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London Underground

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the turnover of London Underground staff has been in each of the past six years. [20113]

Mr. Jamieson: This is an operational matter for LUL who have provided the following advice:

Year	Percentage turnover
1997	7
1998	6.7
1999	6.4
2000	6.4
2001	7

Notes:

1. Figures are by calendar year.

2. Reliable data are not available pre 1997.

3. Turnover excludes those who retired, left on TUPE grounds, left on voluntary redundancy/severance terms or reached the end of contract.

4. Figures for 2001 are to the end of November and exclude the infrastructure companies.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how frequently London Underground carries out detailed surveys of its track; and if he will make a statement on the most recent survey. [20771]

Mr. Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 10 December 2001, Official Report, column 561W.

London Underground acknowledges that its track needs major investment. The age and quality of the track requires intensive maintenance and/or the imposition of speed restrictions to enable services to run safely. With limited resources for investment, London Underground has had to prioritise the level of track renewals to ensure that the overall conditions do not deteriorate further. However, once London Underground's tube modernisation plans are in place, the investment backlog will be tackled and the standard and condition of the track will be improved significantly.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the register of assets held by London Underground. [20768]

Mr. Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 10 December 2001, Official Report, column 560W.

Rents (Barnet)

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many properties in Barnet will not reach the formula rent cap level for the unit size for (a) registered social landlords and (b) council tenants by 2011. [20838]

Ms Keeble: The information is not available. I refer my hon. Friend to the answers I gave him on 10 December 2001, Official Report, column 562W.

11 Dec 2001 : Column: 787W

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many households in Barnet in (a) registered social landlord and (b) local authority accommodation will have formula rents at the appropriate cap level for their size in 2011. [20820]

Ms Keeble: The information is currently not available. In particular, the rate of increase of actual registered social landlord and local authority rents over the next 10 years will depend, among other things, on the outcome of future Spending Reviews (for local authority rents) and periodic reviews by the Housing Corporation (for registered social landlord rents). Moreover, individual landlords retain responsibility for rent-setting.

Polling Booths (Disabled Access)

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to ensure that all polling booths are accessible to people with physical disabilities. [20828]

Dr. Whitehead: The SCOPE report 'Polls Apart' on the June general election concluded that there had been some improvements on polling station accessibility, but that more needs to be done. In the light of this we will continue to work, with the Electoral Commission, to secure further improvements on polling station accessibility.

Absence

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many days were lost due to sickness absence in the Department in each of the last four years. [21330]

Dr. Whitehead: As the Department has only existed since 8 June 2001 it is not possible to reply in the form requested.

Train Operating Companies

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent research his Department has (a) conducted, (b) commissioned and (c) made reference to with regard to the future financial viability of train operating companies. [21047]

Mr. Jamieson: My Department conducted a study of the financial needs of all parts of the railway industry to inform the development of the 10 Year Plan and the last Spending Review. Two recent research studies were commissioned by the Department to assess Eurostar's passenger number and revenue forecasts and Freightliner's application for Track Access Grant. The Department has had regard to advice from the Strategic Rail Authority which receives monthly financial reports from train operating companies and monitors the financial position of their parent companies on a regular basis. When awarding new franchises the SRA makes assessments of bidders' financial standing.

Railway Inspectorate

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how

11 Dec 2001 : Column: 788W

many staff worked within his Department's Railway Inspectorate in each month since June 1997; and what changes in the number of staff within the inspectorate are planned. [21025]

Mr. Jamieson: The Railway Inspectorate is part of the Health and Safety Executive. Monthly staffing figures for the Railway Inspectorate are not available. Yearly staffing figures for the Railway Inspectorate since 1997 are:

Total number of staff (administrative and inspectors)⁽¹²⁾

Date	Number
31 March 1997	85
31 March 1998	88
31 March 1999	98
31 March 2000	108
31 March 2001	145
30 November 2001	161

⁽¹²⁾ The above figures represent staff in post on the given date. They do not include additional staff employed to fill posts on an ad hoc basis (currently 20 staff).

The staff allocation for the Railway Inspectorate to March 2002 is 210.

Signal Failures

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many reported signal failures there were on the railway infrastructure controlled by Railtrack for each month from January 2000 to November 2001. [21029]

Mr. Jamieson: Railtrack compile figures for four-week periods rather than monthly. The reported signal failures on the railway infrastructure controlled by Railtrack for each four-week period from January 2000 to the latest date for which figures are available show:

Year/period	Period	Number of signal failures causing delays of more than 10 minutes
2000–01
1		1,747
2	2	1,958
3	3	2,077
4	4	1,810
5	5	1,760
6	6	1,829
7	7	1,764
8	8	1,788
9	9	1,970
10	10	2,213
11	11	1,959
12	12	2,098
13	13	2,006
2001–02
1		1,910
2	2	2,614
3	3	2,089
4	4	2,559
5	5	2,339
6	6	1,855
7	7	1,999
8	8	2,260

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Railway Management

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what representations he has received regarding (a) the merger of and (b) closer co-operation between the Strategic Rail Authority and the Rail Regulator. [21055]

Mr. Jamieson: We are considering how the regulatory framework can be streamlined, and my officials have had informal discussions with some industry players. A number of suggestions have been put forward.

Rail Safety

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will give details of the progress made in respect of each recommendation made by the Health and Safety Commission in its agreed action plan of August 2000 since its further progress report of February. [16992]

Mr. Jamieson: The Health and Safety Commission published progress reports on its action plan to implement the recommendations of the Southall Rail Accident Inquiry Report in August 2000 and February 2001. No further reports are required from rail industry stakeholders until the end of the implementation period in February 2002.

Housing (Portsmouth)

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many (a) private rented units, (b) social rented units and (c) owner- occupied units there were in the Greater Portsmouth area in (i) 1990, (ii) 1995 and (iii) 2000. [21216]

Ms Keeble: The available information provided by Portsmouth city council on their annual Housing Investment Programme returns is as follows:

Stock of dwellings as at 1 April

	1990	1995	2000
Social rented dwellings	16,625	16,550	16,491
Private sector dwellings	59,565	61,500	64,006
Total dwellings	76,190	78,050	80,497

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