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Water Supply (West Sussex)
Mr. Loughton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what discussions he has had with the water companies about ensuring the increased provision of water supplies to West Sussex homes following his announcement on 7 March on the need for more houses. [114401]
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Mr. Mullin:
Under the supervision of the Environment Agency, each water company produced in April 1999 a water resources plan, showing how it would maintain an adequate balance between supply and demand in its area for the next 25 years. The Environment Agency published its assessment of these plans in a report to my right hon. Friends the Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Wales in June 1999.
Following guidance issued by the Environment Agency on 28 February 2000, each water company will review its plan annually and will report the outcome to the Environment Agency in September each year. In that way, each water company will show how it proposes to respond to any changes which may influence its water resources plan. The Environment Agency will report to Ministers its assessment of these annual reviews.
Mr. Loughton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what undertakings he has received from the Department of Health regarding the provision of additional hospital and other medical services over the next 15 years to cater for the increased housing requirement in West Sussex. [114408]
Mr. Raynsford:
We will be consulting SERPLAN and others on the distribution of housing within the region, including for West Sussex, during the forthcoming consultation period. When regional planning guidance for the South East is finalised later this year it will provide a planning framework which will assist decisions about the provision of supporting infrastructure, including additional hospital and other medical services.
Mr. Loughton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what advice he has given to local authorities when drawing up their own five year local plans as to the effect of the Government's five-year reviews of housing demand in the South East of England. [114398]
Mr. Raynsford:
When finalised later this year regional planning guidance will set the overall level of housing provision for the region and provide a distribution to constituent structure plan and unitary development plan authorities. This will be expressed as an annual rate to be applied throughout the plan period. At a local plan level PPG3, published on 7 March, advises that sufficient sites should be shown on the proposals map to accommodate at least the first five years (or the first two phases) of housing development proposed in the plan. If the rate of provision at the regional level changes as a result of the monitoring and review process, local authorities will need to consider whether consequential adjustments have to be made through reviews of development plans.
Mr. Loughton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he has taken to investigate the leaks regarding the Government's response to the Crow report to which he referred in his announcement in the House on 7 March. [114409]
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Mr. Raynsford:
My Department is conducting an investigation into the leak of information in the normal way.
Mr. Loughton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what measures he intends to put in place to discourage single person occupancy of new households over the next 20 years. [114406]
Mr. Raynsford:
The latest household projections for England for the period 1996-2021 indicate that 71 per cent. of new households are likely to be formed by single persons. Planning Policy Guidance note 3 therefore advises local authorities to adopt policies which take full account of changes in housing needs in their areas and which will widen the range of housing opportunities to allow these to be met. It is not for the Government to encourage or discourage any particular size of household.
Mr. David Stewart:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on the development of liquefied petroleum gas-powered vehicles in rural areas. [113932]
Mr. Hill:
We are committed to developing a sustainable market for alternatively fuelled vehicles, which can offer benefits in terms of emissions of local air pollutants and greenhouse gases. Liquefied petroleum gas powered vehicles offer most benefits when they are used in urban areas, particularly when used by commercial operators instead of diesel. Of course the climate change benefits that LPG vehicles can bring are as welcome in the countryside as they are in our towns and cities. However, our priority for LPG vehicles is to encourage their use in urban areas, for instance, through the use of fiscal measures and the Energy Saving Trust's Powershift programme. We also want to see the development of a publicly accessible LPG refuelling infrastructure in these areas.
We do recognise that a properly strategic refuelling infrastructure that operators can rely on will require LPG refuelling stations in some rural areas, particularly near major trunk roads, so the infrastructure has national coverage. This will enable the climate change benefits gas-powered vehicles can bring to be further realised.
Dr. Strang:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was the level of capital investment by National Air Traffic Services Ltd. in each year for which figures are available from 1 April 1996. [114005]
Mr. Mullin:
I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (Mr. Moore) on 2 March 2000, Official Report, columns 333-34W.
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Mr. Swayne:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to include measures to modernise the rights of way network in the Countryside and Rights of Way Bill; and if he will make a statement. [112568]
Mr. Meacher:
The Countryside and Rights of Way Bill which was introduced on 3 March includes several measures to improve the rights of way network. I have also announced that the Government will bring forward additional rights of way measures during the Bill's passage.
Mr. Duncan Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current strength of KFOR deployed in Kosovo. [114258]
Mr. Spellar:
The strength of KFOR deployed in Kosovo on 9 March is 39,096.
Mr. Duncan Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current strength of KFOR; and which countries are contributing forces to the operation, indicating how many men each contributes. [114257]
Mr. Spellar:
As at 9 March 2000 the strength of KFOR was 44,939. This figure includes 5,843 personnel based in FYROM, Greece and Albania. The number of men and women contributed to KFOR, by nation, are as listed.
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Training Parachute Jumps
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the number of training parachute jumps undertaken by Army personnel in each of the past five years. [114255]
Mr. Spellar: The total number of recorded parachute training jumps undertaken by Army personnel in the last five years is set out in the table.
| Year | Number of descents |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 32,639 |
| 1996 | 29,558 |
| 1997 | 27,389 |
| 1998 | 27,385 |
| 1999 | 29,221 |
| Total | 146,192 |
Catterick Garrison
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the cost of the new garages, workshops and hard standing for main battle tanks at Catterick Garrison. [113750]
Mr. Spellar: The cost of garages, workshops and hardstanding for the main battle tanks at Catterick Garrison, known as Megiddo Lines, was £13.7 million.
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