Parliament: October 2005 Archives

Martin Linton asked the Leader of the House of Commons whether he would arrange for the Transport Secretary to come to the House to make a statement on navigational standards on the Thames. He went on to point out that the Battersea Bridge was still closed to traffic and that it is still legal to drive a barge in the Port of London without any training and without a licence.

Geoff Hoon replied saying that the the new boat master's licence for inland waterways, which will become law during 2006, will extend competency requirements to freight-carrying vessels in categorised waters.

Read the full exchange on TheyWorkForYou.

Martin Linton asked the Secretary of State for Transport what action has been taken by public authorities against barge drivers or owners as a result of bridge strikes on the Thames in the last 20 years.

Stephen Ladyman replied saying that only ten years of data is available and that in that time there had been ten such incidents. He gave details.

Read the full exchange on TheyWorkForYou.

Martin Linton asked the Secretary of State for Health what the change has been in the funding of St. George's Hospital, Tooting since 1997.

Jane Kennedy (Minister of State, Department of Health) replied, saying that the audited accounts of the St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 1997–98 to 2004–05 show that income at the trust has risen by £130.4 million from £173.1 million in 1997–98 to £333.5 million in 2004–05.

Read the full exchange on TheyWorkForyou.

Martin Linton asked a number of questions to the Secretary of State for Transport all of which followed on from the the barge which recently collided with Battersea Bridge. The questions were all answered by Stephen Ladyman, Minister of State.

You can read the full questions and answers at TheyWorkForYou.com. They are here, here, here and here.

Martin Linton spoke in the debate on an amendment to clause 5 of the bill. He spoke against the amendment which, he said, would rip out the heart of the bill.

Read the full debate and Martin Linton's speech at TheyWorkForYou.com.