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Transport Supplementary Grant
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is offered as the level of transport supplementary grant for local authorities for 2000-01. [104229]
Mr. Prescott: £13.519 million in transport supplementary grant (TSG) has been allocated in the 2000-01 local transport capital settlement. This funding is given for a number of existing local authority major road scheme commitments.
In previous years TSG was used for the capital maintenance of bridges and principal road carriageways. From 2000-01 onwards this will now be funded exclusively in the form of borrowing approvals, for which local authorities receive revenue support grant (RSG) each year to meet the cost of repayment. The total allocation within the 2000-01 settlement for capital bridge and carriageway maintenance is £301 million, representing a 24 per cent. increase over 1999-2000.
Aircraft Crashes
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is the latest
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estimate by the Civil Aviation Authority of the statistical probability in a year of a ground fatality occurring as a result of aircraft crashing on take-off or landing at (a) Heathrow, (b) Gatwick and (c) Stansted. [104634]
Mr. Mullin:
The Civil Aviation Authority has identified two landing or take-off accidents within the United Kingdom during the last 40 years in which there were fatalities on the ground. These took place at Gatwick and Dunsfold and involved, respectively, two and six such fatalities. The Authority estimates that some 18.2 million aircraft movements took place at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted over the same period. Because of the very small number of accidents involving ground fatalities it is not possible to produce a statistically meaningful estimate for individual airports.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much was realised by the sale of Gleneagles Hotel. [104830]
Mr. Hill:
The Gleneagles Hotel, the Caledonian Hotel (Edinburgh) and the North British Hotel (Edinburgh) were sold together by the British Railways Board in 1981 by means of a company sale. Two thirds of the shares were sold for £13.5 million and the rest were sold later for £6.1 million.
Mr. Coaker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent discussions he has had with (a) Railtrack and (b) Midland Mainline regarding the upgrading of the track between Nottingham and London. [104894]
Mr. Hill:
My right hon. Friend has had no discussions with Railtrack or Midland Main Line. However, I understand that Railtrack and Midland Main Line are currently discussing plans to improve the Midland Main Line.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he plans to make a decision on the new charging regime proposed by the Environment Agency. [105079]
Mr. Meacher:
The Environment Agency is currently consulting on its charging proposals for 2000-01. I expect to receive formal proposals from the Agency next month and to take decisions on them before the start of the new financial year.
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Sir Richard Body:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has for changes in the law relating to ports. [105185]
Mr. Hill:
We are considering options for legislation in respect of ports, including matters arising from both the Review of the Pilotage Act, published in July 1998 and from our Review of Trust Ports which has now produced the Guide to Good Governance that I launched earlier this month.
Mr. Efford:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what factors were taken into account, other than indices for local deprivation, when deciding which London authorities would be invited to submit delivery plans for Round 2 of the New Deal for Communities. [105166]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
In addition to information drawn from the Index of Local Deprivation, we applied a regional quota. That quota was used to balance our twin goals of spreading the impact of the new approach we are piloting under the New Deal for Communities as widely as possible, and focusing help and support on the areas of greatest need. On that basis, six of the 22 local authority districts eligible to participate in Round 2 are in London. The only other criteria we applied was that local authority areas in London eligible to participate in Round 1 of the programme, should not be eligible under Round 2.
Mr. Efford:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what factors will be taken into account when choosing which local authorities will be invited to submit delivery plans for Round 3 of the New Deal for Communities. [105165]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
The targeting of regeneration funds, including those of the New Deal for Communities, will be considered in our cross cutting review of Government interventions in deprived areas and the forthcoming spending review.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will set minimum standards of facility provision at town centre railway stations in relation to (a) CCTV and (b) park and ride. [105547]
Mr. Hill:
I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 17 January 2000, Official Report, column 251W.
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will investigate the extent of the availability of special offer tickets offered by rail companies. [105548]
Mr. Hill:
APEX fares and other concessionary fares are not regulated by the Franchise Director and are offered by train companies at their discretion. We do not maintain records of unregulated fares which are on offer, but I understand that some train operators have reduced the number of concessions offered because of increased demand for services.
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Mr. Hurst:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he plans to respond to the Crowe report; and if he will make a statement. [105329]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
I refer my hon. Friend to the letter my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning, sent on 23 November about the South East Regional Planning Guidance Panel Report. The principles that will underpin our consideration of the Panel's recommendations are set out in that letter. We hope to announce the changes we propose to the draft RPG, as put forward by SERPLAN, soon. Parliament will, of course, be informed.
Mr. Jenkin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many times the Countryside Traffic Measures Group has met since July 1998. [105279]
Mr. Hill:
I understand that the Countryside Agency's Countryside Traffic Measures Group has met on three occasions since 1998.
Mr. Kidney:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the consultant's study into the viability of Eurostar services north of London; if he will publish the consultant's report; and when he will make a statement on the report. [105486]
Mr. Hill:
The consultants' report is currently being considered by my right hon. and noble Friend the Minister for Transport, who will make a statement soon. The report will be published at the same time.
Ms Perham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was the level of public expenditure, in each of the last 10 years, in each EU member state, on (a) railways and (b) roads. [105188]
Mr. Hill:
Details of public investment in British railways and roads in each of the 10 years 1988-89 to 1997-98 are shown in Table 1.16 of the Government Statistical Office's publication Transport Statistics Great Britain 1999 Edition. We do not have the requested information in relation to other EU member states.
Ms Perham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what regulations govern the practice of placing passengers' luggage in corridors outside cabins on cruise ships; and if he will make a statement. [105186]
Mr. Hill:
In the case of a UK flag ship, there are general provisions in the Merchant, Shipping and Fishing (Health and Safety at Work) Regulations 1997 (SI 1997 No. 2962) about providing and maintaining a safe environment for persons aboard ship. There are also relevant provisions in the Merchant Shipping (Safe
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Movement on Board Ship) Regulations 1988 (SI 1988 No. 1641); for example regulation 4 provides that "the employer and master shall ensure that safe means of access is provided and maintained to any place on the ship to which a person may be expected to go". Such provisions are enforceable on UK ships wherever they may be and could cover matters such as a safety hazard caused by luggage in corridors. In the case of a non-UK ship, the requirements will depend on the provisions in the regulations of the state where the ship is registered. As the UK requirements implement provisions contained in the International Labour Organisation Convention 147, they may also be enforced on a non-UK ship while in a UK port.
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