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Poster Hoardings

Mr. McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will review the law on the erection of poster hoardings. [140503]

Ms Beverley Hughes: This was included in the proposals in our Modernising Planning consultation paper "Outdoor Advertisement Control", issued in July 1999. I announced our conclusions in the light of the consultation response on 29 June 2000, Official Report, column 600W, in reply to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes, North-East (Mr. White). In relation to Areas of Special Control of Advertisements, a further announcement was made on 28 November 2000, Official Report, column 554W, in reply to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, North (Mr. Chaytor).

Environmental Agreements

Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what progress he has made in considering the options for defining the relationship between multilateral environmental agreements and World Trade Organisation disciplines since the publication of his response to the 16threport from the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee. [140334]

Mr. Meacher: Clarifying the relationship between Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) remains an important priority for the United Kingdom and the European Union. We will continue to press for inclusion of this issue in a new trade Round.

The European Community submitted a paper on "Resolving the Relationship between WTO rules and Multilateral Environmental Agreements" to the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment when it met on 24-25 October. The paper was designed to stimulate a positive discussion among WTO members on the nature of the problem and what our aims should be in clarifying the relationship. It discusses the need for some form of WTO accommodation mechanism for trade measures mandated by MEAs. An option for this mechanism considered by the paper is "reversal of the burden of proof" under Article XX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (the General Exceptions clause), which would require that any party challenging a mandated

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MEA trade measure would have to prove that the measure does not meet the conditions of Article XX. The paper makes clear, however, that we have not reached a final conclusion on the merits of this option, and that we remain ready to consider any proposals made by other WTO members.

We will continue to use all opportunities to engage with developing countries on this issue. We are funding the Commonwealth Secretariat to host a workshop on Trade and Sustainable Development, to which twenty Commonwealth countries including the UK have been invited, on 19-22 January 2001. The issue of the relationship between Multilateral Environmental Agreements and WTO rules will be one of the subjects discussed at the workshop.

M25 (Essex)

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what the most recent date was on which the signing of the strategic diversion routes through the Essex section of the M25 was checked for continuity and accuracy; and how often that signing is checked; [140467]

(2) what discussions he has had with the Highways Agency about ensuring that the signing of the strategic diversion routes through the Essex section of the M25 is regularly maintained. [140466]

Mr. Hill: Responsibility for the maintenance of the 'symbol' diversion signs from the M25 in Essex rests with the highway authority of the road on which the sign is placed. For trunk roads my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, the Environment and Regions is Highway Authority and the Highways Agency acts on his behalf. The Highways Agency maintains the signs in accordance with an agreed code of practice. For other roads the local authority takes responsibility and Agents act on its behalf.

The Highways Agency checked the symbol diversionary signs for the Essex section of the M25 for continuity and accuracy in 1998-99 and these were reviewed as part of the London Primary Route Signing Project in 1999.

Train Protection Systems

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the cost of installing (a) the Train Protection Warning System and (b) the Automatic Train Protection System. [140420]

Mr. Hill: The only estimate made by the Secretary of State for installing the Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) was as part of the regulatory impact assessment for the Railway Safety Regulations 1999, laid in the House in August 1999. This showed an estimated cost ranging between £130-£155 million. The Secretary of State has not made an estimate of the cost for installing Automatic Train Protection (ATP). More recent industry estimates suggest that the figure will be closer to £330 million for TPWS and in the order of £2 billion for ATP.

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Rail Maintenance Staff

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many maintenance staff were employed on track maintenance duty (a) by British Rail in the year before privatisation and (b) by Railtrack in September 2000. [140419]

Mr. Hill: The British Railways Board's Annual Report and Accounts 1995-96 show that 15,745 staff were employed by British Rail Infrastructure Services on infrastructure maintenance, track renewal and design duties.

No maintenance staff were employed by Railtrack in September 2000. Upon privatisation, the former British Rail Infrastructure Services Units were transferred to other private sector companies.

Rail Funding

Mrs. Betty Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what funding was provided by Government to the United Kingdom rail industry in each year from 1997 to date; and what the value was of such funding for rail services to and within Wales. [140332]

Mr. Hill: Train operating companies (TOCs) receive Support for Passenger Rail Services (SPRS) from the Franchising Director and income from Passenger Transport Executives (PTEs) for rail passenger services in major conurbations. Also, freight operating companies (FOCs) receive freight grant payments from my Department. The first table shows the value of all three types of funding to all TOCs and FOCs in Great Britain in each year since 1996-97. The figures for 2000-01 are estimated outturns.

Cash prices £ million

	Payments
	SPRS	PTE	Freight grant
1996-97	1,809	291	12
1997-98	1,429	375	21
1998-99	1,196	337	19
1999-2000	1,033	312	17
2000-01	913	280	16

The second table shows Shadow Strategic Rail Authority estimates of the proportion of total SPRS payments which relates to train-miles travelled in Wales. There are no PTEs in Wales. Equivalent data for freight grants are not available.

Cash prices £ million

	Payments--SPRS
1996-97	101
1997-98	77
1998-99	68
1999-2000	74
2000-01	n/a

Coach Companies

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many times

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coach companies in the Isle of Sheppey have been investigated for safety reasons by the Vehicle Inspectorate in the past five years. [140324]

Mr. Hill: In the Isle of Sheppey, nine separate investigations in respect of four different coach companies have been carried out by the Vehicle Inspectorate in the past five years.

Affordable Housing

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what increase in the number of affordable houses he expects in rural areas as a result of the planned change in approach of the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme. [140316]

Mr. Mullin [holding answer 27 November 2000]: The Housing Corporation is implementing a more strategic approach to the distribution of the Approved Development Programme to ensure resources are targeted effectively to meet regional and local priorities. The number of affordable homes provided in rural areas will depend on regional and local assessments of housing need, as well as the measures for increasing affordable housing which has been set out in our Rural White Paper.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what targets he has set for the provision of affordable housing in drawing up the Rural White Paper. [140315]

Mr. Mullin [holding answer 27 November 2000]: 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 has set out our policies for affordable housing provision in rural areas.

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