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20 Jan 2003 : Column 33W—continued
Child Murderers
23. Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the Lord Chancellor's Department regarding prosecutions for child murderers involving joint enterprise. [91446]
Hilary Benn: There is regular contact with the Lord Chancellor's Department about a range of issues. This includes the difficult and important question of what we
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might do to improve the chances of successful prosecutions for the death or serious injury of children where it is clear that the injuries inflicted were caused by one or other parent, but there is no evidence as to which was responsible. Although some measures already contained in the current Criminal Justice Bill, such as those about admissibility of hearsay and evidence of previous misconduct, will help in this respect. We are considering a number of other possibilities with a view to legislation at the earliest possible opportunity.
Asylum Seekers
Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the consultation period is for the siting of reception centres for refugees and asylum seekers. [91438]
Beverley Hughes: At the point where The National Asylum Support Service (NASS) expresses an interest in a particular property or location, and where there is no change of use, local authorities are given two weeks to provide NASS with any concerns they have regarding the potential use of the accommodation as some form of housing for asylum seekers. Where a change in use is required, as in the case of accommodation centres, local authorities have been given eight weeks to respond. However, it is clear that, in those instances when NASS intends to proceed with a contract, consultation and dialogue should continue beyond these minimum periods, and I have ensured that in future this will be the case.
TRANSPORT
Counter-pollution Practices
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the United Kingdom's coastal waters counter-pollution practices were last reviewed. [91602]
Mr. Jamieson: In January 2000, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) published the "National Contingency Plan for Marine Pollution from Shipping and Offshore Installations" (NCP), which set out revised command and control procedures for the response to shipping incidents in the UK counter pollution zone following the experiences gained during SEA EMPRESS incident and from the recommendations in Lord Donaldson's review of salvage and intervention and their command and control. The MCA uses regular exercises to test the NCP.
Oil and Chemical Spills
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many permanently equipped vessels are available in the United Kingdom to tackle (a) oil, (b) chemical and (c) diesel spillages at sea; and where they are stationed; [91597]
- (2) how many anti-pollution vessels there are to deal with (a) chemical and (b) oil spills within five hours sailing time of Lyme Bay; [91601]
(3) what emergency plans are in place to deal with chemical spillages that may occur off the United Kingdom coast; and what defences are in place to prevent such incidents; [91603]
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(4) how many incidents of (a) chemical, (b) oil and (c) diesel spillage have occurred in United Kingdom waters since 1997. [91604]
Mr. Jamieson: Counter pollution operations at sea are best dealt with through the aerial spraying of dispersants. However, ships with a counter pollution capability to support the recovery of spillages can be resourced from commercial shipping companies, oil spill response organisations and ports. The numbers and locations will vary depending on the primary role of these ships. In Lyme Bay, for instance, craft with a counter pollution capability may be available in the ports of Plymouth, Poole, Weymouth or Portland, but there are no ships solely dedicated for that purpose. The Government has substantial counter pollution stockpiles with mechanical recovery resources to assist in the collection of marine pollution from the sea.
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Companies and shippers involved in the carriage of hazardous chemicals have plans and equipment for dealing with emergencies whilst the substances are in transit. If an incident escalates expertise and facilities from relevant industries and the MCA are available. The MCA's main response would utilise the specialist chemical equipment in the UK's 'at sea' stockpile and its contracted chemical strike team, who provide both manpower and advice. The UK's National Contingency Plan and the Secretary of States Representative's (SOSREP) powers extend to chemical incidents.
The MCA annually commissions a report on the different types of marine pollution in the waters around the British Isles from the Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS). In the ACOPS Report the type of pollutant has been classified since 2000 into mineral oils, chemicals, garbage, vegetable/animal oils and other substances. Oil and diesel are categorised into the same group. Before 2000 the ACOPS report did not include this level of detail.
The figures from the ACOPS report since 1997 for spillages in UK waters are as follows:
| Year | Nos. of pollution incidents | Incidents where source could be identified (percentage) | Incidents from offshore oil and gas installations | Mineral Oils (percentage) | Chemicals (percentage) | Garbage (percentage) | Vegetable/animal oils (percentage) | Other substances (percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 678 | 87 | 419 | 95.5 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 2.4 |
| 2000 | 743 | 88 | 456 | 95 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 3 |
| Year | Nos. of pollution incidents | Incidents where source could be identified | Incidents from offshore oil and gas installations | Incidents where an estimate of the quantity of oil was reported | Incidents where 100 gallons or more were spilled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 678 | 614 | 419 | 544 | 67 |
| 2000 | 743 | 627 | 456 | 543 | 77 |
| 1999 | 747 | 748 | 382 | 541 | 69 |
| 1998 | 801 | 609 | 359 | 613 | 87 |
| 1997 | 723 | 578 | 351 | 553 | 100 |
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what specific funding is available to coastal local authorities for counter-pollution measures and clean-up operations for (a) oil, (b) diesel and (c) other spillages at sea; [91599]
- (2) what steps he has taken to train (a) local authority staff and (b) staff of other interested organisations, in the management, containment and clearance of (i) oil, (ii) chemical and (iii) diesel spillages at sea. [91598]
Mr. Jamieson: My Department does not make any specific funding available to coastal local authorities for counter-pollution measures. However, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) provides accredited training courses for the maritime local authorities to prepare them for such operations. These courses are primarily based on a response to oil pollution, but the response issues covered are also pertinent to chemical spills. The MCA runs two specific areas of training for local authorities:
Oil Pollution, Contingency Planning and Response
A residential training course (five days) for local authority management staff involved in contingency planning and oil spill response. This is run four times a year at locations around the UK, including the MCA's Training Centre in Dorset.
Oil Pollution Response
A two day hands-on training course in counter pollution response for local authority staff, who would expect to be involved in supervising beach clean-up operations and protective booming operations. These are run eight times a year at locations hosted by maritime local authorities.
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Additionally, the MCA runs a series of decision making in oil spill response courses for the statutory nature conservation bodies, the environmental regulators, the Government Fisheries Departments and the public health authorities in the UK. These are designed to brief, train and prepare the staff of these agencies for their role in the multi-agency response to a pollution incident from shipping. The MCA have run nine of these courses since the beginning of 2000. The MCA also offer 24 hour incident response advice and support to local authorities and maintain a large stockpile of shoreline clean-up equipment at Southampton and Inverness that can be mobilised to an incident if required. The MCA has published a large range of scientific, technical and operational notices to provide guidance for local authorities on a wide range of response issues.
Taxis (Disabled Access)
Mr Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what decisions he has taken regarding the making of regulations to provide for access to taxis by disabled people. [91546]
Mr. Jamieson: We are still considering the options for implementing the Taxi Accessibility Regulations. We need to ensure that the costs of requiring accessibility do not have a major detrimental impact on the viability of the taxi trade in some parts of the country. We have been in discussion with the trade, with manufacturers and with our statutory disability advisers, the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC). I will make a statement once we have arrived at what we believe to be a workable way forward.
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