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Humber Bridge
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2002, Official Report, column 789W on the Humber Bridge, what the total cost is of the essential maintenance work; what the nature of the work is; and when it will be completed. [38694]
Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 28 February 2002]: The essential maintenance work referred to in my answer of 25 February is resurfacing of the carriageway at the Humber Bridge, estimated total cost of £7.36 million. The work is due to be completed in October 2002.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2002, Official Report, column 789W on the Humber Bridge, under what authority capital repayments between 2000 and 2002 were waived. [38692]
Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 28 February 2002]: Section 75 of the Humber Bridge Act 1959 as amended by Section 8 of the Humber Bridge Act 1971 states that the Humber Bridge Board shall apply revenues of the Board in the following manner:
- "first in payment of the working and establishment expenses and cost of maintenance of the undertaking;
secondly in payment of the interest on moneys advanced by the Secretary of State by way of loan under the provisions of the Humber Bridge Act 1971 and moneys borrowed by the Board
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- under any statutory borrowing power in proportion to the respective amounts borrowed by the Board from the Secretary of State and other than from the Secretary of State as aforesaid;
thirdly, subject to all interest as aforesaid having been paid in any year in making provision for repayment of moneys borrowed by the Board under any statutory borrowing in proportion to the respective amounts borrowed by the Board from the Secretary of State and other than from the Secretary of State as aforesaid."
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2002, Official Report, column 789W, ref 34782, on the Humber Bridge, when the decision was taken to waive capital repayments between 2000 and 2002; and if he will make a statement. [38693]
Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 28 February 2002]: The Humber Bridge Board took the decision (in accordance with Section 75 of the Humber Bridge Act 1959 as amended by the Humber Bridge Act 1971) to concentrate revenue for essential maintenance work and not to make capital repayments in 2000–01 and 2001–02.
This decision to not make capital repayments for the years mentioned was recognised by paragraph 4 of the Schedule to the Humber Bridge (Debts) Order 1998, whereby interest not exceeding £1.4 million in 2000–01 and not exceeding £200,000 (being in each case interest that cannot be paid by applying the revenues of the Humber Bridge Board in accordance with Section 75 of the Humber Bridge Act 1959) ceased to be payable.
Channel Tunnel Rail Link
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the total public investment support is to (a) Phase 1 and (b) Phase 2 of CTRL; and in what years it (i) has been and (ii) will be allocated. [39417]
Mr. Jamieson: The level of Government investment in the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) remains the same as set out in the Development Agreement with London and Continental in 1996.
The Government are providing grants totalling £778.1 million towards construction costs for section 1 of the CTRL and £1,774.2 million towards construction costs for section 2. These values are in January 1997 prices and are corrected to current values using the Retail Prices Index.
In both cases the grant will only be paid when expenditure has exceeded 68 per cent. of the target cost for the relevant section. The grants are then made in eight consecutive three-monthly payments provided that a specified construction milestone has been achieved.
Expenditure on section 1 exceeded the 68 per cent. point in September 2001 and the relevant milestone had by then been achieved. Therefore the first payment was made on 15 November 2001. The second and third milestones have also been achieved and the second payment was made on 15 February 2002.
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Assuming that these conditions continue to be met according to the project plan, the grants will be paid as follows:
| In current values (£) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Section 1 | Section 2 | |
| 2001–02 | 221.91 | — |
| 2002–03 | 458.61 | — |
| 2003–04 | 234.44 | — |
| 2004–05 | — | 280.43 |
| 2005–06 | — | 1,142.68 |
| 2006–07 | — | 879.45 |
Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what discussions with the Scottish Executive have taken place concerning the restrictions of rail freight through the Channel tunnel that began on 7 November 2001 and its impact on Scotland; when such discussions took place; who took part; what the outcome was; and if he will place a copy of the minutes in the Library. [38675]
Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 28 February 2002]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and I have regular discussions with the Scottish Executive concerning a variety of issues. The content of these discussions is confidential.
The Government are aware of, and have passed on, the particular concerns over the impact of restrictions on international rail freight services from Scotland. The Government are pressing the French Government at the highest levels to provide adequate policing resources at Fréthun to support the anti-intrusion measures already being installed by SNCF in order to address the disruption to Channel tunnel services caused by would-be illegal immigrants.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has written twice to the French Prime Minister, and also spoke to him at a recent summit in Stockholm. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions have followed up the Prime Minister's letters with the French Interior Minister and Transport Minister respectively.
Rail Engineering
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent discussions he has had with colleagues at DfES to encourage a higher academic status for rail engineering and rail engineers. [39439]
Mr. Spellar [holding answer 1 March 2002]: The Minister for adult skills and I jointly hosted a transport skills seminar on 14 February as part of the continuing commitment of Government to promote better training and skills development to support delivery of the 10-Year Transport Plan.
Severn Bridge
Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) if he will make a statement about the reasons for the closure of
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the Severn Bridge on (a) 12 February and (b) 27 February; and what the recorded wind speeds were on each occasion; [39960]
- (2) if he will list the dates on which the Severn Bridge has been closed in the past four weeks; and the reasons for the closure in each case. [39961]
Mr. Jamieson: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Mr. Tim Matthews, to write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Tim Matthews to Mr. Huw Edwards, dated 7 March 2002:
- I have been asked by the Transport Minister, David Jamieson, to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about recent closures of the Severn Bridge.
- In the last 4 weeks, the Severn Bridge was closed on the following dates:
| Closed | Re-opened | Reason for closure |
|---|---|---|
| February 1 (10.00 hrs) | February 2 (13.45 hrs) | High winds |
| February 4 (12.00 hrs) | February 6 (01.00 hrs) | High winds |
| February 11 (15.30 hrs) | February 12 (10.45 hrs) | High winds |
| February 19 (20.00 hrs) | February 20 (19.30 hrs) | High winds |
| February 26 (01.00 hrs) | February 27 (12.15 hrs) | High winds |
Severn Bridge is closed by the Police when they are concerned about high winds affecting vehicles. You will see that the closures on 12 and 27 February had been imposed, in each case, the day before because of high wind speeds. The maximum recorded wind speed on 12 February was 41 knots and, on 27 February, 49 knots.
Strategic Rail Plan
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if the publication of the final directions and guidance to the Strategic Rail Authority will affect (a) the timetable and (b) progress towards implementation of the Strategic Plan published on 14 January; and if he will make a statement. [40268]
Mr. Jamieson: No, the timetable and implementation will not be affected.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what proportion of the uncommitted public sector investment in transport under the 10-Year Plan is intended to enable the leveraging in of private sector investment. [40230]
Mr. Jamieson: Of the original £8.9 billion of unallocated public sector investment in our 10-Year Plan for Transport, £2.3 billion has been allocated to the railways, Official Report, 29 January 2002, column 175W. This £2.3 billion will be used to help deliver our 10-Year Plan objectives for rail in partnership with the private sector.
Of the remaining unallocated public sector investment, we will consider to what uses this investment will be put in our forthcoming Review of the Plan and the extent to which this may leverage in private sector investment.
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