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British Railways (Surplus Land)
Helen Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how the BR board are to conduct their review of surplus land. [54943]
Ms Glenda Jackson: The Government announced in the White Paper "A New Deal For Transport: Better for Everyone" that the British Railways Board was suspending land sales while it conducted an audit of the remaining sites. These amount to some 1,200, with a book value of about £137 million.
The Board will immediately enter into discussions with key players in the rail industry on the latter's plans for the future. It will report to the Government, as the review progresses, on sites which in the light of these discussions appear to the Board to have a realistic prospect of use for transport purposes in the foreseeable future, so that they may in due course be offered for sale to Railtrack, the rail businesses, other transport operators and relevant local authorities at open market value.
Sites which appear to the Board to have no realistic use for transport purposes in the foreseeable future will be put on sale, but local authorities and the rail industry will be given at least two months notice of the intention to sell any site in the category so that they will still have full opportunity to bid for it. The Board will consider sympathetically any request to delay the sale of such a site where it can be shown that a transport use is already under active consideration.
Mr. Viggers:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact of the Fastship project. [53964]
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Mr. Spellar:
I have been asked to reply.
I will write to the hon. Member and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Sheerman:
To ask the President of the Council if he will make a statement on his policy in respect of the organisations which are requested to suggest names for public appointment. [53383]
Dr. Jack Cunningham:
I have been asked to reply.
I regret that it has not been possible to provide an answer before the Summer Recess. I shall therefore write to my hon. Friend and will place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.
Annual Report
Mr. Burgon: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when the Government intend to publish their annual report. [54137]
Dr. Jack Cunningham: My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has today published the Government's Annual Report 97/98 (CM 3969). Copies of the document are available from the Vote Office and the Libraries of both Houses.
Asbestos
Mr. Cox: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what guidance his Department issues to those constructing buildings for which it is responsible on the use of materials containing asbestos. [52307]
Mr. Kilfoyle: I regret that it has not been possible to provide an answer before the Summer Recess. I shall therefore write to my hon. Friend and will place a copy of the letter in the Library.
Departmental Publications
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many of his Department's publications have been made available in (a) Braille, (b) audio tape and (c) large print in 1997-98; and what percentage of the total number of publications this represents. [54262]
Dr. Jack Cunningham: I regret that it has not been possible to provide an answer before the Summer Recess. I shall therefore write to the hon. Member and will place a copy of the letter in the Library.
Electronic Red Box
Mr. Chope:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Lichfield (Mr. Fabricant) of 8 July 1998, Official Report, column 567, on the electronic red box, if the new prototype is now in use in his office; and if he will make a statement. [54577]
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Dr. Jack Cunningham:
I am aware of the innovative work done by my predecessor my right hon. Friend the Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark). The prototype is not currently in use in my office.
Mr. Chope:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bournemouth, East (Mr. Atkinson) of 8 July 1998, Official Report, column 565, on millennium compliance, if he will write to all hon. Members during the summer to report the results of the next quarterly report. [54515]
Dr. Jack Cunningham:
I regret that it has not been possible to provide an answer before the Summer Recess. I shall therefore write to the hon. Member and will place a copy of the letter in the Library.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, pursuant to his answer of 30 March 1998, Official Report, column 379, on departmental transport arrangements, what further changes he has made. [54020]
Dr. Jack Cunningham:
I regret that it has not been possible to provide an answer before the Summer Recess. I shall therefore write to the hon. Member and will place a copy of the letter in the Library.
Sir Raymond Powell:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1) what is the estimated cost of relocating part of the Cabinet Office including the new Performance and Innovation Unit and the Centre for Management and Policy Studies in Admiralty Arch; [54705]
(3) what will be the effect of the proposed Cabinet Office move to Admiralty Arch on the homeless unit currently there; how many homeless persons are currently in Admiralty Arch; and what efforts have been made to rehouse them. [54706]
Dr. Jack Cunningham:
I regret that it has not been possible to provide an answer before the Summer Recess. I shall therefore write to my hon. Friend and will place a copy of the letter in the Library.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much his Department expects to spend in each year from 1998-99 to 2000-01 on vehicle replacements. [54997]
Dr. Jack Cunningham:
I regret that it has not been possible to provide an answer before the Summer Recess. I shall therefore write to the hon. Member and will place a copy of the letter in the Library.
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Mr. McNulty:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he will publish the latest figures on his Department's handling of correspondence from hon. Members; and if he will make a statement. [55134]
Dr. Jack Cunningham:
Figures showing the volume of correspondence received by Ministers and Agency Chief Executives from hon. Members in 1997, the targets set for reply and the percentage of replies sent within target are set out in the table. The table also includes comparative figures for 1996--first published on 17 June 1997, Official Report, columns 107-12.
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The Government attach great importance to the effective handling by departments of correspondence from hon. Members, and individual Ministers have already taken action to improve response times where their department's performance has not been satisfactory. However, the nature of correspondence and caseload varies greatly between departments and between agencies. In some departments and agencies, for example, a high proportion of correspondence requires reference to individual casework before a reply can be sent. Targets are set to reflect the particular circumstances of departments and agencies and performance against target is not therefore directly comparable. My Department will be producing shortly central guidance for all departments and agencies reminding them of the correct procedures to be followed when handling Ministerial correspondence.
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(2) what is the estimated cost of setting up the new Centre for Management and Policy Studies in the Cabinet Office; and how many additional civil servants will be employed; [54703]
Notes on 1997 Figures:
(24)
(25) The Intervention Board is not a MAFF Agency but a separate Government Department reporting to MAFF Ministers
(26) Includes correspondence from MPs to the then Deputy Prime Minister
(27) Figures from 1 May 1997 to 31 December 1997
(28) The Department of National Heritage was renamed the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on 14 July 1997
(29) Includes all Ministerial replies, not only replies to Members of Parliament
(30) Excludes 447 letters where Agency Chief Executives replied on Ministers' behalf
(31) The Overseas Development Administration became the Department for International Development on 1 May 1997
(32) Since 1 May 1997, DFID no longer handles correspondence on political matters in Africa. 1996 and 1997 figures are therefore not directly comparable
(33) The former DOE and DOT merged on 1 May 1997 to form the DETR. 1996 correspondence figures for the former DOE and DOT have been added together for ease of reference
(34) 74 per cent. of letters were replied to within 20 working days
(35) In addition, the FCO's migration and visa department received 9,818 letters direct from MPs in 1997, of which 42 per cent. were replied to within 15 working days
(36) HM Prison Service DG cases
(37) UK Passport Agency DG cases
(38) Includes letters from January 1997 where the target time was reduced for IND and UKPA cases from 25 to 15 working days. Excludes letters where Agency Chief Executives have replied on Ministers' behalf
(39) Includes letters from February 1997 where the target time was reduced for HMP cases from 25 to 20 working days. Excludes letters where Agency Chief Executives have replied on Ministers' behalf
(40) The Home Office is reviewing its procedures and has appointed a team to improve the timeliness of Ministerial replies and to establish that its statistics are prepared on the same basis as other departments
(41) Head Office figures
(42) Local Office and "delegated" figures (where local officials reply direct to MPs)
(43) This figure excludes letters which were subsequently replied to by the Director of Public Prosecutions
(44) Part estimated
(45) Includes letters where the Chief Executive has replied on Ministers' behalf
(46) Excludes DOE (NI) which received 368 letters from MPs in 1997 (77 per cent. of which were replied to within 5-15 working days). The figures given in the table, however, include an element of all letters which received a Ministerial reply, where figures for MPs' letters only were not held separately
(47) Includes 208 letters where the Chief Executive replied on Ministers' behalf
(48) Includes 11 letters where the Chief Executive replied on Ministers behalf
(49) The 1996 figures are taken from the Official Report, 17 June 1997, columns 107-112. Please also refer to notes given with that reply. Departments and Agencies which received a total of between 1 and 10 letters from MPs during 1997 are not shown in this table
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