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ENVIRONMENT, TRANSPORT AND THE REGIONS

Tankers

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many tankers registered in the United Kingdom have single hulls; and what percentage of the total this represents. [148401]

Mr. Hill: There are 26 single hulled tankers over 3,000 gross tons registered in the United Kingdom. This figure represents 86% of the total.

London Underground

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when the Government decided to release commercially confidential information concerning the PPP bids for London Underground to Transport for London; and for what reason the Government did not do this previously. [150421]

Mr. Hill: Transport for London has had privileged access to information about the London Underground PPP from the beginning, consistent with the duties to consult and co-operate under the Greater London Authority Act 1999. My answer of 14 December 2000, Official Report, columns 201-02W, set out some of the commercially confidential information which had by that time been made available to Mr. Robert Kiley, the Commissioner of Transport for London. Since the agreement of 2 February between the Deputy Prime Minister and Mr. Kiley, there have been intensive discussions based on full access to information.

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions under the Government's proposed PPP for the London Underground, if it is the Government's policy (a) to avoid splitting the operation of trains and the control of infrastructure as originally envisaged and (b) to ensure that London Underground management will have control over programmes for investment, renewal and maintenance of infrastructure, particularly with regard to their timing and priority. [150398]

Mr. Hill: The Government remain committed to securing the best option for long-term and stable investment in the Tube that combines value for money with maintaining and improving safety. We are in discussion with the Commissioner of Transport for London, Bob Kiley, on his proposals. Building on the work already done, we aim together to work out how best to accommodate his thinking within the current framework for the public private partnership competitions.

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much London Transport has spent to date on consultancy for the London Underground Public-Private Partnership. [151576]

Mr. Hill: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Pound) on 30 November 2000, Official Report, column 757W. The Government will continue to provide

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six-monthly updates to Parliament on the cost of the consultancy work for the PPP and restructuring of London Underground.

Waste Management

Mr. Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he will publish the consultation document on changes to the exemptions from waste management licensing. [150452]

Mr. Meacher: The recovery and disposal of waste are subject to control under the Framework Directive on waste; and the main method of control is a waste management licence under Part II of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. However, Article 11 of the Directive provides discretion for the provision of licensing exemptions, on the basis of "general rules" and subject to certain conditions. The main purpose of exemptions is to encourage waste recovery in ways which protect the environment and human health.

We are currently reviewing several of the exemptions provided in regulation 17 of Schedule 3 to the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994. The review includes two exemptions subject to allegations of abuse (Schedule 3 paragraphs 9 and 19). We propose to tighten the terms of these exemptions to preclude their use for "sham recovery", to set minimum inspection frequencies by the Environment Agency, and to introduce charges for their registration and inspection.

We are also reviewing the exemptions for the landspreading of waste for

"agricultural benefit or ecological improvement" (paragraph 7); the storage and landspreading of sewage sludge for ecological improvement (paragraph 8); recovery operations at sewage treatment works (paragraph 10); and community composting (paragraph 12). We are considering the provision of new exemptions for the recovery and storage of waste oil, the burning of dunnage at ports and the remediation of contaminated land.

We intend to publish a consultation paper on these proposals this spring. We also intend to consult later this year on the application of waste management controls to agricultural waste--including licensing exemptions. A separate consultation exercise on licensing exemptions for "special waste" is planned for the summer.

Home Improvement Agencies

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he will review the performance of Foundations responsible for co-ordinating the work of home improvement agencies. [150848]

Mr. Robert Ainsworth: My Department keeps the performance of Foundations, the national co-ordinating body for home improvement agencies, under continuous review in accordance with the procedures established under the contract.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when his

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Department will be publishing figures on the performance of local home improvement agencies which are in receipt of funding from the Department. [150849]

Mr. Robert Ainsworth: Under the arrangements for funding home improvement agencies, local authorities are responsible for monitoring the performance of their local agency. The national co-ordinating body collects information on agencies' activities and outputs and, in respect of the current financial year, will be making it available for benchmarking purposes as soon as it has been collated.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will publish the guidelines for the monitoring of the performance of home improvement agencies. [150850]

Mr. Robert Ainsworth: The national co-ordinating body for home improvement agencies, Foundations, completed the despatch of guidelines to local authorities and agencies on 20 February. I am arranging for copies to be sent to my hon. Friend and placed in the Libraries of the House.

School Transport

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he intends to issue guidance to local education authorities prohibiting the use of vehicles (a) specifically designed to carry standing passengers and (b) without seatbelts, for the transportation of school children. [150806]

Mr. Hill: I have no plans to issue guidance to local education authorities prohibiting the use of vehicles specifically designed to carry standing passengers or those without seat belts for the transportation of school children. As I stated in my answer of 26 February 2001, Official Report, column 315W, it is ultimately for the schools and local education authorities to ensure the vehicles they will be using are appropriate for the type of journeys planned, and in so doing to take the safety benefits of seat belts into account.

Tyre Dumping

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he intends to introduce measures to reduce the number of illegally dumped motor vehicle tyres; [150807]

(2) if he will make a statement on the cost to local authorities of removing illegally dumped motor vehicle tyres for the last five years for which figures are available. [150808]

Mr. Robert Ainsworth: Section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 provides the Environment Agency and local authorities with powers to require the removal of waste dumped in contravention of waste controls; or to remove it and recover their costs from those responsible. However, farmers of land which is the subject of fly-tipping cannot be required to remove the waste or to pay for its removal, unless they knowingly

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caused or permitted its dumping. We have no plans to introduce a scheme to pay the costs incurred by landowners in removing fly-tipped waste.

However, the Fly Tipping Forum is addressing the problem of fly-tipping on farms; and has commissioned research to assess the problem's scale and associated costs. (The Environment Agency chairs the Forum and its members include the NFU and the Country Landowners Association). It is anticipated that this research project will be completed later in the Spring and the Forum will then consider its findings. The Department of Trade and Industry also chairs a joint Government/Industry working group which is considering options for recycling tyres in the light of the Landfill Directive, which will ban their disposal in landfill sites.

No data are currently held centrally on the cost to either local authorities or farmers of removing illegally dumped motor vehicle tyres.

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