To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will provide a breakdown by Crown court circuit of the average length of time between an accused person being remanded in custody for trial at Crown court and the date on which the trial starts. [34826]

The question concerns a specific operational matter on which the chief executive of the Court Service is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will give details of the terms of reference and membership of the interdepartmental working group on marriage, which the Government announced in their White Paper "Looking to the Future: Mediation and the Ground for Divorce". [35707]

The terms of reference for the interdepartmental working group on marriage, which is to be chaired by the Lord Chancellor's Department, are as follows.The interdepartmental working party on marriage will seek to identify:

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many contracts his Department has had with consultants; and what has been the total cost in each of the last five years. [33562]

Information has not been held centrally for the full period in question, and information prior to 1992–93 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. On the best information currently available details of external consultancy contracts for the years from 1992–93 are as follows:

year	Number of contracts	Value £000's
1992–93	74	3,455
1993–94	72	1,224
1994–95	84	1,640

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will estimate the cost of employing consultants in connection with privatisation programmes in which his Department has been engaged since 1980. [33464]

No Department for which the Lord Chancellor is responsible has incurred any consultancy costs in connection with privatisation programmes since 1980.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will indicate which five consultancy firms have received most contracts from his Department (a) by number of contracts and (b) monetary value in the last five years for which figures are available. [33444]

This information has not been held centrally, and figures for the years before 1992–93 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. On the best information currently available, the five consultancy firms which have won the most contracts for the years from 1992–93 are:

Consultants	Number of contracts	Value £000s
1. Myriad Computer Services	9	190
2. Peat Marwick	7	246
3. TBV Consultants	7	122
4. Price Waterhouse	6	353
5. WS Atkins	5	164

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many contracts and for what total sum were let out by his Department and agencies for which it is responsible to (a) Coopers and Lybrand and its subsidiaries, (b) Peat Marwick and its subsidiaries, (c) Ernst and Young and its subsidiaries, (d) Arthur Andersen and its subsidiaries, (e) Price Waterhouse and its subsidiaries, (f) Grant Thornton and its subsidiaries, (g) Stoy Hayward and its subsidiaries, (h) Robson Rhodes and its subsidiaries, (i) Pannell Kerr Foster and its subsidiaries for privatisation, market testing, management advice, accounting, audit, consultancy and other services in 1993–94 and 1994–95. [33912]

This information has not been held centrally. On the best information currently available, the details for the Lord Chancellor's Department are as follows:

Consultants	Number of contracts	Amount £000's
Coopers and Lybrand	2	79
Peat Marwick	7	246
Ernst and Young	1	11
Arthur Andersen	nil	nil
Price Waterhouse	6	276
Grant Thornton	nil	nil
Stoy Haywood	nil	nil
Robson Rhodes	1	3
Pannell Kerr Foster	nil	nil

The Lord Chancellor is now responsible for four agencies: the Court Service, Her Majesty's Land Registry, the Public Record Office and the Public Trust Office. Information relating to the Court Service is included in the figures above, as it became an agency only after the period in question; and information relating to the Public Trust Office is included up to the time it acquired agency status in July 1994. In respect of the Land Registry, the Public Record Office, and the Public Trust Office from July 1994, the question concerns operational matters on which the chief executives are best placed to provide answers. I have accordingly asked them to reply direct.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many staff in his Department or its agencies have (a) declared any company shareholdings they hold or (b) been advised to dispose of shareholdings in the last five years, indicating the companies concerned. [33412]

For the Department and agencies for which the Lord Chancellor is responsible, staff declaring any company shareholdings would have been dealt with in accordance with the established guidance. Records of the number of cases are not held centrally. Neither the Department nor its agencies have any staff who have declared any company shareholdings, or staff who have been advised to dispose of shareholdings, during the last five years.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps can be taken against lawyers who cause delays in Crown court proceedings by failing to provide timely and accurate information. [33842]

The question concerns a specific operational matter on which the chief executive of the Court Service is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps can be taken against lawyers who cause delays in Crown court proceedings by failing to provide timely and accurate information. [33842]

Judges have powers to make wasted costs orders against lawyers. They may also make observations for the attention of the paying authority regarding the work for which the lawyer is due to be paid fees from legal aid.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will ask the Law Commission to examine the law relating to the solemnisation of Muslim marriages, with particular reference to the need for solemnisation in a mosque to be followed by a registry office ceremony. [34324]

I have been asked to reply.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British citizens have been repatriated at United Kingdom public expense from Australia in 1995. [34299]

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations were made by The Sunday Times to Ministers or officials about issuing a visa to Mr. Viktor Kubeykin, a retired KGB officer, to visit the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [34546]

I have asked the migration and visa correspondence unit to obtain the information requested and to let the hon. Member have a substantive reply as soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he intends to make the Government of Indonesia about the rejection of the plea for presidential clemency of Sergeant-Major Bungkus who is expected to be executed; and if he will raise the issue of the treatment of Sergeant-Major Bungkus at the forthcoming consultative group for Indonesia meeting. [34712]

We have received reports about the rejection of Mr. Bungkus's plea for clemency. Our embassy in Jakarta is seeking clarification from the Indonesian Government.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made in the last three years of the level of judicial independence in Singapore. [34417]

None. The independence of the Singapore judiciary is a matter for the Singapore Government.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the joint British-Nigerian proposals to the United Nations on peacekeeping in Africa. [34361]

A copy of the Anglo-Nigerian paper on African peacekeeping has been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the results of (a) his policies and (b) his Department in helping small businesses over the last 12 months as against the previous 12 months; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring. [34702]

Diplomatic staff produced over 6,000 service reports for British firms in the year ended 31 March 1995. Chargeable services, targeted specifically at small to medium-sized companies, are subject to an independent survey of customer satisfaction. The most recent published information about the Department's commercial work abroad is contained in the Foreign and Commonwealth departmental report—available in the House Library, Cm 2802. This includes details of satisfaction rates.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will investigate the circumstances in which Mr. Patrick Roche and Mr. Barnie Penrose obtained visas for people in Moscow; what types of visas were obtained and for whom; which post issued them; and to what extent Ministers or the permanent secretary were involved. [34545]

Our embassy in Moscow is now aware of any visa applications which have been sponsored by either Mr. Roche or Mr. Penrose.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the total gross cost and net cost of the Bosnian operation both in respect of aid and military cost to 31 March. [34492]

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister of State, to the hon. Member for Mid-Kent (Mr. Rowe) on 5 July, Official Report, columns 262–63.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish figures recording the number of unpaid parking fines incurred by diplomatic missions in London during 1994. [34431]

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State on 2 May, Official Report, column 149.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library the statements issued by the British high commission in Australia about the film "The Maltese Double Cross". [34775]

A copy has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what information the United Nations special commission on Iraq has provided to Her Majesty's Government about equipment sent from the United Kingdom to Iraq which could be used for the manufacture of chemical warfare agents; [35144](2) when the list of suppliers of equipment and chemicals exported to Iraq which were used in her chemical warfare programme will be made public

UNSCOM inspectors have investigated a wide range of sites in Iraq at which British equipment and products have been found. UNSCOM policy is to give the names of supplier companies in confidence to the member states in which the companies are located. UNSCOM does not make this information public. Nor is it our practice to publish the names of such companies. However, any evidence of wrongdoing is investigated and, if appropriate, will be a matter for the courts.UNSCOM regularly publishes reports on its work, the latest of which—S/1995/284 and S/1995/494—have been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has about the progress made by the international commission of inquiry into the deaths at the Kibeho camp in Rwanda; and if he will make a statement. [34666]

The report of the independent international commission of inquiry into the deaths at Kibeho was published on 18 May. Copies have been placed in the Libraries in the House. We have welcomed the inquiry and called on all concerned to implement its recommendations fully.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list by region the total amount of (a) useable and (b) set-aside capital receipts held by each local authority in England at 31 March. [33473]

[pursuant to his reply, 12 July 1995, c. 578]: Four local authorities in the south-east were omitted from the list provided. I am therefore placing a revised list of local authorities in the Library to the House.This also affects the totals for the south-east region which should have read "Usable Receipts £1,206 million and PCL set aside £2,912 million."

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the level of capital receipts held by each local authority for the latest year available and the total for each region and nationally. [34645]

A list by region of the amounts of accumulated usable capital receipts and the amounts set aside as provision for credit liabilities for each English local authority at 31 March 1994 has been placed in the Library of the House.The regional totals for these amounts are:

Amounts held as at 31 March 1994 (£ million)
Region	Usable receipts	PLC set aside
South East	1,206	2,912
South West	162	629
East Anglia	93	323
West Midlands	117	437
East Midlands	123	508
North West	142	489
Yorkshire and Humberside	79	460
Northern	65	225
Miscellaneous authorities (all regions)	74	58
Total	2,061	6,041

The provision for credit liabilities includes amounts set aside from both capital receipts and revenue. Separate figures are not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the cost of employing consultants in connection with privatisation programmes in which his Department has been engaged since 1980. [33458]

The information requested is not held centrally by my Department and is obtainable only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the performance of the Energy Saving Trust in meeting the reductions in emissions set out in the United Kingdom climate change strategy. [33998]

The Government are confident of meeting their commitments under the climate change convention. The trust estimates that the programme of activities already established and financed will save at least 0.3 million tonnes of carbon in 2000. Further schemes will make additional contributions, but they are not yet established.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the membership of the Construction Industry Board; on what criteria members were appointed; and what is their salary. [34063]

The board's membership is provided by the Construction Industry Council, the Construction Industry Employers Council, the Constructors Liaison Group, and the Government, each of whom may appoint four members; and the Construction Clients Forum which is entitled to appoint six members. The Secretary of State for the Environment is president of the board and Sir Michael Latham is chairman.Appointment of members is at the discretion of the nominating organisations, but they are expected to be senior representatives of their organisations.The Confederation of British Industry is a representative body and members are not paid salaries.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many rivers, canals and lakes have been deemed a safety hazard to public health as a result of algae blooms in each of the last five years. [34627]

This information is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many redundancies occurred in his Department over the last 12 months; how many were voluntary; and what was the total sum spent on redundancy payments. [34592]

[holding answer 14 July 1995]: In the last 12 months, there were no redundancies in the core of my Department, nor in the Health and Safety Executive. In the Property Services Agency, there were 895 redundancies, of which 466 were voluntary. The total sum spent on these redundancies was £38,697,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the support he intends to give to town centre managers. [33370]

Town centre management is a local activity, best carried out by local partnerships. I have, however, strongly supported town centre improvement and management through planning policy guidance note 6; through a good practice guide—"Vital and Viable Town Centres: Meeting the Challenge"; and through help for the Association of Town Centre Management in a number of its projects.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many staff employed in the former Department of Employment as a result of that Department's abolition (a) will be made redundant (b) will take early retirement (c) will be employed on a temporary contract instead of a permanent contract and (d) will be employed on a part-time basis instead of a full-time basis; and if he will make a statement. [34658]

The Health and Safety Executive and the health and safety policy and liaison section of the Employment Department transferred to the Department of the Environment on 5 July 1995.This has not had any impact on the number of employees employed or their conditions of service.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will classify the privately owned Calder Homes houses at Angus close, Killingworth, North Tyneside as properties which are defective under section 528(1) in part XVI of the Housing Act 1985. [34807]

My Department has no evidence that this would be justified.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what advice he has received from the Norwegian Meteorological Office as to the estimate produced by the photochemical model for Europe with regard to the likely effects upon levels of ozone in the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom policy for reducing oxides of nitrogen. [35086]

As part of the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme's work programme within the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's Convention on Transboundary Air Pollution—UNECE-LRTAP—a photochemical model has been developed and is used as an aid policy dvelopment. Preliminary results show that ozone in the UK is indeed a transboundary problem and that the UK receives significant amounts of ozone from other European countries. As the UK reduces emissions of nitrogen oxides, levels of ozone may rise and then decline as further reductions in nitrogen oxide emissions are made. Because of the complesities associated with the formation of ground level ozone in Europe, the EMEP results will be developed and considered more fully within the UNECE with the aim of developing a European-wide strategy for ozone reduction.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the costs of running the Local Government Commission; what was the amount spent each year by the commission on research and consultancy; and if he will list the areas covered and the companies engaged for each year since 1990. [35095]

The Local Government Commission was established on 1 July 1992. Its expenditure to date is as follows:

£ million
Year	Total expenditure	Expenditure on research and consultancy
1992–93	2.056	0.532
1993–94	5.146	1.281
1994–95	7.817	1.004

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of derailments involving (a) passenger trains and (b) freight trains occurring in each year since 1990 to date. [34901]

The Health and Safety Executive's railway inspectorate maintains records of accidents and incidents, details of which are contained in the annual report on railway safety. Copies are placed in the House of Commons Library.The table shows the number of derailments for passenger and freight trains.Figures for 1994–95 are expected to be published this December.

Derailments 1990 to 1993–94
	1990	1991	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94	Total
Passenger trains	26	3	23	30	29	111
Freight trains	157	43	121	175	84	580
Total	183	46	144	205	113	691
The figures for 1991 cover the period 1 January 1991 to 31 March 1991 only.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the nationality of those foreign companies, organisations or individuals which have completed pre-qualification for tendering for a private rail franchise. [34910]

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to include transport safety in the list of main questions in his consultation document "Transport: The Way Ahead"; and what factors underlay its initial exclusion. [34895]

The broad theme of "Transport: The Way Ahead" is the balance in transport policy between promotion of economic growth, protection of the environment and support for personal choice. Transport safety can affect this balance: some of the issues are touched upon in the paper—see paragraphs 1.25, 2.25, 5.22 and 5.33.I would welcome any contributions which explored these issues further.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his Department's estimate of the annual cost to business of road congestion within Greater London. [34898]

No single figure can be quoted because there is no generally accepted norm against which any measure of congestion can be compared.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many parliamentary questions his Department has refused to answer for reasons of commercial confidentiality in each year since 1990 to date. [34902]

This is a matter of public record.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of road traffic accidents involving cyclists indicating the number of fatalities, and the number of serious injuries in (a) Greater London and (b) the United Kingdom for each year since 1990 to date. [34906]

The information available is shown in the following table.

Accidents involving pedal cyclists: Greater London 1990–94
Accidents
Severity	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994
Fatal	19	18	20	19	16
Serious	650	652	567	515	511
Slight	3,940	3,699	3,740	3,731	3,931
All severities	4,609	4,369	4,327	4,265	4,458

Pedal cycle fatalities and serious casualties: Greater London 1990–94
Casualties
Severity	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994
Fatal	19	17	18	18	15
Serious	627	629	545	493	488
KSI1	646	646	563	511	503
1 Killed or seriously injured.

Accidents involving pedal cyclists: Great Britain 1990–94
Accidents
Severity	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994
Fatal	267	247	212	194	184
Serious	4,486	4,076	3,905	3,743	3,966
Slight	21,971	20,719	20,845	20,363	20,915
AH severities	26,724	25,042	24,962	24,300	25,065

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list by region the number of public service vehicles and minibuses carrying schoolchildren which have been found to be defective after random inspection in the last two years for which figures are available. [34795]

This date could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Transport how many redundancies occurred in his Department over the last 12 months; how many were voluntary; and what was the total sum spent on redundancy payments. [34622]

[holding answer 14 July 1995]: During the period 1 April 1994 to 31 March 1995, there were 467 redundacies in the Departmental of Transport all of which were voluntary. The early departure costs met by the Departmental amounted to £,806,427.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the top 10 suppliers of computer equipment to his Department and its agencies in the last five years, indicating the total value of the contracts received. [34563]

[holding answer 14 July 1995]: The top 10 suppliers of computer systems and equipment-hardware, pre-installed software and network products—in the financial years 1993–94 and 1994–95 obtained for the Department and its agencies were as follows:

Value of orders placed 1993–94
Company	£000
1. Dell	1,845
2. ICL	1,000
3. Talkdata	300
4. P and P	125
5. Technology PLC	120
6. ACT	95
7. Holdene	80
8. TBC	78
9. APS	65
10. Equanet	50

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will provide figures on the number of road traffic accidents occurring on roads classified as red routes and the number of accidents that occurred on the same routes prior to their achieving red route status. [34900]

The traffic director for London will be monitoring the performance of the red route network, including road safety, as the measures are introduced progressively over the next few years. He will be publishing summary extracts from the data in his annual reports as it becomes available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many days were lost in sickness in the last 12 months by employees in his Department (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of the number of days worked; and what was the cost of this absence. [34621]

[holding answer 14 July 1995]: Provisional data on the number of days lost in 1994 as a result of sickness is set out in the table. Information about the cost of the absences could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

	Days lost	Percentage of working days
Central Transport Group, Transport Road Research, Laboratory, Highways Agency, Marine Safety Agency Coastguard Agency.	45,7723.07
Driving Standards Agency	23,757	6.2
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency	46,189	5.42
Vehicle Certification Agency	363	2.12
Vehicle Inspectorate	12,123	3.64

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 12 July, Official Report, column 574, what is the completion dates for the phased traffic lights at the White Hart roundabout, Northolt, at the time when money was made available to the London borough of Ealing for their construction; and if he will make a statement. [34850]

Funding for this scheme was through the local transport capital settlement for minor works. Such funding does not identify particular schemes, and leaves it to the local authority to determine its work programmes and priorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the results of (a) his policies and (b) his Department in helping small businesses over the last 12 months as against the previous 12 months; and if he will publish the performance indictors by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring. [34692]

The Government recognise the crucial role played by small firms in the UK economy. The Government continue to help smaller companies by keeping inflation and interest rates low and by reducing legislative and administrative and taxation burdens. They also provide direct assistance where appropriate.The second competitiveness White Paper announced in May 1995 outlines a programme of measures to assist the growth and competitiveness of the small firms sector.The Department's aim of a more efficient, safe and environmentally friendly transport system, using the market to offer the widest possible choice of transport users, will assist businesses of all sizes.My Department is, like others, systematically reviewing the regulations for which it is responsible to ensure that the unnecessary or over-burdensome regulation is cut back. When considering new regulations, we take particular account of the burden and cost those regulations impose on small business. We have recently completed a consultation on proposals to relax the regulation of signing for tourist destinations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will remove Belgrave road, London, SW1 from the priority—red—route network. [34415]

No. I would contemplate this only if strategic traffic in the area could be accommodated satisfactorily by improvements to Vauxhall Bridge road. I understand that the City of Westminster has decided not to proceed with the proposal to widen Vauxhall Bridge road.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of changes to the levels of air pollution caused by heavy lorry and other traffic on Belgrave road, London SW1 if Belgrave road is designated as a red route. [34414]

This is a matter for the traffic director, who is under a statutory duty to monitor the effect of the operation of red route measures. He is modelling emissions across the whole network based on traffic data to be collated before and after the implementation of measures.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact on listed buildings in proximity to Belgrave road, London SW 1, by the designation of Belgrave road as a red route. [34416]

None. There is no reason to believe that the red route initiative will have any impact on listed buildings.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the percentage change in passenger services represented by the minimum requirements for the future franchised-out midland main line service. [34521]

The introduction of a passenger service requirement will not, in itself, represent any change to the level of services actually operated. Following franchising, I expect services on the midland main line to continue to improve in accordance with passenger demand. This assessment was supported by Midland main line's management team in its statement of 16 May.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research he has undertaken into the environmental impact of potential reduction in the midland main line passenger service. [34520]

None. No service reductions are planned.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of (a) total motor vehicles and (b) petrol-driven vehicles in the United Kingdom are fitted with catalytic converters. [34343]

At the end of June 1995, there were 4.85 million petrol-engined passenger cars equipped with three-way catalytic converters. This was equivalent to 21.85 per cent. of the total passenger car fleet which numbered 22.2 million at the end of 1994. A limited number of petrol-engined vans are also now equipped with three-way catalytic converters.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the earliest date that he expects all petrol-driven vehicles in the United Kingdom to be fitted with catalytic converters; and what plans he has to introduce further regulatory changes. [34344]

All new petrol-engined passenger cars since 1993 and all new petrol-engined light vans since October 1994 have had to be fitted with three-way catalytic converters. The penetration of such vehicles into the parc as a whole depends on the rate of replacement, which cannot be predicted with certainty. It is nevertheless expected that the great majority of petrol-engined vehicles on the road will be equipped with catalysts by the early years of the next century.Subject to statutory consultation and parliamentary approval, tighter controls on emissions from all vehicles in-service are to be introduced on 25 September 1995 to be followed, from 1 January 1996, by a further tightening for cars with advanced emissions control systems, such as three-way catalytic converters. Stricter emissions limits for new passenger cars will be introduced on 1 January 1997 and EC discussions on even stricter limits for the year 2000 have already begun.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to increase the provision of bicycle lanes in Rotherham. [34405]

The extent to which additional provision needs to be made for cycling on the highway, including the number of cycle lanes, is a matter for individual local highway authorities to determine. We are encouraging all authorities to improve conditions for cycling, and we offer them a wide range of advice and guidance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what factors led him to advise bidders for the CTRL in the competition overview document that the required alternative bids which include a station at Stratford should assume that authorisation for the station is obtained by him and not as a result of procedures under the Transport and Works Act 1992. [34276]

The aim in the competition overview document was to obtain from each tenderer a range of required alternative bids involving a Stratford station. In order to simplify comparison with the reference bid, which was not to include a Stratford station, tenderers were asked to assume, among several other things, that it was for the holder of the competition, the Secretary of State, and not for them, to see that authorisation for a station was forthcoming. No guidance was given on the method of authorisation. In fact, decisions about whether there should be a station at Stratford, and, in that event, how it should be authorised, remain to be taken.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what factors led to the choice of 2030 as the date up to which the Government would not provide any subsidy or financial assistance to any further new railway for international passenger services between London and the channel tunnel as set out in the draft development agreement for bidders for the CTRL. [34274]

In formulating this provision in the draft development agreement, we aimed to provide comfort for the private sector promoter for the likely period during which he would be repaying primary financing and refinancing.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will call for a report from the managing director of London Underground about changes in the level of crime on the London Underground in the last year and its relationship to reductions in staffing at stations and on trains; what new measures are going to be taken to reduce crime; and if he will make a statement. [34307]

I have no plans to ask for such a report. The security of passengers and staff is a top priority for London Underground Ltd. and I am satisfied that LUL takes full account of any potential impacts on passenger security when making decisions on staffing levels. The small increase in overall underground crime last year was largely due to an increase in pickpocketing offences; the incidence of violent crime fell. I understand that London Underground and the British Transport police have several initiatives planned for this year with the aim of reducing further crime on the underground.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of official ministerial visits undertaken by (a) London underground, (b) car, (c) rail and (d) air over the last 12 months, indicating the number of miles travelled and the total cost to his Department. [34897]

Records are not kept of the modes of transport used on each official visit nor of the miles covered. Ministers may use a variety of modes when making an official visit or conducting ministerial business; travel by rail is generally preferred for official visits out of London. The cost of official ministerial visits undertaken by air and rail from 20 July 1994 to date was £80,897. In the same period, the cost of the Government car service for all ministerial business was £226,442 Separate records are not kept of costs of travel on London underground.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will provide figures on bus usage within Greater London for each year since 1990 to date. [34914]

The available data is provided in the table.

Millions
Year	Passenger journeys
1990–91	1,178
1991–92	1,149
1992–93	1,129
1993–94	1,117

Data for 1994–95 will be available in October.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the current cost to his Department per day of legal advice relating to rail privatisation. [34899]

The average cost of legal advice is approximately £23,000 per working day, including VAT.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of incidents of rail signals passed at danger for each year since 1990 to date. [34907]

The table shows the number of signals passed at danger since 1990. Figures for 1994–95 are expected to be published this December. By far the majority of trains passing signals at danger stop within the protected zone of the signal overlap.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list the airlines that have received fines for breaching noise restriction regulations at (a) London Heathrow, (b) London Gatwick, (c) London Stansted, (d) Birmingham, (e) Manchester, W Liverpool, (g) Edinburgh and (h) Glasgow airports, indicating the number of fines imposed and the total amount of the fines per airline in the last 12 months; [34913](2) if he will list the number of fines imposed for breaches of noise restriction regulations at

The Secretary of State may set requirements for limiting noise at airports designated for the purposes of section 78 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982. The only airports so designated are Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.The noise limits are 110 PNdB (97dBA) by day (0701–2300) and 102 PNdB (92dBA) by night (2301–0700).From 1 April 1993 at Heathrow and Stansted and from 1 May 1993 at Gatwick the airport companies have imposed financial penalties for breaches of the night noise limits and are progressively introducing financial penalties for the breaches of the daytime noise limits. Information on breaches of the noise limits and on the fines collected is provided by each of those airport companies to their respective airport consultative committees. A summary would be impractical because the information is provided on a different basis by each airport.At other airports noise mitigation measures are the responsibility of the airport operator.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list for (a) London Heathrow, (b) London Gatwick, (c) London Stansted, (d) Birmingham, (e) Manchester, (f) Liverpool, (g) Edinburgh and (h) Glasgow airports, the number of incidents of VIP exemption from night-time air movement restrictions for each year since 1990 to date. [34911]

The Secretary of State has set restrictions on night flying at airports designated for the purposes of section 78 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982. These are Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of incidents of traffic light failure in Greater London for each year since 1990 to date. [34909]

The numbers of all-out failures and confirmed faults affecting traffic signals in Greater London since 1990 are as follows:

	All outs	All confirmed faults (including all out failures)
1990	4,724	30,380
1991	4,380	27,749
1992	5,645	28,263
1993	5,721	31,609
1994	5,907	33,496
1995 (6 months)	2,569	16,434

There was a 21 per cent. increase in the number of signal installations on London's roads between January 1990 and June 1995.

Number and value of contracts let during 1993–94
	Coopers and Lybrand	Peat Marwick/ KPMG	Ernst and Young	Arthur Anderson	Price Waterhouse	Grant Thornton	Stoy Hayward	Robson Rhodes	Parnell Kerr Forster	Total number	Total value £
Privatisation	—	1	—	—	3	—	—	—	—	4	169,427
Market testing	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0
Management advice	1	—	—	—	1	—	—	—	—	2	906,809
Accounting	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0
Audit	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0	0
Consultancy	1	6	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	8	368,476
Other	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2	27,000
Total	4	7	1		4					16	1,471,512

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many British armed forces rail travel permits have currently been issued. [34896]

British Rail received 529,633 HM forces rail travel warrants from the Ministry of Defence in the year to 29 March 1995.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if British armed forces rail travel permits will continue to be valid on all parts of the current British Rail network following rail privatisation. [34915]

The existing arrangements for rail travel warrants will continue for at least a further three years. Future arrangements will be a matter for negotiation between the Ministry of Defence and the train operators.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will indicate which five consultancy firms have received most contracts from his Department (a) by number of contracts and (b) monetary value in the last five years for which figures are available. [33430]

The five consultancy firms that have received most contracts over the last five year are (a) by number of contracts, W.S. Atkins Consultants Ltd.; the MVA Consultancy; Peat Marwick/PMG; PA Consulting Groups; Admiral; and (b) by monetary value, Hambros Bank Ltd.; Linklaters and Paines; the MVA Consultancy; Touche Ross and Co; McKenna and Co.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many contracts and for what total sum were let out by his Departments and agencies for which he is responsible to (a) Coopers and Lybrand and its subsidiaries (b) Peat Marwick and its subsidiaries (c) Ernst and Young and its subsidiaries (d) Arthur Anderson and its subsidiaries (e) Price Waterhouse and its subsidiaries (f) Grant Thornton and its subsidiaries (g) Stoy Hayward and its subsidiaries (h) Robson Rhodes and its subsidiaries and (i) Pannell Kerr Forster and its subsidiaries for privatisation, market testing, management advice, accounting audit, consultancy and other services in 1993–94 and 1994–95. [33909]

The information requested is set out in the accompanying tables.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list by year of registration since

Vehicles licensed at the end of 1994
			Public transport vehicles3
Year first registered	Passenger cars1	Heavy goods vehicles2	8 seats or less	More than 8 seats	All
Pre 1970	144,700	500	150	940	1,090
1970	16,400	100	40	70	110
1971	19,900	200	30	130	150
1972	31,400	300	40	220	270
1973	36,800	400	50	700	750
1974	28,300	400	60	740	810
1975	29,200	500	80	1,030	1,100
1976	37,500	800	140	1,970	2,110
1977	56,300	1,000	250	2,430	2,670
1978	102,300	1,700	490	3,130	3,620
1979	180,400	3,400	620	3,950	4,570
1980	262,300	4,100	820	4,460	5,290
1981	406,000	4,300	1,180	3,730	4,910
1982	705,400	7,400	1,570	3,590	5,160
1983	1,045,100	12,300	1,230	3,670	4,900
1984	1,203,300	17,900	1,700	3,450	5,150
1985	1,407,300	24,200	1,610	3,210	4,820
1986	1,539,500	28,300	2,300	4,630	6,930
1987	1,721,300	36,200	2,670	4,570	7,240
1988	1,948,300	47,700	3,420	4,940	8,360
1989	2,068,900	52,500	2,760	4,970	7,730
1990	1,823,400	38,300	3,000	4,280	7,280
1991	1,454,100	26,100	2,210	3,030	5,230
1992	1,491,700	27,100	2,020	2,940	4,960
1993	1,680,500	31,700	1,800	3,610	5,410
1994	1,759,000	39,300	2,230	4,140	6,380
All	21,199,200	406,700	32,460	74,520	106,980
1 All vehicles with car body types irrespective of taxation class.
2Taxation classes 1 to 9, including HGV, Trailer HGV, HGV Farmers, Trailer HGV Farmers, HGV Showman's, Trailer HGV Showman's, Restricted HGV, Restricted HGV Farmers, Restricted HGV Showman's.
3 Taxation class 35, Hackney. From 1 July 1995 this tax class is replaced by class 34, Bus, for public transport vehicles with more than 8 seats.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 4 July, Official Report, column 122, whether restrictions relating to night flights to and from (a) civil airports, (b) private airstrips, (c) military airfields and (d) heliports apply to police helicopters. [32395]

My right hon. Friend is responsible for certain noise mitigation measures, which include night flying restrictions, at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports only. At these airports, helicopters are not exempt from the night restrictions but specific police operations

The requested information is as follows:may be given a dispensation in appropriate circumstances. At all other airports, including heliports and private airstrips, the responsibility for noise mitigation lies with individual owners or operators. Restrictions on night flights may form part of planning approval. These arrangements apply to civilian aerodromes; at military airfields the responsibility lies with the Ministry of Defence.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the work his Department has carried out in the last 12 months in making information about his Department available to the public via the Government world wide web server known as www.open.gov.uk and his plans and policies to make additional and new information available electronically on the server in the next 12 months.[34686]

My Department is currently investigating the use of the Government "World Wide Web" server, particularly in relation to publication of the Drivers and Vehicles Licensing Agency and marine accident investigation branch. Recourse to interactive online publishing services such as the "World Wide Web" is one of the components of my Department's publishing strategy under the TIPS programme—transport information publishing services—which was advertised in the Official Journal in November of last year and for which procurement action is now under way.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list all overseas ministerial visits since 1 January 1993, the date of those visits, the names of the Ministers involved, the purpose of those visits, and the cost to his Department of those visits. [35276]

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list (a) details of all overseas trips made by him or ministerial colleagues in his Department, paid for wholly or partly from public funds and (b) the purpose, destination and duration of such overseas trips, which officials accompanied him and the total cost in each case, including that of officials to public funds for each year since 1992. [32280]

The destination, duration and purpose of ministerial overseas trips involving public funds for each year since 1992 are listed. Total travel and subsistence costs for Ministers and accompanying private secretaries were £54,080 in 1993–94; £84,013 in 1994–95 and £9,056 so far in 1995–96. Detailed records of visits and associated costs for 1992 are not available.Information about the number and cost of accompanying officials is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Country visited	Duration (days)	Purpose
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR TRANSPORT
1993
Belgium	1	Aviation conference
Belgium	1	Joint EC Transport and
		Environment Council
Belgium	2	Transport Council
Norway/Sweden	3	Fact-finding on congestion
		charging
Luxembourg	2	Transport Council
France	1	Paris Air Show
Luxembourg	I	Transport Council
USA	5	Meeting with US
		Transportation Secretary on
		aviation and fact-finding on
		highways
Belgium	2	Transport Council
1994
Greece	3	Informal Transport Council
Germany	1	Trilateral,
		German/French/British meeting
Greece	3	Pan-European conference
Luxembourg	2	EC Transport Council