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Telecommunications Towers
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will list (a) the number of planning applications for telecommunications towers made by each of the telecommunications companies operating in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years and the current year to the latest available date, (b) the number of such towers erected by each such company in each year, (c) the number of such towers erected for which planning permission was not needed and (d) her estimate of the total number of such towers which will be needed by each company to complete their network. [12187]
Mr. Paul Murphy: I shall write to the hon. Gentleman as soon as possible.
Organic Farming
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate she has made of (a) the present average yield of each of the principal farm crops and (b) the comparable yields if all farmers were to convert to organic farming. [12188]
Mr Paul Murphy: (a) The average yields of each of the main farm crops in 1996 and for the previous five years are given in the table.
| tonnes per hectare | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Average 1991 to 1995 | |
| Spring barley | 5.03 | 4.26 |
| Winter barley | 6.64 | 5.78 |
| Wheat | 7.70 | 6.87 |
| Oats | 5.07 | 4.62 |
| Potatoes (maincrop ware and seed) | 29.93 | 27.23 |
(b) The organic sector in Northern Ireland is too small to provide reliable estimates of comparable yields.
Social Security
Mr. Quinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action will be taken in Northern Ireland to involve the private sector in delivery of social security services. [12276]
Mr. Worthington:
The Government's objective is to create a modern welfare state where social security benefits are to bring people into mainstream society and are not simply hand-outs. The delivery of benefits has to be modernised as well as the system itself. Privatisation is not the only way of improving quality and reducing costs, but we see no reason why the public sector should deliver services if there are more efficient ways of doing so. The Society Security Agency, in conjunction with the Benefits Agency, has initiated a project to involve private sector consortiums to explore opportunities for the modernisation of service delay. This project fits well with our approach to public-private sector partnerships and
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action on it will continue. Specific details will soon be announced by the chief executive of the Social Security Agency.
Alongside this, whenever the private sector is used in the future, the arrangements will be strengthened to:
I believe that this approach will ensure that the best possible social security service will be delivered to people in Northern Ireland by committed staff at the right cost to the taxpayer.
Mr. Love:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he expects the contracts to upgrade the A406 at Sterling way and Fore street to be completed; and what steps he is taking to remedy the delays already announced on these contracts.[10677]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
I have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency to write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. Andrew Love, dated 31 July 1997:
Mr. Chidgey:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many complaints have been received by the Vehicle Inspectorate's smoky vehicle hotline in each of the last five years; and how many prosecutions have resulted from complaints in each year. [11466]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
I have asked the chief executive of the Vehicle Inspectorate agency to write to the hon. Member.
31 Jul 1997 : Column: 528
Letter from Ron Oliver to Mr. David Chidgey, dated 31 July 1997:
Ms Dari Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he intends to publish revised guidance on freight grants; and if he will make a statement. [12076]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
My Department is currently preparing a revised guide. It will be published shortly.
Dr. Lynne Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the costs of discretionary blight payments to people in homes near the Birmingham northern relief road; and what contribution to these costs will be paid by Midland Expressway Ltd. [12260]
Dr. Strang:
The total cost attributable to discretionary purchase under sections 246(2)(a)/(b) and 248 of the Highways Act 1980 is some £1.5 million. The full cost of acquiring all land and property for the Birmingham northern relief road and compensation payments will be met by Midland Expressway Ltd.
Dr. Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what controls he will have on the level of tolls on the Birmingham northern relief road and the rates charged for heavy goods vehicles relative to those for other vehicles. [12259]
Dr. Strang:
The level of tolls and their applications to different classes of vehicle will under the legislation be matters for the concessionaire.
Dr. Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he has made a cost-benefit analysis of the long-term economic advantages of the Birmingham northern relief road. [12257]
Dr. Strang:
A cost benefit analysis carried out in 1991 showed the scheme proposed by Midland Expressway Ltd. having a benefit:cost ratio of more than 2:1.
31 Jul 1997 : Column: 529
Dr. Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many subcontractors to Midland Expressway Ltd. for the Birmingham northern relief road project are companies in the (a) Kvaerner Group and (b) Autostrada Group. [12256]
Dr. Strang:
The construction of the Birmingham northern relief road will be controlled by companies associated with the Kvaerner and Autostrada Groups. The work to be subcontracted will be specified at a later stage.
Dr. Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what forecasts his Department has made of the effect of the Birmingham northern relief road on the percentage change in traffic levels on motorways in the west midlands. [12258]
Dr. Strang:
The Birmingham northern relief road will provide a high-quality free-flowing route for through traffic to bypass the very heavily congested section of the M6 between junctions 4 and 11. The M6 will remain a high-standard route through the west midlands conurbation and is expected to be used to the full extent of its available capacity. Removal of through traffic from the M6 will enable traffic from lower standard local roads and trunk roads to use the M6, thereby easing traffic flows on those routes. As a consequence, M6 traffic levels are not forecast to reduce to a significant extent.
Dr. Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for the environment, Transport and the Regions if he will publish the details of the penalty clause in the contract between the Government and Midland Expressway Ltd. in relation to the Birmingham northern relief road, including the compensation which would be payable (a) to Midland Expressway Ltd. and (b) to other parties and subcontractors if the Birmingham northern relief road did not go ahead. [12255]
Dr. Strang:
The BNRR concession agreement includes a number of detailed provisions for compensation payable by either party if the agreement is terminated under various possible circumstances. Under those provisions, the risk that the public inquiry outcome did not allow the scheme to proceed rests wholly with the concessionaire.
I will write to my hon. Friend with further details on this matter.
Mr. Chidgey:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will place in the Library a copy of the concession agreement covering the Birmingham northern relief road. [12229]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
I will arrange for a copy of the concession statement that was put before the public inquiry to be placed in the Library, and will consider further with the concessionaire what further material can be provided.
Dr. Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will issue planning guidance to restrict development along the Birmingham northern relief road corridor. [12261]
Angela Eagle:
Any proposals for such development would be assessed against existing planning policy guidance and policies in regional planning guidance and development plans. In particular, local planning authorities would need to assess any proposals along most of the length of the relief road against the policies in
31 Jul 1997 : Column: 530
planning policy guidance note 2 on green belts. PPG2 maintains the presumption against inappropriate development within green belts and requires very special circumstances to justify inappropriate development.
Define a minimum quality of service threshold when we assess bids.
Contracts will not be awarded if a supplier fails to reach this threshold.
Place greater emphasis on evaluation of suppliers' management of staff transfers.
Provide guidance to potential and current suppliers to make clear what we consider to be good employment practice.
Strengthen contract monitoring to assess suppliers' performance including quality of service, management of people, cost efficiency, evaluation and feedback on performance.
The Minister for Transport in London has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the improvements to the A406 at Sterling Way and Fore Street.
The contract to improve this part of the A406 is expected to be completed by late Spring of 1998. However, the completion of the underpass which will take the A406 under the existing Fore Street junction and Railtrack's Silver Street Station, should be completed 2 to 3 months prior to the completion of the full contract.
The delays have mainly been caused by the contractor encountering unexpected ground conditions during piling operations. The contractor is reducing the effect by increasing his resources and reviewing his construction methods. There are no plans to accelerate the main works to achieve an earlier completion date, because it would be costly. The Contractor is already working 7am to 7pm and extending those hours would create unacceptable disturbance. Other constraints on the sequence of work are imposed by lane closures and fitting out the tunnel.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question concerning the number of complaints received by the Vehicle Inspectorate's Smoky Vehicle Hotline in each of the last 5 years; and how many prosecutions have resulted from complaints in each year.
The total number of reports received via the Hotline for each of the past 5 years is as follows:
1992/93: 2,481
1993/94: 2,887
1994/95: 8,113
1995/96: 16,304
1996/97: 11,622
We do not have details of the number of prosecutions arising from these reports. Vehicle operators are initially asked to supply written evidence that the vehicle reported on complies with emissions limits. In cases where there is evidence of non-compliance, details are added to the maintenance data held on the vehicle operator (which includes previous Hotline reports). The information is used by the Inspectorate on a cumulative basis to target enforcement action against operators with apparent unsatisfactory maintenance standards. Follow-up action may result in prosecutions and/or action by Traffic Commissioners against a vehicle operators' licence.
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