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London Buses
Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact of compulsory competitive tendering on the operation of London Buses. [21403]
Mr. Bowis: London Transport began tendering bus services in 1985. The whole network is now subject to competitive tender and from 1997 around 22 per cent. of route mileage is being put out to tender on an annual basis.
Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many passengers travelled on London Buses in each of the last five years. [21402]
Mr. Bowis: The information is as follows:
| Year | Passenger journeys (millions) |
|---|---|
| 1991-92 | 1,149 |
| 1992-93 | 1,127 |
| 1993-94 | 1,112 |
| 1994-95 | 1,159 |
| 1995-96 | 1,198 |
Public Bodies
Dr. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which of the executive non-departmental public bodies sponsored by the Office of the Rail Regulator have a statutory base; if he will list those bodies which (a) admit members of the public to all board and committee meetings and (b) hold open meetings for the public; and if in each case this is under a statutory requirement. [21435]
Mr. Watts:
I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 19 July 1996, Official Report, at column 683.
21 Mar 1997 : Column: 1003
Dr. Wright:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) which of the executive non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department have a statutory base; if he will list those bodies which (a) admit members of the public to all board and committee meetings and (b) hold open meetings for the public; and if in each case this is under a statutory requirement; [21437]
Mr. Bowis:
Listed below are the answers for each of the Department of Transport's executive NDPBs.
The Traffic Director for London, the London Regional Passengers Committee and Trinity House Lighthouse Authority and the Northern Lighthouse Board have a statutory basis.
(a) The London Regional Passengers Committee under a statutory requirement; but the public can be excluded.
Mr. Dobson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the non-elected bodies responsible to his Department which are responsible for providing advice or services in London, indicating in each case the (i) overall budget and (ii) estimated running costs for each year from 1996-97 to 1999-2000. [21384]
Mr. Bowis:
Very many bodies, elected and unelected, provide advice on transport in London or offer some form of transport service. Of these, three bodies have roles which are specific to London and are responsible to me. These are London Transport, the London Regional Passengers Committee and the Traffic Director for London. The information for these bodies is:
(2) which of the executive non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department have a statutory base; if he will list those bodies which (a) admit members of the public to all board or committee meetings and (b) hold open meetings for the public; and if in each case this is under a statutory requirement. [21439]
| 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (i) overall budget | 17.5 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
| (ii) estimated running costs | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.8 |
Budget and running costs for London Transport are a matter for LT.
My Department provides the LRPC with grant in aid which covers its running costs. The estimated outturn for 1996-97 is £534,000 and the planned level of grant for 1997-98 is £524,000. Figures for 1998-99 and 1999-2000 are not available.
Mr. Congdon:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on light dues. [19540]
Sir George Young
[pursuant to his reply 16 March, c. 716.]: I am pleased to announce that light dues for 1997-98 will be reduced by about 4.6 per cent. from 43p to 41p per net tonne with consequential reductions to other charges. This reduction, coming after four years of
21 Mar 1997 : Column: 1004
stability, takes rates back to below those established in 1992. It is a clear demonstration of the increasing efficiency of the three general lighthouse authorities.
I am announcing changes to the light dues regulations which are designed to simplify some aspects of collection and will remove the liability to pay light dues in certain cases. Vessels liable to pay light dues by reference to their tonnage that do not hold an International Tonnage Certificate (1969) will pay on the basis of their gross registered tonnage.
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will make a statement on public access to Public Record Office document AIR 2/16918. [21359]
Mr. Streeter:
The question concerns a matter which has been assigned to the Public Record Office under the terms of its framework document. I have therefore asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Sarah Tyacke to Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones, dated 21 March 1997:
Dr. Wright:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department which of the executive non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department have a statutory base; if he will list those bodies which (a) admit members of the public to all board and committee meetings and (b) hold open meetings for the public; and if in each case this is under a statutory requirement. [21444]
Mr. Streeter:
The Lord Chancellor's Department sponsors two such bodies: the Legal Aid Board and the Authorised Conveyancing Practitioners Board. Both have a statutory basis. However, the latter has been inactive since March 1992 when the Lord Chancellor announced his decision to postpone implementation of the authorised practitioners scheme.
21 Mar 1997 : Column: 1005
The Legal Aid Board does not, nor is it required to, admit members of the public to board or committee meetings or hold open meetings for the public.
Dr. Wright:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list those of his Department's advisory non-departmental public bodies which the Government are required to (a) consult prior to legislative proposals and (b) publish their response to advice from. [21742]
Mr. Streeter:
Of the Lord Chancellor's Department's advisory bodies appearing in the Cabinet Office publication "Public Bodies 1996", the Insolvency Rules Committee and Land Registration Rule Committee have to be consulted about relevant rules and the Council on Tribunals must be consulted before procedural rules are made for any tribunal specified in schedule 1 to the Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1992 and on procedural rules made by the Lord Chancellor or the Lord Advocate concerning statutory inquiries.
The Government are not required to publish their response to advice from these bodies.
Although there is no legal requirement to consult the Advisory Council on Public Records, it generally is consulted on legislation affecting public records.
The County Court Rule Committee, Supreme Court Rule Committee, Family Proceedings Rule Committee and Crown Court Rule Committee actually make rules and the Lord Chancellor is a member of all but the first.
Dr. Wright:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department which of the advisory non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department (a) have a statutory base, (b) publish their advice to Government, (c) publish an annual report and (d) lay an annual report before Parliament; and if she will indicate in each instance whether this is under a statutory requirement. [21720]
Mr. Streeter:
The following advisory non-departmental public bodies appear under my Department's name in the Cabinet Office publication "Public Bodies 1996":
21 Mar 1997 : Column: 1006
The Legal Aid Advisory Committee (NI) is required to consider the Law Society's annual report on legal aid in Northern Ireland and the Lord Chancellor is required to lay before Parliament a copy of any comments or recommendations made by the committee.
The other bodies do not publish advice or produce annual reports.
Dr. Wright:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department which of the advisory non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department (a) hold public meetings, (b) conduct public consultation exercises, (c) conduct consultation exercises with outside commercial interests, (d) publish a register of members' interests, (e) publish agendas for meetings and (f) publish the minutes of meetings; and whether in each case this is under a statutory requirement. [21705]
Mr. Streeter:
For the advisory non-departmental public bodies listed under my Department in the Cabinet Office publication "Public Bodies 1996", the answers are as follows:
21 Mar 1997 : Column: 1007
The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has asked me to reply for the Public Record Office to your question about this document.
The document was open to public inspection in July 1990. Under the Public Records Acts 1958 and 1967, once a document has been opened to public inspection it cannot be closed again. Documents may be withdrawn temporarily by their department of origin, but this did not happen with AIR 2/16918 and even if it had happened arrangements could have been made for it to be consulted at the Ministry of Defence.
We know from our records of document usage that AIR 2/16918 was consulted by members of the public on several occasions between 1990 and 1996. In April 1996, it was in our Reprographic section for some photographs to be taken, but it appears that it was subsequently misplaced and, despite several searches, we have so far been unable to locate it.
I am very sorry that it is currently unavailable for consultation and we shall continue to search for it. I shall let you know when we find it. By way of explanation, but not in mitigation, I should add that we hold several million documents on 160 kilometres of shelving, processing over a million document movements each year, and that occasionally and regrettably human error does lead to misplacements.
Insolvency Rules Committee
County Court Rule Committee
Supreme Court Rule Committee
Land Registration Rule Committee
Family Proceedings Rule Committee
Crown Court Rule Committee
Advisory Council on Public Records
Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct
Council on Tribunals
Law Commission
Legal Aid Advisory Committee (NI)
Advisory Committees on General Commissioners of Income Tax (NI)
Advisory Committees on JPs in Northern Ireland
Advisory Committees on Juvenile Court Lay Panel (NI)
Advisory Committees on General Commissioners of Income Tax
Advisory Committees on JPs in England (excluding the Duchy of Lancaster) and Wales
Judicial Studies Board
Honorary Investment Advisory Committee.
All but the last seven have a statutory base.
(a) None is under a statutory requirement to publish its advice to Government; (b) The Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct, the Law Commission and the Council on Tribunals are all required by statute to make annual reports to the Lord Chancellor. While there is no statutory requirement on the Advisory Council on Public Records to submit an annual report, there is a requirement that any report by it to the Lord Chancellor should be included in the Public Record Office's own annual report, for which there is a statutory requirement. The Judicial Studies Board also publishes an annual report, but this is not under a statutory requirement; (c) apart from that of the Judicial Studies Board, all of the annual reports in (b) are laid before Parliament by the Lord Chancellor, under a statutory requirement.
(a) none.
There is no statutory requirement for these bodies in these areas.
(b) The following advisory bodies have carried out public consultation exercises:
the Supreme Court Rule Committee
the County Court Rule Committee
the Family Proceedings Rule Committee
the Law Commission
the Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct the Judicial Studies Board.
(c) the Supreme Court Rule Committee, the County Court Rule Committee and the Family Proceedings Rule Committee regularly consult with individuals and organisations which have a professional or commercial interest in the amendment of rules of court.
The Law Commission do conduct consultation exercises with outside commercial interests but this is encompassed within (b) above.
(d) none.
(e) none.
(f) none.
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