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Tramway and Light Railway Systems
21. Mr. Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to fund new tramway and light railway systems. [116164]
Mr. Hill: We believe that light rail can have an important role to play in delivering integrated transport in major conurbations. Decisions on whether to provide Central Government support for light rail systems are taken on a case-by-case basis on the merits of the particular scheme. Where systems cannot be funded entirely from local sources or by the private sector, promoters must demonstrate that their scheme provides good value for money, forms an essential part of a local transport plan, and that the objectives of that plan cannot be met in better ways.
Second Home Ownership
22. Mr. Tyler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he proposes to take to enable local authorities to mitigate the impact of second home ownership on the social, economic and environmental conditions of their areas. [116165]
Mr. Mullin: We are considering a number of proposals for tackling the problems raised by second homes in preparation for the forthcoming Rural White Paper.
Housing Demand
23. Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on variations of regional demand for housing. [116167]
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Mr. Raynsford:
The latest, 1996-based, household projections projected a net increase of 3.8 million households (19 per cent.) in England over the 25-year period from 1996 to 2021. The projected percentage increases by Government Office Region ranged from 8 per cent. for the North East up to 26 per cent. for the South East.
24. Mr. Clifton-Brown:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what proposals he has to increase the funding for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. [116168]
Mr. Meacher:
Funding for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) has already been increased. The Countryside Agency has an additional £2.5 million in the current financial year for their management and conservation, rising by a further £1 million in 2000-01, which will bring the Agency's budget for AONBs to almost £6 million.
25. Mr. Quinn:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on his plans to improve quality standards in the construction industry. [116169]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
I am pleased to announce that this week the first pilot of the quality mark scheme--in Birmingham--is being opened to builders who want to join. A list of approved builders will be available to consumers in the city later in the summer. The pilots in Birmingham and, later, Somerset are a key stage in testing and developing the scheme. Once we have extracted the lessons from them we will review the quality mark and then roll it out across the country.
26. Mr. Evans:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what encouragement he is giving for brownfield development in the north-west. [116170]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
The North West Regional Assembly is looking at the scope for channelling future growth onto brownfield land in its review of Regional Planning Guidance. As part of this exercise, local planning authorities in the region have been asked to look at the potential of their built-up areas to accommodate additional households.
Additionally, land reclamation is an essential task for the North West Development Agency, which expects to spend £11.5 million through its Land Reclamation Programme in 2000-01.
27. Angela Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received regarding exemption certificates for the wearing of seatbelts for drivers with disabilities. [116171]
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Mr. Hill:
The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions does receive inquiries from members of the public and refers them to their general practitioners who are responsible for issuing Certificates of Exemption from Compulsory Seat Belt Wearing. However, a disabled person in a wheelchair who is wearing a disabled person's belt is exempt from the requirement to wear adult belts.
28. Mr. Healey:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the role of the Regional Development Agencies in England in regenerating the business base in areas with low GDP. [116172]
Ms Armstrong:
The main aim of the Regional Development Agencies is to improve the competitiveness of the English Regions within a framework of sustainable development. Their Regional Strategies and Action Plans take a co-ordinated approach and contain high level objectives to increase GDP relative to other EU regions as well as, where appropriate, to other English regions. The RDAs' own spending programmes contribute to regenerating the business base; these include the single regeneration budget, physical regeneration, rural development, inward investment, skills development and competitiveness development.
29. Mr. Coaker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact of local rail strategies on traffic congestion in cities. [116173]
Mr. Hill:
Local authorities should take account of the contribution rail can make to an integrated transport strategy. This is one of the criteria by which we judge the quality of local transport plans (LTPs). We took the impact of LTPs into account when preparing "Tackling Congestion and Pollution", but did not separately assess the effects of local rail strategies.
31. Ms Ward:
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 investment in council housing. [116175]
Mr. Mullin:
Our policies for housing are set out in the Housing Green Paper, "Quality and Choice--A Decent Home for All", which is being published today. Improving the quality of council housing is central to meeting our overarching housing objective of offering everyone the opportunity of a decent home and so promote social cohesion, well being and self-dependence. The Government are providing authorities with nearly £4.5 billion of extra resources for housing investment over the lifetime of this Parliament.
32. Mr. Watts:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on his Department's review of the local government standard spending assessment system. [116176]
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Ms Armstrong:
Central and local Government officials have been discussing a wide range of options for improving the method of revenue grant distribution. Their joint report of the issues raised in the review has now been discussed at the Central Local Partnership and published on the internet. Copies of the report are also available in the House Library.
Decisions about the merits of the various options for reform will be made when we have responses to a consultation paper that we expect to publish in the summer.
33. Mr. St. Aubyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the extra congestion which will be created by greenfield development in areas without developed transport links in the next 10 years. [116177]
Ms Beverley Hughes:
In drawing up their regional transport strategies and local transport plans, local authorities will wish to take full account of the distribution of housing development. Planning Policy Guidance note 3, "Housing", provides that local planning authorities should seek to exploit opportunities to locate larger housing developments around major nodes along good quality public transport corridors.
Authorities should also seek to ensure that all housing developments are accessible by a range of non-car modes, and draft PPG13, "Transport", proposes that all major development proposals should be supported by a transport assessment.
34. Mr. Day: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent representations he has received from Stockport metropolitan borough council concerning its standard spending assessment.
Ms Beverley Hughes:
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council wrote to the Department on 10 and 17 December with comments on the local government finance settlement 2000-01 during consultation on our proposals.
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