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Council Tax
Dr. Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent representations he has received from mobile home owners and their organisations about the banding of properties for council tax purposes. [127648]
Ms Beverley Hughes: We have received three representations in the last three months, none of which were from organisations representing mobile home owners.
Dr. Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to change (a) the number of council tax bands and (b) the ratio of payment rates between different bands of property regarding council tax liability. [127647]
Ms Beverley Hughes: As we made clear in our 1998 White Paper, "Modern Local Government: In Touch with the People", we do not propose to make any major changes to the council tax during the course of this Parliament.
CFC Gases
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps the Government are taking to ensure that discarded domestic refrigeration appliances producing CFC gases are collected in Cumbria. [127806]
Mr. Mullin: Waste collection authorities have a duty under section 45 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, to collect household waste, including items such as refrigerators if requested. They also have a duty to collect waste which is fly-tipped, under section 59 of the Act. Similarly, waste disposal authorities have a duty to provide civic amenity sites, under section 51(1)(b) at which residents may deposit, for example, discarded refrigerators and that such sites are situated:
- within the area of the authority or so as to be reasonably accessible to persons resident in its area
(section 51(2)(a)). Furthermore, local authorities have a "duty of care" (section 34(1)(b)) covering the receipt and holding of such waste, including CFCs contained within, whereby they must ensure that:
- all measures are taken as are reasonable in the circumstances to prevent the escape of the waste from their control.
29 Jun 2000 : Column: 604W
EU Funding
Miss Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the wards in Morecambe and Lunesdale eligible for (a) Single Regeneration Budget funding, (b) Objective 2 European funding and (c) regional selective assistance. [127636]
Ms Beverley Hughes: The information is as follows:
(a) Single Regeneration Budget Eligibility
- (b) Objective 2 funding eligibility
- New Objective 2 Area, 2000-06
- Wards:
- Alexandra
- Heysham North
- Heysham Central
- Heysham South
- Overton
- Transitional Areas (former Objective 5b areas)
- Wards:
- Arkholme
- Halton-with-Aughton
- Kellet
- (c) Regional Selective Assistance (Tier 2)--proposed eligibility
- Wards:
- Alexandra
- Harbour
- Heysham North
- Heysham Central
- Heysham South
- Overton
- Poulton
- Skerton Central
- Skerton East
- Skerton West
- Torrisholme
- Victoria.
Air Services (South-West)
Mr. Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions for what reason the Air Link Strategy for the South-West has not been published; and when it will be. [127879]
Mr. Mullin: The South-West Regional Air Service Study has reported as one of six regional studies which form the first part of a two-stage process leading to the publication of a series of Regional Consultation documents. The original Regional Air Services Studies are currently being co-ordinated and audited for consistency as part of the Regional Air Services Co-ordination (RASCO) Study.
Once that work has been completed, six Regional Consultation documents, which will include a summary of the study findings for their respective region, will be published as part of a major public consultation exercise informing the preparation of the Air Transport White Paper.
29 Jun 2000 : Column: 605W
Northfield Relief Road
Mr. Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received in respect of the Birmingham Northfield regeneration/relief road plan. [127961]
Mr. Hill: Birmingham City Council submitted an Outline Business Case for a PFI scheme for the regeneration of Northfield, including a new relief road, in September 1999. The City Council also submitted the Relief Road as a major scheme bid in their Provisional Local Transport Plan in July 1999. We deferred consideration of the Relief Road bid because of the absence of a qualified assessment of the costs and benefits of the scheme. At a meeting with the City Council on 5 April 2000, officials made clear to the Council that the
29 Jun 2000 : Column: 606W
relief road would need to be justified on its transport merits, and submitted as part of the West Midlands Full Local Transport Plan in July 2000.
Road Accidents (Cyclists and Pedestrians)
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many people have received hospital treatment in each of the last five years following collisions between cyclists and pedestrians. [127963]
Mr. Hill: No information is available on the number of people who receive medical treatment following collisions between cyclists and pedestrians. However, the table shows the number of casualties in this type of accident by injury severity.
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| Severity of casualty | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fatal(7) | Serious(8) | Slight(9) | Total | |||||
| Pedestrian | Cyclist | Pedestrian | Cyclist | Pedestrian | Cyclist | Pedestrian | Cyclist | |
| 1994 | 3 | 0 | 95 | 14 | 242 | 68 | 340 | 82 |
| 1995 | 4 | 1 | 89 | 19 | 266 | 78 | 359 | 98 |
| 1996 | 2 | 1 | 88 | 15 | 230 | 68 | 320 | 84 |
| 1997 | 3 | 3 | 88 | 14 | 253 | 76 | 344 | 93 |
| 1998 | 2 | 0 | 71 | 14 | 201 | 53 | 274 | 67 |
(7) Fatal injury: Human casualties who sustained injuries which caused death less than 30 days after the accident (excluding confirmed suicides)
(8) Serious injury: An injury for which a person is detained in hospital as an 'in-patient', or any of the following injuries whether or not they are detained in hospital: fractures, concussion, internal injuries, crushing, severe cuts and lacerations, severe general shock requiring medical treatment and injuries causing death 30 or more days after the accident. An injured casualty is recorded as seriously or slightly injured by the police on the basis of information available within a short time of the accident. This generally will not reflect the results of a medical examination, but may be influenced according to whether the casualty is hospitalised or not. Hospitalisation procedures will vary regionally.
(9) Slight injury: An injury of a minor character such as a sprain, bruise or cut which are not judged to be severe, or slight shock requiring roadside attention. This definition includes injuries not requiring medical treatment.
Note:
The statistics shown in the table are for single vehicle accidents involving one or more pedestrians.
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Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many of the written parliamentary questions tabled to his Department between 19 October 1999 and 20 April have not received substantive answers, citing as the reason that the information is (a) not held centrally, (b) not held in the form requested and (c) not available. [128013]
Ms Beverley Hughes: I refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 23 June 2000, Official Report, columns 311-12W. Of the 36 occasions my Department cited disproportionate cost as the reason for not providing substantive answers, we did so because (a) in 14 cases the information was not held centrally, (b) in 16 cases the information was not held in the form requested and (c) in six cases the information was not available.
GM Crops
Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what consultation there was with local authorities before selection of the locations for field trials of genetically modified crops; and if he will make a statement. [128045]
Mr. Meacher [holding answer 28 June 2000]: Although there is no specific request for such consultation in the legislation, we did hold a series of 12 meetings focused on local authority areas around groups of sites, in order to explain the purpose of the field study experiments to answer local concerns.
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