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Lord Palmer asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What is the fuel duty on bioethanol in pence per litre; and what, converted to pence per litre, is the fuel duty on liquid petroleum gas (LPG).[HL5721]
Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: Bioethanol currently attracts duty as a substitute fuel for petrol at a rate of 45.82p per litre. The Government are also considering bids for the second round of the Green Fuels Challenge (GFC) which closed on 31 July. The GFC offers a zero rate of duty to demonstration projects for green fuels, including ethanol, which offer to develop expertise and knowledge in this area.
Liquid petroleum gas attracts duty at a rate of 9p per kilogramme. This translates to a rate of around 6p per litre when the gas is in liquefied form.
Tourist Signs
Lord Faulkner of Worcester asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What criteria are applied by the Highways Agency for the provision of brown tourist signage for motorways.[HL5689]
Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: The current guidance on the criteria for the provision of tourist signs (traffic signs with white legend on a brown background) applied by the Highways Agency is given in three publications:
- (a) Department of Transport Circular Roads 3/95. Traffic Signs to Tourist Attractions and Facilities in England, published on 12 December 1995;
- (b) Highways Agency Supplementary Guidance to CR 3/95. Traffic Signs to Tourist Attractions and Facilities in England: Criteria for Signs on Trunk Roads and Motorways, published on 12 December 1995; and
- (c) Tourist Traffic Signs inside the M25. Guidance issued by the Government Offices for the Eastern Region, London and the South East and the Highways Agency on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport, published on 3 February 1997. This guidance applies to tourist destinations located inside the M25/A282 orbital route;
These define a tourist attraction and give guidance on a variety of considerations such as the distance of the tourist attraction from the proposed sign, the number of visitors and the available parking facilities etc. that have to be taken into account. In most cases local circumstances will influence the decision taken. Public consultation on a review of the current guidance has been undertaken and the responses are being considered.
Lord Faulkner of Worcester asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Which tourist attractions are the subject of signage from motorways.[HL5690]
Lord Macdonald of Tradeston: Information giving a full list of tourist attractions, which are the subject of signage from motorways, is not currently held centrally.
Pathfinder Projects
Lord Greaves asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Which are the nine areas that they have identified for the pathfinder projects in areas of market collapse of the local housing market; how many dwellings each of these areas contains; and whether they will give their estimate of how many of those dwellings are (a) unfit and (b) subject to market collapse.[HL5518]
The Minister of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Lord Rooker): The proposed intervention areas of the nine pathfinder projects have not yet been confirmed but are being discussed with the local authorities concerned. It is not therefore possible to provide statistical data relating to stock condition. However, we are able to provide the approximate total number of properties, not all of which will be in low demand, in each pathfinder area, which is shown in the table (numbers are subject to change as the intervention area boundaries are yet to be agreed).
| Pathfinder | Local authorities | Initial estimate of dwellings within provisional boundary |
| 1. Greater Manchester | Manchester and Salford | 120,000 |
| 2. Merseyside | Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral | 120,000 |
| 3. East Lancashire | Blackburn, Hyndburn, Burnley and Pendle | 70,000 |
| 4. Humberside | Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire | 110,000 |
| 5. North Staffordshire | Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme | 50,000 |
| 6. Tyneside | Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead | 70,000 |
| 7. Oldham/Rochdale | Oldham and Rochdale | 80,000 |
| 8. South Yorkshire | Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster | 130,000 |
| 9. West Midlands | Birmingham and Sandwell | 50,000 |
| Total | 800,000 approx |
Lord Greaves asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How much money has so far been announced for the pathfinder projects in areas of housing market collapse; how much has been allocated to each area; and for what purposes; and[HL5519]
Whether they have carried out an assessment of the financial requirements of the nine pathfinder projects in areas of housing market collapse; if so, what are those requirements; and what proportion of them they expect to be able to provide over the next five years.[HL5520]
Lord Rooker: We announced on 16 May that we were making available £25 million from the Capital Modernisation Fund to assist low demand pathfinder
projects in vital preparatory work, in equal shares of £2.66 million (£1 million will be retained centrally for collective monitoring and evaluation). The principal preparatory work to be undertaken is the development of a market-restructuring scheme underpinned by relevant research.My right honourable friend the Deputy Prime Minister announced on 18 July that, following the spending review, resources would be made available to enable the pathfinder projects to take forward their market restructuring schemes—comprehensive, holistic plans for the transformation of their areas. The amount of resources will be announced later in the year.
Lord Greaves asked Her Majesty's Government:
- For which pathfinder project areas they have announced detailed boundaries, and when they expect to announce them for each of the remaining areas.[HL5521]
Lord Rooker: The proposed intervention area boundaries of the nine pathfinder projects have not yet been confirmed. Once confirmed, disclosure will be the responsibility of the pathfinder projects.
Lord Greaves asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the policies in the pathfinder project areas for dealing with housing which is unfit or subject to housing market collapse will be on a one policy fits all basis or whether there will be the flexibility to respond to different local circumstances or the different wishes of local residents, both for and within each pathfinder area.[HL5522]
Lord Rooker: Pathfinder projects' aim is to provide long-lasting solutions for communities blighted by derelict homes through investment and innovation. They will do this by developing a strategic approach—encapsulated in a comprehensive, holistic market restructuring scheme—for regenerating their sub-regional housing markets that will bring together key stakeholders, including residents, inform future investment, and test out new and innovative approaches to combating low demand. Pathfinder projects therefore have the flexibility, and the opportunity, to determine the solutions that are right for their area.
Pendle Inquiry
Lord Greaves asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they will announce their decision on the public inquiry that was held in January into the Borough of Pendle No 101 (Nelson (West) No 1) Compulsory Purchase Order 2000, in the Borough of Pendle (Nelson (West) No 1A-C) Clearance Area 2000.[HL5523]
Lord Rooker: The First Secretary of State is looking at the case and will announce a decision as soon as possible.
EU Membership
Lord Pearson of Rannoch asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the statement by Lord McIntosh of Haringey on 22 July (HL Deb, col. 3) that "Three million jobs in this country are linked to exports to the European Union and the best calculation is that the benefit to our gross domestic product is £1.75 billion", whether any of those jobs and of that benefit would be lost if the United Kingdom were to replace membership of the European Union with a free trade agreement with the Single Market.[HL5564]
The Minister for Trade (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean): If Britain were not a member of the EU one option would be to seek to negotiate entry to the European Economic Area, which gives access to the Single Market and would be of benefit to British trade and jobs. It is not possible to calculate what the impact of such a withdrawal or renegotiation would be overall on British trade and jobs.
What is clear is that we would not have a say in shaping the laws, regulations and directives that make the EU's Single Market work but we would still be bound by them.
We would therefore be less able to design them in ways that would benefit Britain and provide jobs in Britain.
Kosovo
Lord Lester of Herne Hill asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Further to the Written Answer by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 22 July (WA 15), what are the international and domestic legal remedies available for victims of breaches of international human rights standards committed in Kosovo by (a) the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and (b) the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR).[HL5608]
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The United Nations Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has enacted regulations in order to bring specific procedures (for example, concerning arrest and detention, and surveillance and evidence gathering) in line with human rights standards, providing grounds for raising human rights arguments before the courts. Any person alleging a breach of human rights standards in Kosovo may take up the matter with the relevant authorities or seek legal advice in Kosovo with regard to available remedies.
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