| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Ilisu Dam
Ms Kingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has had with the Turkish Government regarding the Ilisu Dam Project. [120897]
Mr. Caborn: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has not had any discussions with the Turkish government regarding the Ilisu Dam project. As part of its normal procedures, the Export Credits Guarantee Department has had discussions with the General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (DSI), the Turkish authority responsible for the project; the most recent meeting took place in London in February.
Defence Manufacturers Association
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many times his Department has met representatives of the Defence Manufacturers Association since 1997. [122245]
Mr. Alan Johnson: My Department maintains a regular dialogue with the Defence Manufacturers Association (DMA) on sectoral and export issues. Many of the meetings between officials in my Department and the DMA are informal or during the course of other events and no central record is kept. In 1997, the then Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for Small Firms addressed the DMA's Annual General Meeting.
WALES
Youth Service
Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the development of the Youth Service in Wales and the Learning and Skills Bill [Lords]. [121238]
Mr. Hanson: The Government have introduced amendments to the Learning and Skills Bill to enable the National Assembly to develop, together with local authorities and others, an enhanced youth support service for young people in Wales.
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Jay Abatan
Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Solicitor-General if he will call for a report from the Crown Prosecution Service on its actions following the attack on Jay Abatan in Brighton in January 1999. [122482]
16 May 2000 : Column: 82W
The Solicitor-General: I have received an initial report about this case from the Crown Prosecution Service. I am now making further inquiries and will provide as substantive answer as soon as I am able.
ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND
THE REGIONS
Asylum Seekers (Housing)
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assumptions he made about the number of asylum seekers living in south east England when he prepared his response to the Crow report. [120255]
Ms Beverley Hughes: The Department's household projections are only one of several factors which informed the Proposed Changes to draft Regional Planning Guidance for the south east. I refer the hon. Member to my answer below--which clarifies the relationship between population projections in which assumptions about asylum seekers are made and the Department's household projections.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assumptions he has made in his Department's projections of future population and household formation trends about the number of asylum seekers in England. [120276]
Ms Beverley Hughes [holding answer 2 May 2000]: National population projections are prepared by the Government Actuary's Department and published jointly with the Office for National Statistics. A description of the assumptions in the 1996-based national population projections can be found in "National Population Projections: 1996-based" (ONS series PPG2 No. 21, published by TSO). These included a long-term asylum seeker assumption of 5,000 a year to the UK, virtually all of whom were assumed to settle in England. This assumption has subsequently been revised.
The 1996-based national population projections were an input into the Department's household projections, the latest of which is published in "Projections of Households in England to 2021", a copy of which is in the Library. No other information about asylum seekers in England was used in producing the household projections.
A6 (Dove Holes)
Mr. Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list, in respect of the A6 trunk road through Dove Holes, Derbyshire, for each of the last 10 years, (a) the number of (i) fatalities and (ii) injuries recorded in road accidents and (b) the number of speeding offences detected in the 30 mph zone; and what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the recently implemented traffic calming measures there. [121053]
Mr. Hill: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Mr. Peter Nutt, to write to my hon. Friend.
16 May 2000 : Column: 83W
Letter from Peter Nutt to Mr. Tom Levitt, dated 16 May 2000:
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Keith Hill, has asked me to reply to your recent question requesting (a) the number of (i) fatalities and (ii) injuries recorded in road accidents and (b) the number of speeding offences detected in the 30mph zone, both over the last ten years, on the A6 Trunk Road through Dove Holes, Derbyshire. You also asked what assessment had been made of the efficacy of the recently implemented traffic calming measures there.
Unfortunately, we do not have personal injury figures for a full ten-year period for this length of A6. The figures between April 1994 and December 1999, the latest period for which information is available, are as follows:
Fatal - Nil;
Serious - 7;
Slight - 28
As enforcement of speed limits is a matter for the police, the Highways Agency does not record the number of speeding offences on trunk roads. This information should be available from the Chief Constable of Derbyshire Constabulary.
The "traffic calming measures" to which you refer take the form of variable speed limits (30mph in the built-up area, 40mph in the more rural area) rather than physical constraints on the speed of traffic more normally associated with traffic calming schemes. At present, it is too early to say how effective the measures at Dove Holes have been; monitoring began in April and a report will be produced later this year. I will ensure that you receive a copy.
In the meantime, if you wish to discuss any aspect further, the Highways Agency Route Manager for this length of A6 is Steve Forgham. He can be contacted at our office at Broadway, Broad Street, Birmingham, B15 1BL, or by telephone on 0121 678 8506.
Correspondence
Sir Peter Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he will reply to the letter of 28 February from the right hon. Member for Fareham about (a) the effect of the 1994 Land Tribunal Judgment in the case of Batchelor v. Kent County Council and (b) the action he intends to take following that judgment. [120983]
Ms Beverley Hughes: I replied to the right hon. Member's letter of 28 February on 15 May. My reply sets out the current position on the area of the compensation code that featured in the Batchelor case and of the compulsory purchase policy review which has been considering the whole question of compensation for compulsory purchase. I apologise for the delay, which was caused by problems with our ministerial correspondence tracking system.
Air Traffic Control
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what communications he has received from (a) the European Commission and (b) other sources concerning the compatibility with the public ownership and funding of those agencies now operating in the United Kingdom of European Commission proposals to create a single European Airspace and European Air Safety Agency. [121638]
Mr. Mullin: DETR received in January 2000 a copy of the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament entitled "The creation of a single European sky"--EM No. 13735/99 COM(99) 614 final.
16 May 2000 : Column: 84W
This Communication examined in detail the European air traffic management system. It provides the Commission's views on where it believes there are shortcomings, and makes proposals for areas which need further study in order to achieve the Commission's objective of "European airspace as a seamless continuum". In general, the Commission's ideas, such as the need to separate service provision from regulation, seem compatible with UK air traffic control policy. This is also the broad consensus view of the respondents to DETR's recent consultation exercise on this Communication.
In June 1998, the Council mandated the Commission to develop, on behalf of the European Community and the member states, a Treaty for a new international organisation to be known as the European Aviation Safety Authority, involving both EU and non-EU member states, as well as the Community itself. The mandate required the Commission first to submit a draft outline text of the founding Treaty to a Special Committee of member states representatives. The draft Treaty agreed by the Special Committee envisages that national aviation authorities, such as the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority, will continue as nationally constituted.
The Commission has recently suggested an alternative option, based on the creation of a Community Agency. In this connection, DETR received in April 2000 a copy of the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament entitled, "Commission Working Document with a view to discussions within the Council on the creation of the European Aviation Safety authority in the Community framework"---COM(2000) 144 final. This document also envisages the continuation of national aviation authorities.
Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions which Treaty Articles, Regulations and Directives relating to the control of air traffic within the European Union will (a) permit and (b) prohibit, a continuation of the current ownership of and mode of control in the airspace of the United Kingdom. [121630]
Mr. Mullin: By virtue of Article 295 of the Treaty of Rome, provisions made by the European Union under the Common Transport Policy must not prejudice the rules in member states governing the system of property ownership.
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what proportion of total aircraft movements in the United Kingdom were handled by National Air Traffic Services on the most recent date for which figures are available. [121751]
Mr. Mullin: In 1999, NATS handled 46 per cent. of all aircraft movements in or out of the 60 UK airports for which data are available. In addition, NATS handles all flights between UK airports and aircraft over-flying the UK.
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many passengers used licensed airports in the United Kingdom during 1999; in how many of those airports National Air Traffic Services was provider of air traffic control; and where such airports were. [121750]
16 May 2000 : Column: 85W
Mr. Mullin: In 1999 there were almost 170 million terminal passengers at the 60 UK airports for which data are available. NATS provided ATC services at 10 of these airports:
- Aberdeen
- Belfast International
- Cardiff
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
- London Heathrow
- London Gatwick
- London City
- London Stansted
- Manchester.
Mr. Mullin: All Air Traffic Control (ATC) Units, both civil and military, are required to provide flight information services (FIS). This service is provided at the London and Scottish Air Traffic Control Centres by dedicated FIS controllers. At other ATC units, the provision of FIS is one of the primary responsibilities of all air traffic controllers.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |