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ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS

Stations

15. Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to make public transport stations safer. [128414]

Mr. Hill: We have a number of initiatives planned or under way to improve safety at both rail and bus stations. For example, we are encouraging station operators to

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apply for accreditation under the Secure Stations Scheme that we introduced in April 1998, which is designed to improve and standardise good security practices at all overground and underground stations. 63 stations are currently accredited.

We are also currently undertaking research designed to improve personal security in bus travel (including at bus stations) and we are piloting a safe transport route in the North West of England.

Homelessness

16. Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he is taking to address homelessness in the capital. [128415]

Mr. Raynsford: The aim of the Government's housing strategy, set out in the Housing Green Paper, "Quality and Choice: A decent home for all", is to offer everyone the opportunity of a decent home and so promote social cohesion, well-being and self-dependence. We have increased housing investment programme resources for London local authorities by 54 per cent. in the current financial year and we are supporting the Association of London Government's Housing Partnership Initiative to help alleviate the shortage of social housing in the London area. We are also spending £160 million in London over the three financial years to April 2002 as part of our commitment to reducing the numbers sleeping rough.

Regional Development Agencies

17. Mr. Quinn: 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 the regional economy in Yorkshire and the Humber. [128416]

Ms Armstrong: The role of Yorkshire Forward, the Regional Development Agency for Yorkshire and Humber, is to improve the region's competitiveness through the promotion of integrated sustainable economic development and social and physical regeneration. Key to achieving this is working in close partnership with a range of regional and local partners.

Ms Rosie Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what progress Regional Development Agencies are making in the development of regional economic strategies. [128423]

Ms Armstrong: RDAs submitted their Regional Strategies to Ministers in October of last year. The Government responded in January this year giving them a broad welcome. The RDAs have since been implementing their Strategies through the production of a series of Action Plans.

Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the remuneration of each director of each Regional Development Agency. [129114]

Ms Beverley Hughes [holding answer 4 July 2000]: The annual accounts of the RDAs contain complete information on the remuneration and pension arrangements for senior personnel. The annual accounts for the year ended 31 March are currently with the National Audit Office. When the audit reports on these

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accounts have been signed they will be laid in the Library of both Houses in line with the Department's usual practice.

NATS

19. Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent representations he has received from (a) the IPMS and (b) BALPA on National Air Traffic Services Ltd. [128418]

Mr. Hill: My right hon. and noble Friend the Minister for Transport has had continuing discussions with the IPMS on employees' interests in the proposed public- private partnership for National Air Traffic Services, and on their views on safety. We have received no recent representations from BALPA.

Council Tax (Pensioners)

20. Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will meet Age Concern to discuss the level of Council Tax upon pensioners. [128419]

Ms Armstrong: I will be happy to meet Age Concern if they want a meeting.

Local Authority Housing

21. Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the management of local authority-owned housing. [128420]

Mr. Raynsford: Tenants have a right to expect well managed, high quality housing and services. The Housing Green Paper sets out our commitment to achieve a step change in the quality and management of social housing over the next decade.

We set out in the Green Paper various approaches which we believe will help to achieve this change: stock transfer, arm's-length management companies, and the Private Finance Initiative.

Traffic Calming

22. Mr. Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make additional funds available to local authorities for the purpose of providing more road safety traffic calming schemes. [128421]

Mr. Hill: Local authorities support road safety schemes from the general resources that we make available for integrated transport in the annual local transport capital settlement. This year these increased by 20 per cent., and we plan to increase them further for 2001-02. In addition, a further £30 million was made available to authorities in the Budget to spend on child safety, safe routes to school and other small scale improvements.

Song Thrushes

23. Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received about the declining number of song thrushes in Britain. [128422]

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Mr. Meacher: My Department has received a number of representations concerning the decline in populations for a number of song birds, including Song Thrushes.

Railway Land

25. Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will take steps to prevent the British Railways Board from selling former railway land which could in future be returned to railway use. [128424]

Mr. Hill: The British Railways Board is now part of the shadow Strategic Rail Authority (SSRA), which is currently reviewing sites where a potential transport interest has been identified. SSRA is prepared to withhold sites with a potential strategic transport use from the sale process for sufficient time to allow for detailed consideration of the future use and ownership of the site.

Economic Regeneration (Birmingham)

26. Mr. Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on his Department's plans to promote economic and community regeneration in south-west Birmingham. [128425]

Ms Armstrong: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry received the Final Report of the Rover Task Force on 3 July. The report sets out a strategic framework for helping the communities in South West Birmingham and more widely within the West Midlands. The Government are considering the report's recommendations and will work with Advantage West Midlands and other partners to ensure that the local business economy is better able to cope with future changes.

Civic Forums

27. Mr. Casale: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the role of civic forums in promoting participation in local decision-making processes. [128426]

Ms Armstrong: In September and October 1998 my Department published a research report and guidance on how local authorities can develop and enhance public participation in local decision making ("Enhancing Public Participation in Local Government--A research report", DETR, September 1998; "Guidance on Enhancing Public Participation", DETR, October 1998). Local organisations such as residents groups and civic amenity societies must always be an important feature of local authorities' consultation and participation strategies.

Local Deprivation

28. Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will publish the underlying data used to compile the proposed index of local deprivation. [128427]

Ms Armstrong: Last December, we published for consultation the information relating to local authority district rankings on five different measures of deprivation. As part of the consultation exercise we also offered each authority information on the ward rankings for their area. The summary report will be published later this year,

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along with the deprivation scores and ranks of all wards and districts in England. The report will provide details of where to obtain the underlying raw data.

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