House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 2 Jul 1997 (pt 8)

Heathrow and Gatwick Airports

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment his Department has made of the reduced final approach aircraft separation trials at Heathrow and Gatwick airports. [5604]

Ms Glenda Jackson: National Air Traffic Services Limited commenced a trial at Heathrow in October 1994 to reduce the distance between aircraft at final approach from 3 to 2.5 nautical miles in certain specific circumstances. Its use has been infrequent as it is confined to daytime and used only when there is sufficient visibility. The trial was monitored continuously and modified from experience gained. A full safety assessment was carried out and is now being considered by the Safety Regulation Group of the Civil Aviation Authority. A similar trial is expected to start at Gatwick soon.

Southport-Preston Train Services

Mr. Fearn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what provision exists for public subsidy to promote the reinstatement of a train service between Southport and Preston utilising the Burscough Curves. [5958]

Ms Glenda Jackson: As with all "new" services, it would be a matter for the sponsoring body to liaise with Railtrack, the train operating company and any other interested party, for example the relevant local authority, to establish whether such a scheme was viable. The Franchising Director has powers to designate services as experimentals for a period of up to five years. At the end of that time, the Franchising Director would decide whether he was prepared to provide financial support if necessary to secure the continued provision of the service.

Transport Safety

Liz Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the relationship between Government spending on transport safety and casualty rates. [6253]

Ms Glenda Jackson: The Department has not directly commissioned any research of this kind. However, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA), as part of the work programme for which they receive a grant from the Department, have recently carried out a survey of Local Authorities covering spending on transport safety in relation to accident rates. The results are not yet available and therefore have not been evaluated.

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The Department commissioned the Transport Research Laboratory to carry out research into the cost effectiveness of individual local authority safety schemes financed from the local transport capital settlement since 1992-93. The TRL report shows that the overall first year rate of return from 212 schemes in 12 authorities averaged 190 per cent.

Seahorse and Exodus Incident

Sir Richard Body: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the current state of his Department's investigations into the incident involving the flagged vessel "Seahorse" and the Irish vessel "Exodus" in March 1997. [6151]

Ms Glenda Jackson: The Marine Accidents Investigation Branch is carrying out an investigation into this tragic accident and its report will be sent to the Marine Safety Agency and forwarded to all involved parties.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

General Affairs Council

Mr. Hope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will report on the outcome of the General Affairs Council on 26 and 27 June. [6436]

Mr. Doug Henderson: The 24 A points in Document 9256/97, the text of which will be placed in the libraries of the House as soon as it is available, were agreed.

The Council noted the resolutions adopted by the European Parliament listed in Documents 8021/97 and 8773/97. Copies of these documents will also be placed in the libraries of the House as soon as they are available.

Following agreement on the Amsterdam Treaty, the Council noted that legal editing of the text was under way, with a view to signature in Amsterdam in October. COREPER was mandated to consider any necessary preparations before the Treaty entered into force. The Council called on the Secretariat-General to report back after signature of the Treaty on possible organisational arrangements for setting up the CFSP policy planning cell, and integrating the Schengen Secretariat into the General Secretariat of the Council.

The Council reconfirmed the position set out in the December 1996 Common Position on Cuba and approved the Presidency proposals for its evaluation and implementation. The objective of the European Union remains the encouragement of a process of peaceful transition to democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, a sustainable economic recovery and an improvement in the living standards of the Cuban people. The Council will re-evaluate the Union's position after a further six months.

The Council agreed conclusions on preparatory work for the extraordinary European Council on Employment.

The Presidency and Commission reported on the Denver Summit of the Eight. Member States took note of the achievements of the Summit, particularly on the environment, financial stability and Hong Kong.

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The Presidency and the Commission reported on the EU/Canada Summit held in Denver on 20 June. The Summit reviewed progress on the EU/Canada Action Plan and Political Declaration signed in December 1996. The UK intends to use its Presidency of the EU to build upon Dutch efforts to maintain the momentum of the EU/Canada process.

The sixth EU/Japan Summit was held in The Hague on 25 June. It discussed the importance of a successful ASEM (Asia Europe Meeting) Summit in London in April 1998. Japan confirmed that broad-based deregulation remained an essential part of its structural reform programme. Both sides reiterated support for Chinese and Russian accession to the World Trade Organisation on commercially viable terms.

The EU issued a declaration on the eve of the parliamentary elections in Albania which urged all political parties to participate and to respect the results and accept the OSCE assessment on their validity. The EU reaffirmed its commitment to support the elections including sending monitors, although responsibility for holding free and fair elections remains with Albania. It stressed the importance of consolidating the reconciliation process after the elections and is prepared to support economic recovery in Albania once certain conditions are met. Future relations with Albania depend on the restoration of democratic principles and sound economic practices. The Council agreed that, subject to an agreement with the IMF, it was desirable to hold an International Donors' Conference for Bosnia and Herzegovina at the earliest possible date. Close co-ordination with the High Representative, the World Bank and other donors would be required to achieve this.

The Council discussed the current situation regarding the extension of the UN Transition Administration for Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) mandate in Eastern Slavonia.

The Council stressed the importance of efforts to conclude negotiations for Association Agreements with Egypt and Lebanon as soon as possible. It agreed to assess how to meet Spanish concerns about a review clause in the EU/Jordan Agreement dealing with the section on agricultural quotas.

The Council discussed the implications for the EU of Burma's accession to ASEAN, underlining concerns about the deteriorating human rights situation in Burma, and calling on the SLORC to allow a visit to Burma by the UN Special Rapporteur. The Council confirmed its commitment to the EU/ASEAN dialogue and reaffirmed that Burma's membership of ASEAN did not automatically imply membership of ASEM. Possible additional measures against Burma will be considered again in September in the light of the forthcoming ASEAN Regional Forum/Post Ministerial Conference (ARF/PMC) meetings and developments in Burma.