| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
A38 Bridge (Almondsbury)
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 27 April 1999, Official Report, column 90, if the work undertaken in 1998 on the A38 bridge over the M4 at Almondsbury was certified as meeting the requirements of the Highways Agency's specification, including the testing of materials. [82901]
Ms Glenda Jackson: Part of the works carried out on the A38 bridge over the M4 at Almondsbury in 1998 did not meet the required specification and they were rejected by the site supervisory staff appointed by the Highways Agency. The contractors are replacing the sub standard work at their own cost.
Lamp Standards
Mr. Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what data he has collated on incidents of complete failure in service of lamp standards over the past three years. [83180]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
There are no comprehensive central data collected on incidents where lamp standards have failed. Most are on local roads for which local highway authorities are responsible and maintenance details are not available centrally. The Highways Agency, who are responsible for trunk roads and motorways, keep a record of those reported by their Area Agents and,
7 May 1999 : Column: 477
although there is no requirement, some on local authority roads. In the last three years, there have been three incidents recorded on motorway and trunk roads.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list for each local authority in England the number and percentage of (a) public and (b) private sector dwellings which are empty. [83236]
Mr. Raynsford:
I have placed the information requested in the Library. This table presents the latest available data on the number and proportion of vacant dwellings owned by local authorities, Registered Social Landlords (RSLs), 'Other Public Sector organisations' and the rest of the private sector for local authority districts in England. The figures relate to 1 April 1998 and have been provided by local authorities on their HIP returns, except for those for RSLs which relate to 31 March 1998 and are based on information supplied by the Housing Corporation. Estimated totals that include allowances for missing or incomplete returns are provided for England.
Mr. Randall:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many times the Green Ministers Committee has met since May 1997; and if he will place in the Library (a) the agenda and minutes of each of the meetings and (b) a list of significant decisions and action plans made at each meeting. [83156]
Mr. Meacher:
The Green Ministers Committee has met five times since May 1997.
On (a), the minutes and agenda are not made public, but the House is advised of what happened at each meeting. I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Lewes (Mr. Baker) on 23 March 1999, Official Report, column 248, with regard to the outcome of the Committee's most recent meeting on 22 March 1999.
On (b), the Committee will be reporting on its actions and plans in its first published report this summer, a copy of which will be placed in the House Library.
Mr. Reed:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what new measures he proposes to introduce to achieve further reductions in the number of drink-drive casualties. [83171]
Dr. Reid:
We have consulted on a package of measures to combat drinking and driving. Decisions on drink-drive measures will be incorporated within the road safety strategy which we will publish this year.
Mr. Stringer:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the effect of providing lighting on the whole motorway system on the number of recorded accidents. [82939]
7 May 1999 : Column: 478
Ms Glenda Jackson
[holding answer 4 May 1999]: No such estimate has been made.
Departmental Advice Note, TA 49/86 (Appraisal of New and Replacement Lighting on Trunk Roads and Motorways) provides guidance on the assessment method for the provision of road lighting. Lighting is normally provided on dual four-lane motorways. On dual three-lane motorways and below, an assessment is made following the guidelines. This includes a full assessment of the safety and environmental considerations.
Mr. Sayeed:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what plans he has to meet the National Federation of Roofing Contractors; [83144]
Mr. Raynsford:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on 22 February 1999, Official Report, columns 54-55. I will be meeting representatives of the National Federation of Roofing Contractors later this month.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many bridges his Department believes will need to be strengthened by local authorities as a consequence of the decision to allow 40 tonne lorries on domestic journeys access to the road network. [82883]
Ms Glenda Jackson
[holding answer 5 May 1999]: Substantial progress has been made in the assessment and strengthening programme. The latest figures available to DETR show that, of 41,602 local authority structures, 35,647 have been assessed, with over 30,000 being of adequate standard, and 3,250 local road bridges have been strengthened.
Mr. Webb:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will ask the Rail Regulator to launch an investigation into the circumstances which led the Health and Safety Executive to implement speed restrictions in the Severn Rail Tunnel. [83373]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
On 29 April--the same day that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) imposed a 20 mph speed restriction on trains using the Severn Tunnel--the Rail Regulator called for an urgent report from Railtrack explaining why its maintenance procedures had not been sufficient to avoid the enforcement action taken by the HSE, and the plans it had for putting the matter right. Railtrack submitted that report on 4 May, and the Rail Regulator is currently considering it.
7 May 1999 : Column: 479
Mr. Ottaway:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 30 April 1999, Official Report, column 292, concerning the opening of the Stratford to North Greenwich phase of the Jubilee Line extension, if he will define late Spring. [83380]
Dr. Reid:
The 8th edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary states that, in the northern hemisphere, Spring is from March to May. So late Spring by most definitions will be towards the end of this period.
Mr. Caplin:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the Government's investments. [83724]
Ms Hewitt:
Today we are announcing a restructuring of the UK's reserve holdings to achieve a better balance in the portfolio by increasing the proportion held in currency. This will involve a programme of auctions of gold from the Exchange Equalisation Account, which holds the UK's official reserves of foreign currency and gold, with the proceeds being invested instead in foreign currency assets and retained in the reserves.
The Treasury intends to sell 125 tonnes of gold, 3 per cent. of the total reserves, during 1999-2000, with the Bank of England conducting five auctions on the Treasury's behalf. Auctions will be held every other month starting in July.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the budgets from which the extra funding for aid to the Kosovan refugees is being taken. [83562]
Mr. Milburn:
The costs of helping refugees in the area have been met to date from the budgets of the Department for International Development and Ministry of Defence, with some contribution from the central reserve.
Mr. Maples:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the estimated weekly cost to the British Government of military operations in connection with Kosovo. [81621]
Mr. George Robertson
[holding answer 21 April 1999]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, South (Mr. Simpson) on 15 April 1999, Official Report, columns 323-24. This information will be updated in due course. However, as costs of operations vary from week to week, the provision of a weekly figure would be misleading.
Mr. Gill:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the additional cost of the conflict in Yugoslavia. [81964]
7 May 1999 : Column: 480
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost of the conflict with Yugoslavia to his Department; and if he will make a statement. [81970]
Mr. George Robertson
[holding answer 26 April 1999]: I refer to the answer I gave to the hon. Gentleman and my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, South (Mr. Simpson) on 15 April 1999, Official Report, columns 323-24. This information will be updated in due course.
Mr. Keith Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the TA is (i) deployed and (ii) warned to deploy for operations in the Balkans. [81664]
Mr. George Robertson
[pursuant to his reply, 22 April 1999, c. 633]: I regret that the figure of 420 I gave of the Territorial Army at the time deployed to the Balkans was incorrect. The correct figure should have been 317, representing some 0.63 per cent. of the overall TA. It is likely that further TA troops will be deployed.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the chemical weapons capability maintained by Yugoslavia. [83290]
Mr. George Robertson:
The former Yugoslavia did have an offensive chemical warfare programme, which included small stocks of chemical weapons. Serbia inherited some elements of this in 1992, but the exact status of this programme is unknown. It is assessed that the current threat to our forces from chemical warfare is low.
(2) if he will make an assessment of the National Federation of Roofing Contractors' (a) insurance-backed guarantee scheme and (b) Roofsafe Plus Latent Defect Scheme; and if he will make a statement. [83145]
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |