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Endangered Species (Import and Export)

Act 1976

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many (a) prosecutions and (b) successful prosecutions there were under the (i) Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act 1976 and (ii) Control on Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations (COTES) 1997 in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [131987]

Mr. Mullin: The 1976 Act originally implemented the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in the UK. In 1984, however, it was largely superseded by EC legislation, which implemented CITES throughout the European Union. The 1984 legislation was then itself replaced by revised EC Regulations which came into force on 1 June 1997.

28 Jul 2000 : Column: 924W

There is no central record of prosecutions or convictions of offences under the COTES regulations. However, we are aware that since 1 June 1997 at least 27 cases have been brought under the COTES regulations, 10 of which resulted in convictions. Of the remaining 17 cases, seven have led to a formal caution and 10 are awaiting trial.

Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976

Mr. Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many (a) prosecutions and (b) successful prosecutions there were under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [131980]

Mr. Mullin: Responsibility for licensing under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 rests with local authorities, and information on prosecutions is not held centrally. My Department will shortly be commissioning research into the effectiveness of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976.

Tingewick Bypass

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the number of heavy goods vehicles driven through Gawcott (a) in each of the five years before the opening of the Tingewick Bypass and (b) since its opening. [133225]

Mr. Hill: Buckinghamshire county council have undertaken the following daytime counts of heavy goods vehicles, in both directions, on the C29 minor road from Gawcott to Tingewick, both before and after the A421 Tingewick Bypass opened to traffic on 16 October 1998:

Date of count(1)	Number of heavy goods vehicles
18 May 1994	82
17 May 1995	37
15 May 1996	70
14 May 1997	(1)139
13 May 1998	(1)73
12 May 1999	(1)68
10 May 2000	32

⁽¹⁾ 7 am to 7 pm

⁽¹⁾ Bypass work in progress

⁽¹⁾ Bypass open

28 Jul 2000 : Column: 925W

Transport Projects

Mr. Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what grants for transport projects have been allocated to (a) Telford and The Wrekin and (b) Shropshire county councils since May 1997. [133203]

Mr. Hill: Shropshire county council has been allocated the following amounts for transport projects, through the Local Transport Settlement, since May 1997:

	£ million
1997-98	4.207
1998-99	3.364
1999-2000	4.348
2000-01	6.093

Since its establishment as a unitary authority in 1998, Telford and Wrekin council has been allocated the following in Local Transport Settlement:

	£ million
1998-99	0.955
1999-2000	1.696
2000-01	2.103

In addition, Shropshire county council has been allocated £630,354 in Rural Bus Subsidy Grant for each of the years 1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-01, and £43,500 through the Rural Bus Challenge in 1999. Telford and Wrekin council has been allocated £76,048 each year for Rural Bus Subsidy Grant, and £174,000 through the Rural Bus Challenge in 1999.

Accident Investigations

Mr. Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will place in the Library the guidelines that advise accident investigators how to work with third party manufacturers in the event of an accident investigation. [133389]

Mr. Mullin: The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) lays down the International Standards and Recommended Practices for the participation of aircraft manufacturers in aircraft accident investigations. These are detailed in Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (the Chicago Convention), a copy of which can be found in the Library.

Car Registrations

Mrs. Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 18 July 2000, Official Report, column 137W, on car registrations, if he will publish the number of new registration using form V55/5 at the DVLA for each month from January 1999 to June 2000 for (a) new cars and (b) cars first registered and used outside the UK. [133498]

Mr. Hill: Figures for new and used cars registered on form V55/5 from January 1999 cannot be produced because of the disproportionate cost of extracting the

28 Jul 2000 : Column: 926W

information. However, DVLA have recently undertaken an exercise on a sample of V55/5 forms. This exercise in February and March 2000 covered only imported cars. The exercise showed 45 per cent. of imported cars were new and 55 per cent. were first registered and used outside Great Britain.

Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was the average time taken to inform (a) the police and (b) local authorities regarding ownership of vehicles for which only the registration mark was traced, in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [133235]

Mr. Hill: The statistics requested are not available.

However, I can confirm that the police have immediate access to information on vehicle keepers through the Police National Computer. Local authorities make application for this information direct to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

The Agency aims to deal with manual inquiries from local authorities within eight to 10 working days and the majority are dealt with within this timescale. A small percentage of requests take slightly longer to answer because detailed investigation involving the retrieval of microfilmed documents is necessary. In addition to the manual inquiry service, DVLA has long-standing magnetic tape interchange arrangements with some local authorities that enable them to receive information within three working days. Since 1997, the Agency has encouraged customers to exchange data electronically, making them available overnight. Currently, 134 local authorities use the electronic service.

Electronic Communications Act 2000

Mr. Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what orders he (a) has made and (b) intends to make using section 8 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000; and if he will make a statement. [133383]

Ms Beverley Hughes: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office today.

Housing (Greater London)

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what his Department's policy is on the selling of local authority housing in the Greater London area. [133548]

Mr. Mullin: Local authorities can sell houses voluntarily to tenants and in some cases tenants have the right to buy. The Government do not intend to make any significant changes to the current right to buy scheme.

House Prices (Yorkshire and the Humber)

Mr. Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what were the average house prices in Yorkshire and the Humber in (a) 1995, (b) 1996, (c) 1997, (d) 1998 and (e) 1999. [133746]

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Mr. Mullin: Average house prices for the Yorkshire and Humberside region are as follows:

	£
1995	54,356
1996	55,867
1997	60,019
1998	62,214
1999	67,416

Source:

GOYH Local Government and Housing team/DETR Central

Bridge Tolls

Mrs. Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact which VAT on bridge tolls will have in respect of new and current businesses which use the Tamar Bridge and the development of integrated transport facilities between Cornwall and Plymouth. [133095]

Mr. Hill: A judgment of the European Court, on whether or not toll charges should attract VAT, is expected in September. The impact of a judgment that required VAT to be charged would, in the first instance, be for the local authorities of Cornwall and Plymouth to assess, since they own and operate the Tamar Bridge and are responsible for the development of the local transport and commercial infrastructures.

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