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28 Feb 2006 : Column 673W—continued
Trust Regulation
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether trusts operated by UK-domiciled companies are registered and regulated in the UK. [50990]
Mr. Timms: I have been asked to reply.
There is no central register for trusts in the UK. To the extent that trustees may engage in particular activities which fall within a regulated sphere, those activities may be regulated by the appropriate body, for example, the Financial Services Authority or the pensions regulator. Private trusts are neither registered nor regulated. Trustees are bound by the terms of the individual trust document and their duties and responsibilities as set out in law.
UK Trade and Investment
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what total efficiency savings were achieved by UK Trade and Investment in 2004–05; and whether these count towards current efficiency savings targets. [52814]
Ian Pearson: Efficiency savings of £850,000 were delivered in 2004–05 on UK Trade and Investment's programme funding stream. These do not count towards the £11 million efficiency savings on this funding stream that are required under UK Trade and Investment's current spending review settlement, which runs from 2005–06 to 2007–08.
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to implement the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive within the recycling industry; and whether these plans will be affected by his Department's review on progress of the implementation of the Directive. [53623]
Malcolm Wicks:
The Government are required to implement the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive and fully intends to do so. The Review will aid implementation by identifying the best way to proceed.
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Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to publish the review of the implementation of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive; and if he will make a statement. [53624]
Malcolm Wicks: The Review is focusing on setting out revised proposals for ensuring a fair and balanced implementation of the WEEE Directive. Once the Review has concluded and a way forward has been identified, my department will produce a formal consultation paper as quickly as possible, along with draft regulations, guidance, and a revised timetable for implementation.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received regarding the implementation of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive; and if he will make a statement. [53626]
Malcolm Wicks: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 9 February 2006, Official Report, columns 1373–74W.
Wind Farms (Northumberland)
Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the applications for wind-farm developments in Northumberland which have been submitted to his Department for decision. [53098]
Malcolm Wicks: The following is the information requested:
TRANSPORT
Biofuels
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures the Government is implementing to achieve the 2010 target for biofuels of 5 per cent. of road fuel sold. [54428]
Dr. Ladyman: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 157W, given to the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire (Mr. Knight).
East Coast Main Line
Ms Diana R. Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on track access to the East Coast Main Line between London and Hull. [53005]
Derek Twigg: Network Rail is currently researching a Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) for the East Coast Main Line (ECML). The RUS will investigate the medium to long term optimal allocation of capacity on the ECML. The consultation document for the RUS is due to be published later this year.
The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has announced a provisional decision to grant additional access to the East Coast Main Line to Hull Trains. The ORR is holding a hearing on 6 March 2006 to listen to representations concerning this decision.
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Integrated Kent Franchise
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from Govia regarding the recent award of the Integrated Kent Franchise. [52455]
Derek Twigg: Officials at the Department of Transport have been holding regular meetings with Govia representatives to ensure a smooth introduction of the new Integrated Kent Franchise that is due to commence on 1 April 2006.
Metrolink Network (Manchester)
Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had in the past six months with Greater Manchester passenger transport authority on the proposed expansion of the Metrolink network in Greater Manchester. [52488]
Derek Twigg: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has had a number of discussions with members of Greater Manchester passenger transport authority. Expansion of the Manchester Metrolink network is one of the issues that has been discussed in the context of the wider transport needs of Greater Manchester and the North West.
Private Finance Initiative
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of the Highways Agency budget was spent on payments to private finance initiative contractors in the last period for which figures are available. [50582]
Dr. Ladyman: The Highways Agency spent 4.5 per cent. of its annual budget on payments to PFI contractors in 2004–05.
Road Maintenance
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average spending per mile on road maintenance was by the Highways Agency in each region in each of the past 10 years. [52655]
Dr. Ladyman: Over the last 10 years, the Highways Agency has spent the following on road maintenance per network mile. Information on a regional basis is not available.
| Spending per mile (£) | |
|---|---|
| 1995–96 | 75,100 |
| 1996–97 | 64,800 |
| 1997–98 | 76,800 |
| 1998–99 | 98,200 |
| 1999–2000 | 114,300 |
| 2000–01 | 120,100 |
| 2001–02 | 121,300 |
| 2002–03 | 148,100 |
| 2003–04 | 150,700 |
| 2004–05 | 159,000 |
Following the publication of the Integrated Transport and Roads White Papers in 1998, trunk road maintenance was identified as the Government's highest priority for investment in strategic roads. This is
28 Feb 2006 : Column 676W
reflected in the increase in spending on trunk road maintenance from 1998–99. There is now no backlog of trunk road maintenance.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average change to local funding for road maintenance was for the additional cost of maintaining detrunked roads in each of the past eight years. [52737]
Dr. Ladyman: The detrunking programme announced in "A New Deal for Transport in England" (1998) (Cm 3950) started in 2001–02. In recognition of the extra costs that would be incurred by local highway authorities taking over responsibility for detrunked routes, the Government gave a commitment to ensuring that detrunking would be accompanied by a fair transfer of resources. It was agreed with the Local Government Association (LGA) that the most effective way of ensuring that authorities were provided with resources for the routine maintenance of detrunked routes would be by means of an annual special grant. This was intended to be a transitional distribution method, and it remains the Government's policy that detrunked roads will, in due course, be incorporated into the Revenue Support Grant system. Capital support has been through the issue of SCAs (Supplementary Credit Approvals) to 2003–04 and from 2004–05 SCERs (Supported Capital Expenditure (Revenue)).
The following resource and capital funding has been made available to local highway authorities:
Note:
New detrunking refers to the roads detrunked that year which receive a proportion of the grant set out in the Maintenance of Roads Grant Determination depending on the actual date of detrunking.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of the road network has been detrunked in each of the last 10 years. [52659]
Dr. Ladyman:
The policy of transferring non-core trunk roads (detrunking) to local highway authorities was first set out in the White Paper "A New Deal for Transport" published in July 1998. The aim has been to transfer some 3,200 km (30 per cent.) of the trunk road network (as it was in April 1999) to local authorities in a phased programme. To date more than 80 per cent. (around 2,628 km) of the programme has been completed since April 2001.
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The annual progress of the detrunking programme has been:
| Kilometres | |
|---|---|
| 2001–02 | 450 |
| 2002–03 | 1,100 |
| 2003–04 | 580 |
| 2004–05 | 380 |
| 2005–06 | 118 |
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