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Private Hire Vehicles
Mr. Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what decision he has reached following the consultation on proposals to amend the law after the judgment in the case of Benson v Boyce. [133204]
Mr. Hill: After very careful consideration of all the responses received and bearing in mind the weight of all the arguments, I have decided that the only people who should be entitled to drive a licensed private hire vehicle in England and Wales, outside London, without themselves having the appropriate licence, should be people conducting legally necessary tests, either of the vehicle or the driver. I am advised that it is already legal for people without a private hire vehicle driver's licence to conduct such tests. Accordingly, no order is necessary under the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994.
Docklands Light Railway
Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will provide a report on the progress of the Docklands Light Railway. [133205]
Mr. Hill: The Railway had an excellent year, the highpoint of which was the completion of the extension
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of the railway to Lewisham which the Deputy Prime Minister opened in November on budget and two months ahead of schedule.
On the 3 July 2000 ownership of DLR Ltd. passed from the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions to Transport for London.
Copies of the Annual Report and Accounts have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Bull Bars
Mr. Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what progress has been made on making car fronts safer and controlling bull bars. [133245]
Mr. Hill: "Tomorrow's Roads--Safer for Everyone", our road safety strategy, commits the UK to backing proposals for the European Commission to bring forward a Directive to make car fronts safer. The Government believe that a pedestrian protection Directive could ultimately secure a reduction in deaths and serious injuries to pedestrians of up to 20 per cent.
The Government also said in the road safety strategy that such a Directive would be the best way of preventing particularly dangerous bull bars being fitted to vehicles. As a part of our consideration of how best to tackle bull bars, we asked the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to do some test work comparing a range of typical bull bars and base vehicles. TRL's report on this is being published today and copies have been put in the House Library.
In summary, TRL recommend that an approval procedure for bull bars should be considered, with a test speed of 40km/h (25mph). They warn against a low speed test, which is the best we could demand in any national approval scheme. We believe this confirms our view that controls on bull bars should be introduced on a Europe-wide basis. TRL's research is a thorough piece of work, and their initial findings have enabled us to submit a technical proposal to the European Commission setting out how bull bars could be dealt with in the anticipated pedestrian protection Directive.
The Government do, however, recognise that there is a desire for action to be taken as quickly as possible. We have therefore also submitted a comparable technical proposal for amending the 'existing' external projections Directive to include a test for bull bars, as a quick interim measure. This second proposal was well received by other member states when it was initially tabled in early June, and we hope it will make swift progress.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Parking Facilities
Mr. Brake: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will introduce a workplace parking charge scheme. [131842]
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Mr. Kirkwood: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Torbay (Mr. Sanders) on 12 April 2000, Official Report, column 149W.
Environmental Performance
Mr. Brake: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, (1) if the Commission will introduce measures and set targets to ensure the House of Commons improves its environmental performance by (a) conserving (i) energy, (ii) water, (iii) wood, (iv) paper and (v) other resources, (b) reducing waste, (c) phasing out substances damaging to health and the environment, (d) encouraging contractors to develop environmentally-preferable goods and services, (e) purchasing wood from sustainable sources, (f) drawing up emergency procedures for dealing with significant environmental risks, (g) ensuring buildings achieve a good standard of environmental performance, (h) following the Government's Green Claims Code and (i) ensuring staff work in an environmentally responsible manner; [131840]
- (2) if the Commission will establish a target for the House of Commons (a) to buy electricity from renewable sources and (b) to switch from hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorobutane and sulphur hexafluoride to environmentally-preferable substitutes. [131841]
Mr. Kirkwood: This is a matter for the Serjeant at Arms; I have asked him to write to my hon. Friend.
HEALTH
Nurses Pay
Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the average rates of pay for nurses employed (a) on NHS Direct and (b) in the rest of the NHS. [106784]
Mr. Denham: The recently published results of the Department's August 1999 National Health Service Earning Survey, copies of which are available in the Library, show that the estimated average full-time equivalent salary for all qualified NHS nurses on national payscales was £19,300 after the pay awards for April 2000 are taken into account, and £22,200 if all other payments, e.g. allowances and overtime, are included. Information about the pay for nurses employed by NHS Direct cannot be separately identified from the pay of other qualified nurses.
Scientists
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) clinical and (b) biomedical scientists there are within each range of the relevant payscales. [108306]
Mr. Denham: The information requested is in the tables.
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| Spine Point | Headcount | Whole-time equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Grade A: | ||
| 00 | 80 | 80 |
| 01 | 60 | 60 |
| 02 | 50 | 50 |
| 03 | 40 | 40 |
| 04 | 20 | 20 |
| 05 | 30 | 30 |
| 06 | 20 | 20 |
| 07 | 20 | 20 |
| Other Grade A: | 120 | 120 |
| Grade B: | ||
| 08 | 90 | 80 |
| 09 | 70 | 70 |
| 10 | 180 | 170 |
| 11 | 70 | 70 |
| 12 | 90 | 90 |
| 13 | 150 | 140 |
| 14 | 100 | 90 |
| 15 | 90 | 80 |
| 16 | 190 | 170 |
| 17 | 120 | 110 |
| 18 | 80 | 80 |
| 19 | 150 | 150 |
| 20 | 80 | 80 |
| 21 | 60 | 60 |
| 22 | 90 | 90 |
| 23 | 30 | 30 |
| 24 | 180 | 180 |
| Other Grade B: | 480 | 450 |
| Grade C: | ||
| 23 | 10 | 10 |
| 24 | 10 | 10 |
| 25 | 10 | 10 |
| 26 | 20 | 20 |
| 27 | 20 | 20 |
| 28 | (1)-- | (1)-- |
| 29 | 20 | 20 |
| 30 | 20 | 20 |
| 31 | 120 | 110 |
| 32 | 40 | 40 |
| 33 | 40 | 40 |
| 34 | 40 | 40 |
| 35 | 30 | 30 |
| 36 | 50 | 50 |
| Other Grade C: | 90 | 80 |
| Other clinical scientists: | 30 | 20 |
| All clinical scientists: | 3,300 | 3,150 |
(1) Indicates less than 5.
Note:
Totals based on unrounded figures.
Source:
Department of Health's August 1999 NHS Earnings Survey.
(1) Indicates a redundant spine point.
(1) Indicates less than 5, but greater than zero.
Note:
Totals based on unrounded figures.
Source:
Department of Health's August 1999 NHS Earnings Survey.
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Mr. Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average level of pay for medical laboratory scientific officers on grade 1 of the payscale working in hospitals in the United Kingdom. [115488]
Mr. Denham: The recently published results of the Department's August 1999 National Health Service Earnings Survey, copies of which are available in the Library, show that the estimated average full-time equivalent salary for all Grade 1 NHS Medical Laboratory Scientific Officers (biomedical scientists) on national
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payscales was £16,800 after the pay awards for April 2000 are taken into account and rises to £22,100 if all other payments e.g. allowances and overtime, are included.
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