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Funerals
Mr. Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what discussions his Department has held with (a) the Confederation of Burying Authorities and (b) the National Association of Memorial Masons regarding changes to legislation affecting funeral arrangements; [71502]
- (2) when he proposes to reply to the letter from the National Association of Memorial Masons sent to him last November. [71503]
Mr. Raynsford: No discussions have yet been held. But my Department will discuss with both the Federation of Burying Authorities and the National Association of Memorial Masons the suggested legislation. I have now written to the National Association of Memorial Masons confirming the assurances which they received from my Department in December that they would be included in the discussions.
Norwegian Aviation Tax
Mr. Dafis:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if agreement has been reached with the Norwegian Government concerning the liability of British airlines to pay Norwegian aviation tax; and if he will make a statement. [70940]
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Ms Glenda Jackson:
The Government believe that the tax on aviation fuel, introduced by Norway on 1 January 1999, is in breach of the UK/Norway Air Services Agreement, signed in Oslo on 26 January 1979, which exempts aviation fuel for international flights from tax. Officials wrote to the Norwegian authorities on 4 January drawing attention to this apparent breach and asking them to rescind the tax. I understand that the Norwegian Government are currently reviewing the position, in the light of this and other similar representations received.
In principle, the Government are in favour of an aviation fuel tax, but we believe this should be agreed at international level. Action by individual states or by groups of states would infringe existing international agreements, distort airline competition and could have environmental disbenefits.
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to review the eligibility criteria for rebate of fuel duty in respect of bus services. [71739]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The eligibility criteria for fuel duty rebate are reviewed from time to time.
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received urging him to include bus services within the fuel duty rebate where they are specifically designed to convey pupils to school. [71740]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
We have received very few representations on this matter. Bus services specifically designed to convey only pupils to school, rather than the general public, are not eligible for fuel duty rebate. However, services provided or secured by a local education authority are eligible for rebate providing that seats on the vehicles concerned are normally available to members of the general public and are regularly used by them.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will estimate the average annual fuel bill for (a) privately owned motor vehicles, (b) company cars and (c) commercial vans and lorries. [71665]
Dr. Reid:
I regret that information has not been published in the form requested, although related information on the use of vehicles and expenditure is available from a number of published sources.
Information on the relative mileage of company and private cars is available from the national Travel Survey, and published in "Focus on Personal Travel", 1998 edition. The most recent estimates are that private cars average 8.3 thousand miles per year compared to company cars' 22.6 thousand. However, on average only 11.4 thousand of that mileage is for business purposes, the remainder being for private purposes.
Information on average mileage and fuel consumption estimates are published in The Transport of Goods by Road for heavy goods vehicles, and in The Survey of
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Small Commercial Vehicles for smaller vans and lorries. Information on expenditure on private motoring is available from the Family Expenditure Survey.
However, I will undertake to use the relevant sources to provide estimates in the form requested and write to the Hon. Member. I will arrange for copies of the letter to be placed in the House of Commons Library.
Mr. Coaker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he will announce the Government's decision on the status and future of British Waterways. [71947]
Mr. Meale:
An announcement on the future for British Waterways will be made on Thursday 18 February. Copies of all the relevant documents will be placed in the Library of the House on that day.
Dr. David Clark:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what progress has been made in assessing the impact of raptor numbers on game bird and racing pigeon interests; and what future work is planned. [71948]
Mr. Meale:
In an answer to a Parliamentary Question on 14 January 1998, Official Report, column 229, my predecessor reported on the work of the Raptor Working Group which was set up in 1995 to investigate this matter.
In the last 12 months, the Group has taken forward the programme of work outlined in the Parliamentary Answer. It has concentrated on formulating possible solutions to the conflicts arising between certain birds of prey and game and pigeon interests. The Group submitted an interim report to Ministers in November 1998.
The Working Group intends to complete this year its programme of work which will include the following:
Mr. Alan Johnson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the Government's ports policy. [71995]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The Government look to the ports industry to play an important role in the development of their integrated transport policy. This will involve the promotion of environmental sustainable transport and the regeneration of local communities in which ports have traditionally made a contribution.
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We believe that all ports should be publicly accountable for their statutory powers and duties. Accountability must become a much more open process than at present, and shared with all stakeholders, not just users.
Safety cannot be left to chance. Lives and property must be protected. So, too, must port environments because many port facilities are close to important and sensitive habitats. There must be a more considered approach to port safety if acceptable standards are to be achieved throughout the industry.
We must ensure that trust ports fulfil their obligations to all the interests entrusted to them. A separate consultation paper has been issued on these proposals and responses are now being considered. The Government believe, however, that trust port status confers special obligations on these ports to operate openly and with full regard to the interests of their local communities. Without open accountability, it is not clear how fully this is achieved; the evidence suggests that in many cases it is not.
The Department is preparing a comprehensive ports policy paper and an invitation to comment has been released today. I have placed a copy of the consultation document in the Library.
Mr. Ian Stewart:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he will publish the draft revision of Planning Policy Guidance Note 12 on development plans. [72141]
Mr. Caborn:
I am pleased to announce the publication tomorrow of a fully revised public consultation draft of PPG12 on Development Plans.
Copies will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Peter Bradley:
To ask the Attorney-General what changes he proposes for the Crown Prosecution Service's cash and running cost limits for 1998-99. [71998]
The Attorney-General:
Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for Class VIII Vote 4 will be increased by £1,007,000 from £228,926,000 to £229,933,000 and the gross running costs limit for Class VIII Vote 4 will be increased by £1,007,000 from £220,920,000 to £221,927,000.
The cash limit increase of £1,007,000 consists of an increase of £1,300,000 and a decrease of £293,000. The increase is required to fund the early departure costs of senior lawyers who are leaving the CPS on structural grounds as a result of implementing the move to a new 42 Area structure. The decrease results from the need to transfer £227,000 to the Treasury Solicitor's Department in respect of the balance of the cost of the Glidewell review and a transfer of £66,000 to the Home Office, which represents a CPS contribution towards the cost of Integrating Business and Information Systems in the Criminal Justice system (IBIS) initiative. The increases
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will be offset by transfers and a change to the Reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
to consider the results and implications of the 1998 national survey of hen harriers; assess the results and implications of the research on raptor predation of red grouse as influenced by moorland management practices; review the findings of the Langholm management trial; assess the results of the research on interactions between racing pigeons and birds of prey and consider practical mechanisms for the resolution of any problem in this area; review outputs from Scottish Natural Heritage's Moorland Working Group and other fora; consider means to assess why illegal killing of birds is still prevalent.
It will then produce a final report and recommendations to Ministers in late 1999.
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