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Written Answers to Questions
Friday 17 March 2000
ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS
Land Development
Mr. Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to give local authorities more control over land development. [112614]
Ms Beverley Hughes: Under our modernising planning initiative, local planning authorities, acting through regional planning bodies, are now responsible for preparing draft regional planning guidance. Local planning authorities have always been responsible for development plans and, in the first instance, for determining planning applications. We are committed to the plan-led system under which it is the local authority's development plan which provides the framework for decisions on the control of land development.
Local Authority Airports
Mr. Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what legal advice he has received in the last year on proposals to change the powers of local authorities in respect of airports they own. [114573]
Mr. Mullin: Local authorities are currently required to exercise their control over public airport companies in such a way that the companies do not engage in activities in which the local authorities themselves have no power to engage. Manchester Airport asked my right hon. Friend to remove this limitation by means of a provision in the Local Government Bill under which he could make regulations extending the powers of airport companies and their subsidiaries in relation to specified types of activity. We consider that the clause which Manchester Airport wished my right hon. Friend to add to the Bill for this purpose would have been outside its scope.
Mr. Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of extending the powers of local authorities in respect of airports they own. [114574]
Mr. Mullin: We largely agree with Manchester Airport's own assessment of the potential benefits of wider powers for local authority airport companies.
Mr. Goggins:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the potential use that local authorities might make in respect of airports they own of the new obligation on local authorities to promote economic and social well-being. [114575]
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Mr. Mullin:
Part I of the Local Government Bill gives local authorities broad new powers to do anything that contributes to the economic and social well-being of their areas. Subject to the terms of their Memoranda and Articles of Association these powers will also apply to local authority airport companies.
Mr. Dawson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what action he is taking to ensure that the money paid to (a) Bus Employees Pension Trustees Ltd. to settle the action of the Bus Employees Superannuation Trust and (b) the National Bus Pension Fund Trust on 1 August 1999 is actually paid to pensioners. [114721]
Mr. Hill
[holding answer 15 March 2000]: Responsibility for distribution of the settlement sum to pensioners rests entirely with the trustees of the two funds who are independent of the Government. We have however made clear to the trustees that we are very concerned about the time it is taking to resolve this matter. I met them in February to discuss progress and emphasised the need to take matters forward as swiftly as possible.
I was pleased to be able to say on 7 February 2000, Official Report, columns 17-18W, in answer to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster, Central (Ms Winterton), that the trustees intend to make initial payments to some 8,000 older pensioners in March and April and are urgently investigating the feasibility of making initial payments to other pensioners.
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many homes received home improvement grants in each of the years 1970-76. [114770]
Mr. Mullin:
This information can be found in Table X.28, page 119, Chapter 10, Part III of the 1977 Housing Policy Green Paper (Cmnd. 6851). A copy of this Green Paper should be available in the House of Commons Library.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what guidance he has given to planning authorities about the protection of privacy for neighbours; [114921]
Ms Beverley Hughes
[holding answer 16 March 2000]: Under our plan-led system of development control, decisions on planning applications have to be made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. We advise in our Planning Policy Guidance Note 1 "General Policy and Principles" that good neighbourliness and fairness are among the yardsticks against which development proposals can be measured and that, for example, it might be material to consider the question of 'overlooking' or
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loss of privacy experienced by a particular resident. It is for local planning authorities to determine what considerations are material to any particular case.
Planning conditions may also be used to protect privacy. The Department's Circular 11/95 suggests, for example, that a local planning authority may wish in appropriate circumstances to attach to a planning permission a condition preventing the use of the roof area of an extension to a dwellinghouse as a balcony, roof garden or similar amenity area without further permission from the authority. We are not proposing planning to introduce any further specific planning measures to improve the protection of privacy for neighbours, although we will continue to keep the matter under review.
Mr. Loughton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what additional resources have been allocated within his Department to oversee the regulation of the water industry. [115012]
Mr. Mullin
[holding answer 16 March 2000]: Departmental resources for overseeing the regulation of the water industry have been kept broadly constant in real terms since the election. The Department's Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) regulates drinking water quality on behalf of the Secretary of State and the National Assembly for Wales. DWI expenditure in 1998-99 was £2.1 million, and is expected to be £2.2 million in 1999-2000, compared with £1.8 million in 1997-98.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what timetable he has agreed in respect of the 31 January announcement on consultation about the implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and access to taxis. [115082]
Mr. Hill:
We are reviewing the policy options and will consult with the taxi trade, disability organisations and local authorities on the final proposals, including the timetable for implementation in due course. An announcement with further details will be issued when the timing is clear.
Mr. Kaufman:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will call for a report from London Underground on the continuing failings of the signalling system on the Jubilee Line, with particular reference to delays on the southbound line on the morning of Tuesday 14 March; and by what date this line is expected to be working efficiently and punctually. [115127]
Mr. Hill:
I note my right hon. Friend's request for a report. This is an operational matter for London Underground Ltd., who have informed me that they are doing all they can to identify and resolve recurring faults. This work has already started to pay off in terms of improved train reliability. Indeed, work is currently in hand, in particular on signalling, which should improve performance significantly over the next few months.
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I understand that on the morning of 14 March services were suspended for 25 minutes at the request of the Metropolitan police while they investigated a suspect vehicle parked outside Westminster station. There was no signal failure.
Mr. Loughton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to paragraphs 113 and 126 of the Ministerial Code, what steps he took to avoid conflicts of interest in respect of the renting of a flat from the RMT and other financial arrangements with the RMT. [115211]
Mr. Raynsford:
My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has been a tenant since 1970 of a flat owned by the RMT. Like about 200,000 other pre-1989 private sector tenancies, it is a regulated tenancy under the Rent Acts and is subject to 'fair rent' control. My right hon. Friend has written to the Parliamentary Commissioner explaining to her the reasons why he sees no need to declare the tenancy in the Register of Members' Interests, but for the avoidance of doubt, he has asked for her advice on the issue.
(2) what plans he has to introduce measures to improve protection of privacy for neighbours. [114920]
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