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Olympic Lottery Games
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will provide an estimate of the projected revenue to the Exchequer resulting from the proposed Olympic lottery game.[HL197]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord McIntosh of Haringey): In the event of a successful London Olympic bid, Camelot's estimates, as reviewed by the National Lottery Commission, are that new Olympic lottery games could raise £750 million towards the costs of staging the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Lottery duty of 12 per cent of total sales would be deducted, in line with the current arrangements for all National Lottery games, resulting in estimated gross
revenue to the Exchequer of approximately £340 million. However, the net increase in revenue to the Exchequer is likely to be significantly lower, perhaps in the region of £140 million. This estimate is based on Camelot's assessment that over half of new Olympic lottery sales might represent diversion from existing lottery games.Sports Grounds
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When the Doomsday Book of sports grounds will be finalised and printed.[HL284]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The Doomsday Book of Sports Facilities will be operational in summer 2004 through a dedicated website.
Final information on pools and sports halls will then be added in over the following months and it is expected that the database will be completed in 2005.
Lord Moynihan asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether university and college sports grounds will be included in the Doomsday Book of sports grounds.[HL286]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: University and college sports grounds will be recorded in the Doomsday Book, provided they fall under one of the categories of facilities which are to be included in the book.
Facilities to be included are: sports halls, swimming pools; indoor tennis facilities; indoor bowls facilities; athletics tracks; synthetic turf pitches; health and fitness facilities; playing fields; and golf courses.
Consolidated Fund Bill
Baroness Hilton of Eggardon asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether a statement has been made under the Human Rights Act 1998 in connection with the Consolidated Fund Bill.[HL482]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: I have made a statement under Section 19(1)(a) of the Human Rights Act 1988 that, in my view, the provisions of the Consolidated Fund Bill are compatible with the convention rights. A copy of the statement has been placed in the Library of the House.
Public Transport: Disabled People
Baroness Finlay of Llandaff asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What measures they are taking to work with transport providers to ensure that disabled people have ease of access to all forms of public transport.[HL291]
Lord Davies of Oldham: The Department for Transport is in regular contact with the transport industries, both manufacturers and operators, on all aspects of transport policy that affects the mobility of disabled people.
It has also worked closely with the transport industries, both manufacturers and operators, as well as with disabled people in developing accessibility regulations under Part 5 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Regulations have already been introduced for buses and coaches used on local scheduled services and since 31 December 2000 all new vehicles have had to meet accessibility requirements. Similar requirements were introduced from 1 January 1999 for all new passenger rail vehicles. A package of proposals for taxis is being developed and we will be consulting industry, disability organisations and other interested parties in due course.
Roads: Private Finance Contracts
Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay asked Her Majesty's Government:
- (a) what was the total amount of equity investment by W S Atkins plc or its subsidiaries in Connect Roads Limited; (b) when that investment was made; (c) for how much and when that equity investment was sold; and (d) what drawback or profit share arrangements were in place in respect of that investment; and, if none, why not.[HL319]
Lord Davies of Oldham: I understand that W S Atkins was a minority shareholder in the holding company Connect Roads Limited. Her Majesty's Government do not have private finance roads contracts with Connect Roads Limited, only with subsidiaries of the holding company. Details of W S Atkins's investment in Connect Roads Limited are a commercial matter for the companies concerned to which Her Majesty's Government are not privy.
Contracts were awarded to the subsidiaries of the holding company, Connect Road A50 Limited and Connect Road A30/A35 Limited, on 20 May 1996 and 24 July 1996 respectively.
The purchase of W S Atkins's equity investment by Balfour Beatty was announced on 21 November 2003. The amount paid is a commercial matter for the companies concerned to which Her Majesty's Government are not privy.
The contracts do not provide for profit sharing or clawback in cases of changes of ownership of share capital. Such transactions do not constitute refinancing.
End-of-Life Vehicles Regulations 2003
Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts asked Her Majesty's Government:
- In what circumstances it was envisaged that the Secretary of State could have recorded further changes of vehicle keeper after he had issued a certificate of destruction under the End-of-Life Vehicles Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/2635).[HL349]
Lord Davies of Oldham: Once a certificate of destruction ("CoD") has been issued for a vehicle there should be no further activity on the record—it is effectively deregistered. However, administrative arrangements will ensure that re-registration can take
place where there has been a genuine mistake in the identity of the notified vehicle.Rail Passenger Fatalities
Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts asked Her Majesty's Government:
- How many rail passenger fatalities there were in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.[HL350]
Lord Davies of Oldham: Details of the numbers of passenger fatalities on Britain's railways in the 10 years 1993–94 to 2002–03 provided by the Health and Safety Executive's Railway Inspectorate are set out in the table below:
| Year | National Rail | London Underground | Trams | Other railways | Total |
| 1993–94 | 11 | 6 | — | — | 17 |
| 1994–95 | 12 | 5 | — | — | 17 |
| 1995–96 | 9 | 2 | — | — | 11 |
| 1996–97 | 10 | 7 | — | — | 17 |
| 1997–98 | 20 | 5 | 1 | — | 26 |
| 1998–99 | 19 | 1 | — | — | 20 |
| 1999–2000 | 40 | 7 | — | — | 47 |
| 2000–01 | 17 | 4 | — | — | 21 |
| 2001–02 | 9 | 4 | — | — | 13 |
| 2002–03 | 18 | 5 | — | — | 23 |
Notes
Trams are the tram systems of Blackpool, Croydon, Manchester, Sheffield and the West Midlands.
Other railways include Docklands Light Railway, Tyne and Wear Metro, Glasgow Underground, Channel Tunnel and Heritage railways.
The above data were collated under accident reporting legislation, reported by railways and tramways in Great Britain to HM Railway Inspectorate. The data include fatalities in train accidents (collisions, derailments, etc), fatalities involving a moving train (falls from train doors, falling off platforms in front of trains) and fatalities not involving trains but occuring on railway infrastructure (slips, trips and falls on platforms, falls on escalators etc).
Further information on passenger fatalities can be found in the Health and Safety Executive's and the Chief Inspector of Railways' annual reports on railway safety, copies of which are held in both House Libraries.
Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Bassam of Brighton: An updated measurement of the level of compliance with the regulatory impact assessment process is today being placed on the website of the Cabinet Office Regulatory Impact Unit. An exercise in November 2003 to establish a snapshot of the level of compliance provided a figure of 100 per cent. We will keep this under regular review.
When they will publish an updated measurement of compliance with the regulatory impact assessment process.[HL487]
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