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Road Policy: De-trunking
Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will set out the criteria for de-trunking roads in the United Kingdom; and whether they will list, with the date of de-trunking in each case, those trunk roads that have been de-trunked and those which it is planned to de-trunk.[HL74]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Whitty): We announced in the White Paper A New Deal For Transport that a core network of trunk roads had been identified which links the
main centres of population and provides access to major ports, airports and rail terminals; access to peripheral regions; key cross-Border routes to Scotland and Wales; and includes trans-European network routes. This core comprises some 70 per cent of the existing motorway and all-purpose trunk road network. It is proposed to de-trunk the remaining non-core routes and this is now the subject of detailed discussions with individual local highway authorities. We expect the de-trunking to be phased over a number of years. A list of routes proposed for de-trunking is below.| Road Number | Route Start | Route End |
| A4 | Bristol | Bath |
| A4 | M4 Jct. 5 | M25 Slough |
| A5 | Jct. with A38 | M6 Jct. 12 |
| A6 | Luton | Manchester |
| A7 | Carlisle | Scottish Border |
| A10 | M25 Jct. 25 | King's Lynn |
| A12 | Ipswich | Lowestoft |
| A15 | Lincoln | Jct. with A63 Ferriby |
| A16 | Stamford | Grimsby |
| A17 | King's Lynn | Newark |
| A19 | Thirsk | Selby |
| M32 | Bristol | M4 Jct. 19 |
| A34 | Birmingham | A5011 Cheshire Border |
| A36 | Bath | M27 Jct. 2/Southampton |
| A38 | Birmingham | Jct. A5 |
| A38 | Birmingham | M50 Jct. 1 |
| A39 | Indian Queens | Barnstaple |
| A40 | M40 Jct. 8 | Ross-on-Wye |
| A41 | GLA Boundary | M40 Jct. 9 |
| A41 | M54 Jct. 3 | South of Chester |
| A43 | M1 Jct. 15a | Stamford |
| A44 | A34 Oxford | A40 |
| A45 | Northampton | M45 |
| A45 | A46 | M42 Jct. 6 |
| A46 | M4 Jct. 18 | Bath |
| A47 | Leicester | A1 |
| A48 | A40 Highnam | Welsh Border |
| A49 | M56 Jct. 10 | Shrewsbury |
| A51/A500 | Chester | M6 Jct. 16 |
| A54/A556 | Chester | M6 Jct. 19 |
| A57 | Lincoln | Sheffield |
| A57 | M60/M67 Jct. | Manchester |
| A58 | Leeds | Halifax |
| A59 | M57 Jct. 7/M58 | Preston |
| A59 | M6 Jct. 31 | Skipton |
| A60 | Nottingham | Jct. with A614 |
| A61 | Alfreton | Sheffield |
| A63 | Howden | Leeds |
| A64 | Leeds | A1 |
| A65 | M6 Jct. 36 | Jct. with A660 |
| A134 | King's Lynn | Thetford |
| A140 | Needham Market | Norwich |
| A167 | A1(M) Chester-le-Street | A1(M) Brafferton |
| A339 | M3 Jct. 6 | A34 South of Newbury |
| A361 | Barnstaple | M5 Jct. 27 |
| A361 | Banbury | -- |
| A405 | M10 | A41 |
| A414 | A1(M) | M10 |
| A417 | West of M5 | -- |
| A420 | A34 | A419 |
| A423 | M40 North of Banbury | Coventry |
| A423 | A34 South of Oxford | Heyford Hill roundabout |
| A428 | Jct. with A421 East of Bedford | Northampton |
| A435 | Jct. 3 M42 | Jct. A46 Alcester |
| A446 | Jct. A452 | Jct. A453/A38 |
| A449 | Jct. 6 M5 | Birmingham |
| A449 | Jct. with A5 | M6 Jct. 13 |
| A452 | Jct. with A4041 Birmingham | Brownhills |
| A456 | Birmingham | Kidderminster |
| A465 | Hereford | Welsh Border |
| A516 | Jct. with A38 Derby | Jct. with A50 |
| A523/A52 | Stockport | Derby |
| A550 | M53 Jct. 5 | A5117 |
| A557 | M62 | Runcorn--Widnes Bridge |
| A565 | Liverpool | Southport |
| A565 | Southport | A59 South of Preston |
| A570 | Southport | A580 St. Helens |
| A580 | Liverpool | Manchester |
| A585 | M55 Jct. 3 | Fleetwood |
| A595/A5092 | Calder Bridge | A590 |
| A596 | Carlisle | Workington |
| A606 | Nottingham | Widmerpool A46 |
| A614 | Nottingham | Bawtry |
| A614 | M62 Jct. 37 | Howden |
| A629 | Skipton Jct. with A59 | A650 |
| A638 | Wakefield | Bawtry |
| A646 | Burnley | Halifax |
| A650 | Jct. with A629 | Bradford |
| A660 | Leeds | Jct. with A65 |
| A696/A68 | Newcastle Int. Airport | Scottish Border |
| A1001 | A1(M) Jct. 2 | A1(M) Jct. 4 |
| A1041 | Selby | North Yorkshire County Boundary |
| A1079 | Dunswell | A64 York Bypass |
| A1237 | City of York | -- |
| A4123 | Birmingham | -- |
| A6514 | Jct. with A52 Nottingham | Jct. with A60 |
National Beds Inquiry
Lord Clement-Jones asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When the National Beds Inquiry report will be published.[HL123]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): The National Beds Inquiry is nearing completion. Its findings will be published in due course.
Female Genital Mutilation
Earl Howe asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many involuntary acts of female genital mutilation are performed on children in the United Kingdom each year.[HL106]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: It is not known exactly how many girls are subjected to female genital mutilation in the United Kingdom as it is rarely reported to the authorities. We are extremely concerned that this practice is stopped and were a case to be reported we would expect it to be thoroughly and sensitively investigated by the relevant authorities.
British Fluoridation Society: Government Financial Contribution
Earl Baldwin of Bewdley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What have been their financial contributions to the British Fluoridation Society for the years 1998-99 and 1999-2000.[HL126]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: In 1998-99 our allocation was £76,000 and in 1999-2000 £78,000.
Community Pharmacy Strategy
Lord Clement-Jones asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they expect to publish their community pharmacy strategy.[HL158]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government's community pharmacy strategy for England will be published shortly.
Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act: Sections 17 and 18
Lord Sawyer asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the review of Sections 17(2) and 18 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 has been completed.[HL180]
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: These provisions require the Secretary of State for Health to report to Parliament each year on the number of disabled people aged under 65 who received long-term care in a hospital (or a part of a hospital) vested in the Secretary of State and used wholly or mainly for the care of elderly people (Section 17(2)); and were supported by their local authority in residential care used by people of 65 or over (Section 18(3)). (By virtue of Section 45 of the Government of Wales Act 1999, reports on the position in Wales are now for the National Assembly for Wales to publish, rather than for the Secretary of State to make to Parliament. In Scotland, this is a matter for the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Parliament.)
Reports to Parliament under Section 17(2) ceased after 1995 because the establishment of National Health Service trusts meant that there were no longer any hospitals "vested in the Secretary of State". Reports to Parliament under Section 18 continue but show a considerable drop in the number of under-65s accommodated with over-65s. The figures they report are no longer, if they ever were, an unambiguous indicator of "inappropriate placements". (For example, if the caring decision is taken to allow a person who has reached his 65th birthday to stay in a home where he may have lived for several years, all the residents in the home who are aged under 65 will be included in the figures.)
The Government therefore made clear, when making their report under Section 18 last year, that they were minded to repeal these two provisions and would welcome any views on this proposal. Copies of the responses received have been placed in the Library. The majority support the proposal, or repeal, some also noting that the system for registering care homes is a much more effective way of ensuring appropriate
placements than statistical reports. Having considered all the responses, the Government have decided that repeal is the right option, and will pursue this when parliamentary time allows.Glufosinate Ammonium
Lord Beaumont of Whitley asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will specify, in respect of the herbicide glufosinate ammonium and its use on genetically modified crops:
(a) how many experimental permits they have given and refused under Regulation 5(2)(a) of the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986;
(b) the dates and periods of each such permit given and refused and the applicant companies;
(c) the dates upon which they were provided with safety and other data as a result of testing and development under each such permit given; and
(d) whether such safety and other data can or must be made publicly available.[HL40]
The Minsiter of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Baroness Hayman): All experimental approvals for plant protection products, including the herbicide glufosinate ammonium, are considered under the Plant Protection Products Regulations 1995. To date the Ministry's Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD) has granted four experimental approvals for the use of glufosinate ammonium on genetically modified crops under this legislation. No applications for such use have been refused to date. Unlike full or provisional pesticide approvals, details of experimental approvals are not made publicly available for reasons of commercial confidentiality.
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