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Ministerial Visits
Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the occasions on which he and Ministers in his Department have undertaken overseas visits in the course of their ministerial duties since 1997; and if he will give details of the purpose and duration of each visit. [67746]
Mr. Straw
[pursuant to his reply, 28 January 1999, c. 361-64]: On closer examination, the list provided contained three inaccuracies. The correct list of Home Office Ministerial visits overseas between 2 May 1997 and 25 January 1999 is now given in the table:
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Planning
14. Mr. Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on his plans for the reform of the planning system. [68277]
Mr. Caborn:
The statement "Modernising Planning", published in January 1998, set out a comprehensive agenda for action to improve the operation of the planning system at European, national, regional and local levels. Following consultation, changes are now being implemented. I propose to publish a report on progress shortly.
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15. Mr. Gapes:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what action the Government are taking to improve the quality of urban design. [68278]
Mr. Caborn:
The Government take every opportunity to encourage higher standards of urban design and will be considering what further measures might be appropriate when the Urban Task Force reports in the early Summer. In the meantime, the Government are encouraging good design by publishing good practice guidance, including: "Places, Streets and Movement", a companion guide to "Design Bulletin 32", published last autumn, which aims to improve the design of housing layouts; and a more general "Good Practice Guide on Design in the Planning
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System", which we expect to publish in the Spring. In addition, design competitions were held for the Millennium Villages in Greenwich and Allerton Bywater, which demonstrate the Government's commitment to encouraging better quality development.
16. Ms Osborne:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he is taking to promote air freight trade at regional airports. [68279]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
In "A New Deal for Transport", the Government said that they would encourage the growth of regional airports to meet local demand. This applies to both passenger and cargo traffic. My Department has just commissioned a study to improve our knowledge of the UK freight industry and the ways in which Government action could support it.
18. Jackie Ballard:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on his plans to cap local authority budgets in 1999-2000. [68281]
Ms Armstrong:
As promised in our Manifesto we have abolished crude and universal capping. We will decide whether there is any need to use our capping powers once authorities have set their budgets.
19. Jane Griffiths:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the proposal by a consortium of local authorities, led by the Corporation of London, to achieve a private finance initiative for the Crossrail project. [68282]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
Representatives of the Corporation of London told my officials last summer that there is interest in the City in investing in Crossrail. My officials asked the Corporation to invite those willing to invest in the project to approach the Department. We have heard nothing about this since.
20. Mr. Jenkins:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact of re-routing traffic from the M6 and M42 to the Birmingham northern relief road. [68283]
Dr. Reid:
Assessments of the impacts of the Birmingham Northern Relief Road are set out in the Department's Evidence and Environmental Impact Assessment Statement presented to Public Inquiries held into the proposals during 1994 and 1995.
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