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Column 375
Written Answers to Questions
Friday 25 November 1994
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Children Act
Mr. Gapes: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what guidelines have been issued to the judiciary and family courts on section 8 orders of the Children Act 1989; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. John M. Taylor: Guidelines are available to the judiciary and family courts in a range of authoritative
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commentaries on the Children Act, which will include section 8 in the form of law reports on decided cases and, notably, the Children Act 1989 guidance and regulations, published by HMSO. In addition, in its last report, the Children Act advisory committee highlighted important cases, which included section 8 cases. Copies of the report are sent to all family judiciary.Legal Aid
Mr. Steen: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he will issue the consultation paper setting out proposals for change to the legal aid system; if he will alter the legal aid means of assessment; how much public money has been granted in criminal and civil cases in each of the last 10 years to applicants in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement on the cases for each of the next three years.
Mr. John M. Taylor: A consultation paper on eligibility for legal aid will be issued shortly that will canvass a number of proposals for change. The legal aid cost of civil and criminal cases, including the cost of legal advice and assistance, in each of the last 10 years, in £ million, was as follows:
1984-85 |1985-86|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93|1993-94 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 271 |317 |360 |427 |474 |566 |683 |906 |1,093 |1,210
It is estimated that the number of legal aid acts of assistance will grow to more than 4 million over the next three years.
TRANSPORT
Bus Services (London)
Mr. Austin-Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action he proposes to take concerning the waiting times and reliability of bus services in London.
Mr. Norris: We are taking action in a number of areas. The London bus passengers charter incorporates tough quality of service targets which we set London Transport, covering areas such as waiting times and reliability of bus services. The charter provides a clear framework for bus operators to improve performance by focusing on the needs and views of their customers.
Privatisation of the London Transport bus operating companies will bring the innovation and market responsiveness of the private sector to the provision of all London's bus services. Competitive tendering of London Transport's bus routes will ensure that services are provided as efficiently and cost effectively as possible. We will continue to support the development of a wide range of bus priority measures, with the aim of improving bus flows and making the bus a more attractive option for passengers. London Transport has installed electronic countdown signs on a number of London bus routes showing when to expect the next bus. The New Roads and Streetworks Act 1991 provides for the establishment of street works registers, which will enable London Transport to devise the most effective measures to reduce the impact of essential roadworks on bus services.
Mr. Austin-Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish a list of average waiting times
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for a bus in each of the London boroughs; and if he will make a statement.Mr. Norris: The information is as follows. It covers performance in quarter 2 1994 95, 26 June 17 September 1994:
Boroughs |Waiting Time (mins)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Barking and Dagenham |7.04
Barnet |6.44
Bexley |7.40
Brent |6.03
Bromley |7.01
Camden |6.13
City |6.95
Croydon |6.40
Ealing |6.19
Enfield |5.40
Greenwich |7.48
Hackney |6.03
Hammersmith and Fulham |6.75
Haringey |5.95
Harrow |7.01
Havering |6.56
Hillingdon |6.13
Hounslow |6.56
Islington |6.12
Kensington and Chelsea |6.59
Kingston |6.77
Lambeth |6.88
Lewisham |6.97
Merton |8.02
Newham |7.06
Redbridge |6.95
Richmond |6.36
Southwark |6.87
Sutton |7.02
Tower Hamlets |6.87
Waltham Forest |7.00
Wandsworth |7.56
Westminster |6.22
Those figures relate only to high frequency services, for which a timetable is not generally published and most of which have weekday peak frequencies of five buses per hour or more.
Mr. Austin-Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish for each London borough the percentage chance of waiting 10 to 30 minutes for a bus; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Norris: Information on waiting times is as follows. It covers performance in quarter 2 1994 95, 26 June 17 September 1994:
Chance of Waiting Per cent.
|Less than |10-20 |Over 30
Boroughs |10 minutes|minutes |20-30 |minutes
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Barking and
Dagenham |75.12 |21.80 |2.59 |0.49
Barnet |79.38 |17.94 |2.22 |0.46
Bexley |73.27 |22.23 |3.57 |0.83
Brent |80.75 |16.76 |2.12 |0.37
Bromley |75.04 |21.00 |3.20 |0.77
Camden |80.07 |17.03 |2.40 |0.50
City |75.28 |20.34 |3.38 |1.00
Croydon |78.58 |18.18 |2.72 |0.52
Ealing |80.43 |17.18 |2.03 |0.36
Enfield |85.60 |13.02 |1.22 |0.16
Greenwich |71.63 |23.08 |3.96 |1.03
Hackney |80.79 |16.47 |2.23 |0.51
Hammersmith
and Fulham |76.41 |19.49 |3.23 |0.87
Haringey |82.39 |15.48 |1.72 |0.40
Harrow |74.58 |22.41 |2.71 |0.30
Havering |78.55 |19.02 |1.98 |0.45
Hillingdon |80.70 |17.18 |1.90 |0.23
Hounslow |78.20 |18.13 |3.07 |0.60
Islington |80.31 |16.77 |2.41 |0.51
Kensington
and Chelsea |77.11 |18.48 |3.44 |0.97
Kingston |77.15 |19.61 |2.79 |0.46
Lambeth |75.50 |19.62 |3.83 |1.05
Lewisham |74.70 |21.14 |3.38 |0.78
Merton |68.77 |24.53 |5.33 |1.37
Newham |74.94 |21.32 |2.96 |0.79
Redbridge |75.72 |20.98 |2.69 |0.62
Richmond |79.08 |17.69 |2.74 |0.50
Southwark |75.35 |20.22 |3.54 |0.89
Sutton |74.73 |21.90 |2.86 |0.51
Tower Hamlets |75.63 |20.37 |3.15 |0.85
Waltham Forest |75.92 |20.87 |2.58 |0.62
Wandsworth |71.72 |22.23 |4.58 |1.47
Westminster |79.50 |16.96 |2.82 |0.73
This information relates to high frequency services, for which a timetable is not generally published, and most of which have weekday peak frequencies of five buses per hour or more.
Airports
Mr. William O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the provision of assistance to United Kingdom airports under the plans for the trans-European network.
Mr. Norris: The Commission proposal for a trans-European transport network and the related
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financing proposal are still under discussion and are not expected to be agreed until the middle of next year.Foreign Lorries
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which Governments intend to, or already have, imposed transit taxes on British trucks using their roads; at what rates; what representations he has made (a) to the Governments concerned and (b) to the EEC Commission to stop such taxes; and whether he intends to impose similar taxes on foreign lorries using United Kingdom roads.
Mr. Norris: Within the European Union Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg and the Netherlands intend to introduce in 1995 a joint scheme for charging goods vehicles over 12 tonnes gross weight for the use of any part of the motorway network in those countries. The scheme will apply to all such vehicles, without discrimination, including those registered in those five countries. An annual permit will cost 1,250 ecu, approximately £980, for vehicles with four or more axles and 750 ecu, approximately £590, for vehicles with two or three axles. Permits will also be available for a month, a week or a day at roughly proportional rates. The scheme is permitted under Council directive 93/89/EEC on the taxation and charging of heavy goods vehicles. The principles of the scheme and the rates to be charged were fully discussed by the Transport Council before it adopted the directive.
On joining the Union Austria will adapt the road charging scheme it has operated for heavy goods vehicles for many years. Vehicles are charged per tonne of payload per kilometre travelled on Austrian roads up to a maximum of 300 schillings--approximately £17.50--per tonne of payload per month. Austria will make phased reductions in its charges over two years to align them with the maximum permitted in the directive.
Subject to identifying suitable technology, we intend to introduce a system of electronic motorway tolling in Britain for all vehicles, which would apply to foreign as well as British registered vehicles.
Mr. William O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish a report on the European Union's trans-European transport network listing the United Kingdom airports involved in the Community connecting points.
Mr. Norris: The European Commission presented a proposal for the development of a trans-European transport network at the Transport Council on 18 April 1994. The proposal covers general principles and the components of the network. The trans-European airport network would comprise airports of common interest situated within the territory of the Community which are open to commercial air traffic and which comply with specified criteria. On the basis of these criteria, airports would be grouped into three categories according to their function in the network. The Community connecting points would be the largest airports, whose main function is described in the proposal as linking the Community to the rest of the world. Negotiations on the airports network are not yet complete.
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Under the criteria proposed by the European Commission, the United Kingdom airports qualifying as Community connecting points, on the basis of 1993 traffic levels, would be the London airport system--Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted--and Manchester and Glasgow airports.Stations (Safety)
Mr. Austin-Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list all stations on British Rail and former British Rail networks and London Underground which are not staffed for any period when they are open to the public; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Watts: No London Underground stations are planned to be unstaffed during the traffic day. The information requested in respect of British Rail and former British Rail networks is not held centrally and is therefore not readily available.
I will write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Austin-Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people were the victims of assault on (a) a Network SouthEast train, (b) a Network SouthEast station, (c) a British Rail station in Greater London and (d) a British Rail train in Greater London for each year from 1979; and how many in each year were women.
Mr. Watts: The former Network SouthEast operational area fell within two of the British Transport Police's operational areas--London north and London south. The tables show reported crime on British Rail and the London Underground for London north and London south for the period 1 April 1992 to 31 March 1994. Comparable information before April 1992 is not readily available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
All Crimes
|London |London
Year |Month |(North) |(South)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1992 |(from April)|12,570 |13,926
1993 |15,214 |18,481
1994 |(to March) |3,536 |4,218
1992 |April |1,207 |1,196
|May |1,341 |1,317
|June |1,376 |1,528
|July |1,439 |1,695
|August |1,422 |1,656
|September |1,481 |1,636
|October |1,654 |1,726
|November |1,355 |1,647
|December |1,292 |1,510
1993 |January |1,329 |1,538
|February |1,248 |1,541
|March |1,511 |1,569
|April |1,262 |1,435
|May |1,142 |1,534
|June |1,380 |1,513
|July |1,403 |1,626
|August |1,228 |1,584
|September |1,279 |1,587
|October |1,272 |1,493
|November |1,178 |1,547
|December |982 |1,453
1994 |January |1,040 |1,360
|February |1,052 |1,236
|March |1,434 |1,622