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10 Mar 2004 : Column 1487W

Written Answers to Questions

Wednesday 10 March 2004

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Asbestos

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will list the buildings occupied by his departmental and agency staff which require (a) remedial work on and (b) removal of asbestos; what this work will cost; what budgets are available for this work for (i) 2004 and (ii) 2005; and what budget is available for future asbestos surveys. [159651]

Mr. Lammy: My Department has 14 buildings that require remedial work and three buildings which require the removal of asbestos. These are:




















The remedial works have a budget cost of £150,000 and the removal works a budget cost of £70,000. All remedial and removal works are scheduled to be completed by 31 March 2005. Future asbestos surveys will be funded from existing building maintenance budgets.

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what proportion of buildings occupied by (a) staff of the Department and (b) staff of the Department's executive agencies have been surveyed for the purpose of identifying asbestos prior to the implementation of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002. [159657]

Mr. Lammy: My Department will have had all of its HQ estate buildings surveyed for the purpose of identifying asbestos prior to the full implementation of the CAWR 2002. 72 per cent. of the Court Service estate has been surveyed to date with the balance due to be completed in the financial year 2004–05.

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Costs Orders

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what rules are set out regarding costs orders in relation to cases involving children; and if he will make a statement. [158955]

Mr. Leslie: The approach to costs contained in the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 now applies to all family proceedings, including private law proceedings relating to children. The court has discretion to make orders as to whether costs are payable by one party to another, and generally takes the approach that the unsuccessful party will be ordered to pay some or all of the costs of the successful party. The court may, however, make a different order and frequently will consider it appropriate to make no order for costs. In deciding what order, if any, to make about costs the court will consider all the circumstances of the case, including the conduct of the parties.

Courts (London)

Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what discussions he (a) has had and (b) plans to have with representatives of the Greater London Magistrates' Court Association about court provision across London in advance of the formation of the unified courts authority in 2004; and if he will make a statement. [159466]

Mr. Leslie: I have had discussions with representatives from the Greater London Magistrates' Courts Authority (GLMCA) about court provision across London on 15 July 2003. Presently I have no further meetings arranged but would be happy to do so if required. Officials from my Department working in the Unified Courts Administration Programme have regular discussions with both the acting Justices' Chief Executive and other senior managers of the GLMCA on all matters including court provision.

Ministerial Speeches

Keith Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many speeches he made between 9 June 2003 and 1 February 2004; and where a copy of each speech can be obtained. [156152]

Mr. Leslie: The Ministerial Team at DCA made 84 policy speeches during this period. Those speeches where a transcript was available can be found on the DCA website at www.dca.gov.uk.

WALES

Asbestos

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the buildings occupied by his staff which require (a) remedial work on and (b) removal of asbestos; what this work will cost; what budgets are available for this work for (i) 2004 and (ii) 2005; and what budget is available for future asbestos surveys. [159654]

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Mr. Touhig: A complete asbestos survey of the Wales Office was conducted in 2002. The Wales Office is now compliant with 2002 regulations and no further work is required.

The cost of any future surveys or work required would be met from existing maintenance budgets.

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proportion of buildings occupied by his staff have been surveyed for the purpose of identifying the presence of asbestos prior to the implementation of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002. [159659]

Mr. Touhig: The Wales Office arranged for a complete asbestos survey in 2002. Subsequently, all the recommendations of the survey have been undertaken, so the Wales Office is compliant with the 2002 regulations.

Welsh Economy

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give a forecast for growth for the Welsh economy for the next three years. [157664]

Mr. Hain: Wales is seeing real economic growth, shown by increasing numbers of jobs; rising employment and falling unemployment; the third highest rise in earnings in Britain in 2002–03 and the progress made in closing the gap on economic inactivity.

Furthermore, Welsh GDP grew by 15.6 per cent. between 1997 and 2001

Based on this evidence and projections for UK growth Wales' economic growth seems set to continue in the future.

TRANSPORT

Asbestos

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list the buildings occupied by his Department's staff, including agencies, which require (a) remedial work on and (b) the removal of asbestos; what that work will cost; what budgets are available for this work for (i) 2004 and (ii) 2005; and what budget is available for future asbestos surveys; [159365]

Mr. McNulty: An updated list of the number of DfT properties identified as containing asbestos has been placed in the Libraries of the House. In terms of numbers of properties these represent some 20 per cent. of the total DfT estate but they mostly comprise small operational buildings.

The responsibility for taking action to comply with the requirements of the Control of Asbestos Work Regulations 2002 are delegated to the managers of the individual property centres within the Department. The action taken will depend on the nature of the property

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centres' occupancy of the buildings, whether or not asbestos has been found, where it is located and its quantity.

Although there are a number of buildings which do contain asbestos it does not follow that it poses a risk to staff or visitors because risks vary according to the type of asbestos present and how it is managed. Where asbestos has been found its existence has been entered onto asbestos registers and specialist consultants or contractors handle its management or removal.

Comprehensive information on the costs and budgets relating to asbestos surveys and works in each of the identified buildings and the nature of the works involved is not readily available without incurring disproportionate cost. However, we have identified that across the Department at least £204,500 has been allocated to be spent on remedial works and surveys during 2004–05.

Rail Compensation

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to change the compensation arrangements for rail passengers suffering (a) delays and (b) cancellations. [159593]

Mr. McNulty: Compensation for delays and cancellations to passengers will be paid under the conditions of each train operating company's Passengers Charter. In tendering for the renewal of franchises, the Strategic Rail Authority will ensure that the conditions of the train operator's Passengers Charter are subject to competitive pressure and will be taken into account in the franchise award evaluation criteria.

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