overseas Development Administration, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department of Trade and Industry, relating to the television studios rehabilitation project, referred to in paragraph 2.6 of the National Audit Office report on "Aid to Indonesia" (HC 101 of Session 1996-97). [12594]

Dr. Liam Fox: I will write to the hon. Member.

TRANSPORT

Waste Management

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what proposals he has for the development of port and ship waste management plans; [12493]

(2) if he will make provision of port waste reception facilities a statutory duty. [12494]

Mr. Bowis [holding answer 27 January 1997]: The Government attach considerable importance to the provision of waste reception facilities in ports. Harbour authorities are already under a statutory duty to provide adequate waste reception facilities under the Merchant

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Shipping (Reception Facilities for Garbage) Regulations 1988 and the Prevention of Pollution (Reception Facilities) Order 1984. In January 1996, the Government announced the introduction of port waste management planning to improve the provision and use of waste reception facilities. Waste management plans were introduced initially on a voluntary basis, in advance of the introduction of the Merchant Shipping and Maritime Security Bill, which seeks to make port waste management planning mandatory. International regulations requiring ship waste management plans will be implemented from July 1997 for new ships and July 1998 for all ships.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact of the Merchant Shipping Regulations 1988 in reducing marine debris. [12492]

Mr. Bowis [holding answer 27 January 1997]: Surveys by and on behalf of the Marine Safety Agency have shown that the waste reception facilities provided by harbour authorities pursuant to the Merchant Shipping (Reception Facilities for Garbage) Regulations 1988 are generally adequate. It is therefore difficult to make a specific assessment of the effect of the Merchant Shipping(Prevention of Pollution by Garbage) Regulations 1988 in isolation from other legislation relating to pollution of the marine environment from both shipping and land-based sources.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will set up a public register of legal notices, offences and fines relating to pollution of the marine environment from shipping. [12496]

Mr. Bowis [holding answer 27 January 1997]: The Government already publish details of vessels prosecuted for marine pollution offences and vessels which have been reported to their flag states for suspected pollution offences. We do not intend to introduce a public register.

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it a statutory obligation for port authorities to keep garbage record books. [12495]

Mr. Bowis [holding answer 27 January 1997]: Garbage record books have been developed by the International Maritime Organisation as a means to assess the compliance of ships with regulations on the discharge of garbage from ships. They will be required on new ships from July 1997 and on all ships from July 1998. It would be inappropriate for a similar requirement to be applied to port authorities.

Baggage (Airliners)

Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what reports his Department receives on unaccompanied, unchecked, unaccounted for and unexplained baggage in airliners; and what action he can take. [11233]

Mr. Bowis [holding answer 27 January 1997]: Regular monitoring of compliance with the direction relating to the accounting and authorisation of baggage is carried out by my Department's inspectors. Where a deficiency is found, it is normally rectified on the spot. If this is not possible immediately, a deficiency notice is served

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requiring the aircraft operator to comply at the earliest opportunity. Should compliance not be achieved thereafter, formal enforcement powers are available.

Air Traffic Control Services

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Southend, West (Mr. Channon) of 16 January, Official Report, column 317, on air traffic control services, if he will make a statement on the selection of the preferred bidder for the proposed services. [12957]

Mr. Bowis [holding answer 27 January 1997]: The Civil Aviation Authority is now discussing with my Department and the Treasury the handling of tenders for the new Scottish centre, against the background of the strategy for future provision of air traffic control services on which they are consulting airlines and other interested parties.

Dangerous Substances

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what precautions currently required by his Department apply in respect of the transport of (a) plutonium, (b) other radioactive materials and (c) polychlorinated biphenyls by air; what plans he has to introduce more stringent measures; and if he will make a statement. [12214]

Mr. Bowis [holding answer 27 January 1997]: United Kingdom legislation requires that all dangerous goods carried by air, including radioactive materials, and thus plutonium and PCBs, must comply with the very stringent standards and requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation's "Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air", which are updated biennially. This legislation, enforced by the Civil Aviation Authority, ensures that the UK fulfils its safety obligations under the convention on civil aviation. The technical instructions set the standards for the classification, packing, marking, labelling and documentation of all dangerous goods. We intend to continue with our current policy of requiring compliance with the up-to-date edition of the technical instructions.

Overweight Vehicles

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many operators have been prosecuted in each of the last 12 months for operating overweight heavy goods vehicles over 38 tonnes. [13194]

Mr. Bowis: I have asked the chief executive of the Vehicle Inspectorate to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Ron Oliver to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody, dated 28 January 1997:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning the number of operators prosecuted in each of the last 12 months for operating overweight heavy goods vehicles over 38 tonnes.
Information on overweight heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) is not available in the format requested. However during the 1995/96 financial year there were 3,740 convictions for HGV overloading offences.

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Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what is his Department's policy in respect of prosecution of overweight heavy goods vehicle operators facing gross train weight charges of less than 10 per cent. who have not been prosecuted before; and if he will make a statement; [13193]

(2) if he will make it his policy to pursue prosecutions of all heavy goods vehicles which are found to be overweight; [13192]

(3) if he will list the ministerial directives he has issued to the Vehicle Inspectorate concerning overweight heavy goods vehicles in each of the past 12 months; and if he will make a statement; [13190]

(4) if he will place in the Library a copy of the ministerial directive issued to the Vehicle Inspectorate to the effect that only heavy goods vehicles over 10 per cent. or 2 tonnes over the 38 tonnes weight would be prosecuted; and who was responsible for issuing the directive. [13191]

Mr. Bowis: There have been no ministerial directives as such on this subject in the past 12 months. In order to promote consistency, Ministers agree guidelines for the prosecution of overloading offences by the Vehicle Inspectorate, but the final decision on whether to prosecute in individual cases rests with the inspectorate, in the light of all the circumstances. It is normal for the Vehicle Inspectorate to prohibit clearly overloaded vehicles whether or not it intends to take prosecution action.

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter from the Vehicle Inspectorate prosecution and legal services relating to the threshold below which prosecutions against overloaded lorries should not be pursued. [13189]

Mr. Bowis: The Vehicle Inspectorate's prosecution and legal services unit has a standard letter which it uses to advise defendants and clerks to the courts in cases where selected offences are not proceeded with. Copies of these standard letters have been placed in the Library.

In November 1996, a small number of incorrect versions of these letters were sent out, copies of which have also been placed in the Library. As soon as the mistake was detected, the erroneous versions were stopped.

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