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M6 Corridor
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what progress he has made in commissioning the M6 corridor transport study; and what timetable he has agreed. [83743]
Ms Glenda Jackson: Lord Whitty announced on 23 March 1999 the start dates for the programme of multimodal and roads based studies. The West Midlands to North West Conurbation Study will begin in Summer 1999. Consultation with the Regional Planning Conferences in both the West Midlands and the North West will start before then, initially on the preparation of the consultants' brief, and will continue throughout the life of the study. As part of the multimodal study, consultants will develop a full range of options to tackle the traffic problems of the corridor, including the possibility of modal shift.
Multimodal Transport Studies
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what guidance he has issued to prospective consultants in respect of consultation with the public as part of the proposed multimodal transport studies. [83746]
Ms Glenda Jackson: The Department is currently preparing guidance on the methodology for the multimodal studies. The guidance will be aimed at consultants undertaking work on the studies and will cover the role of consultation in the study process.
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what opportunities there will be for local stakeholders to be involved in drawing up the terms of reference for the proposed multimodal transport studies. [83745]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The Government Offices responsible for taking forward the multimodal studies will draw up terms of reference in consultation with the local Regional Planning Bodies and agree them with the study steering group.
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Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what guidance he has issued in respect of the geographical scope of multimodal studies; what area the proposed M6 corridor transport study will cover; and which major routes will be included other than the M6. [83744]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The geographical scope of each multimodal study will be set out in its terms of reference, which will be drawn up by Government Offices in consultation with the Regional Planning Bodies.
The terms of reference for the West Midlands to North West Conurbation study have not yet been agreed, but the geographical scope is expected to be the broad corridor along the M6/west coast main line routes, including the A500, A50(M1), A34 and other possible rail and bus routes.
Mr. Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 20 April 1999, Official Report, column 473, on genetically modified crops, if he will make a statement on the reasons for the delay between the holding reply and the final reply. [83820]
Mr. Meacher:
The sudden upsurge in media and public interest in genetic modification technology earlier this year resulted in a very substantial increase in the volume of Ministerial correspondence, Parliamentary Questions and correspondence from members of the public needing to be handled by officials. My officials have also been required to handle significantly increased levels of briefing resulting from several Select Committee appearances and the general increase in Ministerial activity in this area. This increased level of activity coupled with the need to provide full and considered replies to the large number of sometimes detailed and complex Parliamentary Questions tabled has inevitably resulted in some increase in response time, which I regret.
Mr. O'Hara:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what measures he plans to put in place to ensure that local authority transport schemes which currently exceed the proposed minimum standard of half price concessionary bus fares for older people do not reduce their benefits to older people when the proposed national scheme is implemented. [83845]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
Beyond the terms of our national standard minimum for concessionary travel schemes for elderly people, local authorities will continue to have full discretion to decide on the terms of their concessionary travel schemes. Local authorities will therefore remain entirely free to provide concessionary fare schemes which are more generous than our proposed statutory minimum. We believe that it is right to maintain the principle that locally elected authorities should consider these matters in the light of local needs and circumstances and their overall financial priorities, and to be locally accountable for the decisions then made.
13 May 1999 : Column: 180
Mr. O'Hara:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if his proposed minimum national concessionary bus fare scheme for older people will be applicable to all people aged over 60 years. [83844]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
Our proposed national minimum for concessionary fares will be based on the present statutory position, whereby concessionary travel for older people is linked to the state pension age.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what impact the landfill tax has had on reducing the proportion of total waste which is disposed of through landfill sites; and what proportion of United Kingdom waste has been recycled in each of the last 10 years. [83623]
Mr. Meale
[holding answer 11 May 1999]: The information currently available suggests that the landfill tax has reduced the quantity of material going to licensed landfill sites, particularly construction and demolition waste. There is little statistical information at this stage to support any conclusions as to the extent to which this results from a reduction in the amount of waste generated as opposed to being diverted to different outlets.
| Percentage | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | England and Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
| 1998 | (1)8 | (2)-- | (2)-- |
| 1997 | (1)7 | (2)-- | 3.4 |
| 1996 | 6.5 | no data | no data |
| 1995 | no data | no data | no data |
| 1994 | no data | 0.64 | no data |
| 1993 | no data | 0.66 | no data |
| 1992 | no data | 0.68 | no data |
| 1991 | no data | 0.61 | no data |
| 1990 | no data | 0.63 | no data |
| 1989 | no data | no data | no data |
(1) Data still to be fully verified
(2) Data still to be collected or processed
Single Vehicle Approvals
Mr. Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what progress is being made following his consultation on the system of single vehicle approvals. [84208]
Dr. Reid: Changes to the current limit on the number of commercially traded vehicles which can be approved into the UK each year under the Single Vehicle Approval Scheme (SVA) scheme will be introduced from March 2000. The main elements of the changes are:
13 May 1999 : Column: 181
Progressive lifting of limits on the total number of commercially traded vehicles which can be approved and registered under SVA, starting with 1,000 vehicles in March next year and increasing by 1,000 each month until the end of year 2000 when all limits will be lifted.
Introduction of enhanced technical standards for key environmental, safety and security (anti-theft) items to apply to commercially traded vehicles. The current SVA standards will continue to apply to amateur-built vehicles and genuine personal imports as redefined below.
Complete lifting of limits on vehicles which have been approved to equivalent standards to the enhanced SVA in other European member states.
Tightening of the rules for vehicles to qualify as "personal imports" by requiring importers to have lived abroad for at least 12 months and used their vehicles abroad for at least 6 months.
Transport (EU)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what response his Department has made to the European Commission White Paper establishing a common transport infrastructure charging framework in the EU. [83941]
Ms Glenda Jackson: The Commission has not invited member states to comment on its White Paper and neither my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State nor I have made any formal response. However, as proposed in the White Paper, the Commission has established a committee of experts to develop guidance on methods to estimate the marginal costs of transport, and our officials are participating in that process.
Auditors
Mr. Hawkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what is the maximum period of time for which an auditor may be appointed by the Audit Commission; [84044]
- (2) what powers the Audit Commission has to terminate the appointment of an appointed auditor (a) in general and (b) for professional incompetence; [84045]
(3) what powers the Audit Commission has to vary the personal fee levels of appointed auditors. [84046]
Ms Armstrong: Section 3 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 makes provision for the appointment of auditors by the Audit Commission. There is no prescribed maximum period, but it is the commission's general policy, in accordance with good professional practice, to change a council's auditor at least once every seven years. The Audit Commission may terminate an appointment where the auditor fails to comply with the statutory Code of Audit Practice, or other statutory obligations. Where an auditor is not a Commission employee, section 3(8) provides for the appointment to be on such terms and for such period as the Commission may determine. Such terms include the personal fees payable by the commission to the individual auditor or the firm of individuals.
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