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Capital Debt (London Boroughs)

Mr. Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list, for each London borough, the level of capital debt held for housing purposes. [150548]

Mr. Robert Ainsworth: Local authorities generally pool their debt across services but are required to calculate a notional credit ceiling for housing for the purposes of maintaining a separate housing revenue account (HRA). The table shows the provisional HRA figures for 2000-01.

£

Authority	Mid-Year HRA Credit Ceiling
2000-01
Barking and Dagenham	0
Barnet	49,400,000
Bexley	0
Brent	277,886,205
Bromley	68,895,835
Camden	503,204,837
City of London	13,274,131
Croydon	94,300,000
Ealing	158,924,209
Enfield	78,870,754
Greenwich	403,379,530
Hackney	637,640,950
Hammersmith and Fulham	220,335,811
Haringey	392,220,652
Harrow	41,398,133
Havering	16,500,114
Hillingdon	39,943,958
Hounslow	161,259,467
Islington	710,121,313
Kensington and Chelsea	130,004,049
Kingston upon Thames	16,844,159
Lambeth	623,053,791
Lewisham	407,284,864
Merton	21,200,414
Newham	433,684,444
Redbridge	16,081,636
Richmond upon Thames	0
Southwark	732,105,357
Sutton	20,256,848
Tower Hamlets	533,646,000
Waltham Forest	181,085,745
Wandsworth	116,373,024
Westminster	171,500,000

15 Feb 2001 : Column: 219W

Road Accidents

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many (a) fatalities and (b) injuries have been caused by road accidents in the United Kingdom as a result of drivers being under the influence of illegal substances, broken down by each illegal substance used. [150454]

Mr. Hill: There are no reliable statistics available that show the number of fatalities and injuries caused by road accidents as a result of drivers being under the influence of illegal substances. However, we will shortly publish the findings of a 3-year survey into the incidence of drugs in road accident fatalities, which will provide data on this subject.

Wafic Said Business School

Dr. Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations were received by (a) him and (b) his officials from (i) other Government Ministers and (ii) their officials over (A) his decision and (B) the time scale of his decision, on whether to call in the proposal to build the Wafic Said business school in Oxford. [150360]

Ms Beverley Hughes: Our records include no representations from other Government Ministers or officials about the Wafic Said business school in Oxford.

National Air Traffic Services

Mr. Paul Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what advice he has received from the Economic Regulation Group of the Civil Aviation Authority on the economic regulatory regime for the services which will be provided in the Oceanic sector by the National Air Traffic Services Ltd. public-private partnership; and if he will make a statement. [151110]

Mr. Robert Ainsworth: Air traffic services in Oceanic airspace are provided on a monopoly basis. When the National Air Traffic Services Ltd. public-private partnership is established, charges for these services will be subject to price regulation by the RPI-X method, which is the standard model for monopoly regulation in the United Kingdom. The charge cap, or "X" factor, will be set for a period of five years and will, for the first five year-period only, be set by the Government.

We received advice from the CAA in August, which set out how they proposed to approach the economic regulation of NATS and recommended that the "X" factor for NATS' Oceanic services be set at 10 per cent. for the first year and 2 per cent. for each of the next four years. We have considered the CAA's advice carefully, alongside representations from air users who will pay these charges and from NATS, who have also provided revised estimates of traffic levels and system costs which have a significant effect on the first year of the quinquennium. We have consequently decided to set a cap of 2 per cent. for each of the five years, and that there should be no delay penalty term for the present.

The Government regard investment in the Oceanic sector as important and believe that the approach to charge control should reflect this. We have therefore agreed with the CAA that they should be receptive to any

15 Feb 2001 : Column: 220W

proposals, made with the support of air users, to revisit the price cap when investment is made with a view to significant improvements in the service.

Bus Subsidies

Miss Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the outcome of the latest round of the rural bus challenge competition and on allocations to local authorities of rural bus subsidy grant for the coming year. [151108]

Mr. Hill: My right hon. Friend will be making an announcement on these matters next week. Copies of the announcement will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Local Authority Publicity

Mr. Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he intends to lay before Parliament proposed alterations to the code of recommended practice on local authority publicity. [151192]

Ms Beverley Hughes: Following consultation with the Local Government Association, we have today laid before the House a draft of the proposed alterations to the code of recommended practice on local authority publicity. These proposed alterations reflect the new council constitutions and the introduction of referendums and petitions under the Local Government Act 2000.

We also intend in the future to review further the code, having regard to councils' experiences of operating their new constitutions over a reasonable period of time. This further review will also cover the code's application to those authorities--such as police authorities--which are not adopting new constitutions.

Ordnance Survey

Ms Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when a quinquennial review of Ordnance Survey will be conducted. [151233]

Ms Beverley Hughes: All executive agencies and non-departmental government bodies are subject to a review of their organisation every five years to examine and recommend the most appropriate organisation for delivering the functions and services currently carried out by the Department.

The last such review of Ordnance Survey reported in 1994 and recommended that Ordnance Survey should continue to deliver its functions and services as an executive agency and Government Department in its own right.

A Quinquennial Review of Ordnance Survey was due to take place in 1999. However, the Secretary of State at that time agreed that the review should be postponed until now to allow for Ordnance Survey's new trading fund status to bed in.

The review of Ordnance Survey commences today and is expected to last for three months. The review team, CMG Admiral, has been appointed following a competitive tendering process. A steering group, chaired

15 Feb 2001 : Column: 221W

by the principal finance officer of my Department, will oversee the review and recommendations will be made to me in due course. I will report back to the House on its findings before the summer recess.

The review process will provide extensive opportunities for consultation with internal and external stakeholders and will follow the procedures recommended in the guidance for the review of executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies published by the Cabinet Office.

Millennium Dome

Ms Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he has reached a decision on the continuation of the preferred bidder status of Legacy plc. [151234]

Ms Armstrong: Legacy's preferred bidder status gave them exclusive negotiating rights up to 14 February. While their bid has made progress towards meeting the preferred bidder terms, they have not met them. Legacy's exclusivity has therefore expired and the Government have decided to terminate the existing competition.

During the period of Legacy's preferred bidder status, the Government have not sought any alternative proposals for the dome. The Government would now like openly to test the market and will therefore ask English Partnerships to invite any interested parties to lodge with them expressions of interest for the dome and the regeneration of the peninsula. The Government, like the Mayor of London and the London borough of Greenwich, believe the dome should be retained as part of the regenerated peninsula, and offers will be invited on this basis. There have been considerable expressions of interest from other parties, which have been logged by English Partnerships.

Within this framework, Legacy will of course be able to put forward their proposals, which will be fully considered on merit alongside others.

Expressions of interest will be assessed by an advisory team, which will report to English Partnerships. They will shortly publish details of the arrangements and rules for this process.

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