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Landfill
Mr. Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the statutory status of the EU Landfill of Waste Common Position Paper 49/98 with regard to United Kingdom legislation. [75344]
Mr. Meale: The EU Landfill Directive is still being discussed at European Council and is in draft form. The Common Position paper [Common Position (EC) No 49/98] is the latest official version of the draft directive. As the Directive has not yet been adopted by the European Council, and has yet to enter into force in the European Union, it has no status in UK legislation.
Public Safety Zones
Ms Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he plans to issue guidance to local authorities on public safety zones. [75220]
Ms Glenda Jackson: The preparation of draft guidance is in hand. We hope to issue it for consultation in the Spring.
Rural Public Transport
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many new rural public transport routes have been created since 1997. [75501]
Ms Glenda Jackson: My Department does not collect detailed information on specific public transport routes.
We have distributed the greater part of England's share of the additional £50 million a year for rural public transport to local authorities in the form of the Rural Bus Subsidy Grant. Local authorities have used this money to let contracts for new services, either serving communities
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for the first time or enhancing existing routes, in accordance with the guidance which we issued to them. Many new services are now in operation.
My Department will be gathering information from local authorities in the coming weeks to assess systematically the impact of this year's Rural Bus Subsidy Grant.
We have also approved 46 bids, totalling £11.4 million, for grant under the Rural Bus Challenge competition to promote innovative local authority bus schemes in England, as well as making £4.2 million of the new money available each year for a Rural Transport Partnership scheme to reduce rural isolation and social exclusion by supporting community-based projects which enhance access to jobs and services.
Dr. Tony Wright:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the number of road accidents caused by drivers falling asleep. [75266]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
There is no national estimate of the number of accidents caused by drivers falling asleep. However, research has shown that tiredness is a principal factor in around 10 per cent. of all accidents. Accordingly, it is estimated that around 23,000-24,000 injury accidents a year result from driver fatigue.
Mr. Jenkin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he or his ministers have received any advance copy or draft or briefing on the contents of any select committee report before its due publication date and time; and if he will make a statement. [75766]
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if (a) he, (b) civil servants in his Department or (c) special advisers in his Department have (i) had sight of drafts of select committee reports, in whole or in part, or (ii) been informed of conclusions of select committee reports prior to their publication by the select committees. [75868]
Dr. Reid
[holding answer 9 March 1999]: I refer the right hon. and hon. Members to the answer given by the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Mr. Wilshire) on 1 March 1999, Official Report, column 531. There have been no instances of members of Select Committees giving me, or my ministerial colleagues, drafts of Select Committee reports, or of parts of reports including their conclusions, before publication. Nor, to the best of my knowledge, have there been any occasions on which members of Select Committees have given such material to civil servants or special advisers in my Department. This excludes embargoed copies of reports issued under House of Commons Standing Orders.
Mr. David Atkinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what contingency plans he has for making water available in the event of the interruption of supplies caused by the millennium non-compliance of computer systems in the water industry; and if he will make a statement. [76057]
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Mr. Meale:
In accordance with the Security and Emergency Measures Direction issued by my Department last year, all water and sewerage companies are required to have plans in place to deal with any emergency. The new plans are required to be independently certified and must be with the Department by 1 April. Water companies expect to complete the testing and any rectification of embedded IT systems by the end of July and they will also test and, if necessary, upgrade their contingency plans. The Director-General of Water Services is monitoring the water industry's progress in ensuring that potential millennium problems are minimised and he has appointed an independent assessor to check on the completion of the rectification work by water companies and the testing of their contingency plans. The assessor's report will be published by OFWAT in the summer.
Mr. Peter Atkinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list those of his appointees currently serving on national park authorities who have military backgrounds. [75569]
Mr. Meale:
We do not hold a comprehensive central record of the military service undertaken by Secretary of State appointees to the National Park Authorities; there is no specific requirement for candidates to list military service as part of the appointments process. I will undertake some inquiries and write to the hon. Member.
Ms Buck:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what action his Department is taking to follow up the proposal, in his July 1998 statement on housing and regeneration policy, for a single allocation to local housing authorities for capital investment in housing; and if he will make a statement. [76017]
Ms Armstrong:
In October, my Department issued a consultation paper on creating a single housing allocation for capital investment to local authorities, which followed up proposals contained in the Deputy Prime Minister's statement on housing and regeneration policy in July 1998. A single capital allocation for housing is part of the Government's agenda for modernising local government finance. It aims to give local authorities more discretion in deciding their capital programme for housing. The proposal will have some impact on distribution to authorities with high levels of capital receipts relative to need. Such authorities will be expected to make a greater contribution to capital investment in housing in their area from these resources. Authorities with greater need will receive more resources.
Most respondents to the consultation paper welcomed the main principle of our proposals. Some expressed concerns about the effect on the distribution of resources between local authorities, the possible impact on private sector renewal activity, and the timing of the change. I have given careful consideration to all these issues, but I have concluded that we should proceed as planned with the introduction of a single housing capital allocation in 2000-01. The guidance to be issued to local authorities for this year's Housing Investment Programme will cover the detailed implementation of the single pot. It will also
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address concerns raised in consultation responses about the importance of taking full account of the needs of the private sector in authorities' housing strategies.
I accept that some arrangements will be necessary to facilitate the transition to a single allocation. My officials will shortly be writing to the local authority associations with details of the arrangements we propose to make.
Mr. Canavan:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he has received a report of the research which he commissioned into the predation of racing pigeons; and if he will make a statement. [75571]
Mr. Meale:
My Department has received a draft final report from the contractors, which will be published as soon as possible.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what proportion of freight was transported by rail in the last year for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the capacity of the railways to deal with increases in demand. [75300]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
In 1997, rail accounted for 7 per cent. of total tonne kilometres moved in Great Britain. The need to further develop rail freight is one of the key reasons for setting up the Strategic Rail Authority. One of the Authority's most important tasks will be to address the needs of freight as well as passengers, and the balance between the capacity demands of each.
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