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27 Mar 1996 : Column: 589

Written Answers to Questions

Wednesday 27 March 1996

TRANSPORT

HGV Drivers (Eyesight Tests)

Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what dates he received letters from officials of the Transport and General Workers Union requesting meetings to discuss the European driving licence directive, 91/439/EEC; what was his response; and if he will make a statement. [23066]

Mr. Norris: The national secretary of the road transport (commercial) division of the Transport and General Workers Union wrote to me on 22 January commenting on the new eyesight standards for drivers of large goods vehicles and passenger carrying vehicles and requesting a meeting to discuss this; I received a further letter on 22 February again requesting a meeting. I replied fully to the first letter on 6 March setting out the considerations underlying the new requirements and did not therefore consider that a meeting could usefully take matters forward. I confirmed this in a letter of 13 March. I replied to a further letter, dated 11 March, on 18 March.

Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated concerning the number of (i) fatal and (ii) other accidents, concerning the drivers of heavy goods vehicles in each of the last five years; and in respect of how many such accidents the cause was attributed to the heavy goods vehicles' drivers wearing glasses, contact lenses, or having below standard eyesight. [23076]

Mr. Norris: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the replies that I gave to earlier questions covering the same issue, recorded in the Official Report dated 6 February, column 302 and 8 February, columns 157-58.

Mr. Dixon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his oral statement of 6 March, Official Report, column 306, if he will name the 95 bodies consulted; and which bodies were in favour and which opposed to the continuation of grandfather rights. [22891]

Mr. Norris: Those consulted are as listed.


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Sixteen of the above organisations responded: 11 supported abolition of grandfather rights; five opposed. We did not advise those consulted that their responses might be made public and therefore in line with established practice individual respondents are not identified.

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London Underground

Ms Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to reduce (a) delays on London Underground and (b) the number of station closures (i) for over 15 minutes due to attributable causes and (ii) due to repair work. [22946]

Mr. Norris: Responsibility for minimising delays and temporary station closures on the underground is an operational matter for London Underground Ltd. However, I have recently set new quality of service objectives for LUL to achieve by March 1999, with interim objectives for 1996-97. These objectives include higher targets for service reliability and for customer satisfaction with the quality of train service, and a new target for the percentage of scheduled train miles operated.

All of the targets are set out in the table.

Percentage

Measure1995-96 target1995-96 to date1996-97 target1989-89 target
Train service regularity (percentage headways achieved)95.795.895.796.2
Percentage schedule operated--96.496.597.2
Ticket purchase (percentage queuing under 3 minutes)98.097.598.098.0
Escalator availability92.092.792.094.5
Lift availability95.095.796.096.0
Train service CSR77.076.076.078.0
Train and station information CSR--73.073.076.0
Customer security and safety CSR83.082.083.083.0
Staff helpfulness and availability CSR69.068.069.071.0
Train and station cleanliness CSR--68.069.071.0

CSR = Customer Satisfaction Rating.

London Transport

Ms Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to provide the bulk of funds to London Transport announced by the Secretary of State in 1991. [22947]

Mr Norris: Grant for London Transport in 1992-93 was paid in line with that announced in the 1991 autumn statement. The plans then announced for grant in later years have been superseded by subsequent years' announcements. The Government's current plans for the provision of grant for London Transport were announced in the unified Budget in November 1995.

Departmental Secondment

Mr. Caborn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the individuals, by name, civil service post and receiving company, who are on temporary secondment from his Department to industry as part of the continuing programme of interchange of staff with the private sector. [22791]

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Mr. Norris: The information is set out in the table.

Transport secondees to private sector

NameGrade in civil service Company seconded to
Mr. Steve D. Allen7J. Henry Schroder & Co. Ltd.
Mr. William Hills7Union Railways Ltd.
Mr. Alan Jeffs7Black Country Development Corporation
Ms Lynda JonesSEO (part time)Cispotel (lifeboat fund-charity)
Mr. John H. MairsSPTOInternational Atomic Energy Agency
Mr. Nick Patel7Bristol Development Corporation

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