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London Underground: Delays to Trains

Lord Lamont of Lerwick asked Her Majesty's Government:

On how many occasions underground trains have been stuck between stations for times exceeding half an hour and one hour respectively during the last year; and whether there is any safety implication.[HL682]

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: I understand from London Underground that, whilst they gather information relating to delays to trains caused by various operational aspects, and delays caused by passenger action, passengers taken ill on trains and incidents at stations, information on the location of the train suffering the delay is not collected centrally.

Bond Street Underground Station: Line Interchange

Lord Lamont of Lerwick asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the prohibition on changing trains between Central Line and the new Jubilee Line before 10 a.m at Bond Street is intended to be permanent, and whether this was envisaged when the Jubilee Line was opened.[HL683]

15 Feb 2001 : Column WA58

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: This is an operational matter for London Underground (LUL) but I understand that the present arrangements are not intended to be permanent. There is currently a programme of planned refurbishment taking place on three of the eight escalators at Bond Street station and as a result the interchange has had to be restricted before 10 a.m. on weekdays while the work is going on.

LUL have already refurbished two of the three escalators but found that the idle shaft in one of these had to be replaced. This work is due to finish at the beginning of March 2001. On completion of this, the third escalator will be refurbished, taking about 18 weeks. After the third and final escalator has been refurbished, the full interchange will be resumed.

NATS: Oceanic Sector Services

Lord Judd asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have received advice from the Economic Regulation Group of the Civil Aviation Authority on the economic regulatory regime for the services which will be provided in the Oceanic sector by the National Air Traffic Services Ltd public/private partnership.[HL779]

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: Air Traffic services in Oceanic airspace are provided on a monopoly basis. When the National Air Traffic Services Ltd public/private partnership is established, charges for these services will be subject to price regulation by the RPI-X method, which is the standard model for monopoly regulation in the United Kingdom. The charge cap, or "X" factor, will be set for a period of five years and will, for the first five-year period only, be set by the Government.

We received advice from the CAA in August which set out how it proposed to approach the economic regulation of NATS and recommended that the "X" factor for NATS' Oceanic services be set at 10 per cent for the first year and 2 per cent for each of the next four years. We have considered the CAA's advice carefully, alongside representations from air users who will pay these charges and from NATS, which has also provided revised estimates of traffic levels and system costs which have a significant effect on the first year of the quinquennium. We have consequently decided to set a cap of 2 per cent for each of the five years, and that there should be no delay penalty term for the present.

The Government regard investment in the Oceanic sector as important and believe that the approach to charge control should reflect this. I have therefore agreed with the CAA that it should be receptive to any proposals, made with the support of air users, to revisit the price cap when investment is made with a view to significant improvements in the service.

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Local Authority Publicity

Baroness Gould of Potternewton asked Her Majesty's Government:

When they intend to lay before Parliament proposed alterations to the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity.[HL819]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Whitty): Following consultation with the Local Government Association, we have today laid before the House a draft of the proposed alterations to the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity. These proposed alterations reflect the new council constitutions and the introduction of referendums and petitions under the Local Government Act 2000.

We also intend in the future further to review the code, having regard to councils' experiences of operating their new constitutions over a reasonable period of time. This further review will also cover the code's application to those authorities, such as police authorities, which are not adopting new constitutions.

Variant CJD: Compensation Scheme

Baroness Wilkins asked Her Majesty's Government:

When they expect to be able to make an announcement on compensation for victims of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.[HL761]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): We are committed to constructing a compensation scheme that is effective and properly meets the needs of those affected. Discussions are under way with the legal representatives of the families affected. In the meantime we will be making interim payments of £25,000 when regulations have been put in place to ensure that the payments are not taken into account in the calculation of income-related social security benefits and are exempted from the provisions of the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997. We intend to present this legislation to Parliament as soon as possible. Details of the full compensation package are still under consideration.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Expenditure Limits

Lord Tomlinson asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether there are any proposals to amend the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Departmental Expenditure limit/running cost limit for 2000-01.[HL762]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): Subject to Parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate for Class VII

15 Feb 2001 : Column WA60

Vote I the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Departmental Expenditure Limit for 2000-2001 will be increased by £42,289,000 from £1,210,333,000 to £1,252,622,000 and the running cost limit has been increased by £1,797,000 from £531,982,000 to £533,779,000. This is the net effect of:

(i) a transfer of £16,000 to the Ministry of Defence (Class VI, Vote 2), in respect of our final contribution to the grant-in-aid to the Atlantic Council of the UK;

(ii) an increase of £5,441,000 in respect of an adjustment for Overseas price movements;

(iii) a transfer of £1,920,000 to the Cabinet Office (Class XVII, Vote 2) for drugs assistance programmes;

(iv) a transfer of £880,000 to the Cabinet Office (Class XVII, Vote 2) for revisions to charging regime;

(v) an increase in both running costs and appropriations in aid of £1,248,000 in respect of increased receipts from OGD's;

(vi) a transfer of £32,000 from BBC monitoring service to the Cabinet Office (Class XVII, Vote 2);

(vii) an increase in both running costs and appropriations in aid of £5,300,000 to reflect an increase in our VAT recovery forecast;

(viii) a decrease of £5,500,000 in both capital expenditure and A-in-A for FCO Estates Rationalisation;

(ix) a PES transfer of £1,500,000 to the MOD representing the FCO's contribution to the enhanced package for the Sierra Leone Army;

(x) a PES transfer of £168,000 from the war pensions agency to cover the costs of medical examinations for overseas pensioners;

(xi) additional provision of £39,808,000 on Section B for UK contributions to United Nations Missions in the former Yugoslavia (includes UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo) and the former Soviet Union, United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (Iraq), United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission, United Nations Mission for the Referendum on Western Sahara, United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor, United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone, United Nations Observer Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the European Community Monitoring Mission and Western European Union Police Mission in Albania. This is partially offset by an increase of £344,000 in appropriations-in-aid in respect of non-baseline peacekeeping and by £10,761,000 from Section E, General VAT Refunds;

(xii) the supplementary estimate is also required to note an increase in Section C, to reflect PES transfers of £46,000 to the Cabinet Office

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(Class XVII, Vote 2) and £52,000 to the Cabinet Office (Class XVII, Vote 1);

(xiii) the supplementary estimate is also required to note an increase of £1,998,000 of Section D, in respect of an adjustment for Overseas Price Movement for the British Council.

Overseas Workers: Wages

Baroness Miller of Hendon asked Her Majesty's Government:

In the light of reports that skilled stonemasons from India were employed in the building of a temple in London at very low wages, what steps they are taking when granting labour permits to ensure:


(a) that a wage comparable with United Kingdom or European Union workers is offered;


(b) that the wage offered is actually paid; and


(c) that the employee is made aware of the wage being offered in the application.[HL306]

The Minister of State, Department for Education and Employment (Baroness Blackstone): Work permit applications are considered against a number of criteria, including the pay and other conditions of employment. These should be at least equal to those normally given to a resident worker doing similar work. All applications must meet the national minimum wage regulations.

All potential employees should be aware of the wage being offered. Both the work permit and Home Office recommendation letters (used where the individual is already in the UK) provide details of the salary which employers have indicated on the application form will be paid.

Where doubts are raised about whether employers meet their undertakings, including the wage paid, the Overseas Labour Service investigates each case thoroughly, involving other departments as necessary, including the Department of Trade and Industry where there are issues relating to compliance with national minimum wage legislation.

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