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Railtrack

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 30 January 2002, Official Report, column 321W, ref 26291, what specialist credentials Schroder Salomon Smith Barney have that rendered them suitable for this work; and what tendering process took place to select advisers. [33410]

Mr. Spellar [holding answer 4 February 2002]: Schroder Salomon Smith Barney has a well established track record advising companies and the UK Government on a wide range of corporate finance transactions including corporate restructuring. Regarding the tendering process, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to the hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) on 25 January 2002, Official Report, column 1103W.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 30 January 2002, Ref 28541, Official Report, column 320W, if he will list the schemes that have been previously identified and those which have not. [33404]

Mr. Spellar [holding answer 4 February 2002]: The information is not available in the form requested.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 30 January 2002, ref 30241, Official Report, column 320W, which SRA officials are participating in the bid team; and on what contractual basis. [33411]

Mr. Spellar [holding answer 4 February 2002]: No SRA officials are participating in the bid team.

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Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions where information is (a) held and (b) presented, regarding the total weekly rail delays, in minutes, caused by (i) Railtrack and (ii) train operating companies. [31584]

Mr. Jamieson: Railtrack keep records of delay minutes.

Congestion Scheme

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the proposed Central London congestion scheme on public transport and road congestion in areas immediately outside London. [32952]

Mr. Spellar [holding answer 4 February 2002]: The Department's assessment in relation to trunk roads and motorways is that effects outside the Greater London boundary are likely to be small.

Assessment of the effects on other roads are for the local traffic authorities concerned to consider in the first instance.

Data Protection Act

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many requests the Department has received under the Data Protection Act 1988 for (a) electronically held information and (b) paper documentation. [33584]

Dr. Whitehead: The central Department has received, all told, nine external requests for electronically held personal data and one for manually held records.

The Department's policy with regard to subject access requests from members of staff is to provide subject access to both manual and electronic records for every such request. Fifty-three subject access requests have been received to date from members of the Department's staff.

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what administration fees are charged by the Department for information requests made under the Data Protection Act 1998. [33463]

Dr. Whitehead: The standard administration charge made by the Department for information requests from members of the public is £10. There is no charge for requests by present and former members of staff for access to their personal records.

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) what the Department's procedure is for responding to requests for information under the Data Protection Act 1998; if he will place a copy in the Library; and if he will make a statement; [33484]

(2) what the policy of the Department is for ensuring responses to requests for information under the Data Protection Act 1998 are completed within 40 days; and what their procedure is to achieve this. [33477]

Dr. Whitehead: All external subject access requests to the Department are routed to a central unit responsible for co-ordinating responses. From the information

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accompanying each request, the request is then forwarded to those parts of the Department which are considered likely to be in possession of personal data of the sort requested. The request will be accompanied by an instruction to trawl through electronic and, where specified, appropriately structured manual records held in those areas of the Department, and return to the co-ordinating unit copies of all personal references uncovered in the course of the trawl.

These references generally provide a certain amount of context to make them intelligible. The co-ordinating unit finally combines these individual references into a single set of attachments to a covering reply letter, deleting all references to third parties (where permission to reveal such third party references has not been forthcoming) in the document copies being supplied to the applicant.

All internal subject access requests from staff members are sent to a focal point in Human Resources. Action is initiated by the Data Protection Officer on the day the application is received. An appointment is arranged usually within two weeks of the application for the member of staff to have access to his or her records. Performance is monitored daily to ensure compliance with the set period.

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many responses the Department has completed to requests for information made under the Data Protection Act 1998 for (a) electronically held information and (b) paper documentation. [33577]

Dr. Whitehead: The central Department has completed six external requests for electronically held personal data and one for manually held records. The Department's policy with regard to subject access requests from members of staff is to provide subject access to both manual and electronic records for every such request. 51 subject access requests from members of the Department's staff have been completed to date.

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the longest period of time elapsed is between receiving (a) the administration fee and providing the information requested and (b) a request for information and providing the information requested, under the Data Protection Act 1998. [33456]

Dr. Whitehead: In respect of (a) 82 days and in respect of (b) 98 days.

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many responses to requests for information under the Data Protection Act 1998 have been completed (a) within 40, (b) between 40 and 60 and (c) over 60 days after receiving the original letter; and how many are outstanding. [33434]

Dr. Whitehead: As regards external subject access requests, two responses have been completed within 40 days, three between 40 and 60 days, and two over 60 days, after receipt of the original request letter. In addition, one is outstanding.

Of 53 subject access requests received from members of the Department's staff, 50 have been responded to within 40 days. Two are outstanding.

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Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what percentage of responses to requests for information under the Data Protection Act 1998 the Department has completed (a) within 40 days of receipt of the £10 fee, (b) between 40 and 60 days of and (c) over 60 days after receiving the administration fee. [33470]

Dr. Whitehead: 83 per cent. of external subject access requests have been completed within 40 days, and the remaining 17 per cent. in over 60 days, after receipt of the administration fee. No administration fee is charged for requests from members of the Department's staff.

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his estimate is of the average cost of processing each information request under the Data Protection Act 1998. [33438]

Dr. Whitehead: Costs are incurred in a number of areas of the Department and vary widely between requests. It is therefore not possible to give an average cost of processing each information request.

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many responses to requests for information under the Data Protection Act 1998 the Department has completed (a) within 40 days of receipt of, (b) between 40 and 60 days of receiving and (c) over 60 days after receiving the £10 administration fee. [33565]

Dr. Whitehead: As regards external subject access requests, five responses have been completed within 40 days, and one over 60 days, after receipt of the administration fee. One case is outstanding.

No fee is charged for requests by present and former members of staff for access to their personal records. Of 51 completed subject access requests from members of the Department's staff, 50 have been responded to within 40 days.

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