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Departmental Environmental Policies
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he has taken to discourage car use by his Department's employees. [51824]
Ms Glenda Jackson: Measures to reduce the environmental impact of transport activities will be included in the Green Transport Plans being prepared for each of the Department's key buildings. The Plans will be completed by end March 1999 and will be tailored to each location and its operational needs.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what activities his Green Minister has undertaken relating to his environmental responsibilities since being appointed. [51828]
Ms Glenda Jackson: As Green Minister for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions I have attended all three meetings of Green Ministers; held a discussion with my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment (in his role as Chair of Green Ministers) to review activity on greening Government with DETR; spoken at one of the regional seminars to launch Opportunities for Change, the Government's consultation on a new sustainable development strategy; issued guidance on Green Transport Plans to Green Ministers in all Departments; issued the Government's Policy Guidance on Environmental Appraisal to DETR staff; and held discussions with key DETR staff to consider systems for environmental appraisal and consider the Department's strategy for greening its operations.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what percentage of his Department's waste is recycled at present; and what targets he has set for the future. [51826]
Angela Eagle: My Department is conducting a survey of its property managers to find out the percentage of waste recycled in 1997-98 and to agree a target to increase that percentage in future years.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the current energy consumption is of his Department; what targets have been set to reduce this level; and what plans there are for including energy efficiency performance figures in his Department's annual report. [51825]
23 Jul 1998 : Column: 684
Angela Eagle:
The latest available energy consumption figures available are for 1996-97. The energy consumption of the then constituent parts of DETR totalled 144,758,340 kWh. My department is working towards achieving government targets described in the Model Policy Statement for Greening Government Operations, and publishing its achievements in its annual report.
Mr. Burstow:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what efforts he has made to raise awareness of environmental and sustainable issues within his Department; and if specific training will be made available to staff where appropriate. [51827]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The Government consultation paper, Opportunities for Change, was put on the Department's internal "intranet"; copies of the accompanying leaflet were circulated to all staff and publicised in the Department's in-house magazine Grassroutes. The Government Offices for the Regions (GORs) organised a programme of regional events, and are now working on the revised strategy. Policy Guidance on environmental appraisal was distributed widely within the Department, its Agencies, NDPBs and GORs in April and placed on the DETR intranet. We are planning further initiatives to foster staff awareness, building on the on-the-job training for staff who work on environmental policy issues, Work of the Department induction courses for staff and internal seminars for staff on the outcome of Kyoto and sustainable development strategy consultation.
Mr. Jenkin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much his Department will provide or has provided to local authorities for road maintenance in each of the years from 1997-98 to 2005-06; and if he will make a statement. [51949]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The majority of the funding for the routine maintenance of local authority roads is provided through one element of the Revenue Support Grant (RSG): the Highways Maintenance Standard Spending Assessment (HMSSA). Additional funding for the structural maintenance of principal roads (local authority "A" Roads) is provided by the TPP system. Figures given in the table are for all English local authorities.
| £ million | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | HMSSA | TPP | Total |
| 1997-98 | 1,759 | 92 | 1,851 |
| 1998-99 | 1,767 | 80 | 1,847 |
| 1999-2000 | 1,813 | 100 | 1,913 |
| 2000-01 | 1,859 | 130 | 1,989 |
| 2001-02 | 1,905 | 180 | 2,085 |
The TPP figures--and therefore the totals--for 1999-2000 to 2001-02 are guidelines. Final allocations for each of these years will be decided following the assessment of local authorities' bids. Expenditure plans have not yet been formulated beyond 2001-02.
23 Jul 1998 : Column: 685
Figures for spending by local authorities on local road maintenance in 1994-95 to 1996-97 were given in an answer on 16 July 1998, Official Report, column 243, to Named Day Question 50885 asked by the hon. Member for Macclesfield (Mr. Winterton).
Mr. Jenkin:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will widen the exemption on red route loading bays to allow the delivery and collection of goods by motorcycle couriers and other light delivery vehicles. [52023]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
Loading bays on the red route network are available to any vehicle carrying out legitimate loading or unloading. This is subject only to the signed limits on time and duration.
Mr. Jenkins:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent representations he has received about the performance of Virgin rail services on (a) the West Coast Mainline and (b) cross country routes; and if he will make a statement. [51907]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
My Department and the Franchising Director's Office have received 72 representations on all aspects of Virgin West Coast performance and 43 representations on Virgin Cross Country performance since the beginning of this year. Virgin Train's performance has been affected recently due to problems with rolling stock and infrastructure on West Coast, and problems with rolling stock on Cross Country. Virgin Trains have taken action to bring about improvements. We look to the Franchising Director to work with Virgin to ensure that improvements are sustained. In his statement on transport policy on 20 July 1998, Official Report, columns 784-88, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister announced our plans to set up a Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) with stronger powers to enforce the delivery of contractual obligations by train operators. We also expect the SRA to specify more demanding performance standards for new or renegotiated franchises.
Mr. Jenkins:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on road safety in (a) Staffordshire and (b) the West Midlands Region. [51905]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
Road safety is a high priority in the West Midlands Region as it is at national level. The Transport White Paper published on 20 July makes it clear that as part of the New Deal for transport we will set a new road safety target for Great Britain for 2010, together with a strategy and programme of measures for achieving it. It is, however, for Staffordshire County Council and the other local authorities in the region to promote and implement, with partners, schemes to improve road safety on roads in their area.
As part of the local safety schemes allocation in the 1998-99 Local Transport Settlement we allocated £0.378 million to Staffordshire County Council and £5.123 million to the West Midlands Region.
23 Jul 1998 : Column: 686
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to paragraph 4.107 of the White Paper, A New Deal for Transport, if Westminster City Council will be empowered to levy charges for workplace parking within the Parliamentary Estate. [51953]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The Government stated in the White Paper that they proposed to legislate to enable the parking charge to apply to all types of workplace parking, wherever situated. We shall issue a consultation document in due course that will discuss, among other things, the institutional arrangements for London.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he intends to publish draft legislation relating to the creation of a strategic rail authority. [51945]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
We shall bring the necessary legislation before Parliament at an early opportunity.
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