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Council Tax

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he will make a statement on Government policy towards the introduction of new council tax bands; [153901]

(2) if he will make a statement on Government policy on the introduction of regional variations in the valuations used to determine council tax banding. [153816]

Ms Beverley Hughes: We believe that the council tax is working well as a local tax. In our Green Paper on modernising local government finance, which we published in September 2000, we explained that the banding system makes tax bills predictable and stable. A number of respondents to the Green Paper proposed that changes should be made to the structure of the council tax bands. We are considering what they had to say in the context of preparing a White Paper on local government finance which we intend to publish later this year.

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the average Band D council tax was in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland in (i) 1997-98 and (ii) 2000-01. [153916]

Ms Beverley Hughes: The average band D council tax for England was £688 in 1997-98 and £847 in 2000-01. Council tax levels for Wales and Scotland are a matter for the National Assembly for Wales and the Scottish Executive respectively.

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on his Department's capping powers in relation to local government expenditure and budgets. [153769]

Ms Beverley Hughes: We have powers to protect local people from excessive council tax increases. These powers are more discriminating than the previous system of crude and universal capping and enable us to look at councils' budget increases over several years. They are also more flexible: in addition to in-year capping the Secretary of State may set a national budget requirement to be used for future comparisons or he may cap the following year's budget.

When we have information on all local authority budgets and council taxes for 2001-02, we shall need to consider carefully whether any of them are excessive, and what action we might take as a result.

Concessionary Bus Fares

Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what measures he has put in place to reduce the financial pressure on local authorities arising from implementing the Government's initiative relating to concessionary bus fares. [154139]

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Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what measures he has put in place to ease the financial pressure on local authorities implementing the Government's initiative relating to concessionary bus fares. [153846]

Ms Beverley Hughes: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Streatham (Mr. Hill), on 13 March 2001, Official Report, column 537W.

Public Service Agreements

Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions for what reason district councils have been excluded from the local public service agreements pilot schemes; and what plans he has to include district councils in the public service agreements scheme. [154141]

Ms Beverley Hughes: The local PSA pilot was taken forward with top-tier authorities rather than district councils because the majority of the national PSA targets that relate to local authority services relate to the services of top-tier authorities. The Local Government Association is working with a group of district councils on how the PSA approach might be applied to districts, and we will consider any proposals they make.

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions for what reason district councils have been excluded from the local public service agreements pilot scheme; and if he will review this decision. [153844]

Ms Beverley Hughes: The local PSA pilot was taken forward with top-tier authorities rather than district councils because the majority of the national PSA targets that relate to local authority services relate to the services of top-tier authorities. We will indeed review this decision in the future. The Local Government Association are working with a group of district councils on how the PSA approach might be applied to districts, and we will consider any proposals they make.

Airline Seating

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received regarding the spacing of seats in economy sections of passenger airlines; if he proposes to introduce minimum space requirements; and if he will make a statement. [154130]

Mr. Robert Ainsworth: The Secretary of State has received a limited number of letters from members of the public about the spacing of seats in economy class. There have been statutory requirements for minimum seat pitch on UK-registered aircraft since 1989, introduced for safety reasons related to the evacuation of an aircraft in an emergency.

In their response to the recent House of Lords Select Committee inquiry into air travel and health, the Government referred to CAA-funded research into seat size and spacing. The study, carried out on behalf of the JAA, is considering the relationship between aircraft seat dimensions and passenger sizes. The work looks at the changing size of the European population but also includes a review of recent DVT research. The report

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indicates additional areas where further work may be necessary. The study (and any subsequent follow-on study) will provide the Government with the information necessary to review current regulations on seat spacing. In the light of the study DETR and the CAA will also consider the scope for developing unambiguous definitions for seat dimensions for use in informing passengers of the seat size and space available on a flight.

Contaminated Land (Lancashire)

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the amount of contaminated land in Lancashire. [154205]

Mr. Robert Ainsworth: My Department has made no estimates of the amount of contaminated land in particular parts of the country.

Commercial Property Leases

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when the working party reviewing the voluntary code of practice on commercial property leases is due to report to him; and what procedure is in place to review its recommendations. [154225]

Ms Beverley Hughes: My right hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Planning has asked the Commercial Leases Group to let him have its final proposals by the end of March. We shall then be looking closely at the proposals to see that they will result in tenants having more choice and better information about leasing options. We will consider the way forward in the light of the Group's final proposals.

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if the working party reviewing the voluntary code of practice on commercial property leases covers all categories of commercial tenant. [154226]

Ms Beverley Hughes: The Commercial Leases Group, which is reviewing the property industry's 1995 Code of Practice, consists of most of the organisations which drew up the original Code, together with additional bodies representing occupiers and small businesses. These bodies embrace all categories of commercial tenant in the main property sectors.

Railway Rolling Stock

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Strategic Rail Authority, (b) Railtrack and (c) the train operating companies on new rolling stock. [153911]

Mr. Hill [holding answer 16 March 2001]: The Deputy Prime Minister recently met Sir Alastair Morton, the Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority, and rolling stock manufacturers to discuss the delivery and reliability of new rolling stock.

Cycling

Mr. Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his

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answer of 7 March 2001, Official Report, column 253W, on cycling, when the Government expect to meet their interim target under the National Cycling Strategy for doubling the number of cyclists from 1996 levels. [154411]

Mr. Hill: Progress will depend on a number of factors. However, given the greatly increased funding which the Government have made available for local transport, the encouragement to cycling which we have given in our guidance on Local Transport Plans, and the generally positive response to this guidance by local authorities, I am hopeful that cycle trips in England will double from their 1996 level by 2005 or 2006.

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