House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 14 Dec 1998 (pt 3)

Dual Carriageways (Traffic Levels)

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions which two-lane dual carriageways in England, not of motorway standard, currently carry the highest levels of road traffic. [63532]

Ms Glenda Jackson: In 1997 the highest level of road traffic on non-motorway, two lane dual carriageways, in England, recorded as an Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) flow was 84,000 vehicles on the A1. From readily available records, the ten busiest sections are listed. Lengths of two lane dual carriageway less than 2.5km, which predominantly occur in Urban areas, have been excluded:

Road Location Road class AADT

A1 Gateshead Western By-pass Trunk 84,000

A1 Newcastle Western By-pass Trunk 79,000

A27 Havant-Chichester Trunk 75,000

A127 M25-Southend Principal 72,000

A45 M1-Northampton Principal 71,000

A66 Darlington-Middlesborough Principal 67,000

A14 Hungtingdon-Cambridge Trunk 66,000

A23 Brighton-Crawley Trunk 65,000

A312 Hayes By-pass Principal 61,000

A34 Oxford-Abingdon Trunk 61,000

Road	Location	Road class	AADT
A1	Gateshead Western By-pass	Trunk	84,000
A1	Newcastle Western By-pass	Trunk	79,000
A27	Havant-Chichester	Trunk	75,000
A127	M25-Southend	Principal	72,000
A45	M1-Northampton	Principal	71,000
A66	Darlington-Middlesborough	Principal	67,000
A14	Hungtingdon-Cambridge	Trunk	66,000
A23	Brighton-Crawley	Trunk	65,000
A312	Hayes By-pass	Principal	61,000
A34	Oxford-Abingdon	Trunk	61,000

Public Refuse Incinerators

Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities regarding the siting of public refuse incinerators. [63410]

Mr. Raynsford: Government guidance on the siting of incinerators is included in Planning Policy Guidance note 23 "Planning and Pollution Control". This will be updated soon when Planning Policy Guidance note 10 "Planning and Waste Management" is published. the Department also issued a guidance note to local authorities in August, 1997, on the provision of incinerators in connection with the slaughter of cattle under the "Over Thirty Months Scheme".

Rail Services (Punctuality)

Dr. Marek: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list for each train operating company the number of days in the last 12 months which the company excluded from its calculation of punctuality statistics on the ground that there was no effective service. [63419]

Ms Glenda Jackson: No days are excluded from the OPRAF incentive schemes on the grounds of failure to provide an effective service. Neither are days taken out of the OPRAF contractual enforcement regime governing the relationship with operators on these grounds.

However, the Passengers Charter allows for days to be declared "Void" in a particular Charter Group if no effective service is provided on a particular day. If this happens, season tickets of one month or more will be extended or similar compensation arranged. The OPRAF Bulletin includes punctuality statistics based on the Passenger Charter and from the next edition will include

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details of the number of void days. Currently void days are generally listed at stations on the Charter Performance Posters.

For the 12 months up to the end of Period 8 (14 November) the following days have been declared void.

Total

Anglia Railways

Mainline 5

Felixstowe 1

Cardiff Railway 17

Central Trains

East Midlands 16

Inter-Urban 16

Mid Wales and Marches 16

Virgin Cross Country 28

Gatwick Express 11

Great Eastern 1

Great North Eastern Railway 5

Great Western Trains 27

Midland Mainline 6

North Western Trains (Inter-Urban only) 1

Silverlink (still subject to confirmation)

County 20

Metro NLL 11

Metro Watford 8

South West Trains

Main Line 6

Suburban 4

Thameslink 2

Wales and West

Cornwall 2

Devon 2

South Cotswolds 2

West and Central Wales 2

Western Express 2

Avon 2

Virgin West Coast

West Midlands 36

North West 37

Scotland 47

	Total
Anglia Railways
Mainline	5
Felixstowe	1
Cardiff Railway	17
Central Trains
East Midlands	16
Inter-Urban	16
Mid Wales and Marches	16
Virgin Cross Country	28
Gatwick Express	11
Great Eastern	1
Great North Eastern Railway	5
Great Western Trains	27
Midland Mainline	6
North Western Trains (Inter-Urban only)	1
Silverlink (still subject to confirmation)
County	20
Metro NLL	11
Metro Watford	8
South West Trains
Main Line	6
Suburban	4
Thameslink	2
Wales and West
Cornwall	2
Devon	2
South Cotswolds	2
West and Central Wales	2
Western Express	2
Avon	2
Virgin West Coast
West Midlands	36
North West	37
Scotland	47

Notes:

Italic Type--Operator

Normal Type--Service Group

Local Authority Housing

(Resource Accounting)

Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he expects to consult on the introduction of resource accounting for local authority housing. [64079]

Ms Armstrong: We will be publishing a consultation paper "A New Financial Framework for Local Authority Housing: Resource Accounting in the Housing Revenue Account" on 15 December, allowing until 19 March for comments. The statement on Housing and Regeneration Policy following the Comprehensive Spending Review, on 21 July 1998, Official Report, column 468, made clear our intention that local authorities should take a more business-like approach to managing their housing. Local authority housing is a valuable asset. Introducing new-style housing revenue accounts based on a form of resource accounting is one of a number of proposals, including our plans to introduce a Best Value regime for local authorities, to modernise the approach to housing management and encourage greater tenant involvement.

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The proposed new financial framework will show clearly the value of housing, the expenditure needed to maintain it and the subsidy required to keep rents below market levels.

Countryside (Public Access)

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will place copies of the responses to his consultation document on Access to the Open Countryside in England and Wales in the Library. [63784]

Mr. Meacher: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for South Suffolk (Mr. Yeo) on 27 October 1998, Official Report, column 103.

Rail Passengers (Illness)

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many incidents of passengers being taken seriously ill on train journeys have occurred in each of the past five years. [63810]

Ms Glenda Jackson: The information requested is not collected by train operating companies.

Sellafield

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on his plans for further public consultation on the application by BNFL to operate its MOX plant at Sellafield. [63904]

Mr. Meale: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment on 3 November 1998, Official Report, column 454.

Oil Production (Safety)

Mr. Dafis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the relative risk of oil spillage from a production and distribution system using (a) floating production storage and offloading facilities and tankers to transport oil and (b) fixed production platforms and pipelines. [63087]

Mr. Battle: I have been asked to reply.

The Licensing conditions and the Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation Convention) Regulations which were implemented earlier this year require a risk-based assessment to be made of each offshore production facility prior to production taking place.

Mr. Dafis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions in what ways the emergency infrastructure is being modified to deal with a potential pollution incident in the Atlantic Frontier Region following the granting of licences for oil production there. [63053]

Mr. Battle: I have been asked to reply.

The Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation Convention) Regulations implemented in May this year require a risk-based

14 Dec 1998 : Column: 318

assessment of any potential pollution incident before the operation can be carried out, regardless of where the operation is taking place.

Regional Development Agencies

Mr. McNulty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he will make an announcement about the membership of the boards of the regional development agencies. [64082]

Mr. Prescott: The board members of the eight Regional Development Agencies outside London will be as follows:

Eastern RDA

Vincent Watts (Chairman)

Sal Brinton

Alan Cherry

Peter Dawe

Greg Grant

Ken Lewis

Peter Martin

Chris Mole

Richard Powell

Neville Reyner