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Unlicensed Vehicles
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the results have been of the pilot schemes for local authorities to assume responsibility for the clamping and removal of untaxed vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [42555]
Mr. Jamieson: Pilot schemes for local authorities to act as DVLA contractors to clamp and remove unlicensed vehicles have been conducted in Newham and, on a much smaller scale, in Lewisham. Between 9 April 2001 and 28 February 2002 Newham clamped 1,682 vehicles of which 610 were declamped after payment, 160 released from the pound after removal and payment, and 589 were crushed. The number of vehicles reported as abandoned in Newham fell by 10 per cent. between November 2001 and February 2002.
In Lewisham 51 vehicles were clamped between August 2001 and January 2002, with 21 crushed.
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A number of other authorities are now in discussion with DVLA with a view to acting as contractors to clamp and remove vehicles.
End of Life Vehicles Directive
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the results were of the consultation on the removal and disposal of vehicles regulations; and if he will make a statement. [42563]
Mr. Jamieson: My right hon. Friend expects to make an announcement shortly.
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what action he is proposing to implement the European end of life vehicles directive; and if he will make a statement. [42554]
Mr. Wilson: I have been asked to reply.
The responses to our consultation paper on options for implementing the Directive are being assessed, along with the recommendations of the Trade and Industry Committee, with a view to adopting the approach which best suits the UK's circumstances. Our policy is to achieve the environmental objectives of the Directive using a light regulatory touch and without putting UK business at a competitive disadvantage. We also aim to ensure that there is an adequate network of treatment facilities to deal with all end-of-life vehicles properly.
Electoral Reform
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what other nation states use the supplementary vote electoral system used for electing directly-elected mayors. [42779]
Mr. Byers: The information requested is not held by my Department.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans the Government have to review the electoral system used for electing directly-elected mayors in England and Wales. [42778]
Mr. Byers: We have no plans to review the electoral system used for electing directly-elected mayors in England and Wales.
Fire Service
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions which fire authorities are involved in local strategic partnerships in their area; and what their role is in regard to such local strategic partnerships. [42923]
Dr. Whitehead: Fire authorities have a valuable role to play as members of local strategic partnerships. As with other public sector organisations fire authorities' participation in LSPs allow the development of an integrated approach to local service delivery in consultation with the local community. We do not have specific information as to the number of fire authorities on LSPs. It is for each LSP to consider its membership in view of local circumstances and priorities.
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Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many rescues from (a) road traffic accidents, (b) underground, (c) collapsed structures and (d) floods were undertaken by the fire service in the last year for which records are available; and what the cost of each of these operations was. [42927]
Dr. Whitehead: The information is not held centrally. However, information is available on the number of incidents where persons were extricated from vehicles. For last year this was 9,638. Other rescues involved the release of 8,531 individuals.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many unfilled posts there are within the fire service, broken down into (a) civilian and (b) fire fighting positions. [42930]
Dr. Whitehead: Based on annual returns submitted to HM Fire Service Inspectorate, the figures for the establishment and strength of the fire service in England and Wales, as at 31 March 2001, were as follows:
| Establishment | Actual strength | |
|---|---|---|
| Whole-time firefighters | 33,640 | (2)33,376 |
| Retained firefighters | 14,940 | (3)12,028 |
| Control room staff | 1,454 | (2)1,474 |
| Non-uniformed staff | 6,413 | (2)6,074 |
(2) In full time equivalents.
(3) In twenty-four hour units of cover.
Shoreham Harbour
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the members of the Maritime Vision for Shoreham steering group and their attendance record at meetings. [42909]
Ms Keeble: The members of the Maritime Vision for Shoreham steering group consist of Adur district council, Brighton and Hove city council, the Government Office for the South East, Shoreham Port Authority, the South East England Development Agency, Sussex Enterprise and West Sussex county council. Although the Government Office for the South East is a partner of the steering group, it is not within the remit of the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions to publish details of the members' attendance at the meetings.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2002, Official Report, column 373W, on Shoreham Port Authority, for what period he is able to provide information about declined reappointments. [42965]
Mr. Jamieson: Information is readily available for the past seven years. In this period we have declined to reappoint just one member of the Shoreham Port Authority board. This was an appointment arising in January 2002 and I would refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 11 February 2002, Official Report, column 24W. There have been no occasions when we have declined to confirm the appointment of nominated candidates.
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Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the progress of the Maritime Vision for Shoreham Harbour. [42967]
Ms Keeble: The Shoreham Maritime Steering Group was set up in 1997 and the Maritime Vision for Shoreham Harbour was published in December 1999. Since then, the Steering Group have been meeting regularly in order to implement this vision.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the dates on which vacancies on the board of Shoreham Port Authority were advertised in the local media. [42966]
Mr. Jamieson: These vacancies were advertised on the 8, 9, 14 and 15 of November 2001.
Deprivation Indices
Gillian Merron: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what steps he has taken to co-ordinate policies in departments to ensure that electoral boundary changes do not debar areas from eligibility for deprivation-related funds. [40138]
Ms Keeble: When individual departments contact us for advice on using the Indices of Deprivation 2000 we explain that it is based on 1998 ward boundaries. Our advice is that if departments wish to target resources using the ward based element of the ID 2000 then this should be based on the wards as they were constituted in 1998.
Multi-modal Studies
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what predicted traffic rates over the next (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 20 years the multi-modal studies are using. [39841]
Mr. Jamieson: The multi-modal studies do not use a pre-determined rate of traffic growth. Each study makes its own estimate of how traffic will grow in its study area over the study period. In each case, account is taken of study-specific factors such as changes in the numbers and location of households and workers, the level of current and future congestion, the availability of alternative modes of transport and the implementation of local demand restraint measures.
Reports
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions under what rules his Department must operate when (a) tendering, (b) awarding contracts and (c) commissioning (i) work, (ii) research and (iii) advice to ensure (A) that any (1) advice and (2) reports published remain independent of the Department's own views and (B) that reports published remain unaltered from the original. [42119]
Dr. Whitehead [holding answer 11 March 2002]: When the Department commissions work for research and advice the standard terms and conditions are used. Included within these is a condition that deals with the ownership of the material produced.
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In answer to part (A), when the DTLR commission work contractors respond to a specification that would be independent of my Department's view.
In answer to part (B), reports may be published by my
Department. In other cases where the research contractor undertakes publication, the Department will have prior sight only.
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