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30 Jan 2003 : Column 984W—continued

Road Building (Stonehenge)

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to publish the draft orders relating to road construction at Stonehenge. [94084]

Mr Jamieson: The current programme is for draft orders to be published in May 2003.

Rolling Stock

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the estimated cost is of upgrading the power supply in Railtrack's southern zones to enable the comprehensive overhaul of current trains and rolling stock. [93817]

Mr. Jamieson: The scope, scale and cost of the power supply upgrade is still emerging but the current estimate is £915 million including a contingency.

Strategic Rail Authority (Consultants)

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 7 January, Official Report, column 108W, on Strategic Rail Authority (Consultants), (1) if he will make a statement on the work conducted for the Strategic Rail Authority (a) by Booz Allen and Hamilton on the Virgin trains franchise negotiation, (b) by KPMG on financial advisers for Virgin Rail Group Negotiations and (c) by KPMG on the Virgin Rail Ltd scope review and the financial advisers for Virgin Rail Group Negotiations. [93234]

(2) if he will make a statement on (a) the PLANET models, (b) the work by Nichols on Mark 1 rolling-stock, (c) the work by NDS Transmodal on innovation competition, (d) Project Tide, (e) the WARM(E) project and (f) Project Radar. [93233]

(3) if he will place in the Library copies of the (a) review of international rail services conducted by Steer Davies and Gleave, (b) study into why operational performance has failed to revert to pre-Hatfield levels, conducted by AEA Technology, (c) studies of Project Ariel, SPVs and enhancements, conducted by Lazards, (d) study of the financial adviser to Scottish passenger rail franchise relet conducted by KPMG, (e) study of Mark 1, strategic reserve vehicles conducted by Jacobs Gibb, (f) studies on due diligence of Railtrack and CLG bus plan, conducted by Booz Allen and Hamilton and (g) ELL provision of timetable validation study conducted by AEA Technology. [93232]

Mr. Jamieson: These are matters for the Strategic Rail Authority. I have asked the Authority to contact the hon. Member directly about the information he seeks.

Terrorism

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many incidents of (a) terrorist activity and (b) suspected terrorist activity were recorded by (i) the Marine Accident Investigation Branch Transport

30 Jan 2003 : Column 985W

Police and (ii) other organisations relating to marine and port activities, in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [93243]

Mr. Jamieson: No incidents of terrorist activity targeted against ports in the UK have been recorded since 1997. Similarly, in the same period, we have no record of any incidents of suspected terrorist activity targeted against UK ports or the ships serving them. However, the hon.Member will recall the successful boarding of the MV Nisha on 21December 2001 in response to a potential terrorist threat. Our suspicions proved on that occasion to be unfounded, as the ship was wholly innocent.

Wapping Tube Station

Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the future of Wapping tube station. [93730]

Mr. Jamieson: Preparatory work to enable a northern extension to London Underground's East London Line is under way. It is clearly crucial that stations on any extended line comply with modern safety standards, given the increased number of passengers expected. I understand that Wapping presents particular challenges in ensuring safety compliance, given its age and restricted space. Studies are under way to explore the options for addressing these issues and no final decision has been taken on the station's future.

TREASURY

Euro

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the governments of (a) Gibraltar, (b) Jersey, (c) Guernsey and (d) the Isle of Man regarding the Single European Currency. [94200]

Ruth Kelly: Government officials meet often with representatives of Gibraltar, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man to discuss a range of issues.

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what target he has for the proportion of businesses which will be prepared for euro entry at the time of his Department's assessment on whether Britain meets the five economic tests for euro entry. [94344]

Ruth Kelly: The Government are committed to completing an assessment of the five tests within two years of the start of this Parliament. While the Treasury has not set any targets for the proportion of businesses to make preparations it has published two outline National Changeover Plans and regular euro preparation updates containing practical information. Copies of these publications are available in the Library of the House. It is up to individual businesses to decide whether to make preparations for possible UK entry.

Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when his Department next intends to conduct a survey of the proportion of businesses prepared for membership of the euro. [94345]

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Ruth Kelly : I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answers I gave to the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor) on 13 January 2003, Official Report, columns 414W-15W, and 20 January 2003, Official Report, column 54W.

Savings and Pensions

Dr. Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what incentives he is putting in place to encourage young people to invest in (a) individual pension schemes and (b) individual savings accounts; and if he will make a statement. [94250]

Ruth Kelly: The Government recognise the value of saving and asset-ownership in providing people with security, comfort in retirement and long-term independence and security. To address the problems that may have discouraged people of all ages from saving in the past the Government are implementing a strategy designed to:

create the right environment for saving;


provide incentives to save through favourable tax treatment; and


ensure everyone has access to the financial information they need to make informed savings decisions.

Young people will, in particular, benefit from pension rules allowing annual contributions of £3,600 irrespective of earnings and already benefit from the ISA rules which allow 16 and 17-year-olds to open a cash ISA. These measures provide the opportunity to begin saving tax-free at an early stage.

Textile Industry

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of staff made redundant in the textile industry between 1990 and 2000 found new employment; and in what sectors. [92099]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from L. Cook to Mr. Keith Vaz, dated 30 January 2003:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on redundancies in the textile industry. (92099)

The available information from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) of households is that a total of 151,000 people were made redundant from the textiles and textile products industry (Standard Industrial Classification 1992 subsection DB) between March 1997 and November 2002. Of these, 32 per cent had found new employment by the time they were interviewed in the LFS up to three months after being made redundant. Of the 151,000 people made redundant, 13 per cent found new employment in the textiles and textile products industry, 19 per cent found new employment in the manufacturing sector as a whole and 13 per cent in the services sector.

Unemployment (Haltemprice and Howden)

David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were unemployed in Haltemprice and Howden in the last 13 months for which figures are available. [93783]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

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Letter from L. Cook to Mr. David Davis, dated 30 January 2003:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question regarding the number of people who were unemployed in Haltemprice and Howden in (a) the last month for which figures are available and (b) the preceding 12 months.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from surveys following the international standard International Labour Organisation definition. However the survey sample size is too small to provide estimates for the Haltemprice and Howden Parliamentary Constituency. ONS also compiles claimant count statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance.

Information on the level of claimants for the Haltemprice and Howden Parliamentary Constituency between December 2001 and December 2002 can be obtained from the Nomis(r) database at the House of Commons Library.

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