14 Feb 2000 : Column: 353W
Written Answers to Questions
Monday 14 February 2000
CABINET OFFICE
Corporate IT Strategy
Valerie Davey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress has been made towards achieving the target of publishing a Corporate IT Strategy by March. [110300]
Mr. Ian McCartney: As part of our Modernising Governing commitment to publish a Corporate IT Strategy in March, we have published a draft of the strategy for comment on the Information Age Government website at www.iagchampions.gov.uk and have placed copies in the Libraries of the House.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Parades Commission
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the names of the individuals involved in undertaking the review of the Parades Commission. [110049]
Mr. Ingram: No. This was an internal review carried out by officials of the Northern Ireland Office.
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a list of individuals and organisations who (a) have been invited to make submissions, (b) have made written submissions and (c) have made oral submissions to the review of the Parades Commission. [110048]
Mr. Ingram: We invited, through a press release, comments from anyone who felt they had a contribution to make. It is not Government practice to publish lists of contributors.
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reasons he is to conduct a second review of the Parades Commission. [110042]
Mr. Ingram: There are no plans to conduct any review of the Parades Commission other than that announced by my right hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Marjorie Mowlam) on 8 October last year.
Mr. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he will publish the report of the review of the Parades Commission; and if he will make a statement. [110047]
Mr. Ingram:
In accordance with the undertaking given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Marjorie Mowlam), the Secretary of State will make an announcement on the outcome of the review. There are no plans to publish the report.
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Mr. Donaldson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if the current review of the Parades Commission will be completed prior to the appointment of new members and a new Chairman to the Commission. [110046]
Mr. Ingram:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will simultaneously announce the outcome of both the review and the competitions to appoint new members and a new Chairman to the Commission later in the week.
Local Transport Plans
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will estimate the costs incurred by each local authority in England in preparing provisional local transport plans. [109700]
Mr. Hill [holding answer 11 February 2000]: The move to a five-year planning cycle will produce administrative savings for local authorities (by offering greater certainty of future funding and removing the need to prepare plans annually). The wider public participation, more effective partnership working and better monitoring associated with local transport plans will lead to some additional costs, but we have no information on which to base an estimate of their scale.
Driving Licences
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 27 January 2000, Official Report, column 278W, on driving licences, if he will state (a) what details, confirmed by the Immigration and Nationality Department are accepted as identification for driving licence application purposes and (b) in what form such confirmation would be acceptable. [108007]
Mr. Hill: My officials have recently reached agreement with the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) on a scheme under which original documents (passports or birth certificates) held by them will be returned for a limited period on request to those awaiting processing to allow them to make an application to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for a driving licence.
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if when an application for a driving licence is made by someone whose papers are awaiting processing by the Immigration Service, DVLA will consider accepting as proof of identity the standard acknowledgement letter issued by the Immigration Service. [108431]
Mr. Hill:
DVLA was advised by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) in August last year that Standard Acknowledgement Letters are not evidence of identity and should not be accepted in support of an application for a driving licence.
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DVLA and IND have recently reached agreement on a scheme under which original identity documents held by the Immigration Service will be returned for a limited period to those awaiting processing so that an application for a driving licence can be made to DVLA.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to (a) encourage less frequent use of cars and (b) allow local authorities to levy workplace car parking charges, in the west midlands. [109565]
Mr. Hill:
Our integrated transport White Paper, "A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone", set out a new approach to meeting local transport needs and reducing dependency on the car by improving alternative modes of transport and providing greater transport choice.
The Transport Bill currently before Parliament will enable local authorities to levy a charge on workplace parking to tackle traffic congestion as part of a Local Transport Plan. Local authorities in the West Midlands, with the exception of Coventry and Solihull, have joined our Charging Development Partnership and are actively considering a workplace parking levy scheme.
Dr. Kumar:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what discussions he has had with other EU Ministers about exchanging information on good practice regarding the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; and if he will make a statement. [110005]
Mr. Meacher:
EU Environment Ministers regularly discuss the importance of introducing effective national, co-ordinated and Community level policies and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In October 1999, the Council agreed that it was essential for further common and co-ordinated policies and measures to be implemented rapidly and asked the Commission to put forward a priority list as early as possible in 2000. Discussion on any new measures proposed will be informed by best practice in Member States.
Dr. Kumar:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what discussions have taken place within the Council of Ministers regarding meeting the legally-binding targets for greenhouse gas emissions by 2010; and if he will make a statement. [110006]
Mr. Meacher:
The Council regularly discusses climate change issues and restates its determination to delivering the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to which the European Community and its Member States are committed under the Kyoto Protocol.
The revised Council Decision on monitoring emissions of greenhouse gases requires the Commission to prepare annual assessments of the progress of the Community and its Member States towards delivering the Kyoto targets and to report to the Council and the European Parliament. The Commission is due to produce its first report in October, providing an opportunity for further Council discussion.
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Dr. Kumar:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will publish the names of the members of the Road Haulage Forum with the names of the organisations and regions they represent; and if he will make a statement. [110112]
Mr. Hill:
The Road Haulage Forum was established in March 1999. Its current membership is:
| Members | |
|---|---|
| Minister for Transport | The right hon. Lord Macdonald of Tradeston CBE |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, DETR | Lord Whitty |
| Minister of State, DTI | Patricia Hewitt MP |
| Financial Secretary to the Treasury | Stephen Timms MP |
| Freight Transport Association | Lawrence Christensen CBE (President) |
| David Green (Director General) | |
| Road Haulage Association | John Bridge OBE (Chairman) |
| Transport and General Workers' Union | Danny Bryan, Ron Webb (National Secretaries) |
| Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders | Christopher Macgowan (Chief Executive) |
| Independent Members | Stuart Archbold (of Archbold Freightage, Leeds) |
| John Harvey CBE (of Tibbett and Britten, Enfield) |
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