| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Nuclear Regulation
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what additional resources have been (a) sought by and (b) provided to the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate to cover the additional work needed to assess the new regulatory regime requirements for (i) British Nuclear Fuels in preparation for PPP and (ii) British Energy as a private company. [115358]
Mr. Meacher: Resources for the regulation of British Nuclear Fuels and British Energy are provided for within the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate's current staffing plans for 2000-01. HSE plans to recruit up to 30 additional inspectors to increase its cadre of nuclear inspectors in 2000-01 to deliver its programme of inspection which will include the regulation of British Nuclear Fuels and British Energy.
M4 Bus Lane
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many (a) buses and (b) passengers have used the M4 bus lane on each day since the ending of Reading Buses' services to and from London; and if he will make a statement. [115267]
Mr. Hill [holding answer 20 March 2000]: The bus lane continues to help provide a first-class service for passengers using buses, coaches and taxis and benefits all road users. Use of the bus lane has increased by over 20 per cent. from 3,000 vehicles in the last week of operation to 3,700 vehicles using the bus lane each day. Of these 600 are buses (including coaches), and each bus carries 15 passengers, an average of 9,000 bus passengers each day. Under normal traffic conditions, time savings of up to nine minutes are being obtained by users of the bus lane, and the reliability of their journey increases.
Reading Buses will withdraw their London service on Sunday 7 May 2000. Therefore data on changes to usage of the M4 bus lane will not be available until some time later Reading Buses use the lane 15 times per day. This accounts for only 2.5 per cent. of buses and coaches using the lane and is much less than the typical week by week variation in these vehicles.
3 Apr 2000 : Column: 314W
I am disappointed Reading Buses are withdrawing their London service. I understand that this was on economic grounds, and that they say that the services would have stopped earlier but for the M4 bus lane. I am however pleased that another operator has increased use of this section of the M4 by 30 buses per day since the bus lane opened.
Mr. Kaufman:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 16 March 2000, Official Report, column 328W, concerning the Jubilee line, what other recently completed railways (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) abroad have experienced delays at one point which resulted in delays and train cancellations throughout the line; and for what reason the doors designed to lead to trains on the westbound Jubilee line platform at Westminster station are not in use. [115751]
Mr. Hill:
The information requested in answer to the first part of my right hon. Friend's question is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
However, London Underground is a member of an international group of Metro operators. I understand that within this group over half have constructed new lines in recent years; of these new lines more than half have experienced "teething problems".
I understand from London Underground that the platforms at Westminster are designed to accommodate seven car trains (to allow for capacity increases in later years). Jubilee line trains presently consist of only six cars. The rear platform edge doors of the Westbound platform are therefore not currently in use and are kept closed for safety reasons. I am advised that information notices are posted on the relevant doors.
Mrs. Ellman:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many quangos operate (a) nationwide (b) with a regional remit and (c) within the north-west region. [116071]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
The Department currently sponsors 31 executive NDPBs, 13 of which operate nationwide. The eight NDPBs that have a regional remit are the Regional Development Agencies. Two of the Department's NDPBs operate solely within the North-West region: the North West Development Agency and Liverpool Housing Action Trust.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment has been made of the ways in which it is possible to recover pollen dispersed from GM plants in field trials in the event of the experiment demonstrating environmental harm. [116267]
Mr. Meacher:
It would not be possible to recover pollen released from field trials. This is one of the reasons why no genetically modified crops may be released for field trials in the United Kingdom without a detailed risk assessment of the possible harm to human health and the
3 Apr 2000 : Column: 315W
environment. This includes specific consideration of the possible effects of the dispersal of GM pollen. The risk assessments are reviewed critically by the scientific and technical experts on the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE). If ACRE had any concern that GM pollen would cause environmental harm, then the release would not be allowed.
Mr. Alan Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to place conditions in the contracts for biodiversity research relating to farm-scale trials of GM crops to ensure there are no conflicts of interest among contractors which might undermine the credibility of research. [116208]
Mr. Meacher:
I have no plans to place conditions in the contracts. The research contractors involved in the evaluations are respected Government research institutions who have no corporate links to any vested interest. The research methodology and findings for the farm-scale evaluations are reviewed and agreed by an independent Scientific Steering Committee and the overall findings of the evaluations will be peer reviewed by other independent scientists, completely outside the research programme. This all guarantees that the findings of the farm-scale evaluations will be unbiased and science based.
Mr. Alan Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the criteria used to assess the scientific independence of scientific contractors working on farm-scale evaluations of GM crops before contracts were awarded. [116207]
Mr. Meacher:
The Department invited 15 organisations to tender for the farm-scale evaluations. These were chosen to be Government funded bodies (such as research council institutes or universities) or independent research bodies. In the event, the contractors chosen were all Government funded institutes and had demonstrated that they had the capacity to carry out the work, as well as the required scientific expertise. As with all Government contracts of this nature, the researchers were asked to provide details of all personnel expected to carry out the work, along with their CVs.
Mr. Alan Simpson:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of potential conflicts of interest relating to the contract given to the Institute of Arable Crop Research for farm-scale evaluation of GM crops following the recruitment of staff involved by CropGen. [116209]
Mr. Meacher:
Three members of staff employed by the Institute of Arable Crop Research have been recruited to advise CropGen. Two were previously involved with the farm-scale evaluations in a specialist advisory role but neither will be involved in the next stage of the project.
3 Apr 2000 : Column: 316W
Mr. Robathan:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what discussions he had with the Dutch Transport Minister during her recent visit concerning policies to (a) increase the distance cycled and (b) to reduce cycling fatalities; and if he will make a statement. [116081]
Mr. Hill:
My right hon. and noble Friend the Minister for Transport met the Dutch Transport Minister on 7 March. Cycling issues were not on the agenda on this occasion.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will calculate in percentage terms the difference between his Department's most recent standard spending assessment in education for the counties of (a) Cheshire and (b) Hertfordshire; and if he will make a statement on the reasons for the difference. [116122]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
The education standard spending assessments (SSA) for 2000-01 for Cheshire county council and Hertfordshire county council are £275,998,592 and £471,433,598 respectively, a difference of 71 per cent. This arises from applying the SSA formula to the numbers relevant to each county. The great majority of the difference is accounted for by the greater number of pupils in Hertfordshire.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will calculate the value of his Department's most recent (a) standard spending assessment for education for the county of Cheshire and (b) average standard spending assessment for the shire counties. [116117]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
The education standard spending assessment for 2000-01 for Cheshire county council is £275,998,592. The average education standard spending assessment for 2000-01 for shire county councils is £272,584,489.
Mr. Nicholas Winterton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will calculate the value of his Department's most recent (a) standard spending assessment per pupil for the county of Cheshire, (b) average standard spending assessment per pupil for shire counties and (c) average standard spending assessment per pupil for the Metropolitan and London authorities; and if he will make a statement. [116118]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
The information requested is given in the table:
3 Apr 2000 : Column: 315W
| £ per pupil | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5s Education SSA | Primary Education SSA | Secondary Education SSA | Post-16 Education SSA | Education SSA (15) | |
| Cheshire County Council | 1,962 | 2,257 | 2,898 | 3,236 | 2,602 |
| Shire County Council Average | 2,109 | 2,348 | 3,024 | 3,426 | 2,715 |
| Metropolitan District Average | 2,414 | 2,456 | 3,168 | 3,813 | 2,863 |
| London Borough Average | 3,394 | 2,982 | 3,802 | 4,194 | 3,510 |
| Met District and London Borough Average | 2,777 | 2,645 | 3,386 | 3,978 | 3,094 |
(15) This column is calculated by dividing the Education SSA (including the element for 'other' education, such as adult education) by the sum of Under 5, Primary, Secondary and Post-16 pupils
3 Apr 2000 : Column: 317W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |