---

Deep Sea Ports

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the average cost to hauliers to transfer freight onto (a) the rail network and (b) the road network at deep sea ports in the United Kingdom. [54603]

Mr. Byers: The charges are a confidential contractual matter between the port and its customers.

Road Signs

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his policy is on the use of kilometres on road distance indicator signs in the UK. [53510]

Ms Keeble: The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD) 1994 do not permit the use of kilometres on directional or road works signs, or on distance plates used with regulatory or warning signs.

Fuel-cell Powered Vehicles

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to support the development of a hydrogen infrastructure for fuel-cell powered vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [54266]

7 May 2002 : Column 29W

Mr. Jamieson: The draft of the Government's "Powering Future Vehicles" strategy for encouraging the shift to low-carbon vehicles and fuels highlighted the Government's role of supporting the development of new fuel infrastructures. Hydrogen is likely to be a key component in this shift to low-carbon transport.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget announced that the Government intended to exempt hydrogen from fuel duty for a period to encourage it's development and early take-up. He also announced his intention to provide enhanced capital allowances for hydrogen infrastructure. The Government are also providing fiscal support for the pilot trials of fuel-cell buses to be carried out next year by Transport for London, which will include a hydrogen refuelling facility.

Vehicle Registration Documents

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the average time taken to replace lost vehicle registration documents was in the last 12 months. [54876]

Mr. Jamieson: For the year 2001–02 in respect of registration documents issued in response to customers notifying changes to their own or the vehicle's details, the agency processed 95 per cent. of all transactions within 8.4 days.

A1 (Newark)

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) when he expects the carriageway repairs on the A1 south of Newark to be completed; [52608]

(2) what reasons the carriageway repair work being carried out on the A1 south of Newark is not being carried out on a 24 hour basis. [52609]

Mr. Spellar: The carriageway repairs on the A1 south of Newark finished on 29 April 2002, six days earlier than originally expected. Before they began, the Highways Agency consulted Kesteven district council and it was agreed that work would not be done overnight to avoid causing disturbance to nearby residential properties.

Drivers will now benefit from a smoother, quieter ride and the residents of Long Bennington will notice a marked decrease in noise.

Vehicle Ownership

Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many households with (a) one and (b) more than one vehicle there were in (i) St. Helens, (ii) Merseyside, (iii) the north-west, (iv) England and (v) Great Britain in (A) 1990, (B) 1995, (C) 1997, (D) 1998, (E) 1999, (F) 2000 and (G) 2001. [52256]

Mr. Jamieson: Information for St. Helens and Merseyside are only available from the 1991 Census. This is shown in Table 1 together with corresponding data for the north-west Standard Statistical Region (SSR) (comprising Cumbria, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside), England and Great Britain. 2001 Census data will be available in 2003.

7 May 2002 : Column 30W

Table 1: Number of households—1991Thousand

	No cars	One car	Two or more cars	All households
St. Helens	25	30	14	69
Merseyside	248	217	86	551
North-west SSR	935	1,031	501	2,467
England	6,080	8,201	4,485	18,766
Great Britain	7,314	9,525	5,058	21,897

Estimates for the north-west, England and Great Britain for other years are shown in Table 2. Data for the north-west relate to the SSR for 1990 and 1995 and to the Government office region (i.e. north-west SSR less Cumbria) for subsequent years. Data for 2001 will be available in autumn 2002.

Table 2: Number of householdsThousand

	No cars	One car	Two or more cars	All households
North-west
1990	941	1,096	467	2,504
1995	889	1,160	549	2,598
1997	871	1,256	699	2,826
1998	905	1,246	691	2,842
1999	855	1,265	732	2,852
2000	867	1,295	711	2,874
England
1990	6,114	8,460	4,446	19,020
1995	5,939	9,074	5,019	20,032
1997	5,955	9,042	5,367	20,364
1998	5,594	9,174	5,772	20,540
1999	5,840	9,208	5,695	20,743
2000	5,577	9,419	5,884	20,972
Great Britain
1990	7,314	9,827	4,999	22,140
1995	7,080	10,556	5,679	23,315
1997	7,081	10,567	6,046	23,694
1998	6,651	10,621	6,623	23,896
1999	6,862	10,699	6,559	24,120
2000	6,588	10,947	6,839	24,374

Airport Capacity

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what discussions he has had regarding a new airport in the Thames estuary area; and if he will make a statement. [53926]

Mr. Jamieson: Following press speculation in March about the potential location of a new airport on the Hoo peninsula in Kent my right hon. Friend the Minister for Transport agreed to meet a group of local MPs and, separately, the leader of Kent county council. At these meetings he explained that the press articles were speculative and was able to confirm the approach we have taken to identifying and narrowing down options in the south-east airports study.

We hope to publish the public consultation on the shortlisted options next month.

7 May 2002 : Column 31W

Deep Vein Thrombosis

Mr. David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the composition is of the Aviation Working Group looking into deep vein thrombosis; and when it will report. [54474]

Mr. Jamieson: The permanent members of the Aviation Health Working Group are the Department for Transport Local Government and the Regions (chair), the Department of Health, the Civil Aviation Authority and the Health and Safety Executive. Representatives from the aviation industry and consumer groups and other interested parties such as medical specialists are invited to participate in selected meetings.

The Aviation Health Working Group was established to advise Ministers on all issues relating to aviation health. This includes, but is not confined to, deep vein thrombosis. The group oversaw the publication of advice on travel-related deep vein thrombosis in November 2001, and is the focal point for the UK's support of the World Health Organisation's research programme into possible links between air travel and deep vein thrombosis. There are no plans for the group to report separately on deep vein thrombosis.

Flight BA 2069

Mr. Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what progress has been made in reviewing the circumstances of the incident on board flight BA 2069 on 29 December. [54559]

Mr. Spellar: The Civil Aviation Authority has reported to me on the outcome of its review of the incident on 29 December 2000 and I have today placed in the Libraries of both Houses a report of the Authority's findings. I am satisfied that the security and safety lessons from the incident for the travelling public have already been fully taken into account in the actions taken since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.

TREASURY

Part-time Workers (Pensions)

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the implementation of ECJ decisions concerning the eligibility of part-time public service employees to participate in their public service pension scheme. [53941]

Mr. Andrew Smith: Public service employers will implement in full the European Court of Justice ruling concerning the right of part-time public service employees to gain retrospective access to their pension scheme. All part-timers have had the right to join their occupational pension scheme since 1995, and in many public service schemes from an earlier date. The current ruling on the Preston case concerns the treatment of part-timers' service prior to 1995 (or the relevant date of full admission). The Employment Tribunals are currently considering a number of issues, which will determine the eligibility of part-timers and their entitlements under the ECJ ruling.

7 May 2002 : Column 32W

---