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Landing Rights
Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he will make a statement on bilateral discussions on landing rights between India and the UK; [82285]
- (2) what representations he has received concerning landing rights for British airlines in India. [82284]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
Representations have been received from UK scheduled and charter airlines and passengers concerning the restrictive nature of the air services arrangements between the United Kingdom and India. British Airways wishes to operate additional services to India and Virgin Atlantic also wishes to enter the UK-India market but neither can do so because there is insufficient capacity under the UK/India air services
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arrangements. In addition, we have received reports that there has been overbooking on UK-India services and a significant number of passengers are having to travel by indirect routes.
We have been seeking to liberalise the arrangements. The last round of bilateral discussions took place in December 1996. Talks scheduled for September 1997 were postponed at the request of the Indian authorities. Despite repeated representations from the UK Government, no dates have been agreed for the next round of bilateral discussions.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the sites of special scientific interest that have been subject to inappropriate development since May 1997. [82495]
Mr. Meale:
The English Nature Annual Report includes lists of all SSSIs damaged by development. Copies are available in the Library of the House covering the period up to 31 March 1998. Full information for the last financial year is not yet available.
Not all development on a site should be classed as inappropriate. English Nature will provide advice to local authorities on moving harmful development away from sensitive locations or imposing conditions on planning applications to remove or reduce adverse effects on SSSIs, in order to safeguard the special interest.
Helen Jackson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will issue guidance to local authorities on their powers in relation to the holding of major sports events in areas of special scientific interest. [82354]
Mr. Raynsford:
Once a Site of Special Scientific Interest is notified, the land manager must consult English Nature on any activity likely to damage the features of special interest. For those activities requiring planning permission, guidance is provided for local planning authorities in Planning Policy Guidance Note 9, in relation to SSSIs and to other locally important wildlife sites.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many passengers travelled on the lines currently run by Great Western Trains in each of the last 10 years. [82499]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The figures for passenger miles and passenger journeys for each of the last five years are shown in the table. Figures for the five years before that are not available.
| Year | Passenger miles | Passenger journeys |
|---|---|---|
| 1993-94 | 1,218 | 14 |
| 1994-95 | 1,139 | 14 |
| 1995-96 | 1,211.4 | 14.4 |
| 1996-97 | 1,270 | 15 |
| 1997-98 | 1,383.1 | 16.4 |
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many trains operated by Great Western Trains were cancelled in each
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of the last two years; and if he will estimate the number of passengers affected by these cancellations. [82493]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The Figures in the Franchising Director's Quarterly Bulletin (December 1998)--copies in the House Library--show that for the year ending December 1997 0.6 per cent. of trains were cancelled by Great Western Trains and that for the year ending December 1998 the figure was 1 per cent. It is not possible to estimate the number of passengers affected by these cancellations as these are walk-on services.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is the timetable for the Government's negotiations with Great Western Trains for the extension, or termination, of their franchise. [82497]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The Great Western Trains Limited franchise agreement is for a period of 10 years from 4 February 1996. We made it clear at the Rail Summit in February that we are prepared to renegotiate existing franchises if operators come forward with proposals which offer substantial benefits for passengers and value for money for the taxpayer. There is no timetable for this either generally or in respect of Great Western Trains specifically.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many staff were employed on the lines currently operated by Great Western Trains in each of the last 10 years. [82494]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The information requested is not available. Under the present franchise agreements, Train Operating Companies' (TOCs) performance is measured on prescribed outputs such as service levels. Inputs such as numbers of staff employed are matters for the TOCs.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what proportion of trains operated by Great Western Trains have been more than five minutes late in each of the last two years; and what was the average total delay on those trains. [82496]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The information is not available in the format requested. The Franchising Director was requested to base his assessment of lateness on those applied under British Rail immediately before privatisation. For InterCity trains, such as those operated by Great Western Trains, the definition of lateness was a train that arrived at its destination more than 9 minutes and 59 seconds late.
The figures in the latest issue of the Franchising Director's Quarterly Bulletin (December 1998)--copies in the House Library--show that the proportion of trains recorded as late (against the above definition) for the year ending December 1997 was 13.3 per cent. and for the year ending December 1998 was 15.5 per cent. Figures for average total delay are not recorded.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list (a) the rates of investment in the infrastructure, rolling stock and passenger services on the lines currently run by Great Western Trains in each of the last 10 years and (b) the planned investment for each of the next 10 years. [82498]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
This information is not available.
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Helen Jackson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will take steps to require environmental impact assessments to be undertaken before motorised sporting events and rallies may take place in the countryside. [82353]
Mr. Raynsford:
There are no provisions in the regulations implementing Directive 85/337/EEC (as amended by Directive 97/11/EC) on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment to carry out an assessment of these events and rallies, and there are no plans to introduce such regulations.
Mr. Stinchcombe:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the report leaked from his Department on the impact of genetically modified crops on wildlife and the environment; and if he will make a statement. [72759]
Mr. Meacher
[holding answer 25 February 1999]: The discussion paper "The Commercial use of Genetically Modified Crops in the United Kingdom: the Potential Wider Impact on Farmland Wildlife" prepared by the Secretariat for the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) was published on 18 February 1999. The paper may be found on ACRE's website (www.environment.detr.gov.uk/acre/wildlife/index.htm) or in ACRE's latest Annual Report, a copy of which is in the Library.
The leaked report was an early draft of the one published. This early draft had served as a basis for a meeting I chaired in June last year to advise me on the possible wider indirect effects of the use of GM crops on wildlife. I invited a number of experts, including English Nature, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the chairman of ACRE, to inform me of the issues to enable us to get an initiative started to address concerns about wider impacts on biodiversity from the use of genetically modified crops.
My officials then developed the paper with ACRE. The key conclusion of the paper is that there have been serious declines in farmland wildlife, and we need to ensure that the widespread introduction of GM crops does not prejudice Government objectives to halt and where possible reverse these wildlife declines. To this end, it is important to have the capability to identify whether and how GM crops are likely to change agricultural practices which could result in indirect, delayed and long term adverse effects on farmland wildlife. I have already taken steps to address this.
Before this paper was published, I requested that the remit of ACRE be extended to consider the potential wider implications of the use of GMOs, especially when the committee is requested to give advice on applications to place GM crops on the market. ACRE has set up a Sub-group on Wider Biodiversity Issues to consider the issues raised the paper in more detail. The first meeting of this Sub-group was held on 15 March. The farm-scale evaluations into the ecological effects of genetically modified crops being set up by my Department, MAFF and Scottish Office will also assist in providing baseline
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data on farmland wildlife in order to underpin the consideration of wider biodiversity issues on a more detailed level.
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