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19 May 2003 : Column 540W—continued

Church Deconsecration

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners how many churches have been deconsecrated since 1997. [113820]

Mr. Bell: Between 1997 and 2002, 138 Church of England churches were declared redundant.

19 May 2003 : Column 541W

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Postal Voting

28. Mr. Bryant: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what plans the Electoral Commission has to expand the use of all-postal ballots. [113824]

Mr. Viggers: The Commission is currently evaluating the pilot schemes run at the 1 May local government elections in England, including those schemes that involved all-postal voting. The Commission will submit its report to the Secretary of State on 31 July 2003.

Claire Ward: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment the Commission has made of the case for introducing all-postal vote elections in 2004. [113818]

Mr. Viggers: The Commission is evaluating the pilot schemes run at the 1 May local government elections in England, including those schemes that involved all-postal voting. The Commission will submit its report and recommendations to the Secretary of State on 31 July 2003.

Turnout

29. Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what assessment has been made of the effect on turnout of (a) voting on days other than Thursday and (b) alternative locations for polling stations. [113825]

Mr. Viggers: The Commission is evaluating a number of pilot schemes that took place at the local elections in England on 1 May 2003, including schemes that allowed voters to vote earlier or later than is standard, and schemes that sited polling stations at alternative locations. Its report and recommendations will be submitted to the Secretary of State on 31 July 2003.

TRANSPORT

Belfast City Airport

Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made of the safety of landing facilities at Belfast City Airport for the next generation of civil aircraft; and if he will make a statement. [113868]

Mr. Jamieson: In licensing civil aerodromes in the UK, the Civil Aviation Authority does not specify the type of aircraft that can operate from a particular aerodrome. Instead, it ensures that national and international operating and safety standards are complied with. These standards will be amended as necessary to reflect any relevant new characteristics of the next generation of civil aircraft, such as weight or size. Provided any amended standards were met it would be a matter for operators of next generation aircraft and the aerodrome licensee to be satisfied that the facilities and manning levels matched their requirements.

19 May 2003 : Column 542W

Bus Lanes

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it the policy of the Government to have consistent rules governing the use of bus lanes by motorcyclists. [114066]

Mr. Jamieson: My Department has published guidelines for the introduction and use of bus lanes, but it is for the local highway authority to decide whether other vehicles should use bus lanes.

We are monitoring the effects of motorcycling in bus lanes in trials being carried out in conjunction with highway authorities. This will allow the Department to provide more clear cut advice about motorcycling in bus lanes to authorities.

Civil Aviation

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what action he is taking following the resolution by the European Parliament of 8 November 2002 on the harmonisation of technical requirements and administrative procedures in respect of civil aviation; [114212]

(2) what discussions he has held with the Civil Aviation Authority on the harmonisation of European civil aviation rules relating to pilots' flying hours; [114213]

(3) what the Government's policy is on the amendment of flight time limitations (a) at national and (b) at European level. [114214]

Mr. Jamieson: UK flight and duty time limitations are the responsibility of the Civil Aviation Authority. Their prime objective in setting such limits is to ensure that crew members are adequately rested at the beginning of each flying period and while flying are sufficiently free from fatigue so that they can operate to a satisfactory level of efficiency and safety. Any amendments to UK limitations will take that objective into account.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has reviewed the European Parliament's proposed flight time limitations (FTL) requirements. They advise me that, while the requirements are not totally acceptable, with suitable amendment they could form a baseline European FTL requirement which could be supplemented by additional requirements in each member state. We recognise the need for FTL requirements to be harmonised at a European level and should the proposal come before the Council we will work constructively with other member states to ensure that it is appropriately amended. We will not endorse the proposal if any of the limits are significantly different to those set by the CAA in CAP 371, which are in line with scientific advice that the CAA has received over the years.

Crossrail

Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will publish the business case for Crossrail. [113536]

Mr. Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Transport to the honourable Members for Kingston and Surbiton, and Ilford South, on 13 May 2003 Official Report, column 149.I shall keep the House informed.

19 May 2003 : Column 543W

Dartford Crossings

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much of the hypothecated toll money from the Dartford crossings has been (a) spent and (b) allocated in (i) Kent County Council, (ii) Essex County Council and (iii) East London boroughs since April 2002. [114530]

Mr. Jamieson: The new Dartford Crossing charging scheme and the obligation to hypothecate net revenue from the scheme did not begin until 1 April 2003. It is too early to be able to identify projects which will illustrate the benefits this additional source of funding has helped deliver.

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes of policy have been made in relation to the hypothecated toll money from the Dartford crossings since August 2002; and if he will make a statement. [114531]

Mr. Jamieson: There have been no changes in policy. The Dartford net income forms part of the funding included in our 10 year transport plan.

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the hypothecated money from the Dartford crossings is to be allocated beyond the three original stakeholders. [114532]

Mr. Jamieson: The Dartford net income forms part of the funding included in our 10 year transport plan. It is too early to be able to identify projects which will illustrate the benefits this additional source of funding has helped deliver.

Rail Network (Telecommunications Masts)

Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many 20 metre high telecommunication masts (a) have been erected and (b) are planned in each Network Rail area; and what the purpose is of the masts. [104539]

Mr. Jamieson: I understand from Network Rail that to date no such masts have been erected. The following table from the company details the number of planned installations in each Network Rail zone:

Network rail zone	Number of planned telecommunications masts
East Anglia	137
Great Western	399
London North Eastern	307
London Underground	7
Midlands	177
North Western	226
Southern	380
Southern	380
Total	2,022

Network Rail advises that its national installation programme forms part of its new safety system known as the Global System for Mobile Communications—Railways, which will create the first national driver to signaller direct communication system. It will enable high priority emergency calls to connect drivers and

19 May 2003 : Column 544W

signallers within two seconds of an emergency, and also enable signallers to communicate with all trains in an area.

Rail Services (Romford)

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many faults were reported on railway lines into Romford in (a) April 2000, (b) April 2001, (c) April 2002 and (d) April 2003. [113480]

Mr. Jamieson: This is an operational matter for Network Rail.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many complaints were received from passengers as a result of problems on railway track near Romford in (a) April 2000, (b) April 2001, (c) April 2002 and (d) April 2003. [113481]

Mr. Jamieson: The SRA publishes complaints data for each train operating company in its six-monthly "On Track" publication. This data is not broken down to route level. The most recent edition of "On Track" was published on 12 December. A copy is in the House Library.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progess is being made to improve safety (a) on railway lines into Romford and (b) at Romford railway station; and if he will make a statement. [113482]

Mr. Jamieson: Network Rail's East Anglia Region has implemented a new system for monitoring track maintenance contractors working on railway lines into Romford. In addition, HMRI has been working closely with the Romford station operator, First Great Eastern, to understand the causes of minor passenger slip, trip and fall incidents at the station, so as to reduce the number of such incidents.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent communication he has had with managers of First Great Eastern regarding safety on their service through Romford. [113483]

Mr. Jamieson: The Secretary of State has not had any recent communications with First Great Eastern regarding the safety of train services through Romford. However, discussions between the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) and First Great Eastern staff take place at all levels on a regular basis.

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