| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Plastic Baton Rounds
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were injured by plastic baton rounds in Derry from 11 to 14 July; and what was the nature of the injuries. [40268]
Sir John Wheeler: I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
Altnegelion Hospital (Incident)
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will establish a public inquiry into the events involving the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Altnegelion hospital on 12 July. [40269]
Sir John Wheeler: I have no plans to establish an inquiry, but the House may wish to note that one complaint has arisen out of this incident and is currently under investigation by the RUC.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many answers to (a) written and (b) oral parliamentary questions have required correction by his Department in each of the past two years. [40638]
Sir John Wheeler: This is a matter of public record.
Promotional Expenditure
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department has spent on (a) publicity, (b) promotion, and (c) hospitality in each of the last six years. [40613]
Sir John Wheeler: The information requested for the Northern Ireland Office and Northern Ireland Departments is listed.
| Publicity and promotion(5)(1) | Hospitality | |
|---|---|---|
| 1990-91 | 8,369 | 728 |
| 1991-92 | 10,604 | 807 |
| 1992-93 | 9,564 | 872 |
| 1993-94 | 8,162 | 921 |
| 1994-95 | 8,397 | 832 |
| 1995-96 | 10,953 | 564 |
(5) To identify separately publicity and promotion costs would incur disproportionate cost.
(6) The Department of Agriculture is excluded as it could provide figures only at disproportionate cost.
TRANSPORT
16 Oct 1996 : Column: 964
Rail Franchise
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list those rail franchises which have been re-sold since initial privatisation together with their original purchase price and subsequent selling price. [40682]
Mr. Watts: None of the franchises so far sold to the private sector has been re-sold.
Railway Claims Ltd.
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list the total amounts paid by Railways Claims Ltd. to claimants since its creation; [40692]
- (2) how many claims have been received by Railways Claims Ltd., for each year since its creation. [40691]
Mr. Watts: This is a matter for the board of Railway Claims Ltd.
Coastguard
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list by coastguard station the number of additional staff provided as a result of the introduction of the 2182 Khz system. [39478]
Mr. Bowis: As a result of the introduction of monitoring the 2182 Khz system by Coastguard, the agency agreed that an additional auxiliary operations room assistant should be made available to assist in maintaining the distress watch at the 10 designated 2,182 stations. This is in addition to the normal 24-hour watchkeeping complements at each rescue centre and is a temporary arrangement pending the introduction of coastguard watchkeeping assistants. At some of these stations it has proved difficult to find the additional auxiliary ORAs from the pool of trained auxiliaries locally, but this has not affected the ability to respond to 2182 Khz distress calls.
Driver Training
Mr. Corbett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what have been the quarterly totals of new car drivers completing pass plus courses since their introduction; and what percentage of the numbers passing the driving test take such courses. [40444]
Mr. Bowis: Pass plus was launched on 6 February 1995. Up to the end of September, completion certificates have been issued to 18,823 successful participants. This represents about 2 per cent. of successful test candidates. The quarterly figures are:
| Number of certificates issued | |
|---|---|
| 1995 | |
| January to March | 976 |
| April to June | 3,659 |
| July to September | 3,149 |
| October to December | 2,873 |
| 1996 | |
| January to March | 2,817 |
| April to June | 2,831 |
| July to September | 2,518 |
16 Oct 1996 : Column: 965
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of state for Transport how many answers to (a) written and (b) oral parliamentary questions have required correction by his Department in each of the past two years. [40643]
Mr. Bowis: This is a matter of public record.
West Coast Main Line
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 6 March to the hon. Member for Cunninghame, North (Mr. Wilson), Official Report, column 211, if he will instruct Railtrack to hold details of past speed restrictions centrally. [40908]
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the number of speed restrictions currently in operation on the west coast main line, together with the reason for the restriction. [40710]
Mr. Watts: I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 6 March, Official Report, column 211. This is an operational matter for Railtrack and any update should be sought from it.
Rail (Highlands)
Mr. Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will require Railtrack to carry out a comprehensive review of unmanned level crossings and automatic half-barriers in the highland rail network; and if he will make a statement. [40737]
Mr. Watts: No. Level crossing protection is a matter for Railtrack, subject to statutory approval by the Health and Safety Executive on behalf of the Secretary of State.
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the level of (a) security and (b) accuracy of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's computer database. [40432]
Mr. Bowis: The Driver and Licensing Agency has a computer database security policy which meets Government requirements. The controls in place fully recognise the sensitivities of the date held.
The agency meets its targets of between 96 per cent. and 98 per cent. accuracy of data input to the driver and vehicle registers.
The principal cause of inaccuracy in the DVLA databases is the failure of those who change their name or address, or buy or sell vehicles, to notify the agency promptly. New and improved vehicle registration procedures to be introduced in 1997 will require the buyer and seller to notify DVLA at the same time on the same form.
16 Oct 1996 : Column: 966
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the likely number of jobs to be created as a result of the establishment of a second air traffic control centre in Scotland. [40695]
Mr. Bowis:
The proposed construction of the new Scottish centre and the replacement of the Oceanic flight data processing system, as envisaged in the invitation to tender of autumn 1995, would result in staff levels at Prestwick being maintained at approximately their current levels.
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to make an announcement of the future privatisation of the National Air Traffic Service and on the future of the second air traffic control centre in Scotland. [40694]
Mr. Bowis:
I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply of 29 November 1995, Official Report, columns 783-84, to the hon. Member for Wyre (Mr. Mans). The timetable for privatisation has not yet been decided.
The future of the proposed air traffic control centre in Scotland is the subject of a review by the Civil Aviation Authority and I expect recommendations emerging from the review to be presented to Ministers later this year.
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the occasions over the last 12 months when the air traffic control centre covering the United Kingdom has failed, the length of time the system failed and the estimated number of flights affected. [40689]
Mr. Bowis:
The air traffic control centres at West Drayton and Prestwick cover the UK flight information regions. Over the last 12 months there have been a total of five failures resulting in delays to aircraft as follows:
Prestwick (Oceanic Data Processing System)
23 August 1996--at 1005 with delays to aircraft peaking at over 2 hours.
12 September 1996-- at 1110 with 40 aircraft delayed in excess of 1 hour.
West Drayton (Host Computer System)
6 October 1995--at 0810--flow restrictions introduced.
5 November 1995--at 1221 resulting in 50 minute outbound delays from Heathrow.
25 January 1996--at 1520--flow restrictions imposed.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |