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28 Jun 2006 : Column 384W—continued
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Ms Barlow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it a legal requirement for train operators to provide and maintain toilets on trains, including for disabled people. [79891]
Derek Twigg: The Department has no plans to make provision and maintenance of toilets on trains a legal requirement.
The Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 1998 (RVAR) sets out the accessibility requirements applicable where trains are fitted with toilets.
Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has (a) to increase parking facilities and (b) to upgrade station facilities at Warrington Bank Quay. [79944]
Derek Twigg: As part of the current renegotiation of the West Coast Trains franchise, Virgin Rail Group has been asked to develop and implement plans for increased car parking capacity at stations where they are the station facility owner. This includes Warrington Bank Quay station. Virgin Rail Group will be proposing where and when the additional car parking spaces are going to be implemented in their bid submission. Implementation is subject to a positive business case.
The Customer Information System at the station is due to be upgraded this year.
Roads
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average cost to public funds was of a road fatality in the last period for which figures are available. [80199]
Dr. Ladyman: The values used to estimate the benefits of the prevention of road accidents and casualties are set out in the “Highways Economic Note No. 1: 2004 Valuation of the Benefits of Prevention of Road Accidents and Casualties” which can be found on the DfT website at: http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/qroups/dft_rdsafety/documents/divisionhomepage/030 763.hcsp
The average values, based on 2004 casualty data, are £1,384,463 for a fatality and £1,573,217 for a fatal accident. These amounts are the values to be used in the appraisal of road traffic schemes. The casualty figure takes account of lost output (which includes any non-wage payments paid by the employer), medical and ambulance costs and human costs based on willingness to pay values representing pain, grief and suffering. The accident figure is higher because it includes non-casualty specific costs such as the costs of policing, insurance and administrative costs and damage to property, and because on average more than one casualty is involved in each accident.
Included within these values are the costs to public funds for medical, ambulance and police costs (emergency services) which in 2004 averaged at £817 per fatal casualty and £7,076 per fatal accident. In addition some element of the lost output cost would be considered as a cost to public funds.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much central Government funding has been allocated to East Riding of Yorkshire council for road improvements in each year since 1997-98; and if he will make a statement. [80529]
Gillian Merron: The following table shows the funding allocated to The East Riding of Yorkshire council in the local transport capital settlements since 1997-98. The funding allocation includes the integrated transport block, road maintenance block and approximately £5 million provided in 2004-05 for the replacement of the Dutch River Bridge.
The integrated transport block allocations are available for local authorities to use on road and public transport improvements, according to their local priorities.
| East Riding of Yorkshire council | |
| Total funding (£000) | |
In addition central funding support for services, including routine highways services, is provided through revenue support grant. This is not allocated by the Government between individual council services.
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he plans to announce (a) the regional funding allocation for the South West and (b) funding for the upgrade of the A358. [81160]
Dr. Ladyman: We are currently considering the South West region’s advice on the priority it attaches to the upgrade of the A358 between Ilminster and Taunton and other major transport schemes in the South West. We hope to announce our response to the region’s advice before the parliamentary summer recess.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Bovine TB
Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the case for the planned badger cull since the publication of his Department’s most recent figures for new cases of notified bovine tuberculosis. [78618]
Mr. Bradshaw: We welcome the fact that the number of new bovine TB incidents in Great Britain overall has decreased over the last few months. However, given the cyclical nature of the disease it is too early to draw any conclusions about whether this is a temporary or more sustained reduction and we will continue to monitor the position closely. The reduction is likely to be caused by a complex combination of factors.
In considering whether to cull badgers, we are taking into account all the evidence including the science, and considering how an effective cull might be delivered on the ground. Any policy must form part of a holistic approach to bovine TB that balances cattle and wildlife controls.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs who the members of the Gamma Interferon Working Group are; and when each was appointed. [78345]
Mr. Bradshaw: Members of the working group were drawn from officials across the Department, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, the State Veterinary Service, the Welsh Assembly Government and SEERAD. They were appointed in October 2005.
Brixham Fish Market
Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 12 June 2006, Official Report, column 887W, on Brixham Fish Market, what the normal procedures referred to are; and when he expects a decision on the new fish market at Brixham to be made. [80661]
Mr. Bradshaw: In England, Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance grant applications are considered in quarterly competitive tranches. Applications are assessed by an internal panel of representatives from DEFRA, the Marine Fisheries Agency and the Regional Development Agencies. Those applications that appear to the panel to best match the criteria are prioritised for funding within budgetary limits. In this instance, the panel considered the Torbay council application on 25 May. A final decision will be made when an assessment of the potential impact of a possible restriction of scallop dredging in Lyme Bay is completed. I expect this to be within the next few weeks.
Correspondence
Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he will reply to the letter dated 12 May from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms C. Greenhalgh. [79486]
Mr. Bradshaw: The letter has been transferred to the Cabinet Office as the Department with responsibility for policy on civil contingency planning. Unfortunately, there was a delay in transferring the letter, for which I apologise to my right hon. Friend.
Disposable Nappies
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the time taken for a disposable nappy to decompose. [79267]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Wisard software tool used by the Environment Agency (EA) in their report, “Life Cycle Assessment of Disposable and Reusable Nappies in the UK”, assumed a 500 year time boundary for leachate in landfill. The EA therefore concluded that it would take that amount of time for the plastic part of a disposable nappy to decompose. The paper-fluff and faeces should take approximately 100 and 10 years respectively to degrade.
Field Mapping
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment his Department has made of the level of accuracy in field mapping by the Rural Payments Agency; and what measures his Department is undertaking to improve accuracy. [80702]
Barry Gardiner
[holding answer 27 June 2006]: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is responsible for the maintenance of the Rural Land Register (RLR), and information from the RLR is used to support claims to the Single Payment Scheme. The process of digitising land and amending existing land registrations has been amended recently, with activity brought back onto RPA’s main computer system. This followed a period
when an outsourced provider was used to digitise land during a period of exceptionally high demand.
The digitisation process itself includes a number of quality checks to ensure that the correct land parcel and area are digitised. Where errors are found they are corrected before maps are issued to customers. Further amendments are made where customers identify issues with the maps they receive. RPA is aware of a number of cases where there have been issues with maps sent to customers. The re-establishment of an in-house process will aid the cross check of new and amended land areas to customer details.
Fish Farms
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if he will make a statement on the outbreak of viral haemorrhagic septicaemia at a fish farm on a tributary of the Ouse in Yorkshire; and what steps his Department is taking to prevent the spread of the disease; [78188]
(2) what plans his Department has to instigate the compulsory slaughter of diseased fish reared on fish farms; [78190]
(3) if his Department will compensate those fish farm owners who have their stock compulsorily slaughtered as a result of disease; and if he will make a statement. [78191]
Mr. Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 12 June 2006, Official Report, column 903W.
On 19 June, the National Control Centre of CEFAS, Weymouth Laboratory confirmed that viral haemorrhagic septicaemia (VHS) has been detected in a sample of grayling taken from the River Nidd below the outlet of the farm infected with the disease, although the infected fish showed no clinical signs of the disease. Further comprehensive sampling and testing is taking place on fish in the river, both below and above the infected farm.
Fish disease experts at CEFAS advise that although there is no scientific evidence that VHS virus infection causes significant outbreaks in wild freshwater fish stocks, any persisting infection in wild stocks could be a source of infection or re-infection for trout farms in the vicinity through VHS virus contamination of the river supply to the farm.
There are no plans at present to carry out compulsory slaughter of fish on farms in the areas of the River Ouse and River Don affected by the current outbreak but the matter will be kept under review. No further cases of VHS have been detected on fish farms.
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the locations are of fish farms on which the presence of viral haemorrhagic septicaemia has been detected in the UK. [78189]
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