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Appointments Commission
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council if the Appointments Commission will make it its policy to give unsuccessful applicants for membership of the House of Lords reasons why their applications failed. [126832]
Mrs. Beckett: This is a matter for the Appointments Commission.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council who provides the secretariat supporting the Appointments Commission; and how many persons are employed in it. [126835]
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Mrs. Beckett: The Appointments Commission is supported by a Secretariat who are either members of, or on loan to, the Cabinet Office. The Commission has yet to determine its final requirement for staff.
The same staffing arrangement applies to other independent bodies such as the Commissioner for Public Appointments and the Committee on Standards in Public Life.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council if applicants for membership of the House of Lords are to receive a specification from the Appointments Commission setting out the qualities and abilities expected in successful applicants. [126836]
Mrs. Beckett: I understand that it is the Commission's intention to be exceedingly open in its procedures. The issue of a person specification would be consistent with that approach.
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the President of the Council if she will list the scheduled dates of meetings of the Appointments Commission in 2000. [126834]
Mrs. Beckett: This is a matter for the Commission.
I understand, however, that the schedule of meetings has not yet been finalised.
DEFENCE
Boeing C17
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost is over the whole life of the contract for the lease of the four Boeing C17 aircraft; and if it includes maintenance for the aircraft. [125437]
Mr. Hoon: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Robert Walmsley to Mr. Mike Hancock, dated 21 June 2000:
- I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence in which you asked what the total cost is over the whole life of the contract for the lease for the four C17 aircraft; and if it includes maintenance for the aircraft. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief of Defence Procurement and Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency.
- The exact contract price is commercially confidential. In broad terms, however, we expect the overall cost to be in the order of £500M, which costs include maintenance of the aircraft.
Permanent Secretary (Official Visits)
Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the visits outside the UK made by his Department's Permanent Secretary on official business since 1 January 1999, indicating the date and purpose of the visit in each case. [127135]
Dr. Moonie: The MOD's Permanent Secretary has made the following visits outside the UK on official business since 1 January 1999.
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MOD Buildings, Whitehall
Mrs. Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on his proposals for refurbishing the MOD building in Whitehall, including the total cost of the refurbishment. [126677]
Dr. Moonie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for St. Albans (Mr. Pollard) on 17 May 2000, Official Report, columns 162-63W.
Kosovo (Depleted Uranium)
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reports he has evaluated of health problems among service men deployed in Kosovo attributable to contact with depleted uranium. [125934]
Mr. Spellar: I have not received any reports evaluating or suggesting health problems among service personnel deployed in Kosovo attributable to contact with depleted uranium.
Senegal (Chinooks)
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the decision was taken to send Chinooks to Senegal in order to assist the deployment of troops; when the Chinooks left the United Kingdom; when they arrived in Senegal; and if he will make a statement. [126998]
Mr. Hoon: The decision to deploy Chinooks to Dakar in Senegal, which was designated as the Forward Mounting Base for the evacuation operation, was taken on Saturday 6 May. The Chinooks left the UK that day and flew to Dakar over the course of that weekend, arriving in the early morning of 8 May.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Hospitals
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans she has to monitor cleanliness of hospital wards and operating theatres. [126918]
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Clare Short: Our health programmes in developing countries work to improve the overall quality of health care provided, particularly for the poorest. Good hygiene practice and sterile operating conditions are important indicators of quality in service delivery.
China Western Poverty Reduction Project
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans she has to support the Qinghai component of the China Western Poverty Reduction Project. [126919]
Clare Short: The report by the Independent Inspection Panel into the China Western Poverty Reduction Project, and World Bank management's response to it, will be discussed at a World Bank Board meeting in early July 2000. We will be looking very carefully at the conclusions of the Inspection Panel Report, and management's response to it, in preparing our position for that board meeting.
ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS
Flaxmill, Shrewsbury
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the extent of repairs required to the Flaxmill in Shrewsbury. [125943]
Ms Beverley Hughes: I understand the building has been empty since 1987 and has a status of Grade A awarded by English Heritage. The repairs have been estimated to cost some £12.2 million.
Bus Lanes
Mr. Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will amend the road traffic regulations to enable Class 3 vehicles to use bus lanes; and if he will make a statement. [126187]
Mr. Hill: I have no plans to amend regulations to permit Class 3 vehicles to access bus lanes.
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The use of bus lanes by those vehicles, which are limited by Regulation to a maximum speed of 12.8 kph, would impede the flow of buses. That would clearly undermine the purpose of bus lanes which is to afford buses greater priority over other vehicles.
There is also the question of safety. We would be extremely concerned about the safety of Class 3 users travelling in small, slow moving vehicles immediately in front of or behind some of the largest vehicles on our roads.
Where Class 3 users consider that the road conditions are unsuitable for them to travel on the carriageway we would strongly recommend that they continue the journey on the footway where they can legally travel at up to 6.4 kph. We believe that is more appropriate than providing them with access to bus lanes.
Rail Service (London-Liverpool)
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what discussions he has had with the Rail Regulator about the delays in boarding Liverpool trains at Euston Station. [126421]
Mr. Hill: The Franchising Director, not the Rail Regulator, is responsible for monitoring delays in the boarding of trains. The Secretary of State has had no discussions with the Franchising Director about delays in boarding Liverpool trains at Euston station.
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received on the timekeeping of West Coast Main Line trains between Liverpool and Euston. [126422]
Mr. Hill: The Secretary of State has not received any representations about the timekeeping of West Coast Main Line trains between Liverpool and Euston. All trains on the West Coast Main Line have been subject to some delays due to the West Coast Main Line upgrade, but consequential amendments have been to the timetable and timekeeping has remained constant. The Franchising Director's publication 'On Track' (copies of which are available in the House Libraries) shows that 80.6 per cent. of West Coast Main Line trains arrived at their destination within 10 minutes of the advertised time in the year to 31 March 2000. This was an improvement on the 72.8 per cent. achieved in the previous year.
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what discussions he has had with the Rail Regulator on the timekeeping of West Coast Main Line services between Liverpool Lime Street and Euston. [126420]
Mr. Hill: The Franchising Director not the Rail Regulator is responsible for monitoring the timekeeping of trains. The Secretary of State has had no discussions with the Franchising Director about the timekeeping of West Coast Main Line services between Liverpool and Euston.
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received about delays in boarding Liverpool trains at Euston station. [126511]
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Mr. Hill: The Secretary of State has received no representations relating specifically to delays in boarding trains to Liverpool at Euston station. Development work in connection with the West Coast Main Line upgrade has resulted in a number of platforms at Euston being closed between May and September of this year. The consequential shortage of platforms has meant that upon arrival trains unload passengers and are then cleaned and stored out of the immediate station area, returning to the departure platform shortly before departure time. This has resulted in reduced intervals between trains being available for loading and departure times but this is common to all services from Euston.
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what discussions took place at the Rail Summit about the timekeeping of West Coast Main Line services between Liverpool Lime Street and Euston. [126782]
Mr. Hill: Timekeeping of West Coast Main Line services between Liverpool Lime Street and Euston was not discussed at the Rail Summit.
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make it a condition when re-awarding the franchise for the West Coast Main Line that the level of on-board services between Liverpool Lime Street and Euston Station is improved. [126781]
Mr. Hill: The present franchise for the West Coast Main Line is not due to be replaced until 9 March 2012. The franchise, in common with all the other passenger rail franchises, does not contain any provisions stipulating what on-board services must be provided. It is not envisaged that there will be any such provisions in any of the replacement franchises.
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