| Home Page |
Column 175
Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 8 June 1993
ATTORNEY-GENERAL
Departmental Buildings
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Attorney-General if he will list the buildings currently owned or rented by his Department, together with (a) the estimated value, (b) the annual rent and (c) the annual maintenance cost of each building in the current financial year.
The Attorney-General : The Departments for which I am responsible-- the legal secretariat to the Law Officers, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Treasury Solicitor's Department and the Serious Fraud Office--occupy accommodation in 148 buildings in England and Wales, all of which form part of the common user estate which is administered by Property Holdings. The Secretary of State for the Environment will include the rent and maintenance costs borne by Property Holdings of this accommodation in his answer to a similar question from the hon. Member. The internal maintenance costs for the accommodation, when borne by Departments, are included with expenditure for other works and the information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Column 176
The Crown Prosecution Service rents accommodation directly at only one site, for which the annual rent is £12,000 and the annual maintenance charge is £1,500.TRANSPORT
Trans-Pennine Crossing
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what considerations he imposed on Transportation Planning Associates, the consultants appointed to carry out the trans-Pennine study, over the use of data gathered as part of the study for purposes beyond the preparation of their report.
Mr. Key : It is my Department's practice that consultants may make use of published reports for their own purposes, but that any unpublished material remains the Department's intellectual property. The Department's permission must be sought before unpublished material is used for consultants' own purposes or made available to outside parties.
Warren Spring Laboratory
Ms Walley : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many research contracts he has awarded to Warren Spring Laboratory in the last two years ; if he will provide full details of each contract ; and what arrangements for research into (a) vehicle emissions and (b) clean-up technology for oil spillages he envisages on the next 12 months.
The following contracts have been let :
Column 175
Title |Date let |Duration ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Technical advice on aircraft emissions/air quality |April 1991 |1 year Hazards from residual fuel oils |June 1991 |8 months Clean up of rocky shorelines |October 1991 |6 months Oil thickness measurement |November 1991 |3 years Bulk cargoes: Japanese penetration method |December 1991 |3 months Sampling of operational discharge at sea |January 1992 |4 months Drainage and settlement: Iron ore concentrate-Phase 3 |January 1992 |4 months Technical advice on aircraft emissions/air quality |April 1992 |1 year Review of bioremediation techniques |April 1992 |9 months Use of demulsifiers |June 1992 |3 years Fate of chemicals feasibility study |June 1992 |6 months Review of refined products |June 1992 |20 months Dispersion-natural and chemically enhanced |July 1992 |6 months Feasibility study to forecast fuel consumption and exhaust emissions |September 1992|8 months Eurospill (oil spill model) Extension |September 1992|9 months Vapour cloud dispersion |October 1992 |6 months Review of sorbents |October 1992 |1 year Drainage and settlement: Iron ore concentrate-Phase 4 |October 1992 |8 months Emission tests on catalyst cars |November 1992 |2 months In-situ burning of oil |November 1992 |3 months Inservice performance of oily water separators and bilge monitors |November 1992 |3 months Modelling of sinking chemicals |February 1993 |4 months Assessment of emission abatement (cold conditions) |March 1993 |2 years
The Department's plans for future research are set out in our research newsletter for 1993-94, copies of which are in the Library of the House.
Transport Research Laboratory
Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the budget of the Transport Research Laboratory in each of the last three years and the current year.
Column 176
Mr. Key : The Transport Research Laboratory became an executive agency on 1 April 1992, and expenditure information was published in the "Department of Transport Report 1993", Cm 2206. It is repeated in the table for the years in question.
|£ million
----------------------------------------------
1990-91 Outturn |32.6
1991-92 Outturn |35.2
1992-93 Estimated Outturn |38.2
1993-94 Plans |34.1
Maritime Safety
Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will support the efforts of the Turkish Government to improve the safety standards of international shipping in the Bosphorus.
Mr. Norris : The Turkish Government put forward an information paper at the last meeting of the maritime safety committee of the International Maritime Organisation, which outlined proposals for improved control of navigation in the Bosphorus. Our policy is to support all sound initiatives for improving the safety of shipping, and we shall offer constructive assistance when the Turkish Government submit formal proposals to the International Maritime Organisation.
Channel Tunnel
Mr. Rowe : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has for progressing further the consultation on the channel tunnel rail link, in particular with reference to the Boxley valley.
Mr. Freeman : Union Railways will be arranging special meetings for two sections of the route of Ashford and Detling to Boxley. For each of these sections, more than one route option was identified in Union Railway's report. I am clear that, based on the facts in the report, the route for consultation announced by the Government in March is the right choice. The special meetings will be an opportunity for those concerned about the choice between route options to satisfy themselves on all the facts, and for material factual differences, if any, to be identified and brought to Ministers' attention.
Cash Limits
Mr. Dunn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes he proposes to make to the cash limits and running costs limits for his Department for 1993-94.
Mr. MacGregor : Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary revised estimate, the cash limit for class VI, vote 5 will be reduced by £5,801,000 from £495,744,000 to £489,943,000. This reduction will be offset by a corresponding increase on the Department of Transport/local authority capital non-voted cash limit from £451,334, 000 to £457,135,000 to enable the Greater Manchester passenger transport executive to repay public transport facilities grant following the receipt of European regional development fund grant and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
Railway Rolling Stock
Mr. Milburn : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will show the number of (a) locomotives, (b) high-speed trains and (c) coaching vehicles owned by British Rail in 1979 and 1992.
Mr. Freeman : The information requested is as follows :
|1979 |1992
-----------------------------------------------------
Locomotives
Diesel |3,261 |1,634
Electric |310 |262
High speed trains (power units) |136 |197
Coaching vehicles |20,963|12,925
Source: British Railways Board Annual Report and
Accounts 1979 and 1991-92.
Marine Oil Spills
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give the time of call and country of destination of radio communication calls from the MV Braer via Wick Radio, Shetland Radio or Collafirth Radio between 8 am on 4 January and 5 am on 5 January.
Mr. Wallace : To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will detail the steps taken by his Department and the marine pollution control unit in response to recommendations 74 and 75 in the eighth report of the Royal Commission on environmental pollution regarding the use of dispersants to deal with oil spills ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norris : I refer the hon. Member to pollution paper No. 20 of 1983, which sets out the Government response to the royal commission report. Since its publication, the MPCU has considerably increased its capacity for dealing with oil spills and, with its contractor Air Atlantique and with Warren Spring Laboratory, has developed considerable expertise in the use of aerial spraying of dispersants and aerial surveillance. In addition, the MPCU has four ship-based oil recovery systems ready to deploy in vessels of opportunity and stockpiles of booms, skimmers and other recovery and clean-up equipment. Details of the arrangements for dealing with pollution arising from spillages of oil from ships into the marine environment are set out in the marine pollution control unit's national contingency plan. This was revised in May 1993 and copies have been placed in the Library of the House.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Ethnic Minorities (Employment)
Mr. Gerrard : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those organisations which have made representations to him regarding proposed cuts in funding under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966.
Mr. Peter Lloyd : In addition to letters from, or on behalf of, staff, governors or parents from schools and other educational institutions, written observations have been received from the following :
Age Concern
Association of County Councils
Association of LEA Advisory Officers for Multicultural Education Association of London Authorities
Association of Metropolitan Authorities
Association of Teachers and Lecturers
County of Avon
Bedfordshire County Council
Berkshire County Council
Birmingham City Council
Blackburn Racial Equality Council
Column 179
Bolton Metropolitan Borough CouncilLondon Borough of Brent
Bristol City Council
Buckinghamshire County Council
Burnley and Pendle Racial Equality Council
Burnley Borough Council
Burton-on-Trent Pakistani Welfare Association
Bury Metropolitan Borough Council
Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council
Cambridgeshire County Council
London Borough of Camden
Cleveland County Council
Coventry City Council
Coventry Racial Equality Council
London Borough of Croydon
Derbyshire County Council
Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council
London Borough of Ealing
East Sussex County Council
London Borough of Enfield
Enfield Racial Equality Council
Free Church Federal Council
Gloucester City Council
Gosford Asian Group
London Borough of Greenwich
London Borough of Hackney
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
Hampshire County Council
London Borough of Harrow
Harrow Council for Racial Justice
Hemel Hemstead Muslim Welfare Association
Hereford and Worcester County Council
London Borough of Hillingdon
London Borough of Hounslow
Humberside County Council
London Borough of Islington
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Kensington and Chelsea Teachers Association
Kent County Council
Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council
Lancashire County Council
Leeds City Council
Leicester City Council
Leicestershire County Council
Leicestershire Gujerati Hindu Association
The Library Association
Lincolnshire County Council
London Boroughs Association
London Borough of Lewisham
London Boroughs Grants Unit
Manchester City Council
London Borough of Merton
Merton African Caribbean Association
Middlesbrough Borough Council
National Association of Headteachers
National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers National Union of Teachers
Newcastle Upon Tyne City Council
London Borough of Newham
Newham Bengali National Association
Northamptonshire Race Relations Advisory Council
North Staffordshire Racial Equality Council
Northern Race Relations Advisers Group
Norwich City Council
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council
Preston Borough Council
| Next Section
| Home Page |