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Aviation

Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what powers he has to regulate (a) aircraft movement, (b) airport management and (c) aircraft design and safety, currently subject to legislative provision of the United Kingdom Parliament, including those required by international treaties, that would be subject to the legislative provisions of the European Union under its proposed (i) common European sky and (ii) air safety authorities. [139945]

Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what powers of regulation relating to aircraft, airports, and control of airspace, which are subject to the provisions of United Kingdom legislation and International Treaties, would be subject to EU law under the proposals of the European Commission relating to aircraft safety and air traffic regulation. [140011]

Mr. Mullin: The European Commission has yet to table any legislative proposals relating to its Single European Sky initiative.

The Commission has issued a provisional version of a proposal for a regulation on establishing common rules in the field of civil aviation and creating a European Aviation Safety Agency. Until this proposal is formally presented and examined in detail, it is not possible to identify precisely which UK legislative powers would be affected. The Government will submit to the relevant Scrutiny Committees at the appropriate time an Explanatory Memorandum, which will include an assessment of the impact of the proposals on UK law.

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Social Housing

Mr. Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received regarding the introduction of (a) upper rent levels and (b) affordability caps on social housing rents; and if he will make a statement. [139926]

Mr. Mullin: Over 1,000 respondents sent us their views in response to the Housing Green Paper we published in April. We are considering those views and will publish our response shortly.

Housing in London

Mr. Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the changes in the supply of housing available to London councils in the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [139968]

Mr. Mullin: The figures for completion of permanent dwellings in London are set out in the following table:

Financial year	Private enterprise	Registered social landlords	Local authorities	All dwellings
1995-96	11,239	5,007	45	16,291
1996-97	7,696	4,858	23	12,577
1997-98	9,242	4,329	52	13,623
1998-99	9,631	3,198	35	12,864
1999-2000	9,336	2,856	--	12,192

Mr. Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of (a) the number of new households in London for each of the years from 1998 to 2001 and (b) the number of new households in these years unable to (i) rent and (ii) buy housing in London. [139967]

Mr. Mullin: The latest available mid-year estimates show that there were an additional 34,000 households in London in the year to July 1998. Mid-year household figures for 1999 and subsequent years are not yet available.

DETR's Projections of Households in England to 2021, published in October 1999, indicate that the capital's households will increase by approximately 126,000 over the period 1996-2001, giving a total of 3,128,000 projected households in 2001.

Estimates of the number of new households in these years unable to rent or buy are not available.

Mr. Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact of changes in the supply of low cost homes on the housing situation in London. [139969]

Mr. Mullin: I have made no such assessment.

Rail Disruption (Road Accidents)

Mr. Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of (a) the increases in road traffic and (b) the

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change in the number of (i) deaths and (ii) serious injuries arising from road traffic accidents as a result of rail passenger traffic being displaced to road during the work by Railtrack over the next three months to replace cracked rails. [138787]

Mr. Hill: The Government recognise that the current disruption to the railways may displace traffic onto the roads, where travellers are on average at greater risk. It is therefore essential that the rail network is returned to a safe working condition as soon as possible. That is the aim of Railtrack's current rail replacement programme, to which the Government and HSE are giving every possible assistance. I am advised that statistics to quantify any increased risk arising from any consequent displacement of traffic from rail to road are not available.

Rail Passenger Injuries

Mr. Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will calculate the probability of (a) death and (b) serious injury to rail travellers per passenger mile if the work planned by Railtrack over the next three months to replace cracked rails is conducted (i) as planned and (ii) over a programmed 12 month period. [138788]

Mr. Hill: The primary risk arising from cracked rails is derailment, leading to fatal and serious injuries as occurred tragically at Hatfield. It is for Railtrack, as infrastructure controller, to manage that risk. To mitigate the consequences of such derailments, Railtrack have imposed emergency speed restrictions on the sites most affected by 'gauge corner cracking', until the track has been tested and replaced where necessary. Such speed restrictions in themselves may create further risks on the network, for example by increasing overcrowding at stations.

I am informed by the HSE that they have sought from Railtrack risk estimates on the cracked rails situation, and that HSE is working closely with Railtrack so that these restrictions can be lifted as soon as safety can be adequately assured. Extending the rail replacement programme would prolong the period for which restrictions are in place.

Dams

Mr. Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will publish the information (a) held by his Department and (b) submitted by the Building Research Establishment on the condition of dams in England and Wales. [139919]

Mr. Mullin: My Department holds no comprehensive information about the condition of dams in England and Wales. Local authorities which have enforcement duties under the Reservoirs Act 1975 are required to maintain public registers containing prescribed details of all the reservoirs in their area subject to the Act's safety regime. Such reservoirs are those which are designed to hold, or are capable of holding, more than 25,000 cu m above the natural level of adjoining land. These details include summaries of all certificates and reports received by the authority from the panel engineers appointed by the Secretary of State to supervise and inspect reservoirs.

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Enforcement authorities receive copies of all reports of inspections which draw attention to measures necessary to be taken in the interests of safety.

As part of the Reservoir Safety Research Programme of my Department, the Building Research Establishment has compiled a Dams Database, to provide a register of dams that come within the ambit of the Reservoirs Act 1975, to provide background information for particular research projects and to assemble data on problems, incidents and remedial works. Information contained in the database has been made available to parties with an interest in reservoir safety and is available on request.

UK Vignette

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what discussions he has had with (a) the European Commission and (b) the Governments of other member states concerning the introduction of a UK "vignette" to charge commercial vehicles for the use of UK roads; and if he will make statement. [139801]

Mr. Hill: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury today to the right hon. Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood), Official Report, column 318W.

Research Organisations

Mr. Page: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what research organisations are owned by his Department; and what their budgets are for the year 2000-01. [R] [140156]

Mr. Mullin: My Department does not own any research organisations, having transferred all its former research establishments to the private sector. All the Department's research is now procured by external contract and details are available through the DETR website and through the Office of Science and Technology's annual publication, "SET Statistics".

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