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Railtrack
Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions on how many days following privatisation Railtrack shares were worth (a) more and (b) less than their opening price; and what the highest and lowest values were of a single Railtrack share between privatisation and 1 October. [18232]
Mr. Jamieson [pursuant to his reply, 26 November 2001, c. 606W]: The closing share price for Railtrack Group plc was above the flotation price of 380p on every day between its flotation on 20 May 1996 and 4 June 2001 and also on 8 June 2001. The share price reached a peak of 1768p on 23 November 1998.
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The closing share price for Railtrack Group plc was below the flotation price of 380p on 5, 6, 7 June 2001 and on every day between 9 June 2001 and 1 October 2001. The lowest closing share price was 252p on 20 September 2001.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he prepared the emergency legislation to prevent an application for interim review from Railtrack. [16031R]
Mr. Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 27 November 2001, Official Report, column 746W.
Mr. Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the specialist areas in which his Department has sought external advice in handling Railtrack over the last year. [16375]
Mr. Spellar: We have sought accounting, legal, financial and other technical advice in relation to Railtrack and its links with the wider rail industry.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many new stations were opened by Railtrack. [17046]
Mr. Jamieson: I understand that between 1 March 1997 and 31 October this year, 24 new stations were opened. Railtrack advise that data relating to the period from the company's establishment on 1 April 1994 to the end of February 1997 are not available.
Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many railway infrastructure projects stand (a) cancelled and (b) postponed, following Railtrack being placed in administration. [17671]
Mr. Jamieson: I am not aware that any projects have been cancelled or postponed as a consequence of Railtrack plc going into administration.
Corsham Station
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what impact Railtrack's entry to receivership will have on the opening of the new station at Corsham. [17044]
Mr. Jamieson: None. I understand that planning for the new station is continuing.
Rail Services (Buckingham)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent assessment he has made as to the adequacy of rail services between stations in the Buckingham constituency and London. [17845]
Mr. Jamieson: No formal assessment has been made. We would expect Chiltern Railways in consultation with local stakeholders to come forward with proposals to meet demands for new or improved services. The Strategic Rail Authority's Strategic Plan, which will be published in the near future, will set out their priorities for enhancement to the network.
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Rail Maintenance
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what research the Government are funding into rail track laying and maintenance technologies. [17954]
Mr. Jamieson: My Department is currently funding a research project studying the feasibility of an on-board in-service track monitoring and fault prediction system. The Department's commitment is £375,000 over two years.
Heathrow Airport
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions which planning authority will be charged with (a) monitoring and (b) enforcing compliance with the flights ceiling imposed as a condition for Heathrow Terminal 5. [18664]
Ms Keeble: Both matters will be the responsibility of the London borough of Hillingdon.
Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact on levels of aircraft movements at regional airports of the completion of Terminal 5 at Heathrow. [18482]
Mr. Jamieson: The possible impact of Terminal 5 on regional airports was considered at the Terminal 5 planning inquiry and in the inspector's report. The Secretary of State's reasons for his decision on T5 are set out in his decision letter of 20 November.
Our regional air services studies into demand and capacity at regional airports will take into account the Heathrow Terminal 5 decision. We will be consulting on options early in the new year, and the outcome will inform the air transport White Paper to be published next autumn.
Mrs. Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact on levels of aircraft (a) movements and (b) noise in Beckenham of the completion of Terminal 5 at Heathrow. [18162]
Ms Keeble: The Secretary of State's planning decision on Terminal 5 followed consideration of the report by the Inspector who conducted the public inquiry into the matter. The Inspector's report does not expressly refer to the effect of Terminal 5 on Beckenham, but the conditions attached to the Secretary of State's decision which restrict the number of air transport movements at Heathrow to 480,000 per annum and which restrict the size of the 57 decibel noise contour will limit the noise effects of the new terminal beyond the immediate vicinity of Heathrow.
Mr. Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he will (a) start and (b) conclude the review of westerly preference for incoming aircraft at Heathrow in daylight hours. [18293]
Mr. Jamieson: It will be necessary to carry out a preliminary technical review of operational procedures and meteorological trends at the airport before assessing the environmental and safety implications of different
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preference options. These options will only become clear during the technical review stage. When the preparatory work is complete we will consult widely before reaching any final decisions. I hope to issue a consultation paper in the second half of next year, but it is not possible at this early stage to give a firm timetable for completing the review and consultation.
HOME DEPARTMENT
Public Service Agreements
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for correspondence responded to within agreed targets. [16916]
Mr. Blunkett: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Perth (Annabelle Ewing) on 31 October 2001, Official Report, columns 721–22W.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for a reduction in the level of re-offending by drug misusing offenders. [16933]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: We are in the process of reviewing progress against all the drugs strategy targets. Progress on the public service agreement target to reduce levels of repeat offending among drug misusing offenders by 25 per cent. by 2005 and by 50 per cent. by 2008 is currently measured by the New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (NEW-ADAM) research programme which provides estimates of repeat offending drug misusing offenders (defined as the proportion of arrestees using heroin and/or cocaine/ crack at least once a week and who have offended at least twice a month in the last twelve months). The proportion of arrestees falling within this category for the financial year 1999–2000 was 15 per cent. This will provide an interim baseline against which progress can be tracked. A summary of full baseline data will be available in the spring of 2002.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for increasing completions of nationality applications. [16924]
Angela Eagle: Increasing the number of nationality decisions was a public service agreement (PSA) target in the years 1999–2000 and 2000–01 but is not a PSA target in 2001–02. Outturn in 2000–01 was 94,090 against a target of 91,000.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for shortening the time taken in dealing with persistent offending. [17055]
Mr. Keith Bradley: This public service agreement target reflects the Government's youth justice pledge to halve the average time taken to deal with a persistent young offender from arrest to sentence, from 142 days in 1996 to 71 days. The target has now been met for three
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consecutive months; i.e. the latest figure, for August is 66 days. This has been achieved through effective partnership working in the criminal justice system.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for evaluation of probation and court referral schemes; [16960]
- (2) if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for the expansion of the probation and court referral scheme; [16931]
(3) if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for drug treatment and testing orders. [16932]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The public service agreement targets for the evaluation and significant expansion of probation and court referral schemes were achieved through the evaluation of the Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTO) pilots and the roll-out of the DTTO to courts in England and Wales on 1 October 2000 respectively. 2,288 DTTOs were made in the first six months of 2001–02, against the full year target of approximately 6,000 orders. Under the comprehensive spending review settlement, the Government provided £20 million for the implementation of DTTOs in 2000–01 (the first six months after roll-out) and £40 million for 2001–02, ring-fenced for the purpose.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards the public service agreement target for efficiency of procurement in his Department. [16915]
Mr. Blunkett: There are four key targets for procurement within the public service agreement for the Home Department:
1. The introduction of the procurement card:
This is now in use within the Prison Service, Forensic Science Service, United Kingdom, Passport Service and The Youth Justice Board. It has been piloted within the core Home Office and full roll out is due to commence in January 2002.
2. The comprehensive roll out of consolidated invoicing:
This activity has been completed.
3. The determination of the extent of introduction of the procurement excellence model:
This has been fully scoped and the model has been used within three separate business areas as part of an ongoing roll out programme.
4. Central Home Office procurement staff to have access to the Government secure intranet and internet:
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