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Rent Restructuring
26. Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on his proposals for rent restructuring. [5595]
Ms Keeble: We are committed to the reforms to social rents that are set out in the December 2000 policy statement, "Quality and Choice: A decent home for all—the way forward for housing".
Unlike the current structure of social rents, which is confusing and unfair to tenants, the reforms will lead to all social tenants facing rents that reflect size, location and condition. Tenants will have a choice between paying a lower rent on a less attractive property or a higher rent on a more attractive property. Rents will be based upon a coherent approach and remain affordable, at well below market levels.
Social landlords should aim to begin reforming their rents in 2002–03 and to complete the process over a 10-year period. Landlords are expected to ensure that the changes in rents as a result of the reforms are no more than £2 per week in any one year above the normal inflation-linked increase.
Local Transport
27. Mr. Mike Hall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on local transport plans. [5596]
Ms Keeble: Local transport plans are a major step forward for integrated planning of transport improvements at local level. We have doubled the amount of money available to support the very wide range of schemes that authorities have proposed. We are currently looking at authorities' reports on their progress and will make further announcements in December.
Road Noise
30. Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the introduction of quieter motorway surfaces. [5599]
23 Oct 2001 : Column: 190W
Mr. Jamieson: Last week we announced criteria for prioritising the surfacing of concrete trunk roads with quieter material. The four criteria that have been adopted are:
- Wherever possible the application of quieter surfaces will fit in with normal maintenance needs;
- Priority will be given to those sites where treatment would benefit the greatest number of people;
Works will be carried out in such a way as to minimise disruption to general public and users of network;
- Priority will be given to roads, opened since June 1988, where actual noise levels have turned out to be significantly higher than predicted at the time of the Public Inquiry.
The Highways Agency is currently identifying additional schemes that satisfy the second and third criteria and could be added to this list. The Agency has also identified 17 roads with concrete surfaces that have been opened since June 1988 and has instigated a programme of noise surveys to identify those that satisfy the fourth criterion. The list of these 17 roads was also given in the announcement of 17 October.
Automatic Train Protection
31. Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on progress towards installing automatic train protection across the rail network. [5602]
Mr. Jamieson: Automatic train protection is already installed on the Great Western main line (London to Bristol), Heathrow Express and the Chiltern line. It is being installed as part of the upgrade of the west coast main line and the channel tunnel rail link. Installation of the train protection and warning system across the rail network will be completed by the end of 2003.
The Government expect to receive advice next spring from the Health and Safety Commission on taking forward the recommendations from the joint inquiry on train protection chaired by Professor Uff and Lord Cullen.
Rail Franchise (Wales)
32. Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the implementation of the single rail franchise for Wales. [5603]
Mr. Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority has proposed the creation of a single franchise for Wales. It is considering this alongside the other options for delivering benefits to rail passengers on Welsh routes. An announcement will be made in due course.
Key Worker Homes
33. Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the provision of homes for key workers. [5604]
23 Oct 2001 : Column: 191W
16. Ms Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps are being taken to provide homes for key workers. [5584]
Ms Keeble: Our Starter Home Initiative and the Housing Corporation's programme will help 11,000 key workers to buy homes in high cost areas over the next three years. We are also reviewing planning guidance on affordable housing, including the scope for providing more key worker housing within new developments.
London Underground (Northern Line)
34. Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans there are to improve services on the Northern line. [5605]
Mr. Jamieson: Over recent years there has been enormous improvement on the Northern line. In the last five years, £330 million has been invested in the Northern line stations, tunnels and service, plus a further £400 million of private investment to provide 106 new trains. This investment has already delivered a faster, more reliable train service, eight station modernisations (with three more in progress), 6km of new track, increased security, and more Customer Care Assistants. The percentage of schedule operated reached a record of 97 per cent. in 2000–01—well above the network-wide performance. As a result the Northern line is now one of London Underground's (LU) top three performing lines.
Customers are noticing the improvements: Customer Satisfaction Surveys (CSS) show increases in the last five years in overall satisfaction with the Northern line service from 75 per cent. to 78 per cent. However, LU is continually looking to improve customer experience further. The plans for a publicly run, privately built Tube will ensure millions of pounds of substantial investment on the Northern line. Central to these improvements will be the installation of a brand new signalling system. This will allow over 25 per cent. more trains to run in the central area. In addition over 25 miles of track will be replaced in the first seven years of the modernisation contracts. This investment will build on the improvements already made and guarantee better services for years to come.
East Coast Main Line
Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions on how many occasions in (a) 2001 (b) 2000 and (c) 1999 services on the east coast main line have been disrupted owing to collapse or other failure of the overhead power cables; and what average length of delay has been caused to passenger services as a result. [6652]
Mr. Jamieson: The following lists from Railtrack show the number of overhead line failures attributable to Railtrack and the train operators respectively in 1999, 2000 and 2001:
- Minutes delay to ECML passenger services due to overhead line problems period 11 (January) 1999 to end of period 6 (mid September 2001
23 Oct 2001 : Column: 192W
| Railtrack attributable | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total minutes delay | 15,812 | 20,037 | 16,445 |
| Number of incidents | 143 | 111 | 80 |
| Average delay | 111 | 181 | 206 |
| Percentage of all delays on ECML | 5.4 | 3.0 | 2.9 |
| Total minutes delay | 3,516 | 4,000 | 1,352 |
| Number of incidents | 14 | 23 | 20 |
| Average delay | 251 | 174 | 68 |
| TOC attributable | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total minutes delay | (26)— | 387 | 16,445 |
| Number of incidents | (26)— | 5 | 80 |
| Average delay | (26)— | 77 | 206 |
| Percentage of delays on ECML | (26)— | 0.2 | 2.9 |
(26) Data relating to these were not collected until 2000.
Elected Mayors
Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his policy is on introducing directly elected mayors in London boroughs. [8520]
Dr. Whitehead: Our policy for London boroughs, as for other local authorities, is that local people should be able to elect a Mayor to lead their council where they so choose, and that people should not be denied the opportunity to make that choice. As stated in the Government's Urban White Paper "Our towns and cities: the future"—Cm. 4911, November 2000—our belief is that international experience suggests that directly elected mayors are often the best option to provide the leadership that larger towns and cities need.
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