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Written Answers to Questions
Wednesday 22 February 1995
DUCHY OF LANCASTER
Correspondence
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many letters were received in the Department from hon. Members last month.
Mr. David Hunt: A total of 67 letters were received in the Department from hon. Members last month.
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many letters were sent to hon. Members last month by each Minister in the Department.
Mr. David Hunt: I sent a total of 89 letters to hon. Members last month while my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary, sent a total of 40.
TRANSPORT
Nuclear Material (Sea Transport)
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the International Maritime Organisation code of practice on the sea transport of nuclear material of November 1993 was incorporated into United Kingdom law.
Mr. Norris: The International Maritime Organisation's code for the safe carriage of irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium and high level radioactive wastes in flasks on board ships, agreed in November 1993, has not been incorporated into United Kingdom law. The code is voluntary and few states have incorporated it into law. Ships carrying such cargoes to or from United Kingdom ports will be expected to comply with the code's requirement. In the case of United Kingdom-registered ships carrying such cargoes, letters of compliance with the code would be issued by the Marine Safety Agency if it was satisfied that the ships so complied. Foreign flagged ships are required to have letters of compliance issued by their marine administrations.
MOT
Mr. Barry Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what estimate he has made of the number of lives which have been saved by the MOT system during the last 30 years;
(2) what estimate he has made of how much it has cost, and how much extra mileage has been travelled to carry out MOTs in the last 30 years;
(3) how many people have been employed by the MOT system during the last 30 years.
Mr. Norris: The information requested can be provided, if available, only at disproportionate cost.
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Bus Operations, Greater Manchester
Mr. Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he holds about the number of occasions on which bus operators in Greater Manchester have been (a) warned about safety defects on their buses and (b) ordered to cease operation of buses because of safety reasons for each year since 1990.
Mr. Norris: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Non-departmental Public Bodies (Pay)
Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department which will (a) follow the pay arrangements of the sponsoring Department and (b) pursue an independent and separate route under the delegated pay option (i) from April 1995 and (ii) from April 1996.
Mr. Norris: Four NDPBs sponsored by my Department have paid staff. The pay arrangements for all of these will be unchanged in April 1995.
For April 1996 the Trinity House Lighthouse Service, the Northern Lighthouse board and the London Regional passenger committee intend to follow the Department's central pay arrangements, or other existing analogues where appropriate; the traffic director for London has not yet decided his future arrangements.
West Coast Main Line
Mr. Foulkes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reasons the Minister of State cancelled his presentation to the west coast main line all-party committee; what is the current position regarding the west coast main line feasibility study; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Watts: I am currently awaiting advice from Railtrack on the implementation strategy for the project. Once I have that advice, I will be in a better position to discuss the way forward with the committee.
The planned meeting was cancelled after I had consulted with the joint chairmen of the committee. I have written to all members of the committee who attended the cancelled meeting.
P-plate
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consideration he has given to introducing a system by which newly qualified drivers are required by law to display a P-plate on their vehicle to identify to other drivers that they are still inexperienced; what representations he has received on this subject; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norris: The introduction of probationary plates--P-plates--was one of the options included for comment in the new driver safety consultation paper of August 1993. This option received a mixed response from consultees and it was decided to consider it further when the full results were available of a study into the use of "Restricted" plates in Northern Ireland. This study has recently been completed; it concluded that "Restricted" plates did not have a discernible effect on accident reduction.
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Railways
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of railway track are in areas of the country where train drivers are unable to communicate with signal boxes by telephone.
Mr. John Watts: At present, no more than 500 miles of the rail network--representing approximately 5 per cent. of the route mileage--are in areas not covered by the national radio network which enables these communications to take place. Within the next 12 months, as a result of a substantial investment programme, this will be reduced to 200 miles-- representing approximately 2 per cent. of the route mileage--excluding tunnels and deep cuttings. Complete coverage by the national radio network is not reasonably practicable.
Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles
Mr. Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will announce proposals for the future of the taxi and private hire vehicle trades.
Mr. Norris: The Government have today published their response to the Transport Select Committee's fourth report on taxi and private hire vehicles. The response, Command Paper 2715, forms the Government's official statement on the outcome of the taxi review. The most important features of the response are:
Taxis will continue to have the exclusive right to ply for hire--that is, be hailed--in the street and at ranks. Private hire vehicles, including minicabs, will not be allowed to ply for hire in the street. They will have to be booked in advance as now.
For reasons of public safety, particularly of vulnerable passengers, private hire vehicles, minicabs, in London will be subject to a form of control similar to that operating outside London. This will include criminal record checks for drivers, and may include a test to ensure they have an adequate knowledge of the roads in the area whey they are based.
A requirement will be introduced that all taxis shall be accessible to people who are wheelchair users. However, this requirement will be phased in over a period of several years, to give taxi owners time to replace their vehicles. In those places where there are existing target dates for taxis to become wheelchair accessible, they will still be expected to meet them. This requirement will not mean that all taxis will have to be London "black cabs"; local authorities will be able to license any vehicle which is wheelchair accessible and which meets such additional requirements as are considered necessary to meet local conditions. The power of district councils to restrict taxi numbers will be phased out over a number of years to give some protection to those who have made considerable investment in taxi plates--licences. However, there will be no reduction in quality control. Licensing authorities will be able to apply for a derogation from abolition of number control from the Department of Transport in exceptional circumstances.
The aim is to replace the existing legislation in due course. Copies of the response are available from the Vote Office.
Aircraft Noise Levels
Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the noise levels on take-off created by (a) the Ilyushin 76 and (b) the Antonov 12.
Mr. Norris: Noise certification data provided by the Russian Civil Aviation Authority show that at a
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certificated take-off weight of 170 tonnes, the IL-76TD with D-30KP engines has a noise level of 102.7 EPNdB--sideline- -and 103.1 EPNdB--flyover. Equivalent data do not exist for the AN-12 but its estimated performance is within the range 93 to 95.9 EPNdB at a take- off weight of 61 tonnes.Correspondence
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many letters were received in the Department from hon. Members last month.
Mr. Norris: In January this year, 1,290 letters were received in the Department of Transport from hon. Members.
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many letters were sent to hon. Members last month by each Minister in the Department.
Mr. Norris: In January this year, 1,935 letters were sent to hon. Members by Ministers in the Department of Transport. This breaks down by Minister as follows: