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Railway Lines (Ultrasonic Testing)
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what assessment he has made of the implications for safety in the national rail network arising from not using angle probe techniques in the ultrasonic testing of railway lines; [143560]
- (2) if ultrasonic testing of railway lines at the site of the Hitchin crash included angle probe ultrasonic testing in the period prior to the crash; [143558]
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(3) if ultrasonic testing of railway lines on site throughout the UK rail network included angle probe ultrasonic testing as a matter of routine. [143559]
Mr. Hill: Railtrack advise that angle probe techniques are applied in ultrasonic testing of railway lines and these testing procedures are contained in Railtrack's Line Standards RT/CE/S/055.
Balfour Beatty Report
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will place a copy of the Balfour Beatty maintenance audit report on railway stewardship of August in the Library. [143557]
Mr. Hill: This is a commercial matter between Railtrack and Balfour Beatty.
Heat-treated Rails
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what proportion of Railtrack's (a) current and (b) future renewal programme involves the use of heat-treated rails. [143552]
Mr. Hill: None. There is an embargo on the future use of mill heat treatment (MHT) rail pending investigations following the Hatfield incident.
Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the safety and usage implications for the life of railway lines arising out of the use of (a) heat-treated and (b) non-heat treated railway lines on the national rail network. [143553]
Mr. Hill: No such assessment has been made by either the Health and Safety Executive or Railtrack.
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London Underground
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much Government funding has been made available during the last 12 months for the improvement of London Underground stations; and if he will make a statement. [143530]
Mr. Hill: Government funding is provided to support LUL's overall investment programme. It is a matter for LUL to determine how the funds available for investment, including the funds which LUL generates internally, are allocated. In the last complete financial year (1999-2000) expenditure on station improvements totalled £52 million.
Rough Sleepers
Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many people he estimates are sleeping rough in the Greater London area. [143531]
Ms Armstrong: Figures published in August showed that as of June 2000 there were an estimated 546 people sleeping rough in Greater London on any single night. A breakdown of this figure by local authority area is available in the Library of the House. A street count was carried out in central London on 11 December and provisional estimates suggest that the number of people sleeping rough has reduced by around 100. The result of this count is being collated and will be made available to the House in the new year.
Regeneration (Liverpool)
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions which regeneration projects in Liverpool have been assisted by Partnership Investment Programme funding; and how much funding has been allocated to each. [143174]
Ms Beverley Hughes [holding answer 18 December 2000]: The following is a list of all PIP projects in Liverpool since 1994.
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(20) Over £100,000, 1994 to date
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"The Future of Aviation"
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions for what reason copies of the national consultation document, "The Future of Aviation", were not made available in the Vote Office and no ministerial statement made to the House at the time of publication. [143448]
Mr. Mullin: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 11 December 2000, Official Report, column 25W. This statement informed the House that the consultation document would be published the following day. The consultation document does not contain any new statements of Government policy. Copies of the consultation document were received in the Libraries of the House and in the Vote Office on the day of publication, Tuesday 12 December. However, due to an oversight they did arrive late to the Vote Office.
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