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Rate Relief (Buckinghamshire)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many (a) village pubs, (b) post offices and (c) petrol stations in the Buckingham constituency have received rate relief in (i) 2000–01 and (ii) 2001–02. [22033]

Dr. Whitehead: To qualify for village shop rate relief properties must be located in a qualifying settlement. That is one that is located in a designated rural area and has a population of less than 3,000. Although qualifying rural areas are designated centrally it is the responsibility of the local authorities to identify qualifying settlements of less than 3,000 persons in these rural areas. They are not required to notify us of these settlements. Therefore, we do not know where or how many properties in a particular area are in qualifying rural settlements.

Neither do we know how many properties have been granted relief. Although local authorities provide the Department with the amount of rate relief granted in any year this is not broken down into the different types of property that are eligible to receive it. Neither are they

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required to say how many properties have received relief. However, from next year we will be asking local authorities to provide such breakdowns in their returns.

In 2000–01 Aylesbury Vale district council granted £18,095 in mandatory rate relief to qualifying village premises and for 2001–02 they estimate the figure to be £20,535.

Railways

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what discussions he has had with (a) the Rail Regulator and (b) the Strategic Rail Authority on redefining their roles. [21711]

Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 10 December 2001]: We are considering options for streamlining the regulatory regime. This has involved discussions with the Rail Regulator and the new Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what was the total number of timetabled rail services in the United Kingdom in (a) 1993, (b) 1997 and (c) 2001. [21945]

Mr. Jamieson: In 1993–94 217 million train miles were operated on the UK railway network, in 1997–98 240 million and in 2000–01 268 million. Information on the number of specific services timetabled in each year is dependent upon the definition of 'service' and would be available from the National Rail timetable for the particular year, copies of which are in the Library of the House.

Rail Franchises

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what representations he has received about the financial implications of delay to the completion of the new South West trains and South Central franchises. [21851]

Mr. Jamieson: Apart from comments made by hon. Members in recent Adjournment debates, I have received no such representations.

West Coast Main Line

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what discussions his Department has had with Virgin trains since 7 October about the West Coast main line. [21849]

Mr. Jamieson: Officials from my Department and the Strategic Rail Authority have met with Virgin trains on a number of occasions since 7 October to discuss options for taking forward the West Coast Main Line upgrade. Discussions have also been held with Railtrack and other users and stakeholders.

London Underground

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the rate of (a) track and (b) signal failures has been on suburban routes into (i) Waterloo and (ii) London Victoria in each of the past six months. [21949]

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Mr. Jamieson: This information is not held centrally in the form requested. The Strategic Rail Authority publish performance statistics in their quarterly "On Track" publication. A new edition will be published shortly.

Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how the increased provision of money as set out on page 5 of the 2001–02 Winter Supplementary Estimates to the Supply Estimates for London Underground PPP advisers and rail consultants is to be spent. [22251]

Mr. Jamieson: The proposed increased provision is primarily for work related to Railtrack. The proposed provision for London Underground allows the Department to employ independent advisers where necessary, including Ernst and Young who are currently carrying out a review of London Underground's value for money evaluation of the tube modernisation plans.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of the costs (a) incurred to date and (b) that will be incurred if he decides not to proceed with PPP for the London Underground. [22267]

Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 11 December 2001]: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for South Ribble (Mr. Borrow) on 4 December 2001, Official Report, column 296W, for part (a) of this question. For part (b) I refer him to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Eltham (Clive Efford) on 19 November 2001, Official Report, column 32W. It is not possible to estimate what cost might be involved.

Pneumoconiosis Compensation Grant

Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many people have received a contribution from the pneumoconiosis compensation grant each year since 1979. [22247]

Dr. Whitehead: Since the Act came into force in 1980 and up until 31 March 2001, 9,396 claimants have received a payment. The yearly breakdown of figures is as follows:

Year	Claims paid
1979–83	4,293
1983–84	133
1984–85	55
1985–86	75
1986–87	61
1987–88	67
1988–89	55
1989–90	105
1990–91	147
1991–92	149
1992–93	162
1993–94	202
1994–95	307
1995–96	363
1996–97	453
1997–98	391
1998–99	651
1999–2000	799
2000–01	928

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Council Tax

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the arrangements for council tax benefit subsidy limitation for 2002–03 revenue support grant settlements. [21846]

Dr. Whitehead: We have announced the abolition of the council tax benefit subsidy limitation scheme with effect from 2002–03 in the White Paper "Strong Local Leadership—Quality Public Services".

Business Rates

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the reason for the change in the seasonal pattern of business rates receipts in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2000–01. [22194]

Dr. Whitehead: No detailed assessment has been made of the reason for the change in the seasonal pattern of business rate receipts in England in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2000–01. However, a comparison of the overall business rates receipts for the first two quarters of 2000–01 compared with the same quarters in 2001–02 is given in the table:

Business rate receipts	April to June	July to September
2000–01 (£ million)	4,357	4,040
2001–02 (£ million)	5,023	4,407
Percentage increase	15	9

The figures cover both receipts from the central list (collected by central Government) and from local lists (collected by local authorities). There are several factors that can influence the amount of business rates received from one year to the next. Some of them are likely to have led to overall increases in amounts received between 2000–01 and 2001–02, and others are likely to have led to overall decreases. Factors that are known to have influenced the pattern of business rates received in 2000–01 compared with so far in 2001–02 are described as follows:

(a) The total rateable value increased from £39,169 million in April 2000 to £41,807 million in April 2001;

(b) The multiplier increased from 41.6p in 2000–01 and to 43.0p in 2001–02. This increase was in line with changes in the Retail Prices Index, as required by legislation;

(c) The transfer of Crown properties to local lists in 2000–01 caused some delay to the issue of bills in that year. Consequently, in 2001–02 there has been a change in the pattern of business rate receipts as result of some Crown properties paying their bill in full at the start of the financial year;

(d) Similarly, the transfer of power stations from the central list to local lists from 2000–01 caused some delay to the issue of bills in that year. Consequently, business rate receipts for power stations are spread more evenly across the financial year in 2001–02 than they were in 2000–01, with a higher proportion being received in the first half of the year;

(e) The effects of foot and mouth disease, resulting in an increase in the amount of hardship relief granted, deferment of payment by business rate payers to help overcome short-term cash-flow difficulties and, on a slightly longer timescale, a reduction in rateable values.

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Other general factors that can influence business rate receipt levels in any year include:

(f) addition of new assessments to the rating list as a result, for example, of the opening of new large retail premises;

(g) other local difficulties, such as the closure of significant businesses in the area;

(h) late dispatch of bills; and difficulties faced by the introduction of new computer systems; and

(i) successful appeals on the rateable value, with refunds going back several years.

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