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10-Year Plan
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will list the rail projects in the 10-year Plan on which development work has already started. [45348]
Mr. Jamieson: Examination of the high-level feasibility of all of the rail projects listed in the 10-year Plan is either under way or has already been completed. The SRA's Strategic Plan lists at page 49 the major projects to which the SRA is already committed or which are prioritised for delivery by 2010.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 25 February 2002, ref. 37093, on 10-year Plan funding, for what reason #1.5 billion of advanced grants to Railtrack has resulted in an increase in the 10-year Plan total. [40604]
Mr. Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the Chief Secretary on 26 February 2002, Official Report, columns 1207–08W.
Multi-modal Transport Studies
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many multi-modal transport studies are behind schedule; and if he will make a statement. [46111]
Mr. Jamieson [holding answer: Monday, 25 March 2002]: The Multi-Modal Studies programme contains 22 Studies which were split into three tranches. Five Studies from tranche 1 have so far reported to Regional Planning Bodies with recommendations. We have announced our decisions on three of these.
From the remaining 17 Studies, two Studies from tranche 3 of the programme are expected to commence later this year. Nine studies from tranches 1 and 2 have been given time extensions. This is due to the complexity of the Study process, and the need for some additional work identified during the course of the Studies. Ten Studies are now due to report by summer 2002 and a further three Studies by December 2002. The remaining four Studies will report in 2003.
Concessionary Fares
Dr. Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will publish the results of his survey with local authorities to assess the impact of the introduction of the statutory minimum requirement for concessionary fares introduced under the Transport Act 2000. [46858]
Ms Keeble: My Department will be publishing the results of the survey on 28 March. A copy of the Statistics Bulletin will be placed in the Library and will be available on my Department's website (www.dtlr.gov.uk) shortly.
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The statutory minimum requirement for concessionary fares was introduced in Spring 2001 and guarantees all elderly and disabled people half-fare or better on local bus services, with a free bus pass.
The survey of local authorities in England was undertaken at the end of last year to assess the impact of the introduction of the statutory minimum requirement in each local authority area. The survey showed that over 50 per cent. of local authorities now offer a more generous concessionary fares scheme than before the introduction of the statutory minimum requirement, and 17 local authorities have introduced a concessionary fares scheme where none previously existed.
Ninety four per cent. of local authorities offer a half fare concession for elderly people and 90 per cent. offer half fare for disabled people. The remaining local authorities either offer flat rate fares or free travel. Just under half of local authorities offer concessions on modes of public transport other than local buses.
Vehicle Clamping
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of (a) how many vehicles have been clamped and (b) how much revenue has been obtained from car clamping in each year since 1997. [46164]
Ms Keeble: Wheel clamping is undertaken on both the public highway and private land as a means of enforcing parking restrictions. There is no central record of the number of vehicles that have been clamped in particular years.
Parking Fines
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of how much revenue has been obtained from parking fines in each year since 1997. [46165]
Ms Keeble: Parking fines are issued by local authorities and the police service. The table below sets out the information available to the Department on total local authority income from parking in England and Wales. This is published in Local Government Financial Statistics; England and Welsh Local Government Financial Statistics. The figures include income from penalty charge notices and excess charge notices as well as parking charges—the Department does not have a breakdown of these elements.
| Year | Income1 # |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 652,644,000 |
| 1998–99 | 668,929,000 |
| 1999–2000 | 739,645,000 |
| 2000–01 | 799,719,000 |
1 Covers all local authority income from parking, including fines.
The following table shows the number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued by police forces in England and Wales for obstruction, waiting and parking offences and estimated related income, which accrued to the Consolidated Fund, in each of the years since 1997 for which figures are available was as follows:
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| Year | Number of FPNs | Estimated FPN income # |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 2,199,000 | 45,590,000 |
| 1998 | 2,118,000 | 44,425,000 |
| 1999 | 1,808,000 | 38,087,000 |
| 2000 | 1,595,000 | 33,877,000 |
Road Safety
Mrs. Mahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) how much money his Department spent on producing free road safety literature in 2001; and how much money it plans to spend on producing it in 2002; [45666]
- (2) how his Department markets the free road safety literature it produces. [45667]
Dr. Whitehead: The Department has committed approximately #750,000 to producing free road safety literature in the year 2001–02 in support of the Think! road safety campaign. It is envisaged that a similar amount will be spent on this next year.
The Department markets its road safety literature via Road Safety Officers, Police forces, private sector and voluntary organisations who are active in support of national or local road safety campaigns. It also targets teachers and parents via exhibitions and advertising and editorials in the educational media. The literature is used on sites and in meetings throughout the country to spread road safety best practice to the public. All literature is also available on the Think! Road Safety website at www.think.dtlr.gov.uk.
M4 Bus Lane
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the effect on congestion of the operation of the bus lane on the M4 motorway since its introduction. [45971]
Mr. Spellar: The Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) monitored use of the bus lane during its first year of operation. A copy of their report was placed in the House of Commons Library in January 2001.
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to change the bus lane on the M4 motorway to a carriageway for general use. [45970]
Mr. Spellar: The Highways Agency has recently consulted interested parties on a proposal to increase the speed limit between Junction 4 and the elevated section of the M4 from 50 to 60 mph and to allow motorcycles to use the M4 bus lane.
Alternative Fuels
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) what estimates he has made of the number of vehicle refuelling points in the UK in each of the last four years for (a) liquefied petroleum gas, (b) compressed natural gas and (c) hydrogen/fuel cell technology; [45896]
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- (2) what estimates he has made of the number of vehicles in the UK for each of the last four years which were powered by (a) liquefied petroleum gas, (b) compressed natural gas and (c) hydrogen/fuel cell technology; [45895]
(3) what (a) representations he has received from and (b) meetings he has had with vehicle manufacturers on measures to create incentives for investment in higher volumes of vehicles propelled by road fuel gases after 2004; [45894]
(4) if he will make it his policy to set a target for the UK's consumption of liquefied petroleum gas as a road fuel as a proportion of total fuel consumption for vehicle propulsion. [45897]
Mr. Jamieson: My Department sponsors the Energy Saving Trust's Powershift programme which provides grants towards the cost of purchasing cleaner fuel vehicles. Last year, following an extensive consultation with vehicle manufacturers and fuel suppliers, I announced changes to the programme which offered higher levels of grants for manufacturer-approved LPG vehicles. This move is intended to encourage more manufacturers to invest in the development of production-line LPG vehicles. My Department maintains close links with vehicle manufacturers to keep track of their plans to introduce LPG models.
The Government's general policy has been to encourage the wider use of LPG through fuel duty incentives and purchase grants offered under the Powershift programme rather than by setting an outright target for LPG consumption. Where Government does set targets these will tend to be based on environmental performance rather than specifying particular fuels or technologies.
The table shows how the numbers of LPG vehicles and refuelling points have increased in the UK over the last four years (figures supplied by the LP Gas Association).
| Year | Number of vehicles | Number of refuelling points |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 3,500 | 150 |
| 1999 | 13,000 | 285 |
| 2000 | 39,000 | 610 |
| 2001 | 65,000 | 1,000 |
The take up of natural gas vehicles has been much slower. Over the last four years the population of natural gas vehicles has grown by around 50 vehicles per year with a total of 10 refuelling points over the same period.
Hydrogen fuel cell technology is still in its infancy and there are, as yet, no hydrogen refuelling points for vehicles in the UK. However, the Government will be supporting a hydrogen refuelling point to be used in conjunction with a trial of three fuel cell buses in London expected to start in 2003.
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