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Dept for Work and Pensions

Answer

Mr. Heyes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what annual rate of replacement of iron mains was achieved by Transco for the year 2001-02; what annual rate of replacement is predicted by Transco for 2002-03; and what assessment he has made of whether Transco is on course to achieve the annual rate of replacement needed to meet the target required by the HSE's gas mains replacement programme. [102243] Mr. Nicholas Brown: The Health and Safety Executive does not hold this information in exactly the form requested1. The information that Transco have provided to HSE is available as follows: Transco's mains replacement programme has two elements. The Medium Pressure Ductile Iron Mains replacement programme and the other mains replacement programme. Medium Pressure Ductile Iron Mains replacement programme _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Jan 01 to 31 Dec 01 1 Jan 02 to 31 Dec 02 Budget 1076.5km Actual 1089km 1400.8 km _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Other Mains Replacement programme _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Jan 01 to 31 March 02 1 April 02 to 31 March 03 Budget 996 km 1225km Revised Forecast2 1216km Actual 1101 km 932 km (as at 28 Feb 2003) _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Notes:1 Transco's mains replacement programme originally ran on a calendar year basis. In 2001, this was changed to a financial year i.e. a 15month period. However, because the improvement notice required the work to be completed by 31 December 2002, Transco continued to provide data on progress with Medium Pressure Ductile Iron Mains (MPDI) replacement on a calendar year basis i.e. January to December. 2 The forecast for the 02/03 other mains replacement policy was revised downwards because the focus of Transco's work was on the compulsory work being carried out to meet the requirements of the Medium Pressure Ductile Iron Mains Replacement Policy. HSE's current assessment is that Transco will meet the revised forecast target for 2002-03. The data for the full year will be available shortly.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

102243; 403 c408-9W;403 c409W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Iron and steel Natural gas Pipelines Safety Transco

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk