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Rogers Report

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he has taken to set up regional resource centres for urban development as recommended in the Rogers report, "Towards an Urban Renaissance". [129599]

Ms Beverley Hughes: The Government agree with the Task Force about the importance of improving urban development skills.

At the national level we have commissioned a feasibility study of a recommendation made by the Social Exclusion Unit's Policy Action Team 16 (Learning Lessons), for the creation of a National Centre for Neighbourhood Renewal. This would provide the training, knowledge and skills needed to support neighbourhood renewal activity and would help to achieve many of the same ends as the Task Force's proposed Regional Resource Centres. Consultation meetings are taking place later this month on the results of the feasibility study.

At the regional level there is also a great deal happening on the ground to improve urban development skills particularly in response to the Continuing Professional Development initiative. Academic institutions across the country are now getting together with regeneration practitioners and professional institutions in putting together relevant good practice guidance and training packages for everyone from existing professionals to community volunteers.

The Government are also working closely with the professional institutions and local government to improve training in urban design skills and are considering, with the Local Government Association, the way resources can be deployed more effectively in the pursuit of excellence in this area. A skills seminar is being held by the Minister for Housing and Planning on 13 July to take this forward.

Right to Buy

Dr. Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received on varying the discounts available under the Right-to-Buy Scheme in areas of high demand for housing; and if he will make a statement. [129471]

Mr. Raynsford: I am aware of no such representations to date, though we published our Housing Green Paper "Quality and choice--a decent home for all" earlier this year and we are considering responses as they come in. The Green Paper said that we do not intend to make any further substantial changes to the Right-to-Buy Scheme.

Airports

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on progress to date with the airport study for the South-east. [129591]

Ms Beverley Hughes: As the then Minister for Transport announced on 11 March 1999, the South-east and East of England Regional Air Services (SERAS) study has started from the position that nothing is ruled in and nothing is ruled out.

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We are currently in the early stages of assessing a wide range of options, both at existing airports and possible new sites. We will proceed through successive sifts to narrow down options to a final shortlist, on which there will be a full public consultation before Ministers come to decisions.

It is expected that the study will be completed by spring or summer 2001, to be followed by public consultation. The results will feed into an Air Transport White Paper, which will also take account of the Government's decisions in response to the Inspector's report on the Heathrow Terminal 5 Inquiry.

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the earliest date will be that planning authorities near Gatwick Airport will be able to consider planning applications following the conclusion of the airport study of South-east airports. [129590]

Ms Beverley Hughes: The South-east and East of England Regional Air Services study (SERAS) is expected to be completed by spring or summer 2001, to be followed by public consultation. The results will feed into an Air Transport White Paper, which is intended to provide a framework for the future development of aviation and airports in the United Kingdom.

Once the White Paper is published, regional planning guidance and local development plans will need to be reviewed to take account of policies that emerge from the White Paper.

In the meantime, before the SERAS study has been completed and the White Paper published, planning applications for development in the Gatwick Airport area will be subject to normal provisions of the planning system and will be determined against existing national, regional and local policies.

Revenue Grant Distribution

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many changes he has made to the system of revenue grant distribution to local authorities since 1997; and if he will give details of the changes. [129938]

Ms Beverley Hughes: There were 15 changes in the method of determining Standard Spending Assessments (SSAs) for the 1998-99 Local Government Finance Settlement; and 20 changes for the 1999-2000 Local Government Finance Settlement.

The July 1998 Local Government White Paper announced a 3-year review of Revenue Grant Distribution. It said that the Government did not expect to make fresh changes to the method of calculation of SSAs except where there are changes in the functions of councils, or the funding of particular services.

In 2000-01 there were therefore only limited adjustments to SSAs to accommodate the establishment of the Greater London Authority and related changes, most notably those arising from the alterations to the boundary of the Metropolitan Police District and the Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey police areas.

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Changes in the method of determining SSAs are contained in circular letters to local authorities, dated 2 December 1997, 2 December 1998 and 25 November 1999, copies of which are in the Library. For convenience, copies of the relevant extracts have been placed in the Library.

London Underground

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the

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unscheduled line closures on the London Underground that have occurred since 1 January; and if he will set out the (a) cause and (b) duration of each line closure. [130191]

Mr. Hill [holding answer 11 July 2000]: This is an operational matter for London Underground who have supplied details of unscheduled line closures (defined for this purpose as delays of more than four hours) as set out in the following table.

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Date	Location	Line	Cause	Initial delay (mins)
3 January 2000	Baker Street/Finchley Road	Metropolitan & Circle	Object on track	274
6 January 2000	Baker Street	Metropolitan & Circle	Computer system failure	290
19 January 2000	Edgware Road sidings	Metropolitan & Circle	Train derailment	355
20 January 2000	Gunnersbury	Non LUL	Fire/smoke alert	277
20 January 2000	Baker Street/Edgware Road	Metropolitan & Circle	Signal problems	400
26 January 2000	Baker Street	Metropolitan & Circle	Computer system failure	473
5 February 2000	Stratford	Jubilee	Computer system failure	271
12 February 2000	Liverpool Street	Central	Person on track	319
13 February 2000	Aldgate	Metropolitan & Circle	Train derailment	401
23 March 2000	Blackfriars/Temple	District	Flooding	259
29 March 2000	Turnham Green/Richmond	Railtrack	Loss of traction current	241
9 April 2000	Aldgate/Liverpool Street	Metropolitan	Points failure	430
19 April 2000	Waterloo	Waterloo & City	Track circuit failure	278
15 May 2000	Roding Valley/Woodford	Central	Person under train	556

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Yorkshire and Humberside

Mr. Quinn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of the Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber in assisting regeneration projects in the region. [128642]

Ms Beverley Hughes [holding answer 12 July 2000]: The Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber (GOYH) continues to contribute effectively to maximising competitiveness and prosperity in the region, and supporting integrated policies for an inclusive society. In particular it has worked closely with Yorkshire Forward (the Regional Development Agency) to support it in its first full year of operation.

During the past year GOYH has managed and developed the wide range of Government programmes and initiatives that contribute to the regeneration of the region. Examples include:

New Deal for Communities (NDC): Bradford and Hull have each received £50 million and £55 million respectively over 10 years under the first round of NDC and Doncaster and Sheffield have been invited to submit bids for schemes.

Housing Investment Programme: £207 million was allocated to local authorities for 2000-01, 46 per cent. more than the previous year.

Regional Selective Assistance (RSA): RSA to the value of over £15 million was offered to businesses. This is expected to lead to capital investment of £207 million and the creation/safeguarding of over 6,200 jobs.

European Funding: GOYH has worked hard with regional partners to ensure that all available resources under the last round of European funds were committed

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by the closing date of 31 December 1999. Over £560 million of funding has been committed to support a wide range of projects that maximise the benefits to the region. GOYH continues to work closely with partners to ensure that the new European programmes for 2000-06 are ready to start in 2000.

Local Transport: Last year the region's local authorities received a total allocation of £109 million for their provisional local transport plans (LTPs). GOYH has continued to support the local authorities with the preparation of their full LTPs, which will cover the five years to 2005-06.

Working with Local Government: GOYH has continued to support the modernisation of local government and has contributed to the assessment process for Beacon council and Invest to Save applications from local authorities.

In looking to the future, the Government Office will continue to work closely with Yorkshire Forward and other partners to deliver the shared vision of "A world class, prosperous region".

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