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Prestwick Airport
Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if Scottish and North of England en-route services will be provided from the new air traffic control centre at Prestwick; and if Oceanic services for the North East Atlantic will continue to be served from Prestwick; [154717]
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- (2) what assessment he has made of the capability of the Prestwick air traffic control centre to pick up replica services in the event of a catastrophe at Swanwick. [154722]
Mr. Robert Ainsworth: The NSC, as part of NATS' two centre strategy for the provision of en route air navigation services endorsed by the Government, is expected to have the capacity to service the Scottish FIR, the Oceanic region and provide a significant contingency in the case of catastrophic failure of the Swanwick or West Drayton centres. The latest review of the two centre strategy, carried out in 1997, proposed the transfer of the services provided by the Manchester Area Control Centre to Swanwick, although the NATS Strategic Partner may wish to review this.
NATS has informed the Government that a New Scottish Centre with around half the number of workstations that Swanwick will have should be able to handle up to about 70 per cent. of normal traffic levels in the event of the Swanwick centre going out of action.
Rail Travellers Survey (C2C)
Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions for what reason passengers from Tilbury Town Station were not invited by the Strategic Rail Authority to complete the UK Rail Travellers Survey on 15 March; in which stations (a) in the borough of Thurrock and (b) outside Thurrock on the c2c line to Surrey the survey was distributed; and if he will make a statement. [154667]
Mr. Hill: In the latest wave of National Passenger Survey, all but one of C2C's stations, Dagenham Dock, have been or will be covered between 3 March and 23 March. Tilbury Town was covered on 8 March and 13 March.
Departmental Policies (Lincoln)
Gillian Merron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Lincoln constituency, the effects on Lincoln of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [152979]
Ms Beverley Hughes: The majority of Lincoln constituency lies within the city of Lincoln and the district of North Kesteven. The principal kinds of funding that this Department has provided to the local authorities between 1997-98 and 2001-02 are shown in the tables. These include grants and borrowing approvals for revenue and capital expenditure.
It is not possible to determine how much of this money Lincolnshire county council and North Kesteven district council have spent on Lincoln constituency. It is for the local authorities to decide where within their boundary these resources are applied. The city of Lincoln lies entirely within the Lincoln constituency.
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(3) Includes major repairs allowance
(4) SRB schemes include a 10 year project led by Lincoln city council and Lincolnshire Development which concentrates on investment and physical regeneration of dereliction in the city centre and on the University of Lincolnshire by Brayford Pool and a 5 year project targeting Abbey and Park wards in Lincoln aiming to develop tourism, improve skills and support communities by tackling barriers to opportunities, capacity building and social regeneration.
(5) Forecast figure
(6) Does not include potential spend from the SRB6 programme as forecast expenditure is not yet available.
(7) Figures are for total project costs and refer to schemes for which approval was announced in the December or January preceding the financial year shown.
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Departmental Policies (Newbury)
Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Newbury constituency, the effects on Newbury and west Berkshire of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [154572]
Ms Beverley Hughes: The principal kinds of funding
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this Department has provided to west Berkshire in 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2001-02 are shown in the table. These include grants and borrowing approvals for revenue and capital expenditure.
It is not possible to determine how much of this money has been spent on the Newbury constituency. It is for the local authority to decide where within its boundary these resources are applied.
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| Nature of Funding | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02(8) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue Support Grant | (9)-- | 36.023 | 35.205 | 33.867 | 38.760 |
| Income from National Non-Domestic Rates | (9)-- | 33.874 | 36.819 | 41.541 | 40.669 |
| Local Government Reorganisation Supplementary Credit Approval | (10)-- | (10)-- | 2.643 | 3.740 | -- |
| Housing Investment Programme | 0.299 | 0.253 | 0.269 | 1.317 | 0.604 |
| Capital Receipts Initiative | 0.087 | 0.274 | 0.277 | -- | -- |
| ERDF Funding | 0.895 | 0.179 | -- | -- | -- |
| Transport Supplementary Grant | 0.675 | 0.234 | 0.600 | -- | -- |
| Transport Annual Capital Guideline | 0.675 | 0.234 | 0.600 | -- | -- |
| Transport Block Supplementary Credit Approval | 2.481 | 0.370 | 0.650 | 1.819 | 2.885 |
| Rural Bus Challenge Grant | -- | 0.033 | 0.076 | 0.102 | -- |
| Rural Bus Subsidy Grant | -- | 0.233 | 0.233 | 0.233 | 0.297 |
(8) Where known
(9) Not available
(10) No bid made
Notes:
Revenue Support Grant and Income from National Non-Domestic Rates--figures not available for 1997-98 owing to local government re-organisation.
Local Government Reorganisation Supplementary Credit Approval--ends after 2000-01; the figure for 2000-01 is a bid, which will be assessed August/September this year.
Capital Receipts Initiative--ended 1999-2000.
ERDF Funding--KONVER funding allocated. This is a European scheme to help areas where the local economy depends on military bases--Greenham Common in the Newbury area. Funding provided retrospectively.
Rural Bus Challenge Grant--not available in 1997-98 and no entry for 2001-02 yet as it is calculated retrospectively.
Rural Bus Subsidy Grant--not available in 1997-98.
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Local Government Commission
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he intends to transfer the functions of the Local Government Commission for England to the Electoral Commission; what the consequences for the programme of periodic electoral reviews will be; and if he will make a statement. [154900]
Ms Beverley Hughes: As the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien), told the House on 8 January 2001, Official Report, column 830, we intend, subject to the approval of the House and the other place, to make an Order under section 18 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, transferring the functions of the Local Government Commission for England (LGC) to the Electoral Commission with effect from 1 April 2002. We also intend, as provided for in the 2000 Act, to include provisions in the Order to modify and to transfer to the independent Electoral Commission the Secretary of State's current functions relating to the implementation of the LGC's recommendations on electoral reviews. The proposed modifications are to take account of the constitution of the independent Electoral Commission and its statutory Boundary Committee for England, and to improve the procedures for conducting and implementing reviews, including allowing the Commission's Boundary Committee, after undertaking a review, to undertake a further review of the electoral arrangements of part of the local authority's area.
On this basis, from 1 April 2002, the programme of periodic electoral reviews and their implementation would become the responsibility of the Electoral Commission.
Electoral reviews are implemented, on a normal election day for the council concerned, by the making of an electoral changes order prior to that date. We intend that it will be for the Electoral Commission to make all the electoral change orders for reviews implemented on the normal election day in 2004 and subsequent normal election days. Electoral change orders for reviews to be implemented on the normal election day in 2003 will also be made by the Electoral Commission, except where a review is completed sufficiently prior to April 2002 that it is practicable for the Secretary of State to make the Order to assist the Electoral Commission as it takes on its new functions transferred from the LGC.
This approach means that it will be for the Electoral Commission, on or after 1 April 2002, to decide whether or not to give effect to the LGC's current review recommendations for the counties of Derbyshire, Devon, Durham and Surrey which are due to be implemented on the normal election day in 2005 under the programme of reviews announced to the House on 27 July 1999, Official Report, column 356.
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