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MV Derbyshire

Mr. Wigley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what actions he will take following the conclusion of the inquiry into the sinking of the MV Derbyshire. [138263]

Mr. Hill: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 8 November 2000, Official Report, columns 239-40W about the MV Derbyshire Report.

The Honourable Mr. Justice Colman's report was published on 8 November 2000, and copies have been placed in the Commons Library.

Mr. Justice Colman made a total of twenty-four recommendations to enhance bulk carrier safety and safety generally. These are addressed to the Department, Lloyds Register of Shipping, the International Association of Classification Societies and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). In consultation with the others to whom recommendations are addressed, the Department will prepare a response to each of the recommendations.

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This response will be presented to Parliament. In this respect the Department will give urgent consideration, in particular, to the recommendations that the IMO should revise the relevant provisions of the International Load Line Convention 1966 and that any enhanced requirements concerning hatch cover strength should also apply to existing ships.

Council Tax Bands

Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many properties are in Band F and above, broken down by (a) registered social landlords and (b) local authority in (i) London and (ii) England. [138627]

Ms Beverley Hughes: I have placed in the Library of the House a table showing the number of dwellings in Bands F and above in each local authority in England. The Department does not collect separate information which allows this to be broken down by registered social landlords.

Walton Group Plc

Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what progress has been made on recovering the city grant awarded to Walton Group plc for the regeneration of Exchange Flags in Liverpool. [138751]

Ms Beverley Hughes: Police investigations are still in progress, and therefore it would be inappropriate for me to make any further statement at this time.

Housing

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the need for provision of affordable housing in advance of his publication of his (a) rural white paper and (b) urban white paper. [138548]

Mr. Mullin: While the Government have from time to time commissioned studies of the extent and nature of housing need to inform their views on the need for affordable housing in England, they believe that neither national nor regional estimates can adequately reflect the diversity of needs and priorities which exist at the local level. For these reasons, the Government believe that local authorities are best placed to carry out assessments of housing need in their areas.

But the Government recognise that in many areas there is a need for more affordable housing. That is why we shall be almost doubling funding for affordable housing through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme over the next three years. Our Rural White Paper will set out our policies for affordable housing provision in rural areas.

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many of the recommendations made in the Policy Action Team 7 report from the Performance and Innovation Unit, "Unpopular Housing" his Department (a) has implemented to date and (b) plans to implement in the near future. [138547]

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Mr. Mullin: Nearly all recommendations are being progressed. A number of these have been implemented in full. Several were included as proposals for reform in the Housing Green Paper, published in April. We will make an announcement on the outcome of consultation on the Green Paper later this year. An Audit tracking progress on implementing the recommendations made by all 18 Policy Action Teams will be published by the Social Exclusion Unit in the next few months.

National Rail Inquiry Service

Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent steps he has taken to improve the quality of the National Rail Inquiry Service. [138524]

Mr. Hill: The National Rail Inquiry Service is provided by train operators and administered by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC). It has recently increased staffing levels by 15 per cent. (200 staff) and has introduced a new recorded state-of-the-network information service to provide better information to passengers during the current disruption to rail services.

Planning Inquiries

Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to accelerate the decision-making process with regard to planning inquiries. [138615]

Ms Beverley Hughes: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning to my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Angela Smith) on 27 June 2000, Official Report, columns 453-54W.

The statutory instruments setting out the streamlined procedures for handling planning appeals by written representations, hearings and inquiries in England, and laid before Parliament that day, came into effect on 1 August 2000.

Channel Tunnel Rail Link

Mr. Rowe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent discussions he has held with Railtrack about the second phase of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link; and if he will make a statement. [138531]

Mr. Hill: Railtrack have said that they will take a decision on exercising their option once they have the final outcome of the Regulator's periodic review process. As yet the Department has received no formal approach from Railtrack concerning Section 2 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Railtrack has already committed to purchase Section 1 of the link and has previously indicated its desire to exercise its exclusive option to purchase Section 2.

Mr. Rowe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimates he has made of the dates on which the (a) first and (b) second phases of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link will be in service. [138529]

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Mr. Hill: (a) Construction on Section 1 remains on time and on budget. Services are due to start in October 2003.

(b) Assuming Railtrack's agreement to purchase, construction on Section 2 is due to start in July 2001. Services are due to start in 2007.

Mr. Rowe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent estimate he has made of the cost of building the second phase of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. [138530]

Mr. Hill: The target construction cost of Section 2 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link remains at £2.5 billion at 1997 prices.

Mr. Rowe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the passenger figures were for Eurostar journeys in the last year for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the need for subsidy to complete the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. [138517]

Mr. Hill: The most recent passenger figures are for the year 1999 when 7,046,000 tickets were sold. This was a 4 per cent. increase on 1998. In 2000 to date Eurostar have sold 5,914,000 tickets, an increase of 11 per cent. on the same period last year.

The Government are providing Capital Grant towards both sections of the CTRL, with £778 million going towards Section 1 and £1.7 billion towards Section 2. Both figures are at 1997 prices.

Water Industry

Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to increase competition in the United Kingdom water industry. [138616]

Mr. Mullin: On 6 November 2000 the Government published a consultation document on a draft Water Bill. The draft Bill would give the Director General of Water Services in England and Wales a new duty to protect the interests of consumers in relation to water and sewerage services including, wherever appropriate, by promoting effective competition.

In April this year, my Department published, jointly with the National Assembly for Wales, a consultation paper on the broad options for extending competition in the water industry in England and Wales. There have since been a number of proposals within the industry for restructuring. In the light of the responses to the consultation exercise and these other recent developments in the industry, we are carrying out further work to examine options for increasing competition. We will consider what legislative changes may be needed to promote competition as part of this work, and will make a statement setting out our conclusions early next year.

The Scottish Executive is responsible for the water industry in Scotland.

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