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|£ million
------------------------------
1992-93 |2.400
1993-94 |<1>1.047
1994-95 |<1>1,354
1995-96 |<1>0.703
<1> Estimated.
City Challenge funding for the houses for sale element--in addition to private sector investment is :
|£ million
------------------------------
1995-96 |<1>0.420
1996-97 |<1>0.280
<1> Estimated.
Leeds Development Corporation
Mr. Fatchett : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will set out by industrial sector the number of jobs a) created and (b) saved by the Leeds development corporation in each financial year since its inception.
Mr. Baldry : Leeds development corporation does not analyse employment numbers within its areas by standard industrial classification. Nor does it keep records of the number of jobs saved. The numbers of gross jobs created within its area for each financial year since its inception are as follows :
Year |Numbers ------------------------ 1988-89 |1,526 1989-90 |2,458 1990-91 |2,320 1991-92 |210 1992-93 |830
Plymouth Development Corporation
Ms Rachel Squire : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on progress regarding the urban development corporation established in Plymouth in part to deal with redundant assets at Devonport ; what assets have been transferred to the UDC from the MOD ; on what basis this transfer took place ; how many of these assets have been sold or developed ; how many jobs have been created in the initiative ; how much investment has been carried out by the Government to date ; what is the total cost of the initiative to the Government to date ; and what is the projected total.
Mr. Baldry : Plymouth development corporation was set up in April 1993. Since then it has encouraged the private sector to offer solutions to the redevelopment of its ex-MOD sites. Royal William yard in particular was a part of the DOE private finance initiative announcement in November last year.
Two sites, Mount Wise--seven acres--and Royal William yard--32 acres--have been transferred to PDC. Mount Batten--55 acres--will be transferred this month. All are being transferred at open market value, although the purchase cost is part of the MOD contribution to the development corporation.
PDC is still examining the potential for redevelopment of the ex-MOD sites so no assets have yet been sold or developed. No direct jobs, other than two permanent staff of the development corporation, have been created but the corporate plan indicates the potential to create over 1,300 new jobs and to lever in some £50 million of private sector money.
The Government money spent by PDC so far is in the region of £7 million including land purchase. Over the five-year life of the development corporation it is anticipated that the Government will contribute some £45 million towards the redevelopment of their sites. However, all such long-term commitments are subject to the annual public expenditure survey.
Water Services
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the cost of (a) water supply and (b) sewerage services for the average home in the areas covered by (a) Wales Water, (b) Severn Trent, (c) North West England and (d) Thames in 1992-93 and 1993-94 ; and what was the cost of the water supply for the average home in each area in each year.
Mr. Atkins : Information on water and sewerage companies'average charges is published annually in the Centre for the Study of Regulated Industries statistics series publication "The UK Water Industry--Charges for Water Services", copies of which are available in the Library.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the price per thousand gallons of water for the areas covered by (a) Wales Water, (b) Severn Trent, (c) North West England and (d) Thames in 1992-93 and 1993-94.
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Mr. Atkins : Information on water and sewerage companies' unit costs for water delivered in 1992-93 is contained in the Office of Water Services publication "The Cost of Water Delivered and Sewage Collected", a copy of which is available in the Library. The report for 1993-94 will be available towards the end of the year.
Gipsy Sites, Essex
Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what implications the recent policy announcement on gipsy sites will have for Essex county council's proposal to establish a gipsy site at Barnards farm, East Hanningfield, Chelmsford ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : Essex county council's application for approval in principal to develop this site has already been received by the Department. Provided that the county council wishes to proceed, and that the scheme meets the grant criteria, it will continue to be considered for approval under the existing system.
Contaminated Land
Mr. Burns : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress there has been on the review of the arrangements for dealing with contaminated land which was announced on 24 March 1993 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins : I am glad to report that the contaminated land review, set up in March 1993 under the chairmanship of my Department, has made good progress. Establishing where liability should fall for dealing with damage resulting from historic pollution is complex and the subject is not conducive to easy answers.
Many interested organisations and individuals have set out their views to the review. Such participation has been extremely helpful in drawing out the key issues and options. To build on that, I have agreed that it would be appropriate to issue a consultation paper, giving all interested parties an opportunity to comment on the preliminary conclusions.
The consultation paper "Paying for Our Past" has been published today--I have placed a copy in the Library of the House. We have invited comments by 3 May. Those views will be taken into account before we reach our final conclusions.
The consultation paper makes clear that we support a "suitable for use" approach to dealing with contaminated land. That is that contaminated land should be treated to deal with unacceptable actual or perceived threats to health, safety or the environment, taking account of the actual or intended use of the site ; and, where practical, we should keep or bring such land back into beneficial use. That helps us to minimise pressures on green- field sites.
Departmental Expenditure
Mr. Mans : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the spending plans for Department of the Environment, PSA Services, the Office of Water Services and Ordnance Survey for the years 1994-95 to 1996-97.
Mr. Gummer : Yes. I have today published the Department of the Environment annual report for 1994
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--Cm 2507. This sets out in detail the outcome of the public expenditure survey announced in the Budget statement on 30 November 1993. The report provides an overview of the departments' discharge of their responsibilities over the past year, providing background to each spending programme and policy with more detailed information on performance targets, output measurements and value for money. The report sets out our recent achievements and our plans for taking forward policies for the protection and enhancement of the natural and man- made environments. With their wide range of functions, my departments have a leading role to play in this and in ensuring that we see the wider picture of what we are doing, so that we pursue policies of sustainable development. The report contains many examples of how this is being achieved.The report is also an important part of my departments' accountability to the public, in line with citizens charter principles.
Housing Corporation
Mr. Mans : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement about the chairmanship and deputy chairmanship of the Housing Corporation.
Mr. Gummer : I am pleased to inform the House that I have appointed Sir Brian Pearse to be chairman of the Housing Corporation from 1 April 1994. I am also appointing Mr. Peter Cooke to the post of deputy chairman. Both appointments will be for three years. As well as welcoming this excellent new team to head the important work of the Housing Corporation, I should like to express my gratitude to their predecessors, Sir Christopher Benson and Sir Norman Wakefield, for their outstanding contributions during their term in office.
North Sea
Mr. Elletson : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the main findings and conclusions of the recent quality status report on the North sea ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Atkins : The North sea quality status report has not yet been published. The Oslo and Paris Commission and the International Council for Exploration of the Sea are working jointly on preparations for publication at the end of March.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will update figure K3, tax revenues from the main local taxes as percentages of total tax revenues of local governments, selected countries, of Cmnd 9714--"Paying for Local Government".
Mr. Vaz : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list the total amount of central grant given to Brent, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, Blackburn, Burnley, Knowsley, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Rochdale, Salford, Middlesbrough,
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Birmingham, Coventry, Sandwell, Wolverhampton, Leicester, Nottingham, Bradford and Kingston upon Hull in the years 1980-81, 1986-87 and 1993-94 at constant 1994 prices ;(2) what was the total amount of central Government grant given to each local authority in England in the years 1980-81, 1986-87 and 1993-94 at constant 1994 prices.
Mr. Baldry [holding answer 7 March 1994] : I have arranged for the information to be placed in the Library of the House.
Child Care
Ms Harman : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much his Department spends on child care ; on what provision the sum is spent ; how many children receive the child care ; and if he will make a statement about child care.
Mr. Gummer [holding answer 7 March 1994] : In the current financial year 1993-94 my Department--excluding the Property Services Agency--has spent £60,250 on subsidy for nursery and holiday play scheme provision for 132 children. Start-up costs for additional places in two new inter-departmental nurseries in Westminster and Bristol amounted to £30,000.
Nuclear Recycling
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what considerations underpinned the decision not to include nuclear recycling at Sellafield or Dounreay in chapter 23 on waste and recycling, at pages 148 to 157 of Her Majesty's Government's sustainable development strategy report published on 25 January.
Mr. Atkins : Chapter 23 of "Sustainable Development : the UK Strategy"--Cm 2426--concerns non-radioactive waste.
Watch Your Waste"
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what part his Department plays in the Open university book "Watch Your Waste" to which reference is made at page 153 of the report on the Government's sustainable development strategy, released on 25 January.
Mr. Atkins : The Department of the Environment funded the production of the book.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Common Agricultural Policy
Sir Teddy Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will raise at the next meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers the decision of the President of the Commission not to publish the report of experts on the future of the common agricultural policy ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Goodlad : We have no plans to do so.
Embassies and High Commissions
Mr. Trotter : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 21 February, Official Report, column 29, how he assesses the
Column 113
savings made to his budget as a result of reductions in Ministry of Defence personnel in embassies and high commissions in the absence of estimates of related expenditure ; and if he will publish an estimate of the per capita additional net costs to his budget of a service attache of colonel or equivalent rank in post in (a) a western European country, (b) a middle eastern country and (c) a Commonwealth third-world country.Mr. Goodlad : Savings resulting from reductions in Ministry of Defence personnel in embassies and high commissions cannot be identified precisely. Direct savings from residential accommodation will be known but other savings arising from, for example, utilities and office space would need to be estimated pro rata after taking account of any direct support provided by the Ministry of Defence. The additional direct annual per capita cost--residential accommodation without utilities--of a service attache of colonel or equivalent rank in (a) Paris (b) Amman and (c) Islamabad would be about £18,700, £11,000 and £6,500 respectively. Other costs would have to be estimated in the same way as for savings.
Western Honduras
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with RTZ-Kennecott Mining Company on the environmental consequences of mining in Western Honduras.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory : I have had no such discussions. My officials and RTZ are in touch from time to time.
Public Interest Immunity Certificates
Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher) of 18 February, Official Report, column 1036, what information he can provide concerning public interest immunity certificates signed from 1994 and moving in reverse chronological order, without incurring disproportionate cost.
Mr. Goodlad : The information is not immediately available. I will write to the hon. Gentleman.
Colonies (Police)
Mr. Mackinlay : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which colonies and overseas dependencies and territories have police forces which are under the control of the governor ; and if he will list their establishment.
Mr. Goodlad : All the police forces of the dependent territories are under the control of the governor. Their establishment is as follows :
Dependent territory |Police
|establishment
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anguilla |85
Bermuda |414
British Virgin Islands |142
Cayman Islands |251
Gibraltar |214
Falkland Islands |14
Hong Kong |34,000
Montserrat |93
Pitcairn Islands |<1>1
St. Helena and its dependencies |37
Turks and Caicos Islands |120
<1> Part-time.
Malaysia
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if (a) the fax links and (b) the telephone between Kuala Lumpur and his Department were operational throughout the period of the negotiations of the protocol with Malaysia in March 1988 ; if duty officers at the Foreign Office were available at this period ; and what rules apply to their contacting Ministers or Ministers' private office staff outside normal office work hours.
Mr. Goodlad : Normal communications facilities and duty officer arrangements were available throughout the period. Arrangements also exist for contacting Ministers' private secretaries out of normal office hours.
Mr. Alan Williams : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Copeland (Dr. Cunningham) of 25 January, Official Report, columns 145-46, if he will give the reasons for the time taken after the signing of the Malaysian protocol in March 1988 for a letter to be sent saying that aid could not be linked to arms sales.
Mr. Goodlad : When the text of the protocol became available in London at the end of March, Ministers immediately recognised that the aid- defence sales link would have to be disentangled. Extensive consultations between Ministers followed in which we decided that we should make clear to the Malaysian Government that a link was not possible.
Hong Kong
Mr. Spellar : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 17 January, Official Report, column 353, what is the lower limit of costs of the draft schemes prepared for consultation with the Association of Members of Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service.
Mr. Goodlad : Consultations between Her Majesty's Government and the Association of Members of Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service in Hong Kong on a proposed package of benefits are taking place this week. The cost of the package will be known after it has been finalised.
Mr. Nigel Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the annual report on Hong Kong will be laid before Parliament.
Mr. Goodlad : The report is being published and laid before Parliament today. Copies will be placed in the Library of the House.
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TRANSPORT
Transport Research Laboratory
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to make an announcement on the future status of the Transport Research Laboratory ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key : My right hon. Friend hopes to announce his decision shortly. He recently announced, in evidence to the Transport Select Committee, his provisional view that TRL should transfer to the private sector. Copies of the consultants' report on the feasibility of privatisation, made available to the Committee, are being placed in the Library of the House.
Contingencies Fund
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to seek an advance from the Contingencies Fund.
Mr. MacGregor : Further to the reply that I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Mr. Dunn) on 24 February, Official Report , column 324 , pending parliamentary approval of the revised spring supplementary estimate on the administration and transport services vote--class VI, vote 2--sought to provide for a payment to the United States Government, expenditure estimated at £20,000,000 will be met by a repayable advance from the Contingencies Fund.
Driving Tests
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he would accept a bid, either from the in-house team or the private sector, which would mean that the booking of driving tests for Wales would no longer be undertaken in a Welsh location ;
(2) if he would accept a bid, either from the in-house team or the private sector, which would mean that the booking of driving tests for Scotland would no longer be undertaken in a Scottish location.
Mr. Key : "The Government's Guide to Market Testing"makes it clear that restrictions which limit contractors' abilities to give the best value for money should not be included in market tests other than for operational reasons. Moreover, geographical constraints on the supply of goods and services are not, in general, permitted under EC competition law. The conduct of driving tests and the location of driving examiners in Wales and Scotland will not be affected by the market test. The requirement to continue to provide the present Welsh language service is to be included in the invitation to tender for the driver test booking service.
Driving Standards Agency
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the work currently undertaken by the traffic area offices for the Driving Standards Agency is part of the current market test of DSA booking services.
Mr. Key : As shared occupiers of the buildings that they share with seven of the 10 DSA booking offices, traffic area offices currently supply DSA with a variety of office
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support and property-related services. These might not be required if DSA work were relocated as a consequence of the market test of the DSA booking services. Bidders for the DSA booking service will also be free to choose whether to continue the current arrangements under which three traffic area supply finance services to DSA booking offices.Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he would accept a bid for the DSA booking services if that resulted in the centralisation of all booking services in one location.
Mr. Key : In order to ensure security of supply it is envisaged that the Driving Standards Agency will award up to four contracts to provide a booking service for separate geographical areas. Bids to run the service as a whole will also be considered if the contract will be managed with the same degree of security.
British Rail
Mr. Harvey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in real terms, for each year from 1979 to 1995 the (a) public service obligation grant awarded to British Rail and (b) external financing limit awarded to British Rail.
Mr. Freeman : The information requested is as follows :
(a) Public service obligation
grant in real terms
£ million
|<1>1993-94
|prices
---------------------------------
1979 |1,253
1980 |1,246
1981 |1,454
1982 |1,474
1983 |1,463
1984-85 |<2>1,724
1985-86 |1,257
1986-87 |1,024
1987-88 |1,071
1988-89 |701
1989-90 |615
1990-91 |969
1991-92 |974
1992-93 |1,191
1993-94 |<3>930
1994-95 |<4>-
<1>Adjusted using GDP deflator.
<2>15-month year.
<3>Estimated outturn.
<4>There are no figures
available for 1994-95 and
1995-96. From
1 April 1994 Government support
for socially desirable but
unprofitable rail services will
be provided through a grant from
the
franchising director. This sum
is yet to be decided.
(b) External Financing Limit
awarded to British Rail £ million,
1993-94 prices<1>
|EFL |Outturn
------------------------------------
1979-80 |2,177 |2,177
1980-81 |1,649 |1,649
1981-82 |1,751 |1,827
1982-83 |1,640 |1,506
1983-84 |1,618 |1,377
1984-85 |1,504 |<2>1,690
1985-86 |1,407 |1,395
1986-87 |1,163 |1,153
1987-88 |1,057 |<3>767
1988-89 |988 |494
1989-90 |783 |877
1990-91 |812 |1,249
1991-92 |1,647 |1,584
1992-93 |2,170 |2,137
1993-94 |1,495 |<4>1,495
1994-95 |1,262 |-
<1> Adjusted using GDP deflator.
<2> 15 month year.
<3> From 1987-88 EFL included
movements in payroll creditors.
<4> Estimated outturn.
New Car Registrations
Dr. Lynne Jones : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of new car registrations for each of the last eight quarters for (a) Birmingham, (b) the west midlands and (c) the United Kingdom.
Mr. Key : The requested information is shown :
A
|Quarter 1|Quarter 2|Quarter 3|Quarter 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1992
Birmingham |20,960 |22,058 |26,362 |15,067
West Midlands |27,364 |29,575 |37,304 |29,662
United Kingdom |424,743 |376,987 |548,248 |313,896
1993
Birmingham |18,370 |16,107 |27,906 |20,442
West Midlands |31,218 |29,323 |40,788 |28,255
United Kingdom |470,971 |398,297 |630,770 |345,657
EC Funding
Mr. Harvey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list those transport projects involving European social and regional funds which have been given the go-ahead since (a) 1979 and (b) 1989.
Mr. MacGregor : Lists of transport projects in England approved to date under the European regional development fund since 1979 and 1989 have been placed in the House of Commons Library today. Since 1979, 1,306 projects have been approved and their total value is around £626 million.
Mr. Harvey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the amount of EC social and regional funds available for transport projects over the past 13 years ; and what amount was not taken up during that period.
Mr. MacGregor : The total value of transport projects in England approved under the European regional development fund since 1981 to date is almost £605 million. Funds are available for a wide range of infrastructure projects and no specific allocation is made for transport projects. Any shortfall in expenditure is reallocated to other projects.
Market Liberalisation
Mr. Harvey : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Government's progress since 1989 in further liberalising air and other transport markets both inside and outside the European Union.
Mr. Norris : Good progress has been made since 1989 in liberalising international transport markets.
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The third air liberalisation package is now in force in the EU and has been extended to Norway and Sweden. It will shortly be further extended to Iceland, Finland and Austria under the European Economic Area agreement. Our objective as far as the United States is concerned remains to liberalise air services, thus providing further choice and competition on transatlantic routes. Elsewhere, we are making progress in agreeing new or revised arrangements which allow carriers to make commercial decisions on how best to serve the market without needing to seek Government approval. Around 20 such agreements have been made since 1989, with others currently being pursued.International shipping markets are already largely liberal. Agreements on liberalisation of international shipping and cabotage within the EU are examples of further progress in this direction. The road haulage market within the EU is now effectively liberalised and substantial progress has now been made on liberalising passenger services. Road transport agreements, existing or under negotiation, with other countries, are in the main liberal or free of permit quotas.
Access to railway infrastructure must now be granted on equitable conditions for international railway groupings both within EU member states where they are established and in states in between, subject to safety and financial conditions, which must not be discriminatory.
Stansted
Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he is considering the redesignation of Stansted as a regional airport ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norris : No, we have largely discontinued this system of airport categorisation. This was announced in the 1985 airports policy White Paper- -Cmnd 9542.
Disability Awareness
Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the need for disability and mobility awareness training for taxi and private hire car drivers.
Mr. Norris : The Department attaches the greatest importance to disability awareness training for all transport operators. Following consultation with both licensing authorities and the taxi trade, the Department of Transport has produced a video aimed at taxi drivers which deals specifically with disability awareness issues. Much of the information is directed to drivers of wheelchair accessible vehicles, but much of the practical advice is also applicable to drivers of saloon cars, for example on how to assist people with sensory impairments. The video is entitled "Call A Cab" and is available on free loan from the Department of Transport's mobility unit.
The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee which advises the Secretary of State on transport issues affecting disabled people has recently set up a sub-committee to look specifically at the issue of accessible taxis. I know that one of the first topics it will be tackling is driver training and I look forward with interest to receiving its proposals.
Column 119
Passenger Carrying Vehicle Test
Mr. Shersby : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of drivers pass the passenger carrying vehicle test at (a) the first attempt, (b) the second attempt and (c) the third attempt.
Mr. Key : Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Driving Standards Agency under its chief executive, Dr. John Ford. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given. Letter from S. J. Ford to Mr. Michael Shersby, dated 7 March 1994 :
The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your Question about the percentage of drivers who pass the passenger carrying vehicle test (PCV) at their first, second or third attempt. We do not routinely collect this information as it does not directly affect the operation of the Agency.
For consistency of testing, and in fairness to the candidate, it is preferable if the examiner is not made aware of the number of previous attempts a candidate has made at a test. The overall pass rate on PCV tests in the last two financial years was :
|Per cent.
------------------------------
1991-92 |56
1992-93 |53
As part of our second Customer Survey, completed last year--the results of which were published in September--we asked a random sample of all our customers whether it was their first test or a repeat attempt. Of 355 people in the sample who had recently taken their PCV test, 81 per cent. had just passed ; of these passes, 40 per cent. were at the first attempt, 33 per cent. at the second, 18 per cent. at the third and 7 per cent. at the fourth.
Buses and Coaches (Children)
Mr. Don Foster : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list (a) those local education authorities operating a three-to-two seats policy on school buses and (b) those local education authorities operating a policy of one child to one seat ; what plans he has to change his Department's three children to two seats policy on school buses ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Key : The information requested is not kept centrally. As part of a wider review of bus and coach safety my Department is reviewing the concession which allows three children, under the age of 14, to share a double seat and count as two passengers.
Mrs. Golding : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to limit the number of young children that can be carried on coaches without the use of seatbelts to two on each seat.
Mr. Key : As part of a wider review of bus and coach safety my Department is reviewing the concession which allows three children, under the age of 14, to share a double seat and count as two passengers.
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