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TRANSPORT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND

THE REGIONS

Transport Infrastructure/House Building

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his Department's responsibilities are in relation to the environmental impact of (a) transport infrastructure development and (b) house building proposals. [7879]

Ms Keeble: Proposals for transport infrastructure and housing development, which are likely to have significant effects on the environment come within the scope of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive (85/337/EEC as amended). The DTLR is the lead Department responsible for implementation of the Directive. The EIA procedure requires a developer to compile an Environmental Statement, which includes detailed information about the proposed development, the main effects it is likely to have on the environment, and the mitigation measures envisaged to deal with adverse effects. This information must be taken into account by the competent authority in reaching a decision on the proposal. For most projects falling within the scope of the Directive, for which planning permission is needed, the local planning authority is the competent authority, though in cases that are called in or subject to appeal the Secretary of State has to ensure compliance with EIA requirements. For some projects, for example proposals for new national roads, the Secretary of State is the competent authority.

Farmers' Markets

Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what representations he has received regarding existing planning constraints on the development of farmers' markets. [7864]

Ms Keeble: The Department has received a range of representations on planning arrangements for the temporary use of land for purposes including farmers' markets. Part 4 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (GPDO) SI 1995 No 418 grants a general planning permission for the temporary use of land for up to 28 days in any calendar year, subject to a number of restrictions and conditions. In the case of markets, the permitted use is limited to a total of 14 days in recognition of the parking, litter and noise problems that often arise from such uses.

Guidance to planning authorities in PPG6 "Town Centres & Retail Developments" and PPG7 "The Countryside" encourage farm diversification and acknowledge that farm shops can help meet the demand for fresh produce as well as providing new sources of jobs and services in rural areas. Farmers' markets can also provide such a service. Farmers' markets have been established successfully throughout the country in recent years.

Electoral Commission

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make it

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Her Majesty's Government's policy to provide all hon. Members with the full report of the Electoral Commission. [7124]

Dr. Whitehead: The Commission, which is directly answerable to Parliament, has placed a copy of its full report on the 2001 parliamentary general election in the Library of the House and has provided all hon. Members with a summary copy of the report. The full report, as well as the Commission's overview of the election campaign, is also available on the Electoral Commission's website. It would not be appropriate for the Government to supplement the independent Commission's measures, which in any event it could do only at disproportionate cost.

Elections (Turnout)

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what discussions he has had on Her Majesty's Government's policy for increasing turnout at elections; and when he expects to issue proposals aimed at increasing turnout. [7123]

Dr. Whitehead: Earlier this month, I, together with the chairmen of the Electoral Commission and the Local Government Association, jointly invited local authorities to apply to run a wide range of innovative electoral pilot projects—including all-postal voting and on-line voting—to test new electoral procedures designed to increase the accessibility of voting and make it suit modern lifestyles more appropriately. Such changes to the method of voting should help to increase turnout, but only if, as the Electoral Commission has stated in its report on the 2001 general election,

"voters also feel that the election is relevant to them and their vote matters". The Commission is examining the reason for low turnout and will be making recommendations which we will consider very carefully.

Vehicle Excise Licences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he plans to take to improve enforcement against vehicle excise licence offences; and if he will make a statement. [8008]

Mr. Jamieson: Vehicle excise duty evasion currently stands at 3.9 per cent. of revenue due (down from 4.1 per cent. in 1994). We have a number of measures in hand further to improve performance in this area.

As a result of the success of the wheelclamping scheme for VED evasion there are plans to expand this operation. In addition, last week the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency launched a scheme involving the use of mobile Automatic Number Plate Reader systems to detect and deter unlicensed vehicles on the move. DVLA is also working very closely with the police and local authorities to develop new methods for tackling the evasion problem.

Fishing Communities

Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to

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the answer of 19 July 2001, Official Report, column 320W, on fishing communities, if he will list the (a) ports affected and (b) weight of the catch at each port. [6644]

Ms Keeble: The ports used to calculate the allocation to RDAs for the Fisheries Regeneration Initiative, and the weight of their catch, are as follows:

Thousand tonnes

Port of landing	Quantity
Newlyn	6.79
Hull	9.47
Brixham	3.29
Lowestoft	4.45
Grimsby	5.09
Plymouth	1.60
Whitby	3.26
Scarborough	2.91
Fleetwood	2.30
Shoreham	0.82
North Shields	1.54
Padstow	0.60
Looe	0.94
Bridlington	1.20
River Fal-Falmouth	0.66
Rye	0.39
Whitehaven	0.80
Hastings	0.38
Dungeness	0.25
Ramsgate	0.41
Hartlepool	0.62
Mevagissey	0.48
Newhaven	0.45
Appledore	0.37
Blyth	0.72
Folkestone	0.27
Amble	0.78
Poole	0.21
Portsmouth	0.16
Eastbourne	0.19
Southwold	0.27
Weymouth	0.12

This information came from the 1999 catches of Demersal Species by Port of Landing compiled by MAFF. This was the most up to date information available when the calculations were made.

Civil Servants (Retirement Age)

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the compulsory retirement ages which apply to employees of his Department and of executive agencies and other public sector bodies for which it is responsible, broken down by grade or job title. [7235]

Dr. Whitehead: Information on the normal retirement age and on compulsory early retirement or severance for my Department and for the executive agencies and public sector bodies for which it is responsible is as follows:

Grades listed ¹ —normal retirement age of 65.

Bands 3 up to 6 (and equivalents) (i.e. EO, HEO, SEO, G7, G6 and equivalents)—normal retirement age of 60.

Senior Civil Servants—normal retirement age of 60.

There are the following exceptions:

Subject to the terms and conditions when they joined DTLR, there is a "short-service concession" for most non-senior civil servants in Bands 3 and above with less than 20 years accumulated service to continue to work until they reach 20 years or age 65, whichever

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is the earlier. This not available to Air Accident Inspectors, or those who became Crown employees working in the former Department of Transport after 31 March 1997.

The Department may also invite staff to stay beyond the normal retirement age but not beyond age 70.

Former Home Office staff who transferred to DTLR as part of the Machinery of Government changes in June 2001 are currently subject to the retirement policy of the Home Office.

In non-departmental public bodies where staff are included in the Local Government Pension Scheme, the retirement age is 65.


Variations within the agencies

The following executive agencies have these variations:

Driving Standards Agency: Senior Driving Examiners and Supervising Driving Examiners have a normal retirement age of 63; at present, to stay until 65 they would have to revert to Driving Examiners.

The Fire Service College: Industrial staff have a retirement age of 65.

The Planning Inspectorate: Planning Inspectors re-employed on flexible short-term contracts up to a maximum age of 65.

The QEII Conference Centre: Normal retirement age of 60 for all staff.

The Rent Service: Those staff transferred under TUPE protection from their local government employer have remained within the Local Government Pension Scheme. They may retire at age 65, although the scheme does allow them to retire at 60 should they so wish.

Vehicle Inspectorate: Industrial employees Band 1 (Tester/Handy Person) in post by 1 May 1994 and over 50 can remain until 65. In other cases the retirement age is 60, with the exception of a short service concession for Band 1 Testers and Band 2 AVEs provided they were in post prior to 31 March 1997.


Compulsory early retirement or severance.

In exceptional cases, such as redundancy, staff may receive benefits calculated in accordance with the Civil Service Compensation Scheme. Staff aged 50 and over are normally considered for benefits under the early retirement provisions and staff under age 50 are considered for severance payments. Eligibility depends on age and length of service.

Note ¹

Crown employees who worked in the former Department of the Environment

Administrative Assistant

Administrative Officer

Assistant Scientific Officer

Chief Typing Manager

Communication Officer I

Communication Officer II

Communication Officer III

Communication Officer IV

Housing and Planning Inspectors (main grade and senior inspectors)

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Personal Secretary

Process and General Supervisory Grades

Senior Personal Secretary

Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent Custody Guards

Support Manager I

Support Manager II

Support Manager III

Support Grade I

Support Grade II

Support Grade IIA

Technical Grade 1 and 2

Trainee Typist

Typing Manager

Typist

Crown employees who worked in the former Department of Transport

Administrative Assistant

Administrative Officer

Assistant Scientific Officer

Chief Typing Manager

Civil Engineer (SPTO and below)

Personal Secretary

Process and General Supervisory D

Process and General Supervisory E

Senior Personal Secretary

SGB2 (Cleaner—less than 10 hours weekly)

Stores Officer Grade D

Support Grade—Band 1

Support Grade—Band 2

Support Grade—Band 2A

Support Manager 1

Support Manager 2

Support Manager 3

Teleprinter operator

Typing Manager

Typist and Trainee Typist.

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