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Suicides (London Underground)

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many suicides have taken place on the London Underground in each of the last 10 years. [100624]

Mr. Hill: Safety of passengers and staff on its network is the responsibility of London Underground Ltd. (LUL), which has explained that it is not possible to distinguish between fatalities on London Underground due to accidents and those where a person may have taken their own life. LUL has, however, provided in the table information on the number of fatalities arising from a person striking a train on the London Underground.

Year	Number of fatalities
1991	40
1992	31
1993	45
1994	39
1995	18
1996	32
1997	28
1998	25
1999 (to date)	22

Notes:

Statistics are not available for 1989, 1990, and for period between 1 January 1995 and 6 April 1995

A406 (Tree Compensation)

Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when the London Borough of Enfield will receive compensation for the loss of a cedar tree in Pymmes Park as part of the compulsory purchase relating to the A406; what steps he will take to ensure that the Highways Agency pays compensation; and if he will make a statement. [100821]

Mr. Hill: Compensation negotiations between the District Valuer, acting for the Highway's Agency and the London Borough of Enfield are continuing. The Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Mr. Peter Nutt, will write to my hon. Friend with further details.

8 Dec 1999 : Column: 544W

Letter from Richard Thorndike to Mr. Andrew Love, dated 8 December 1999:

The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Keith Hill, has asked me to write in response to your recent written Parliament Question about compensation being claimed by the London Borough of Enfield for the loss of a mature cedar tree in Pymmes Park, as a result of works to improve the A406 North Circular Road. I am replying in the absence of Peter Nutt, the Chief Executive.

Although the tree was located very close to the highway construction area, it was intended to carry out the road works without disturbing it. Once construction started, however, because of the tree's extensive root system, it was found that it would be seriously affected. Ways of saving the tree including moving it, at an estimated cost of £100,000 were considered but none were found to be practicable. The Agency concluded that the only option was for it to be cut down. Meetings between the Agency, the District Valuer and the Council to discuss the provision of replacement trees, wider landscape proposals for Pymmes Park and compensation matters have taken place and are set to continue. The final settlement of any compensation due will depend on the outcome of these negotiations. In the event that agreement on compensation cannot be reached the Lands Tribunal is available to make an independent determination.

As part of the overall arrangements to offset disturbance, the Agency has provided exchange land at the former Willoughby Gas Works, as replacement for public open space land taken from Pymmes Park for the A406 works.

Leasehold Properties (Greater London)

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will estimate the number of properties in the Greater London area that are leasehold. [101042]

Mr. Mullin: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Torbay (Mr. Sanders) on 10 November 1999, Official Report, column 610W. The estimates provided were for households rather than properties, since estimates on the latter basis are not available. It is probable that the figure for properties in London would be only slightly smaller than for households.

Departmental Research

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the titles of (a) research studies, (b) audits and (c) surveys (i) in progress and (ii) commissioned for completion in the next 12 months, stating in each case when the results are due to be published. [100888]

Mr. Mullin: Information about research commissioned by the Department is made widely available. It includes overview material on the DETR website and details of individual programmes and projects--again on the website and through hard copy reports, Compendia and Newsletters. Details of each project are not held centrally but a list of the Department's research projects will be prepared and placed in the Library of the House within two weeks. Other bodies sponsored by the Department, including the Highways Agency, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, English Nature, the Countryside Agency and the Environment Agency, also fund their own research programmes and publish separate information on these.

8 Dec 1999 : Column: 545W

Student Housing

Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what discussions he has had with the DfEE about student housing provision for university students. [101053]

Mr. Mullin: This is a matter primarily for liaison between local authorities and the universities and other higher education institutions. The DfEE, through the Higher Education Funding Councils, does not make financial provision to the universities for student residential accommodation. It is also a matter for individual students to choose the type of accommodation they wish to occupy.

My Department will continue to discuss with the DfEE whether halls of residence and other university owned, managed or leased accommodation should be exempt from our proposed licensing system for houses in multiple occupation.

We are also considering carefully Recommendation 33 of Policy Action Team 7's report on Unpopular Housing: that my Department should discuss with DfEE and the Department of Health an agreed approach to the use of existing stock to meet demand for student housing and housing for medical staff before new developments take place in areas of low demand.

HMOs

Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received from which local authorities about extending licensing of houses of multiple occupation. [101052]

Mr. Mullin: Manchester City Council, Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council, and a number of other authorities, mainly in the north-east and north-west of England, have made a variety of proposals for extending licensing, or the power to licence, to other private rented sector housing. The Local Government Association have also suggested that future legislation should be framed to enable licensing to be extended.

Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to extend licensing of houses of multiple occupation. [101051]

Mr. Mullin: We are committed to the introduction of mandatory licensing of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). While we recognise that there are problems of poor physical and management standards elsewhere in the private rented sector, and are considering whether further measures would be appropriate to deal with these, we have no plans to extend mandatory licensing beyond the HMO sub-sector.

Crossrail

Mr. Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the report recently published by the Corporation of London on Crossrail; and if he will make a statement. [101291]

8 Dec 1999 : Column: 546W

Mr. Hill: Crossrail will be a matter for the new Mayor to consider in formulating an integrated transport strategy for London. Ministers will be happy to discuss the project with any new Mayor who wants to broker a viable deal to build it.

I welcome the addition to the Crossrail debate provided by the results of the Corporation of London's review of the project, and their proposals on how it might be taken forward.

Additionally, the scheme and the Corporation's report will be among the many items to be considered by Sir Alastair Morton and the shadow Strategic Rail Authority as part of their detailed study of capacity issues on the lines running out from the west of London.

Tropical Timber

Mr. Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many purchases of tropical timber have been made by the Environment Agency since 1998; what were the timber species; and for what purpose they were specified. [101292]

Mr. Mullin: The Environment Agency uses timber for two main purposes, civil engineering and furniture. The Agency does not purchase any furniture containing tropical hardwood. Civil engineering works are predominately for flood defence projects. As the majority of these are contracted out, the Agency cannot readily provide figures on individual purchases of timber or other materials. Tender documentation seeks to ensure that works meet the highest environmental standards. For example, clauses are incorporated to ensure that new timber from all sources is provided from a managed renewable source. Also, the specification for groynes and piles states that

"the timber used, including tropical hardwoods, shall be obtained from sustainably managed forests and plantations."

Further details on the Agency's procurement policies are available on the Environment Agency website.

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