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Legal Services

Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list (a) the London barristers' chambers and (b) the London solicitors' firms that have performed services for his Department (i) since 1 May 1997 and (ii) in the equivalent period preceding that date, indicating the remuneration paid in each particular case. [70029]

Mr. Meale [holding answer 8 February 1999]: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

My right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General appointed Philip Sales as First Junior Treasury Counsel (Common Law) and Jonathan Crow as First Junior Treasury Counsel (Chancery) to advise and represent the government in their important civil cases. In addition, the Attorney-General maintains at present two London panels of junior Counsel whom departments are expected to use for the rest of the government's civil litigation. The panels currently comprise 103 barristers from 42 different sets of chambers. The Attorney-General will shortly appoint a

15 Feb 1999 : Column: 434

third panel of very junior barristers. The Attorney-General's individual nomination is required before a barrister who is not on one of the approved panels can be instructed to appear for the government in litigation.

Departments may use firms of solicitors in addition to the Treasury Solicitor and their departmental legal advisers, for example, where the relevant expertise lies in the private sector. The relationship is subject to the usual confidentiality which operates between lawyer and client.

Water Provision Agreements

Mr. Opik: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has further to regulate water authorities in relation to the renegotiation of historic water provision agreements; and if he will make a statement. [70332]

Mr. Meale: The Government have no proposals affecting the provision of water and sewerage services under historic agreements. The Water Industry Bill, currently before Parliament, does not affect such agreements.

The terms, enforcement and renegotiation of any existing agreements entered into between undertakers and customers are matters between the parties.

Trains (Bicycles)

Mr. Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what powers he has to require train operating companies to make provision for the carriage of bicycles. [70536]

Ms Glenda Jackson: Existing franchises include a clause requiring Train Operators to provide, where practical, for the transport of bicycles on trains at reasonable charges (if any). The Objectives, Instructions and Guidance we issued to the Franchising Director in November 1997 (a copy is in the House Library) require him to discuss the provision of facilities for bicycles when operators are planning to order new rolling stock.

Trains (Eastern Timetables)

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what discussions he has held with the train operating companies on their preparation of the Easter timetables; and when he expects the full Easter timetable for each of the rail companies to be available. [70384]

Ms Glenda Jackson: Accurate and timely timetable information is essential to encouraging greater use of the rail network. I look to Railtrack and train operators to ensure that information about Easter 1999 services is made available to the public accordingly in a timely and accurate manner. The Rail Regulator has recently published proposals to amend train operators' and Railtrack's licences to place an enforceable obligation on them to ensure passengers receive timely and accurate timetable information. Failure to comply could then result in enforcement action.

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Millennium Contingency Measures

Mr. Fearn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what contingency measures his Department is planning for the first week of 2000 to meet any technical problems caused by the millennium bug in terms of (a) specialist advice and (b) staff overtime. [70595]

Mr. Meale: The Department and its Agencies have prepared outline Business Continuity Plans for the period up to and beyond the century date change. Detailed consideration of specific issues will be undertaken over the next few months.

Council Tax Benefit Subsidy

Mr. Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 4 February 1999, Official Report, column 716, on council tax benefit subsidy, if he will calculate the information requested using information on an authority 1998-99 taxbase and summarised by class of authority and by grouping with authorities with similar levels of benefit dependency. [70540]

Ms Armstrong: I do not expect authorities to spend above their guideline, but I have today placed in the Library of the House tables showing the reduction in council tax benefit subsidy on the assumptions specified, expressed both in cash and as a proportion of the authority's yield from council tax for standard spending. The tables also give the budgeted proportion of council tax yield accounted for by council tax benefit in 1998-99, and the data are provided in electronic form to enable any desired grouping of authorities.

School Transport (Staffordshire)

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what evidence the School Travel Advisory Group has received from Staffordshire County Council concerning its provision of school bus transport and the impact on school transport safety for children. [70538]

Ms Glenda Jackson: I am not aware that the School Travel Advisory Group has received evidence from Staffordshire County Council. The group's work will involve the collection of information and advice from a wide range of sources and I am sure that it would welcome evidence from Staffordshire County Council.

Cars (Crash Testing)

Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on progress in (a) developing offset crash testing of cars and (b) agreeing the appropriate height for side crash testing. [70929]

Ms Glenda Jackson: Both an offset frontal crash test and a side crash test with an appropriate barrier height have been agreed as part of the new EC Directives on

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frontal and side impact (96/79/EC and 96/27/EC), which took effect on 1 October 1998. These Directives represent a useful improvement over the original Commission proposals. Various aspects of the Directives are to be reviewed by 1 October 2000. We have commissioned new research to identify possible future development so that the UK can make an effective contribution to the review.

Homelessness

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will estimate the current number of people sleeping on the streets in (a) London, (b) the south east of England and (c) other major cities in England. [70724]

Mr. Raynsford: The most reliable method of establishing the number of people sleeping rough is by undertaking a night time head count. In 1996 my Department published guidance to local authorities on how to conduct head counts of people sleeping rough using a standard methodology developed in partnership with experts from the voluntary sector and local authorities. DETR officials have worked in conjunction with the voluntary sector to encourage areas which consider they have a rough sleeping problem to conduct counts. Since 1996 local authorities have provided details of street counts which have been undertaken in their area within the Housing Investment Programme (HIP) returns.

(a) London--Street counts in central London are co-ordinated by Homeless Network, the umbrella group representing homeless organisations in London, and have been undertaken on a regular basis since 1992. The most recent count in June 1998 found 373 people sleeping rough. Several other London boroughs have also undertaken counts, finding a total of 132 rough sleepers.

(b) South east of England--The following table provides details of rough sleeper counts undertaken in local authorities in south east England.

		Street count
Local Authority District	County	Date	Number
Slough	Berkshire	December 1997	12
Reading	Berkshire	November 1998	13
Windsor and Maidenhead	Berkshire	November 1997	3
Wycombe	Buckinghamshire	November 1997	2
Brighton and Hove	East Sussex	June 1996	44
Portsmouth	Hampshire	October 1997	21
Southampton	Hampshire	June 1998	22
Basingstoke and Deane	Hampshire	February 1998	5
Fareham	Hampshire	February 1998	13
Shepway	Kent	July 1996	3
Canterbury	Kent	June 1996	11
Oxford	Oxfordshire	July 1996	39
Guildford	Surrey	November 1997	8
Woking	Surrey	October 1997	7
Reigate and Banstead	Surrey	September 1995	0
Worthing	West Sussex	October 1997	5

Source:

DETR 1998 HIP Operational Information Form Section 1F

(c) Other areas in England--The table provides details of rough sleeper counts undertaken in other local authorities in England.

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		Street count
Local Authority District	County	Date	Number
Derby	Derbyshire	October 1997	2
Leicester	Leicestershire	June 1996	20
Northampton	Northamptonshire	September 1997	13
Nottingham	Nottinghamshire	July 1996	14
Luton	Bedfordshire	December 1997	5
Mid Bedfordshire	Bedfordshire	December 1997	1
Cambridge	Cambridgeshire	July 1997	30
Peterborough	Cambridgeshire	June 1997	2
Southend-on-Sea	Essex	1996	0
Colchester	Essex	December 1997	0
St. Albans	Hertfordshire	June 1998	3
East Hertfordshire	Hertfordshire	March 1998	6
Great Yarmouth	Norfolk	November 1997	13
Norwich	Norfolk	October 1997	19
Ipswich	Suffolk	December 1997	7
Liverpool	Merseyside	March 1998	17
South Tyneside	Tyne and Wear	June 1998	1
Newcastle upon Tyne	Tyne and Wear	March 1998	2
Sunderland	Tyne and Wear	February 1998	0
Manchester	Greater Manchester	July 1996	31
Oldham	Greater Manchester	July 1995	3
Tameside	Greater Manchester	February 1998	1
Bury	Greater Manchester	January 1998	12
Burnley	Lancashire	October 1997	0
Wyre	Lancashire	September 1997	6
Blackpool	Lancashire	July 1997	15
North Somerset	Avon	December 1997	1
Bath & North East Somerset	Avon	July 1996	12
Bristol	Avon	June 1998	42
Caradon	Cornwall	April 1998	3
Carrick	Cornwall	April 1998	3
Penwith	Cornwall	April 1998	17
Kerrier	Cornwall	March 1998	3
North Cornwall	Cornwall	March 1998	0
Restormel	Cornwall	March 1998	10
Mid Devon	Devon	October 1997	9
Plymouth	Devon	October 1997	13
Exeter	Devon	July 1997	27
Poole	Dorset	October 1997	4
Bournemouth	Dorset	August 1997	44
Weymouth and Portland	Dorset	May 1997	3
Cheltenham	Gloucestershire	December 1997	1
Gloucester	Gloucestershire	November 1997	16
Taunton Deane	Somerset	May 1997	1
Swindon	Wiltshire	December 1997	17
Worcester	Hereford and Worcester	1995	20
Redditch	Hereford and Worcester	March 1998	0
Newcastle-under-Lyme	Staffordshire	November 1997	0
Stoke-on-Trent	Staffordshire	November 1997	20
Warwick	Warwickshire	September 1997	3
Birmingham	West Midlands	November 1997	56
Kingston upon Hull	Humberside	November 1997	0
Hambleton	North Yorkshire	June 1997	0
Harrogate	North Yorkshire	March 1998	1
York	North Yorkshire	March 1998	12
Doncaster	South Yorkshire	September 1998	8
Barnsley	South Yorkshire	May 1998	0
Sheffield	South Yorkshire	April 1997	15
Leeds	West Yorkshire	October 1997	8
Bradford	West Yorkshire	September 1997	2
Wakefield	West Yorkshire	February 1996	8

Source:

DETR 1998 HIP Operational Information Form Section 1F

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will

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estimate the current number of young persons aged (a) 16 to 18 years and (b) 18 to 25 years in hostel accommodation in London. [70725]

Mr. Raynsford: This information is not held centrally. The London Hostels Directory produced by Resource Information Services (RIS) provides details of over 26,000 bed spaces in a wide variety of hostels, shared houses and flats and other accommodation schemes. Some of these hostel schemes have a maximum age limit of 30 or under. Many other hostels in London will accept single homeless people from 18 to 65 years of age.

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