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Fairground Deaths
Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many deaths have occurred on fairgrounds in the UK in each of the last 20 years. [139609]
Mr. Meacher [holding answer 21 November 2000]: From the information readily available, the following numbers of fatalities were reported to HSE at fairgrounds in Great Britain, between 1 April 1986 and 31 March 2000:
| Year | Number |
|---|---|
| 1986-87 | 1 |
| 1987-88 | 5 |
| 1988-89 | 1 |
| 1989-90 | 0 |
| 1990-91 | 3 |
| 1991-92 | 1 |
| 1992-93 | 1 |
| 1993-94 | 0 |
| 1994-95 | 4 |
| 1995-96 | 0 |
| 1996-97 | 1 |
| 1997-98 | 1 |
| 1998-99 | 0 |
| 1999-2000(4) | 1 |
(4) Provisional figures
Notes:
1. These data include total deaths to members of the public, employees and the self-employed, reported to HSE under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1985 and 1995.
2. Data before 1986-87 are not available.
3. Data are on a Great Britain basis only and not UK.
4. Data from 1986-1996 were collected on a different basis to later data--the two series are not directly comparable.
Source:
Health and Safety Executive
Local Government
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he is taking to ensure local authorities have a strategic role in managing their local area. [139793]
Ms Beverley Hughes: The 1998 White Paper, "Modern Local Government: In Touch with the People", set out the Government's long-term vision for the modernisation of local government, emphasising councils' local leadership role. The Local Government Act 2000 helps to achieve this by giving principal local authorities broad powers to take new action to promote the economic, social, and environmental well-being of their local communities. This new power greatly strengthens the scope for authorities to work in partnership with other bodies to deliver real improvements in local quality of life.
Linked to the new power is a duty for local authorities to prepare a community strategy, based on local priorities and engaging local people, to improve community well-being and contribute to sustainable development. The local strategic partnerships with which local authorities should
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work to prepare community strategies will bring together all the public, private, voluntary and community sector bodies which have a stake in the area. In the longer term, community strategies could thus provide a sustainable framework which encompasses not only the mainstream activities of local authorities but also all their partner bodies, including businesses. Local strategic partnerships should provide an overriding framework within which other, more specific, partnerships can operate; they offer a single local co-ordination framework to make sure that services, in particular core public services, work together.
The new constitutions which councils are required to adopt under Part II of the 2000 Act, including the option of a directly elected mayor where local people want one, will mean they can deliver more clear and accountable corporate leadership and are well fitted for their new strategic role.
Severn Bridges
Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will discuss with the Severn Bridges Company (a) the net reduction of credit card payments and (b) discount schemes for commuters. [139834]
Mr. Hill: The Secretary of State has no plans to discuss these matters with Severn River Crossing plc. The Severn Bridges Regulations stipulate cash payment at tollbooths. A pre-payment system is already in operation, which allows discounts for frequent users.
Ultra-low Sulphur Fuel
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps are being taken to ensure increased availability of ultra-low sulphur petrol. [140211]
Mr. Hill: My right hon. Friend the Chancellor announced his intention in his pre-Budget report on 8 November to reduce the duty on ultra-low sulphur petrol (ULSP) by a further 2p a litre in Budget 2001. This cut would be conditional on the oil companies guaranteeing nationwide access to its environmental benefits. ULSP currently constitutes around a third of petrol consumption in the UK, following a 1 p/l in duty from October 2000. The United Kingdom Petroleum Industry Association (UKPIA)--the trade association representing the major UK oil refiners--has already said its members are committed to ensuring the conditions exist for the Chancellor to implement his duty rate reduction in Budget 2001.
Mr. Opik: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact of low sulphur fuel on engine performance and fuel efficiency; and if he will make a statement. [140247]
Mr. Hill: Other fuel properties being constant, the use of low sulphur petrol or diesel fuel will have no impact on engine performance or the fuel efficiency of a vehicle. It will, however, contribute directly to a reduction of sulphates and particulates discharged from the tailpipe. For vehicles fitted with exhaust catalysts, reduced emissions of NOx, CO and hydrocarbons may also be expected owing to improved operation of the catalyst and control sensors that may be affected by sulphur poisoning.
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The processes used by individual oil companies to formulate low sulphur diesel could change other fuel properties that could potentially result in some loss of engine efficiency, but experience with ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSD) indicates that most oil companies use a combination of refinery processes and additives to ensure any potential performance loss is minimised or eliminated entirely. In some cases, enhanced performance and fuel economy is claimed. Any effects should, therefore, be minimal but could vary from engine type to engine type and on the degree to which the vehicle is maintained.
Motorists should experience no noticeable difference with ultra-low sulphur petrol (ULSP) compared to their normal grade. This fuel will, however, facilitate the introduction of new fuel-efficient vehicles that are expected to be increasingly introduced onto the market over the new few years. These vehicles should offer a significant fuel savings when running on ULSP.
Vehicle Replacement (Funding)
Mr. Opik: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the means of accessing the fund for replacement of old vehicles with newer more fuel efficient ones. [140252]
Mr. Hill: The Government will consult with, among others, the haulage industry on the measures to be included in, and arrangements for, the £100 million fund to offer further incentives or allowances for scrapping older more polluting lorries, encouraging cleaner lorries and technology and reviewing the training needs of the HGV industry.
Railway Disruptions (Business Losses)
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what arrangements he is making to encourage Railtrack to compensate businesses that have lost business due to recent disruptions on the railways. [140080]
- (2) what estimate he has made of the financial cost to United Kingdom businesses of the railway disruptions following the Hatfield rail crash. [140081]
(3) what plans he has to arrange for the compensation of businesses in the regions of the United Kingdom for loss of business caused by the disruption of rail services following the Hatfield rail crash. [140082]
Mr. Hill: No compensation is being paid direct to businesses. However, the Government welcome the £50 million compensation scheme for passengers announced on 22 November.
Housing (Sex Offenders)
Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what advice he has given to local authority housing departments regarding the issuing of reports to elected members on housing committees when a council property is let to a registered sex offender. [140519]
Mr. Mullin: We have not issued any specific advice about such reports. However, my Department has issued advice drawing local housing authorities' attention to their
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responsibilities under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and how these bear upon the arrangements in place to manage the risks posed by sex offenders in the community. The advice suggests ways in which local authorities are able to play an important role in ensuring that those arrangements work effectively through their housing allocation policies and in the treatment of offenders under the homelessness legislation. It also deals with the issue of confidentiality, and makes clear that details about individual cases should only be disclosed to the public at large in exceptional circumstances and then only by or with the express consent of the police. A copy of the advice issued to local authorities on 25 November 1999 and entitled "Housing Act 1996: Parts VI and VII, Crime and Disorder Act 1998: Part I--The role of local housing authorities in the management of risks presented by sex offenders" has been placed in the Library of the House.
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