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Vehicle Numbers

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many cars are registered on UK roads. [52981]

Mr. Jamieson: At the end of September 2001, 24,980,000 cars were registered to keepers in Great Britain. The latest figures for Northern Ireland relate to the end of December 2001, when the number of registered cars was 657,000.

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Network Rail

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions whether his Department has formally applied for state aid approval for Network Rail. [53220]

Mr. Jamieson: No. If the Network Rail bid is successful, any state aid to be provided to the company would be notified as and when appropriate.

Alternative Road Fuels

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his policy is on the creation of a nationwide distribution network for liquid hydrogen for use in cars. [53219]

Mr. Jamieson: The discussion draft of the Government's "Powering Future Vehicles" strategy for supporting the shift to low-carbon vehicles and fuels identified the Government's important role in supporting the development of new fuel infrastructures, as the need and demand for them arose. Hydrogen looks likely to be a key component in the long-term shift to low-carbon transport. The Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget announced that the Government intended both to exempt hydrogen from fuel duty for a period to encourage its further development and early take-up, and also to provide enhanced capital allowances for installing hydrogen fuel infrastructure. Additionally, the Government is already providing financial support for the pilot trials of hydrogen fuel cell buses to be carried out next year by Transport for London, including the hydrogen refuelling station to support the initiative.

Humber Bridge

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions for what reasons the carriageway repair work being carried out on the Humber Bridge is not being carried out on a 24-hour basis. [52969]

Mr. Spellar: After consultation with the local environmental health department, the Humber Bridge Board has decided to limit repair work to regular working hours during the week in order to reduce noise levels for local residents and in order to reduce repair costs. Resurfacing repairs should be completed by September 2002.

Peak District National Park

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) which organisations were consulted on the decision to change the policy on mineral working in the Peak District National Park in the Regional Planning Guidance for the east midlands (RPG8); [52603]

(2) if he will define the exceptional circumstance set out in MPG6 for permission for mineral working as it applies to the Peak district; [52605]

(3) if he will list the criteria against which decisions to permit mineral working in the Peak district will be taken; [52604]

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(4) on what date it was decided that the policy on mineral working in the Peak district national park set out in the Regional Planning Guidance for the east midlands (RPG8) should be changed; and when the public consultation period on the Regional Planning Guidance closed. [52602]

Mr. Byers [holding answer 26 April 2002]: Regional Planning Guidance for the east midlands was published on 24 January 2002, following consultation that ended on 15 June 2001. The final wording was intended to be more concise than earlier versions but did not change national planning policy guidance as it applies to mineral development in the Peak district. Thus paragraphs 70 and 71 of Minerals Planning Guidance Note 6 advise that major developments should not take place in national parks, such as the Peak district, save in exceptional circumstances. All minerals applications must be subject to the most rigorous examination, and should be demonstrated to be in the public interest before being allowed to proceed. The factors to be taken into account in considering minerals applications in such areas include:

a) the need for the development in terms of national considerations of mineral supply; and the impact of permitting the development, or refusing it, on the local economy;

b) whether alternative supplies can be made available at reasonable cost; and the scope for meeting the need in some other way;

c) any detrimental effect of the proposals on the environment and landscape and the extent to which that should be moderated; and

d) in the case of extensions to existing quarries, the extent to which the proposal would achieve an enhancement to the local landscape.

Minerals policies in the RPG for the east midlands should be read within that context.

Community Transport Groups

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his oral answer of 23 April 2002, Official Report, column 137, on community transport, by what means community transport groups in south Gloucestershire will have access to the longer term funding to which he referred. [52595]

Ms Keeble [holding answer 26 April 2002]: As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said in his answer, we will carefully consider the general point of how far the benefits of three-year spending programmes can be extended to those bodies involved in community transport provision. More specifically, the position on funding for the south Gloucestershire projects currently supported under the Rural Bus Challenge scheme was described in my answers of Monday 4 February 2002, Official Report, column 743W, and Tuesday 29 January 2002, Official Report, column 202W.

Council Housing

Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the practice of local authorities writing off debts accrued by tenants in council-owned homes. [53102]

Ms Keeble: The Code of Accounting Practice applicable to local authorities requires them to write off debts known to be uncollectable. They are also required

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to make financial provision for the proportion of current debts which in due course are likely to turn out to be uncollectable.

Each local authority will, in addition, have procedures set out in their own financial regulations requiring proper authorisation for write offs.

Local authorities are obliged to obtain best value in carrying out their housing management functions. Performance, including that on rent collection, is reported annually to the public in an authority's best value performance plan.

Motorway Restrictions

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how much of the A43 between the M40 and the M1 is expected to be (a) wholly and (b) partially open by the weekend of 5 to 7 July; and if he will make a statement on action being taken to accelerate the works. [52255]

Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 29 April 2002]: I have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency, Mr. Tim Matthews, to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Tim Matthews to Mr. Tim Boswell, dated 30 April 2002:

I have been asked by the Transport Minister, David Jamieson, to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the A43 between the M40 and the M1.

To help traffic during the British Grand Prix weekend on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th July, at least two lanes of the new Silverstone Bypass between the A413 junction and Dadford Road (the main access to the Circuit) will be available for access by coaches and official race traffic to and from the north.

In addition, we aim to use existing A43 through Silverstone, to Towcester Bypass, as a one-way system as we did last year, making four lanes between the A413 junction and Dadford Road available to traffic to and from the north.

The new Whitfield Turn and Brackley Hatch section is not sufficiently advanced to be used so we intend to make the existing A43 at Syresham and Pimlico one-way to ensure two-lane access to and from the Circuit from the south on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th July.

Traffic not intending to travel to the Grand Prix will be advised by signs, including the variable message signs on the motorway network, to use alternative routes. Traffic using the A43 between Brackley and Towcester, and not going to and from the Grand Prix, will be diverted.

The improved A43 between the M40 and B4031 Barley Mow Roundabout will be operating as a two-lane dual carriageway. Junction 10 on the M40 should still be operating in its present form.

Overall, there should be at least two lanes between M1 and M40 available for traffic going to and from the Grand Prix.

The existing lengths of dual carriageway between M1 (Junction 15A) and the Abthorpe Road roundabout at Towcester and from the Barley Mow roundabout, around Brackley Bypass to Whitfield Turn are unaffected and will operate in their normal way.

Ministers consider it important to support the Grand Prix as a showcase for an important UK industry whose success reflects positively on the UK. The Agency, the race organisers, the police and the contractor have successfully adopted a partnered approach to developing an accelerated programme to complete and use as much of the scheme as is required to allow a successful event.

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