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Private Hire Vehicles
Mr. John M. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what actions he plans to take following the judgment of the Divisional Court on 15 October in the case of Murtagh and Carter and Bromsgrove District Council concerning the licensing of private hire vehicles and cross boundary operation; and if he will make a statement. [97274]
Mr. Hill: My Department is aware of this case, which we understand may be subject to appeal; in the circumstances, it would be inappropriate for me to comment.
Sewer Overflows
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to issue guidance to water companies regarding the provision of public warning notices at watercourses subject to contamination from combined sewer overflows. [97387]
Mr. Mullin: The provision of public warning notices at watercourses is a matter for local Public Health Authorities in consultation, as necessary, with the Environment Agency.
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to deal with the contamination of watercourses by effluent from combined sewage overflows. [97388]
Mr. Mullin:
The Secretary of State's guidance to the Director General of OFWAT on the environmental and quality requirements to be placed on the companies during the period from 2000-05, issued on 1 March, included proposals for a substantial programme of improvements to combined sewer overflows. Priority was given to tackling failures to meet mandatory water quality standards and to reducing aesthetic problems resulting from unsanitary and unsightly debris left when combined sewer overflows operate. The Director General will announce his determinations of price limits on 25 November.
10 Nov 1999 : Column: 605
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is the funding available for the current financial year in respect of the Rail Passenger Partnership Fund. [97568]
Mr. Hill:
£20 million has been made available for the current financial year in respect of the Rail Passenger Partnership fund and the Infrastructure Investment Fund.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will report on the progress of successful bids under the Rail Passenger Partnership Fund indicating in each case the location and amount granted. [97569]
Mr. Hill:
A decision on the first group of bids for Rail Passenger Partnership funding is likely to be announced by the shadow Strategic Rail Authority towards the end of 1999 or early in the New Year.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the eligibility of proposals to provide for the opportunity to retain an option of securing rail passenger services following the reopening of the Caldon Low line for freight. [97570]
Mr. Hill:
To encourage investment in the rail passenger network we have provided the Franchising Director with £105 million of additional funding to be distributed over the next three years through the Rail Passenger Partnership (RPP) scheme. Sponsors of new passenger services on the Caldon Low Line which are not self-supporting could be eligible to apply for RPP funding. The Franchising Director would consider bids against his "Planning Criteria" which require that they should be consistent with our Integrated Transport White Paper and represent value for money.
Mr. Willis:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to ensure that the Boundary Commission completes a review of North Yorkshire County Council Divisions in time for the May 2001 county council elections. [97551]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
The independent Local Government Commission for England decides the timing of electoral reviews within its periodic electoral review programme having regard to the Government's plans for implementing the Commission's recommendations. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and the Regions announced our current plans on 27 July 1999, Official Report, column 356.
On this basis the Commission has scheduled the review of North Yorkshire County Council divisions to begin in the financial year 2001-02, with a view to the review being implemented on the normal election day in 2005.
10 Nov 1999 : Column: 606
Mr. Martyn Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what research his Department has undertaken into emissions from landfill sites. [97620]
Mr. Hill:
DETR has commissioned two projects on estimating methane emissions from landfill sites, the first being "An estimate of methane emissions from UK landfill sites based on direct flux measurements at representative sites", published in November 1997. The results underpinned a second project to develop a methodology for estimating UK emissions from landfill and to offer projections to 2012, published in March 1999.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was (a) the cost of the Salisbury Transport Study led by the Government Office of the South West and (b) the fee paid to its consultants W. S. Atkins. [97611]
Mr. Hill:
The overall cost of the Study, which is due for completion March 2000, is estimated at £400,000, excluding VAT. The sum of fees paid to date to W. S. Atkins is £250,000.
Mr. Pike:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many people were killed in the last year for which figures are available while working on (a) road construction, (b) road repair and maintenance and (c) road cleaning. [97702]
Mr. Meacher:
The number of fatal injuries to workers (employees and self-employed) reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in 1998-99 is:
Mr. Pike:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what regional variations there are in the waiting times for driving tests and retests; and if he will make a statement. [97701]
Mr. Hill:
Driving tests, including retests, can be obtained in the Driving Standards Agency's five operational areas as follows:
Mr. Bob Russell:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list those local authorities which have disposed of their entire housing stock since 1 May 1997; and if he will make a statement. [97622]
10 Nov 1999 : Column: 607
Mr. Mullin:
Seventeen local authorities have disposed of their entire housing stock since 1 May 1997. Details are as follows:
Miss Geraldine Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if all eligible claims relating to the most recent French lorry drivers' dispute have been settled. [97652]
Mr. Hill:
We understand that nearly all eligible claims arising from the French lorry drivers' dispute in 1996 have now been settled by the French authorities. Claimants are under no obligation to inform the Government of the outcome of their case and so precise details on settlements are not available. We continue to work with the French authorities to seek resolution of the handful of remaining cases.
Mr. Waterson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the implications of the High Court decision in Jelson Ltd. v. Derby City Council for (a) the lawfulness of planning obligations requiring developers to transfer land to registered social landlords and the number of such planning obligations affected, (b) local planning authority practice and (c) Government guidance, with particular reference to Environment Circular 6/98 on affordable housing. [97754]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
The Government do not comment on High Court Decisions.
The Government's planning policy on affordable housing is set out in Planning Policy Guidance note 3: Housing and amplified in Circular 6/98: Planning and Affordable Housing. The policy aims to ensure that large new housing developments incorporate a reasonable mix and balance of house types and sizes to cater for a range of housing need. It enables local planning authorities to negotiate the inclusion of an element of affordable housing in suitable housing proposals.
The policy is not affected by this decision, neither should local authority practice be affected, provided it is consistent with our policy.
10 Nov 1999 : Column: 608
(North Yorkshire County Council)
(a) road construction--5
(b) road repair and maintenance--1
(c) road cleaning--0
(These figures based on the HSE's provisional data for 1 April 1998 to 31 March 1999).
5 weeks in Scotland: 6 weeks in Wales and Western England; 6 weeks in Northern England; 5 weeks in Midlands and Eastern England, and 9 weeks in London and the South East.
South Oxfordshire DC
Eden DC
LB Bexley
Congleton DC
Kerrier DC
West Somerset DC
Tewkesbury DC
Rother DC
West Devon BC
South Somerset DC
East Lindsey DC
South Hams DC
Telford and Wrekin DC
Worthing DC
Bath and North East Somerset Council
Allerdale DC
West Lindsey DC.
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