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Construction Industry (Safety)
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on his Department's policy towards the setting up of elected safety representatives and safety committees within the construction industry. [91717]
Mr. Meale: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave on 25 January 1999, Official Report, columns 34-35.
Public Transport (Passenger Behaviour)
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will introduce legislation to make it a criminal offence to put feet on seats in public transport. [91550]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
The regulation of passengers' behaviour on trains is already provided for in legislation which gives railway companies the right to make byelaws. The existing railway byelaws and London Transport byelaws make it a criminal offence for any person to wilfully soil or deface any furniture on a train, and this
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would normally catch behaviour such as placing feet on a seat. The train operating companies and London Transport are also in the process of making new byelaws, and have submitted them to the Secretary of State for approval. These include a provision that no person shall soil any part of the railway.
With regard to buses or coaches, the Public Service Vehicle (Conduct of Drivers, Inspectors, Conductors and Passengers) Regulations 1990 give drivers the power to remove passengers from their vehicle if they are causing a nuisance or intentionally interfering with any equipment fitted to the vehicle. These powers would be sufficient to deal with the problem of passengers putting their feet on bus or coach seats.
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many individuals his Department has recruited under the New Deal for Young People. [91889]
Mr. Meale:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minster for the Cabinet Office to my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart) on 25 May 1999, Official Report, column 116. However, the current number of individuals recruited under the New Deal is eight 18-24 years olds.
Mrs. Brinton:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will instruct the Government regional offices to hold seminars to assist the dissemination of best practice among local authorities in the production of countryside traffic strategies. [91799]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
Government Offices have been working closely with Local Authorities in the preparation of local transport plans (LTPs). Provisional LTPs are to be submitted later this month and we are currently considering the most effective way of disseminating the "best practice" which emerges.
The Countryside Commission, now the Countryside Agency, published, in 1997, an advisory booklet entitled "Rural Traffic: Getting it Right" which provides general advice on developing traffic strategies for rural areas. Further advice on good practice will be issued once the results of the studies carried out by the Countryside Agency's Countryside Traffic Measures Group are available. Officials from my Department are participating in these studies.
Mr. Jim Cunningham:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what action he is taking to prevent nuclear contamination to the area surrounding BNFL's reprocessing plant at Sellafield; [91596]
Mr. Meale:
Radioactive discharges must be authorised by the Environment Agency under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993. When considering an application
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for authorisation, the Environment Agency must be satisfied that the possible radiation dose to those members of the public at greatest risk will not exceed levels prescribed by the Government. In addition, the operators must show that the exposure will be as low as reasonably achievable, taking into account economic and social factors.
Radioactive discharges and their effect on the environment are monitored by the nuclear industry under the terms of their disposal authorisations. The Environment Agency and MAFF monitor radioactivity in the environment and in foodstuffs. The Environment Agency conducts monitoring of drinking water, rain water and air quality on behalf of my Department, in addition to the monitoring it undertakes in support of its regulatory functions under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993. The results of this monitoring are regularly published in "Radioactivity in the Environment" by the Environment Agency and in "Radioactivity in Food and the Environment" by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Also the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) publishes regular reviews "Radiation Exposure of the UK Population".
The latest edition of NRPB's "Radiation Exposure of the UK Population", published in 1993, estimated the average annual doses to the UK population from all sources of ionising radiation as 2,600 micro Sieverts. Of this 0.4 micro Sieverts was estimated to come from discharges of radioactive waste, the majority of which emanates from Sellafield. In a summary publication in 1996, "Living with Radiation", the average dose remained the same but the contribution from discharges had fallen to 0.2 micro Sieverts.
I am not aware of any reason why the effect on the public in Coventry should be different from the effect on the public generally.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what contacts there have been between Ministers in his Department and representatives of or advisers to Central Railways; [91991]
Ms Glenda Jackson:
This reply covers the period since 1 May 1997. No central record is kept of such contacts but I am aware that representatives of Central Railways have kept my officials informed, by way of meetings and correspondence, of their preparation of a scheme for a railway freight line between Liverpool and the Channel Tunnel. I understand that the last meeting took place last October. All contacts by my officials are without prejudice to consideration of any scheme that may eventually be submitted under the Transport and Works Act 1992. Central Railways have also written to Ministers in this Department enclosing an information brochure about the scheme. I am not aware, however, of any meetings between Ministers in my Department and representatives of Central Railways about the scheme.
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Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) when the letter from the hon. Member for Thurrock to the Minister for London and Construction relating to the Minister's planned visit to Poland was received in the Department; to whom it was circulated; and for what purposes it was circulated to persons other than the Minister; [91977]
(3) for what reasons the letter sent by the hon. Member for Thurrock to the Minister for London and Construction prior to the Minister's visit to Poland, concerning that visit, was not brought to the Minister's attention; [91979]
(4) what the circumstances were in which his Department's response to the letter from the hon. Member for Thurrock concerning the visit of the Minister for London and Construction to Poland was mislaid; and if he will make a statement. [91978]
Mr. Raynsford:
I have now replied to the faxed letter received by the Department on 8 June. The letter was copied to the official in the Department who was dealing with the organisation of the visit to Poland for his information. However, as a result of an administrative error the letter was not brought to my attention until 15 July. I have asked officials to review procedures to ensure that no similar error occurs again.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what action he is taking to achieve the Government's target of 60 per cent. of
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additional housing to be built on previously developed land; what assessment he has made of Urban Task Force's prediction of the percentage which will be achieved by 2021; and if he will make a statement. [92066]
Mr. Caborn:
A range of measures which will help deliver the Government's 60 per cent. target have already been set out in revised Planning Policy Guidance on Housing (PPG3), on which my Department has recently consulted. The Government are still considering the report of the Urban Task Force and their response will be set out in due course in the Urban and Rural White Papers.
(2) what studies he has commissioned to determine the effect nuclear wastes from Sellafield have had on the public (a) generally and (b) in Coventry. [91597]
(2) what contacts there have been between officials in his Department and representatives of or advisers to Central Railways. [91990]
(2) if the letter from the hon. Member for Thurrock to the Minister for London and Construction concerning the Minister's visit to Poland was brought to the Minister's attention prior to his discussion with the hon. Member for Thurrock on 13 July; [91980]
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