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Air Services

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent steps he has taken to ensure the aircraft flying over London into Heathrow have sufficient fuel on board. [113039]

Mr. Mullin: Responsibility for the safety regulation of airlines, including compliance with minimum fuel requirements, lies with the country in which the airline is based. The UK Civil Aviation Authority ensures that UK airlines have effective minimum fuel policies for all flights and checks fuel records when auditing airlines. Regulatory authorities for foreign airlines must ensure that their airlines meet at least the international standards for minimum fuel levels.

We have procedures in place to check that foreign operated aircraft flying to the UK are being maintained and operated in compliance with international standards. These include targeted inspections by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of aircraft from countries where safety oversight has been questioned. Last summer, following an allegation that one airline had operated into Heathrow airport with low fuel levels on a number of occasions, we targeted a number of inspections on long haul operators from the Far East. We asked the particular operator concerned to provide us with weekly reports of fuel levels of their aircraft on arrival at Heathrow and this has continued as a condition of their operating permit; the reports have been satisfactory. We will investigate fully any reports of problems with other operators.

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what requirements exist for non-departmental public bodies responsible to his Department to carry out an environmental impact statement for their respective activities. [113306]

Mr. Raynsford: Regulations require environmental impact assessment for certain public and private projects that are likely to have a significant effect on the environment. These apply to activities proposed by non- departmental public bodies responsible to my Department in the same way as those proposed by any other body.

Combined Heat and Power

Mr. Gareth R. Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what action he is taking to encourage the expansion of combined heat and power generation capacity. [113057]

Mr. Meacher: The Government's action to exempt Good Quality Combined Heat and Power from the Climate Change Levy is the strongest evidence of this Government's commitment to the wider use of CHP. It is also intended to be one of the energy technologies eligible for the proposed Enhanced Capital Allowances scheme under the Climate Change Levy package. The announcement on 6 March that electricity generating plant and machinery in all Good Quality CHP schemes will be de-rated from 1 April 2001, further strengthens Government support for CHP.

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We are implementing a CHP Quality Assurance programme to enhance the quality of CHP and determine eligibility to a range of benefits, and will shortly consult on a new strategy to achieve our target of at least 10,000 MWe of CHP by 2010.

We continue to work closely with industry to ensure the fullest support for CHP growth. On 17 May I will be launching the CHP Club, an integrated service under the Energy Efficiency Best Practice programme, to help new and potential CHP users exploit the positive environment which this Government have put in place.

Rat Infestations

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions further to his answer of 24 January 2000, Official Report, column 130W, on rats, if he will commission a more detailed assessment of the conditions of drains and sewers near dwellings and their relationship to rat infestations as part of the 2001 English House Condition Survey. [113062]

Mr. Mullin: The 1996 English House Condition Survey (EHCS) included an assessment of observable faults to the drainage system around the dwelling, which surveyors can reasonably be asked to collect as part of a standard house condition survey. Development work is now under way for the 2001 survey and it is highly likely that this will be repeated. However, the EHCS is not an appropriate vehicle for carrying out more detailed investigative work on the overall condition of drains and sewers.

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, further to his answer of 24 January 2000, Official Report, column 130W, on rats, if cracked or defective drain covers would render a dwelling unfit. [113061]

Mr. Mullin: Under the current fitness standard a dwelling can be deemed unfit if it does not have an effective system for the draining of foul, waste and surface water. This tends to be based on an overall assessment of a number of features connected with the drainage system. In relation to the collection and analysis of the English House Condition Survey data, dwellings are not deemed unfit solely because of cracked or defective drain covers.

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, further to his answer of 24 January 2000, Official Report, column 130W, on rats, if dwellings that are unfit as the result of lack of effective drainage are more likely to have rat infestations than those that are unfit on other counts; and if he will make a statement. [113060]

Mr. Mullin: The English House Condition Survey questions related to rodent infestations are analysed in the recent MAFF report "Rodent Infestations in domestic properties in England". Page 11 of the report emphasises that properties with defective drainage systems also tend to be defective in many other aspects. It would not be appropriate to analyse the data to make a distinction between those that are unfit for drainage reasons and those that are unfit for other reasons. This is because the number of dwellings in the sample that are classed as unfit because of problems with drainage is very small, less than 1 per cent. of the total sample.

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Ministerial Meetings

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions on what dates in the last year officials and Ministers of his Department have met representatives of the (a) British Road Federation, (b) Road Haulage Association, (c) Freight Transport Association, (d) RAC, (e) AA, (f) Cyclists Touring Club, (g) Pedestrians Association and (h) Transport 2000. [113051]

Mr. Hill: Ministers and officials have formal and informal meetings with representatives of these organisations as necessary; a detailed record could be kept only at disproportionate cost.

Connex

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many Connex train services have (a) run on time, (b) been delayed and (c) been cancelled in the last month. [113173]

Mr. Hill: The shadow Strategic Rail Authority (sSRA) does not monitor the train operating companies' performance in these terms. The sSRA publishes quarterly statistics on punctuality and reliability, the next of which will be published shortly and placed in the Library of the House.

Trafalgar Square (Pedestrianisation)

Mr. Fearn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what action his Department has taken to identify potential sources of funding for proposals to partially pedestrianise Trafalgar Square. [113444]

Mr. Hill: The Government fully support the proposal to close the north side of Trafalgar Square to traffic which is included in phase 1 of the World Squares for All Masterplan. We are making up to £2 million available to Westminster City Council for the design of phase 1 of the Masterplan.

Implementation of phase 1 could begin in 2001 and further funding would be a matter for the Mayor of London. Contributions to the cost of implementation could also be sought from the Heritage Lottery Fund and private sector sponsorship.

Rural Poverty

Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will publish his Department's consultation document concerning additional funds to deal with rural poverty. [113476]

Mr. Mullin [holding answer 7 March 2000]: As part of the consultation for the forthcoming Rural White Paper, DETR published its discussion document "Rural England" in February 1999. This posed a series of questions on a wide range of rural issues. A summary of the themes arising from this consultation has been published on the DETR internet website.

Rural poverty is one of the issues being addressed in preparing for the Rural White Paper which we expect to publish later this year.

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Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will publish his Department's research into the extent of rural poverty; and what definitions of poverty he has used. [113465]

Mr. Mullin [holding answer 7 March 2000]: Poverty is a complex, multi-dimensional issue, affecting many aspects of people's lives--income, health, housing, the quality of the environment, opportunities to work and learn, and access to services. There is no single reliable measure.

The Countryside Agency, the Government's statutory adviser on social and economic development in rural areas, has been conducting research into indicators of rural disadvantage. The findings of this research are expected to be published in due course. Current information on rural disadvantage is contained in the Agency's "State of the Countryside", a copy of which is in the Library. It is also among the topics covered in The Cabinet Office's "Sharing the Nation's Prosperity" report, which provides information on the economic, social and environmental conditions in the countryside.

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