| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS
Trunk Roads
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the trunk roads in England and Wales which have junctions less than two km apart where there is a 70 mph speed limit. [66846]
Ms Glenda Jackson [holding answer 21 January 1999]: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Local Government Finance (Westminster and
Kensington)
Ms Buck:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the (a) grants and (b) other financial support given by his Department to (i) Westminster City Council and (ii) the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, other than
15 Feb 1999 : Column: 431
through the RSG settlement, in (1) 1997-98, (2) 1998-99 and (3) planned for 1999-2000; and for what purposes the funds were allocated. [70155]
15 Feb 1999 : Column: 432
Ms Armstrong:
The information requested is given in the following table.
| 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westminster | Kensington and Chelsea | Westminster | Kensington and Chelsea | Westminster | Kensington and Chelsea | |
| Grants | ||||||
| PFI special grant(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 482 | 0 |
| Single Regeneration Budget(2) | 417 | 472 | 1,468 | 1,412 | 1,249 | 1,161 |
| Estate Action(3) | 9,000 | 0 | 5,860 | 0 | 2,301 | 0 |
| City Challenge(4) | 0 | 6,584 | 0 | 65 | 0 | 0 |
| Home Improvement Agency Grant(5) | 0 | 47 | 0 | 47 | 0 | (19)-- |
| Private Sector Renewal(6) | 632 | 768 | 564 | 780 | 675 | 780 |
| Disabled Facilities Grant(7) | 28 | 71 | 66 | 60 | 90 | 60 |
| Other Financial Support | ||||||
| Basic Credit Approvals (BCAs)(8) | 2,789 | 5,757 | 3,256 | 4,181 | 4,479 | 5,447 |
| Capital Challenge BCAs(9) | 0 | 0 | 1,220 | 0 | 1,792 | 0 |
| Capital Challenge Supplementary Credit Approval(10) | 150 | 0 | 400 | 0 | 448 | 0 |
| Cash Incentive Scheme(11) | 1,029 | 600 | 950 | 233 | 0 | 0 |
| NDR Cost of collection allowance(12) | 2,330 | 564 | 2,316 | 548 | 2,412 | 573 |
| Capital Receipts Initiative(13) | 2,039 | 1,095 | 6,618 | 3,959 | 7,176 | 4,319 |
| Housing Revenue Account Subsidy(14) | 38,273 | 22,489 | 36,300 | 22,126 | (19)-- | (19)-- |
| Air Quality Supplementary Credit Approvals(15) | 0 | 21 | 0 | 36 | (19)-- | (19)-- |
| Transport Policies and Programme(16),(17) | 5,270 | 2,218 | 3,094 | 2,142 | (18)18,477 | 1,685 |
(1) Revenue support in respect of contracts let under the Private Finance Initiative.
(2) Grant to support regeneration initiatives carried out by local partnerships.
(3) Aims to transform estates by providing additional resources for local authorities to implement regeneration schemes.
(4) Grant to local authority-led partnerships to regenerate disadvantaged urban areas.
(5) Grant paid to local authorities towards the costs of home improvement agencies.
(6) Includes house renovation grants, group repairs and slum clearance.
(7) Grant towards the cost of adaptations to the dwellings of disabled people living in private dwellings.
(8) The amount of capital expenditure which an authority can finance by borrowing (or other forms of credit) is effectively limited by the credit approvals issued to it. Basic Credit Approvals (BCAs) can be used for any capital purpose.
(9), (10) Basic Credit Approvals and Supplementary Credit Approvals (used for specific capital projects) awarded under the Capital Challenge pilot scheme in a cross-cutting government initiative where local authorities were invited to identify and bid for their own local priorities across the full range of services.
(11) Supplementary Credit Approvals to support Cash Incentive Scheme grants to enable tenants to leave their Council home and buy in the private sector.
(12) The cost of collection allowance is in respect of the cost to local authorities of collecting the national business rate.
(13) Supplementary Credit Approvals allocated in respect of specific housing or housing related regeneration works.
(14) A specific subsidy regime to help local authorities meet council housing expenditure, including the cost of housing benefit for council tenants (rent rebates).
(15) To assist capital expenditure on statutory duties for air quality management under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995.
(16) To provide support towards expenditure on the construction and improvement of local roads, structural maintenance of bridges and carriageways, local safety schemes, London-wide bus and cycle priority networks and other schemes.
(17) Major schemes and principal carriageway works are supported by 50 per cent. grant and 50 per cent. credit approval. Remainder are entirely supported by credit approvals,
(18) Westminster is the lead authority for bridge projects in London. The 1999-2000 figure for Westminster includes £16.7 million for bridge strengthening, most of which will be redistributed to other London authorities during the coming financial year.
(19) Not yet agreed.
15 Feb 1999 : Column: 431
Missile Incidents (Roads and Railways)
Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many (a) incidents have been reported of missiles being thrown from bridge parapets onto (i) motorways, (ii) other roads and (iii) railways and (b) how many such incidents have resulted in (1) death, (2) serious injury and (3) slight injury, in each of the last five years. [70270]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
Records of the incidents of missiles being thrown from bridges on to motorways and trunk roads are not recorded specifically on the traffic accident forms completed by the police. Therefore a statistical database is not available to provide the
15 Feb 1999 : Column: 432
information requested. The rate at which incidents involving serious injury occur on the roads for which the Highways Agency is responsible is thought to be up to three per annum in recent years according to the historic evidence of such incidents. None of these is believed to have resulted in fatalities. In some years there have been no reported injury accidents.
Other roads are the responsibility of individual highway authorities.
Records of the number of incidents where missiles have been specifically thrown from bridges on to the railway are not kept. However, since 1996-97 statistics of all incidents where the drivers' cab windows have been
15 Feb 1999 : Column: 433
damaged due to missiles being thrown (not specifically from bridges) have been reportable under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR). During 1996-97 the total number of incidents was 468, of which 408 were malicious; during 1997-98 the totals were 619 and 512 respectively. Figures for previous years were not kept.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what engineering measures he proposes to protect the travelling public from missiles being thrown from parapets of bridges over (a) motorways, (b) other roads and (c) railways. [70272]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The Departmental standard for the design of highway bridge parapets requires that they are 1.2 m high on road bridges over other roads and 1.5 m high on road bridges over railways. Parapets on bridges over railways are normally clad with a close mesh or steel panelling. Missiles thrown from bridges are usually isolated incidences that it is impossible to prevent completely.
Where there is a repeated problem at a particular location then local measures such as raising the parapet height and using a solid infill to the parapet may help. The provision of CCTV cameras and police patrols may also be used in addition to these engineering measures.
The Health and Safety Executive has published "Railway Safety Principles and Guidance" for the promoters of new railways of bridges which gives specific guidance on the height of bridge parapets. The guidance also states:
With regard existing bridges, many may not meet these guidelines. In such cases, the Health and Safety Executive would expect railway infrastructure owners to assess each bridge on its own merits, and, where a problem with vandalism may exist, take reasonable practicable measures to help prevent such incidents from occurring.
"Where vandalism may be a problem, Parapets at least 1.8 m high or a totally enclosed structure may be necessary".
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |