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Road Clearance

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will introduce a mandatory requirement for highway authorities to publish a winter plan listing the roads it intends to keep clear of ice and snow. [13992]

Mr. Spellar: The Code of Practice for Maintenance Management "Delivering Best Practice in Highway Maintenance" published on 10 July already strongly recommends that highway authorities should publish a winter service operational plan after consultation with users and key stakeholders.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether highway authorities in England and Wales will continue to hold responsibility for keeping roads safe in winter through pre-salting and snow clearance. [13995]

Mr. Spellar: The House of Lords judgment last year in the case of Goodes v. East Sussex was that there was no duty on local highway authorities under the Highways Act 1980 to prevent ice from forming on highways. Nevertheless, we strongly recommend highway authorities in England to implement winter service provisions on their roads in accordance with the Code of Practice for Maintenance Management "Delivering Best Practice in Highway Maintenance" published on 10 July.

Guidance to highway authorities in Wales is a matter for the National Assembly for Wales.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will issue guidance to highway authorities in England and Wales on the importance of pre-salting roads in winter. [13991]

14 Nov 2001 : Column: 735W

Mr. Spellar: Guidance on pre-salting roads in winter is contained in the Code of Practice for Maintenance Management "Delivering Best Practice in Highway Maintenance" published on 10 July.

Guidance to highway authorities in Wales is a matter for the National Assembly for Wales.

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent discussions he has had with highway authorities to take reasonable steps to pre-salt roads in winter and clear snow. [13993]

Mr. Spellar: Highway authorities throughout the United Kingdom participated in producing the guidance on winter service contained in the Code of Practice for Maintenance Management "Delivering Best Practice in Highway Maintenance" published on 10 July.

Railtrack

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) when Ernst and Young LLP was approached about the possibility of giving advice on Railtrack; [13996]

(2) if he will list the (a) discussions and (b) meetings between Ernst and Young LLP and his Department on the rail industry prior to 24 August; [13990]

(3) what terms of reference were given to Ernst and Young LLP on their engagement by his Department to advise on possible options for Railtrack. [13997]

Mr. Spellar: The possibility of Ernst and Young LLP giving advice on Railtrack was first discussed at a meeting on 23 August. They were appointed on 24 August. On engagement, their remit was to provide advice on the general process of administration; and accountancy advice on possible options for Railtrack.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will deposit in the Library a list of all the stations owned by Railtrack and their estimated value. [14783]

Mr. Jamieson: My Department does not hold this information.

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he ordered the drafting of legislation (a) prior to and (b) following his meeting with the Rail Regulator on 5 October to remove the power from the Regulator to hold an interim financial review. [14785]

Mr. Jamieson: Details of internal communications are exempt from disclosure under section 2 of Part II of the code of practice on access to government information.

Mr. Hogg: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when, after 1 August, his Department received advice from the Treasury that it was unlikely that additional public funding for Railtrack would be approved. [13471]

Mr. Spellar [holding answer 9 November 2001]: I refer the right hon. and learned Member to the statement made to the House by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 13 November 2001, Official Report, columns 723–35.

14 Nov 2001 : Column: 736W

No-fly Zones

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many instances there have been in each year since 1991 of (i) commercial and (ii) privately operated aircraft accidentally breaching no-fly zones over (a) nuclear power plants, (b) nuclear reprocessing plants, (c) nuclear fuel production plants, (d) uranium enrichment plants and (e) military nuclear plants. [14262]

Mr. Jamieson: Since 1991, there have been four reported breaches of the restricted airspace around military nuclear plants (one in each of 1993, 1995, 1996 and 2000). There have been also two reported breaches of the restrictions around Sellafield (one in 1993 and 1999), which is both a nuclear reprocessing and fuel production plant.

Car Registration Revenue

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how much has been raised in each year since 1998 from the first licence fee payable at the first registration of a new car. [14014]

Mr. Jamieson: The fee for the first registration of vehicles in the UK was introduced on 1 April 1998. The amounts raised each year since 1998 are £67,654k, £68,573k and 70,503k respectively.

Fire Services (Merseyside)

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will call for a report from Her Majesty's Fire Services Inspectorate on management practices in the Merseyside Fire Authority and their impact on the delivery of fire services. [14274]

Dr. Whitehead: HM Fire Service Inspectorate has recently conducted an inspection of the Merseyside Fire Service. The report will be published in due course.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the recommendations in the National Joint Council report on the staffing arrangements proposals put forward by Merseyside Fire Authority. [14273]

Dr. Whitehead: The National Joint Council for Local Authorities' Fire Brigades' Scheme of Conditions of Service provides for consideration of proposed changes in duty systems at fire stations. This is a separate procedure to the requirements of section 19 of the Fire Services Act 1947 in respect of variations to a fire authority's establishment. My right hon. Friend will, however, wish to consider the implications of the recent adjudication in respect of Formby Fire Station.

Central Railway

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will place in the Library the report he received from the Strategic Rail Authority on the proposed lorries-on- trains freight railway put forward by Central Railway plc. [14707]

14 Nov 2001 : Column: 737W

Mr. Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 23 October 2001, Official Report, column 200W.

Terrorism

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact of the events of 11 September on insurance premiums to be paid by local authorities. [13898]

Dr. Whitehead [holding answer 12 November 2001]: We are working with local government in assessing all new and increasing pressures on local authorities as part of SR2002. The LGA has identified insurance premiums as an area which it wants, to look at during the review.

London Underground

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if London Underground is a member of the COMET international metro benchmarking network; and what are the rules under which information the network collects can be published. [14598]

Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 13 November 2001]: I understand that London Underground is a member of the COMET international metro benchmarking network. The rules under which it collects and publishes information are a matter for COMET.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what was the average rate of staff absenteeism among London Underground (a) drivers and (b) station staff in each year from 1991. [14605]

Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 13 November 2001]: London Underground has provided the following information showing the percentage absenteeism rate:

Calendar year	Train staff(4)	Station staff
1991	5.39	10.13
1992	5.09	7.94
1993	6.60	7.23
1994	5.61	6.36
1995	5.41	7.16
1996	5.16	6.15
1997	5.64	6.71
1998	5.22	6.43
1999	5.83	6.39
2000	7.23	7.17

⁽⁴⁾ Includes guards

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