§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (Miss Smith), of 19 April 2000,Official Report, column 485W, if he will list those areas of sustained effort which required departmental and diplomatic activity in the 371W settlement of claims by road hauliers affected by the 1996 dispute; and what total sums of claims (a) have been agreed and (b) were refused by the French Government. [120847]
§ Mr. HillAction included numerous meetings with the French Ministry of Transport and with the Interior Ministry, initially to clarify the scope of the French compensation code, the legal and administrative procedures for submitting claims and the basis on which claims should be prepared. Subsequent meetings dealt with the lack of consistency among Préfectures in the application of the rules; their application in particular circumstances, including in respect of lorries that were blocked in more than one Département and those that were prevented from entering France; the delay in processing claims and the revised arrangements introduced to speed up the process. The trade associations were also represented at some of the meetings.
Officials also spent a great deal of time giving guidance to claimants and assisting them in lodging claims. However, claimants are under no obligation to inform the Department of the outcome of their cases. We are therefore unable to provide information about amounts of compensation paid and refused.