HL Deb 25 November 1992 vol 540 c67WA
The Marquess of Ailesbury

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the Citizen's Charter, in so far as it applies to road traffic is concerned only with disruption caused by roadworks or whether it also applies to other nuisances to road users, including the suspension of parking facilities.

The Minister of State, Department of Transport (The Earl of Caithness)

The Citizen's Charter extends over all areas of road traffic activity. Actions already taken to bring better services and information to road users include: streamlined motorway maintenance to reduce traffic disruption; new arrangements to encourage more service areas offering greater choice; variable message signs and a commercial in-vehicle system to tell users about traffic conditions in advance; and more information on where roadworks are planned and what is happening. A full survey of users' views of provision on motorways has been commissioned, and we shall be publishing the findings next year.

It is for local authorities to respond to the aims of the charter in areas of their own responsibility. Parking facilities are, in the great majority of cases, established by local authorities by means of traffic orders following consultation with interested parties. Such orders determine the conditions under which the local authority may suspend a parking facility. The police have additional powers to act in emergencies.

Value of output1 5 Agricultural employment2 Agricultural area3 Total transfers4 5
£ billion 000 Million acres £ billion £ per acre £ per head6
USA 47.8 3,335 987.4 41 0 42 12,300
EC 7144.3 78,635 330.2 77.7 235 9,000
Germany 719.7 7961 44.5 n/a n/a n/a
France 34.4 1,310 75.6 n/a n/a n/a
United Kingdom 13.3 568 45.6 n/a n/a n/a

Notes: It is not possible to be certain that definitions for the US and EC are precisely comparable.

All data relate to 1990.

n/a = not available

1EC: Total agricultural output, Eurostat

USA: Final agricultural output, national accounts

2EC: Agricultural employment, Eurostat

USA: total number of workers on farms, Agricultural Statistics 1991, USDA

3EC: Utilised agricultural area, Eurostat

USA: Land in farms, Agricultural Statistics 1991, USDA

4Transfers from consumers and taxpayers, OECD estimates

5Exchange rates: 1Â.40 ecu/£, $l.78/£

6£ per head in agricultural employment

7Excludes former German Democratic Republic