| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Task Forces
Dr. Tony Wright:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he will list all those task forces and policy reviews with external
13 Apr 1999 : Column: 58
members established by his Department since May 1997 which have set up (a) sub-groups, (b) working parties and (c) other subsidiary committees; [79253]
Mr. Meale:
I have today placed in the Library of the House a list of the task forces and reviews with external members established by my Department since May 1997, along with the requested information for each such body.
Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much his Department has spent on legal fees relating to the Bus Employees Superannuation Trust (a) in total and (b) in connection with the High Court hearing, of 1 March. [79539]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The previous Government decided to fund litigation by the National Bus Company pension trustees following a decision by the Pensions Ombudsman. Expenditure to date by my Department on legal and other costs related to all aspects of the litigation concerning the two NBC pension schemes (the Bus Employees Superannuation Trust and the National Bus Pension Fund) has been £980,000. Of this, costs incurred by the trustees amount to £782,000 and the Department's own costs amount to £198,000. £67,000 of the total was incurred by the previous Administration. The total includes costs of £110,000 related to the High Court hearing of 1 March, which concerned the extent to which certain provisions of the Pension Schemes Act 1993 and the Pensions Act 1995 applied to the schemes.
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what environmental assessment has been carried out by his Department on the Government's Access to the Countryside proposals. [79597]
Mr. Meacher:
Independent consultants undertook an assessment of the economic, environmental and social effects of different approaches to achieving greater access to open countryside. Their report has been published by my Department and copies have already been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the environmental responsibilities of the water regulator. [79600]
Mr. Meale:
The Director General has a general duty, under section 3 of the Water Industry Act 1991, to further conservation and enhancement of the natural environment.
13 Apr 1999 : Column: 59
In September 1998, Ministers published "Raising the Quality", giving guidance to the Director General of Water Services on the environmental and water quality objectives to be achieved by the water industry in England and Wales in 2000 to 2005. On 1 March 1999 Ministers announced the detailed programmes of improvements to deliver the objectives.
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will review car parking provision in planning policy guidance; and if he will make a statement. [79595]
Mr. Raynsford:
Planning Policy Guidance note 3: Housing, a consultation draft of which was published on 23 March, proposes maximum parking standards for housing development averaging 1.5 to 2 car spaces per dwelling. Planning Policy Guidance note 13: Transport is in the process of being updated.
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the role of water customer councils and their relationship with Ofwat. [79601]
Mr. Meale:
Section 29 of the Water Industry Act 1991 places a duty on each customer service committee (CSC) to keep under review, to consult and to make representations to water and sewerage companies allocated to the committee about all matters appearing to the committee to affect the interests of customers or potential customers of those companies; and to investigate any complaint made by a customer or potential customer relating to the carrying out of any of the functions of a water or sewerage undertaker.
The CSCs are established by, and report to, the Director General of Water Services and advise him on issues which affect customers, to inform his decision making.
Resulting from our review of utility regulation, the Government propose to establish a new, independent consumer council for the water sector. We propose to give the new council broad functions within the regulatory system. It will act as a public advocate for consumers, and will be expected to provide information and advice on consumer issues to regulators, Government, Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, the media and others. It will have the specific task of handling consumer complaints about water companies where these have not been resolved by the company concerned. The council and regulator will need to collaborate, and will be placed under a duty to agree and publish a memorandum of understanding governing such matters as the practical arrangements for consultation between them. Similar arrangements will govern the council's relationship with the Drinking Water Inspectorate. We fully recognise the importance of the regional dimension in the provision of water and sewerage services and the structure of the water consumer council will reflect this.
13 Apr 1999 : Column: 60
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to produce regulations or guidelines relating to coloured markings on bus lanes and cycle lanes. [79634]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
White markings indicating bus and cycle lanes, and yellow markings indicating bus stops and bus stop clearways, are prescribed in the Traffic Signs Regulations 1994. Guidance on their use is given in Chapter 5 of the Traffic Signs Manual and Local Transport Note 1/97 (Keeping Buses Moving). Coloured road surfaces have no meaning in law but may be used to increase the conspicuity of markings and give prominence to a section of the carriageway set aside for a particular purpose. The Highways Agency has included advice on the use of coloured surfaces for cycle lanes in their recently published guidance on Coloured Surfacing in Road Layouts.
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the use of bus lanes by community transport vehicles. [79602]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The allocation of road space is a matter for highway authorities. Guidance on bus lanes and on the classes of other vehicles which authorities might wish to permit to use them was published in Keeping Buses Moving, Local Transport Note 1/97.
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the Project Prestige and on its applicability to rail services. [79599]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
Under the Prestige contract, the Transys consortium will update and renew ticket issuing and revenue collection systems throughout the London Transport network, leading to the introduction of contactless smartcards from 2002. Preliminary work to install ticket gates throughout the Underground network, new electronic ticket machines on services procured by LT Buses, and electronic point of sale (EpoS) machines in Pass Agents Sales Service (PASS) outlets is underway.
Since the conception of the Prestige project in 1996, LT has planned for the 12 Train Operating Companies (TOCs) in the former Network SouthEast area to participate in the scheme. Discussions have taken place with the aim of developing technical solutions that would give the TOCs the full benefits of Prestige. At present, LT is committed to the installation of ticket gates at joint London Underground/TOC stations managed by the TOCs and to upgrade these later to accept smartcards, in line with plans for other London Underground stations.
At present there is no general commitment from the TOCs to adopt Prestige ticket technology, although certain operators have expressed an interest in joint smartcard and equipment trials. In the meantime, LT will continue to ensure that the technology employed under Prestige will allow the future extension of smartcard technology to TOC stations.
13 Apr 1999 : Column: 61
Mr. Brake:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans his Department has to introduce a planning policy guidance note on water. [79596]
(2) if he will list for all task forces and policy reviews with external members established by his Department since May 1997 (a) their dates of establishment, (b) those which have issued final reports and their dates of publication, (c) those which have been terminated and their dates of termination and (d) for those bodies still in existence, expected reporting and termination dates. [79276]
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |