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Written Answers to Questions

Monday 30 June 2003

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Health and Safety

Mrs. Brooke: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission (1) whether all statutory health and safety standards are applied throughout the Parliamentary Estate; and whether all manual workers on the Parliamentary Estate have been fully trained in health and safety legislation; [121592]

Sir Archy Kirkwood: The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the regulations made under it do not in terms apply to the House. The Commission nevertheless attaches great importance to applying both the spirit and practice of the legislation. The House employs qualified health and safety specialists, and seeks to ensure full compliance with the law and industry best practice. All directly-employed works manual staff are required to undertake wide-ranging health and safety training including manual handling, risk assessment, control of substances hazardous to health and emergency first aid training. Contractors' staff are required to be competent individuals, who must work in accordance with a health and safety action plan. This plan is based on a formal risk assessment which is carried out for each project.

Statutory health and safety standards are met through a 10-year rolling programme which includes cyclical maintenance, inspections, surveys and audits. Health and safety audits using the RoSPA Quality Safety Audit method were carried out in the Parliamentary Works Services Directorate and in the Refreshment Department in 2001. Currently an audit of the Serjeant's Departmental Safety Action Plan is being carried out. Copies of these audits are available for inspection from the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Service in 7 Millbank.

TRANSPORT

Aviation

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the responses the Government has received to The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: Northern Ireland consultation document. [121925]

Mr. McNulty: We have received approximately 300 responses to the consultation concerning Northern Ireland and about 140,000 responses from across the

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UK. We will analyse all responses carefully and set out our conclusions in the Air Transport White Paper later this year.

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action he has taken to implement the principle enunciated in the 1998 Transport White Paper that aviation should meet the external, including environmental, costs it imposes. [122775]

Mr. McNulty: Following the announcement made in the 2002 Pre-Budget Report, the Government has issued a discussion document and held a series of workshops with stakeholders to consider the most effective economic instruments for ensuring that aviation meets its external costs, including environmental costs. The Government will set out its views in the forthcoming Air Transport White Paper. The Government strongly supports further action at the international level to tackle the contribution of aircraft emissions to climate change, and we are working within ICAO and the EU to achieve this. At the local level differential charges related to aircraft noise already exists at BAA's London airports.

Chancery Lane Derailment

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what responsibility Metronet had for the recent replacement of bolts and brackets on Central Line trains; how much they received; and what the total programme cost. [121886]

Mr. McNulty: The bulk of the modification work was carried out by Infraco BCV, when it was a wholly owned subsidiary of London Underground Ltd. (LUL). Its ownership transferred to Metronet on 4 April 2003. Metronet Rail BCV will be paid for completing the remaining modification work, with the costs involved subject to discussion between LUL and Metronet. LUL report that, due to the intensive workload and the focus on reinstating a safe train service, the final costs are still being calculated.

Civil Servants

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many new entrants to the Civil Service were employed in his Department in each of the last five years; and how many in each year were aged 50 or over. [119817]

Mr. McNulty: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Douglas Alexander) on 24 June 2003, Official Report, columns 657–60W.

Driving Licences

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate how long it takes on average to (a) complete and (b) process the application form for a driving licence; and whether his Department has a target for the number of applications to be processed. [121579]

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Mr. Jamieson: The current driving licence application form has been subject to detailed research to ensure ease of completion. Time to complete the form will depend on individual circumstances.

In 2002–03 the DVLA's targets required that 95 per cent. of applications for normal vocational and first driving licences should be delivered to the driver within eight working days and 95 per cent. of other licence types within 10 working days. These targets were met in full for the six million photocard licences issued.

Targets for 2003–04 have been tightened to require 98 per cent. of licences to be issued within the same timescale.

Applications requiring background checks into health or identity can take longer. Customers can expect to receive licences within 15 working days.

Flying Hours

Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposals under consideration by the Council of Ministers to increase the limits on flying hours; [121846]

Mr. McNulty: 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. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that 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.

The CAA reviews all fatal accidents to large aircraft, both within the UK and abroad. Causal factors, contributory factors and consequences are analysed. In analysis of over 900 fatal accidents, crew fatigue has been identified as a possible secondary causal factor in 20 cases. None of these involved a UK registered or operated aircraft.

Heathrow

Mr. Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many and what proportion of (a) flights and (b) night flights landed at Heathrow Airport from a (i) westerly and (ii) easterly direction in (A) 1999, (B) 2000, (C) 2001, (D) 2002 and (E) the first 6 months of 2003. [122625]

Mr. McNulty: The information cannot be provided in the format requested within the required timescale. I will write to my hon. Friend in due course.

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London Underground

Mr. Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps are being taken to ensure that pollution on the London Underground does not exceed statutory levels. [122184]

Mr. McNulty: London Underground Ltd. (LUL) has consulted the Government's Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP) on this issue. COMEAP's advice is that statutory levels do not apply to the Underground. Nevertheless I understand from LUL that dust levels are many times lower than the statutory occupational exposure limits for various forms of dust, set by the Health and Safety Executive.

Mental Health

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many of his staff retired on medical grounds due to mental health problems in the last year. [111945]

Mr. McNulty: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 24 June 2003, Official Report, column 662W.

Offshore Wind Farm Bill

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Department's policy on the Robin Rigg Offshore Wind Farm (Navigation and Fishing) (Scotland) Bill. [121768]

Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 26 June 2003]: This Bill will be considered, in line with normal practice, when it has been passed by the Scottish Parliament.

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