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Highway Maintenance

Mr. Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what resources he proposes to provide to allow local highway authorities to deal with the backlog in local highway maintenance; and if he will make a statement. [138259]

Mr. Hill: As set out in "Transport 2010: The 10 Year Plan" we are committed to providing sufficient funds to tackle the backlog of expenditure on carriageway, footway, bridge, and street lighting maintenance, estimated to be £7 billion in the next 10 years. In the forthcoming Local Transport Plan settlement we will provide £535 million to fund capital maintenance works on local highways in 2001-02 and £555 million in 2002-03. These are increases of 103 per cent. and 110 per cent. respectively compared with 2000-01. We have extended the settlement to cover non-principal roads as well as principal roads and bridges.

13 Nov 2000 : Column: 493W

The allocations for local highway authorities in 2001-02 and 2002-03 are shown in the table, with the allocations for the current year for comparison. For the remaining three years of the five years of the Local Transport Plan settlement, authorities will receive at least 75 per cent. of their allocation for maintenance in 2002-03.

In addition, earmarked resources will be provided for new major maintenance schemes for the Central Motorway East in Newcastle and for the Silver Jubilee Bridge in Halton.

These capital resources provided through the Local Transport Plan settlement are in addition to the support for local highway maintenance provided through Revenue Support Grant.

The Local Transport Plan settlement does not cover London. Funding for local highway maintenance in London is a matter for the Mayor and Greater London Authority.

Local Transport Plan Settlement
Capital Allocations for Local Road Maintenance £000

2000-012001-022002-03
Darlington9331,3291,398
Durham5,2408,5559,103
Gateshead1,5331,5331,533
Hartlepool521520544
Middlesborough492877734
Newcastle3,6573,6573,657
North Tyneside6001,4511,226
Northumberland3,9909,3129,919
Redcar and Cleveland6601,5681,621
South Tyneside7391,5602,332
Stockton on Tees5661,1941,283
Sunderland2,1172,6382,770
Total for North East Region21,04834,19436,120
Barnsley2,4532,6702,829
Bradford3,6995,0315,568
Calderdale2,8034,5924,815
Doncaster1,1841,9702,078
East Riding2,2545,8984,861
Hull1,4611,5011,461
Kirklees4,8706,1636,405
Leeds4,0909,2549,896
North East Lincolnshire740965970
North Lincolnshire1,5562,4682,598
North Yorkshire5,74013,44914,361
Rotherham1,8093,1243,297
Sheffield3,5183,5183,582
Wakefield2,7723,5683,762
York7121,0951,155
Total for Yorkshire and Humberside Region39,661 65,266 67,638
Birmingham4,3306,2456,620
Coventry1,1731,2321,317
Dudley1,4163,1583,376
Herefordshire2,3724,3484,539
Sandwell2,4533,5582,453
Shropshire3,8857,9828,548
Solihull6741,7371,832
Staffordshire4,5548,6759,315
Stoke on Trent1,1611,2731,160
Telford/Wrekin1,2202,3122,464
Walsall2,2422,9643,072
Warwickshire2,4106,7745,414
Wolverhampton1,0433,4662,744
Worcestershire3,1617,1847,366
Total for West Midlands Region32,09460,90860,220
City of Derby9551,4231,549
City of Leicester1,9482,7644,316
Greater Nottingham1,6508,0098,604
Derbyshire2,88011,03411,711
Leicestershire2,1856,4946,788
Lincolnshire3,38510,27810,890
Northamptonshire2,2915,3425,463
North Nottinghamshire6,54110,88011,323
Rutland407751783
Total for East Midlands Region22,24256,97561,427
Bedfordshire1,7433,2473,491
Cambridgeshire2,8176,9677,437
Essex5,17013,92515,001
Hertfordshire4,46710,08310,586
Luton and Dunstable461819862
Norfolk5,20319,24718,973
Peterborough1,0821,7651,843
Southend on Sea6961,6081,742
Suffolk4,47213,46711,808
Thurrock5971,1461,201
Total for Eastern Region26,70872,27472,944
Bath and North East Somerset1,8682,5522,740
Bournemouth/Poole8411,6621,744
Bristol1,9073,8474,054
Cornwall3,8749,42410,210
Devon5,87712,13912,822
Dorset1,6455,8076,218
Gloucestershire4,55110,07610,812
North Somerset8953,1732,437
Plymouth1,8152,3242,481
Somerset4,26211,49612,306
South Gloucestershire1,2763,3433,505
Swindon9581,3071,382
Torbay3791,1611,208
Wiltshire2,2559,57010,024
Total for South West Region32,40377,88181,943
Bracknell366580568
Brighton and Hove1,1131,1261,199
Buckinghamshire3,8218,2277,087
East Sussex3,0135,6616,670
Hampshire4,3889,87010,524
Isle of Wight1,5402,9003,018
Kent6,46611,51312,149
Medway Towns757934990
Milton Keynes1,2792,0692,194
Oxfordshire5,7938,0458,013
Portsmouth579803835
Reading5341,650697
Slough312312312
Southampton5811,0851,152
Surrey6,97211,76312,475
West Berkshire9001,2851,379
West Sussex2,3206,3896,813
Windsor7501,0251,096
Wokingham562819865
Total for South East Region42,04676,05678,036
Blackburn1,9322,2742,335
Blackpool468952991
Bolton2,0895,1025,236
Bury1,2451,9292,002
Cheshire8,95611,53512,204
Cumbria5,5449,1739,884
Halton2,8932,8932,893
Knowsley7101,0381,090
Lancashire6,09616,63017,782
Liverpool2,1524,1843,991
Manchester2,4425,5695,679
Oldham1,4481,7841,887
Rochdale1,4962,6771,751
Salford1,0081,8711,746
Sefton1,2172,0732,185
St. Helens1,3171,7901,861
Stockport1,1081,8151,905
Tameside1,0692,1781,501
Trafford8841,1271,213
Warrington1,7552,3572,474
Wigan1,3943,4203,559
Wirral9712,0792,502
Total for North West Region48,19484,45086,671
Total for England, excluding London264,396528,004544,999

Notes:

1. The allocations for 2000-01 covered only principal roads and bridges. The allocations for 2001-02 and 2002-03 cover principal roads, non-principal roads, and bridges.

2. There is an element within the Standard Spending Assessment used to distribute Revenue Support Grant which covers revenue expenditure on local road maintenance, e.g. clearing snow, cleaning drains, grass cutting, etc.

3. These allocations are part of the overall Local Transport Plan settlement to be announced in December.

4. These figures do not include earmarked resources for ongoing major maintenance schemes in Bedfordshire, Devon, and Portsmouth or for new major maintenance schemes in Newcastle and Halton.

Funding for these schemes will amount to £7 million in 2001-02 and £10 million in 2002-03.


13 Nov 2000 : Column: 495W

Global Warming

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the contribution of the aviation industry to global warming. [137748]

Mr. Mullin: We have not produced a UK assessment. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published their report, "Aviation and the Global Atmosphere", in December 1999. UK experts made significant contributions to the report on both science and technology. It considered all potential effects on the atmosphere and climate, up to 2050, from aviation emissions and identified the present and future impacts, on the basis of a range of scenarios, as well as remaining areas of uncertainty. The Government continue to support research to reduce these scientific uncertainties, and to improve technology.

Aircraft Detritus

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent discussions he has had with the CAA concerning frozen effluent falling from aeroplanes over residential areas. [137747]

Mr. Mullin: I refer the hon. Member to my reply of Thursday 25 November 1999, Official Report, column 171W.

The Secretary of State has not had any recent discussions with the CAA over such incidents. However the CAA is continuing to investigate icefall incidents whenever possible.

13 Nov 2000 : Column: 496W

I understand the hon. Member met CAA staff on 18 May specifically to discuss icefalls, following which the CAA wrote to her on 26 May 2000 providing comprehensive details of icefall incidents. In the period 1 January 2000 to 1 November 2000, 36 incidents of icefall and 21 incidents of other falling objects were recorded. The average number of incidents recorded over the five-year period 1995-99 was 31.

The CAA places the primary emphasis on prevention, and both the Authority and airlines are putting a great deal of effort into eliminating icefalls by checking water systems for leaks. The CAA has also issued reminders to UK operators, by way of Airworthiness Directives, emphasising the importance of regular checks.


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