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Railway Board Staff
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many staff employed by the successor companies of the British Railways Board have been made redundant during each of the last three years. [65188]
Ms Glenda Jackson: The information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Best Value
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received as a result of the consultation on best value from (a) local authorities, (b) contractors to local authorities, (c) trade unions and (d) others; if he will make a statement in respect of representations made by each of the above categories; and if he will place a copy of the representations received in the Library. [65246]
Mr. Raynsford:
The consultation paper "Modernising local government--Improving services through best value" published on 3 March 1998 received 547 responses. A full list of those responding was placed in the House of Commons Library in July (refDEP 98/850), and the individual responses in the DETR Library. A summary of
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the responses can be found on the Internet at: http://www/local.detr.gov.uk., and I have sent a paper copy to the hon. Member.
Of those responding, 404 were from local authorities; 9 from contractors; 3 from trade unions; and 131 from others including professional bodies. The responses demonstrated widespread support for our best value proposals.
A number of comments were also received following publication of the White Paper "Modern local government: In touch with the People" published on 30 July 1998 which included proposals on best value which were subsequently reflected in the Local Government Bill now before the House. These confirmed the broad range of support for best value from local authorities, the trade unions, and the private sector.
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Mr. Jenkin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what involvement private contractors have in the ongoing pilot schemes for the local authority best value programme; if he will list the contractors concerned; and if he will make a statement. [65247]
Mr. Raynsford:
The involvement of the private sector in the Best Value pilot programme takes a number of different forms and is one of the factors being evaluated by the Warwick Business School in the two year monitoring programme to be completed in the spring of 2000.
The private sector is more directly involved in the Best Value Partnership Network scheme announced in September 1998. Four involve private sector partners, two are led by the private sector, one by a professional body; and three by local authorities. The table lists the private contractors involved in each of these pilots.
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| Network | Private sector partners |
|---|---|
| ICE Best Value Taskforce | Led by the Institution of Civil Engineers |
| The main objective of the Taskforce is to draw on expertise in the private and public sectors to create a 'Definitive Guide to Best Practice in Advancing Best Value in the Built Environment' | Amey Facilities Management Babtie Brophy Grounds Maintenance |
| Brown and Root | |
| Buro Happolds | |
| Halcrow | |
| JDM Midlands Ltd. | |
| John Doyle Group | |
| Mills & Reeve | |
| Mott Macdonald Group | |
| Mouchel Consulting Ltd. | |
| Parkman | |
| Pell Frischmann Consulting Engineers | |
| Ringway Highways Services Ltd. | |
| Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick | |
| Tarmac Heavy Building Materials | |
| Thorburn Colqhoun | |
| TPS Consult | |
| WS Atkins | |
| Public Sector Plc. | Led by BV Strategies |
| The network will consider specific local authority projects to consider public private partnership options | Suppliers (private companies) Bull Information Systems |
| Onyx UK | |
| David Cross Leisure | |
| Manpower | |
| Thames Water Brophy | |
| Xerox | |
| Bank of Scotland | |
| Quintain | |
| Amec | |
| Associated Holdings Ltd. | |
| Professional and Advisory Group (private companies) | |
| Anthony Collins Solicitors | |
| KPMG | |
| Chelgate | |
| ABROS | |
| The Centre | |
| SCOTIA | |
| Payroll Partnership Network | Led by Bristol City Council, Bath and North East Somerset Council and South Gloucestershire Council |
| The proposal is to create a Partnership Network with a private sector partner to secure best value in the operation of a combined payroll service | KPMG |
| The Hub | Led by Barony Consulting and ICL |
| The network plan to establish Local Franchise Partnerships with local authorities. One of the areas they will focus on is Housing Benefit | Barony Consulting Ltd. ICL |
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Two additional networks are led by local authorities. The 'Crossing the Boundaries' network currently consists of five authorities in the West Midlands who are exploring cross boundary collaboration between trading standards departments. The 'North Yorkshire Audit Partnership' consists of three local authorities who are working in partnership for the provision of Internal Audit services through a consortiums approach.
Integrated Transport Commission
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what powers he proposes to use in order to establish the proposed integrated transport commission; how many people he proposes to appoint to such a body; what interests will be represented; how he will make appointments to the body; when he proposes that it should first meet; and if he will make a statement. [65244]
Ms Glenda Jackson: The establishment of the Commission for Integrated Transport was announced in the White Paper, 'A New Deal for Transport' (Cm 3950). It will be a non-statutory, non-Departmental public body that will provide independent advice to Government on the progress of integrated transport policy. It will comprise up to 15 members, including a Chair and Vice-Chair, who will all be selected in accordance with guidance from the Commissioner for Public Appointments; the two senior posts have already been advertised in the national press. All the appointments will be made on merit, with members selected on the basis of their knowledge of and expertise from sectors affected by transport policy and its impacts. We expect the Commission to meet shortly after these appointments have been made.
Bus Priority Schemes (Gloucestershire)
Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what allocations his Department has made for bus priority schemes in Gloucestershire for each of the last five years for which figures are available. [64828]
Ms Glenda Jackson: This department does not provide specific funds for bus priority measures. As part of the annual local transport capital settlements, local highway authorities in Gloucestershire were allocated the following capital resources which could have been used on bus priority measures:
| Year | £000 |
|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 580 |
| 1996-97 | 1,614 |
| 1997-98 | 600 |
| 1998-99 | 700 |
| 1999-2000 | 1,925 |
Disabled Parking Spaces
Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what national guidelines are issued by his Department for the proper identification of disabled parking spaces. [64976]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The signs and road markings used to identify on-street spaces reserved for disabled badge holders are prescribed in the Traffic Signs Regulations and
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General Directions 1994 (SI 1994 No. 1519). There is no legislation covering the signing of spaces in off-street car parks, but the then Department of Transport published an advisory leaflet in 1995 which covered parking both on and off-street. TAL 5/95 is still available without charge from my Department's Mobility Unit.
Mr. Nigel Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent research his Department has carried out into the commercial viability of re-opening former railway formations for public use; and what plans the Government have to carry out an audit into the potential for such schemes. [64915]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
It is the responsibility of individual local planning authorities to promote the re-opening of railway lines and stations when considering their future public transport needs. However, in view of the importance of ensuring that sites which have potential for transport use are identified, the British Railways Board has carried out an audit of its remaining sites.
Mr. Nigel Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many prosecutions for damage to sites of special scientific interest have been started under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [64827]
| Year | Number of prosecutions |
|---|---|
| 1994 | 0 |
| 1995 | 0 |
| 1996 | 2 |
| 1997 | 1 |
| 1998 | 1 |
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