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Railway Industry
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what progress has been made on the introduction of special purpose vehicles on Britain's railways; when the first is expected to begin; what timetable is proposed; and if he will make a statement; [64099]
- (2) what changes have taken place to the (a) timetable and (b) levels of investment in connection with the special purpose vehicle being developed by Govia; and if he will make a statement. [64098]
Mr. Jamieson: Special purpose vehicles will be commercial entities aimed at securing third party investment in major infrastructure works on the railway. Several possible opportunities for the establishment of SPVs have been identified, but no SPVs are currently in place.
Rail Safety
Mr. Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on his policy on debris on railway lines. [67729]
Mr. Jamieson: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for North-East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt) on 8 July 2002, Official Report, columns 662–63W.
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of safe limits on the number of passengers travelling in an individual railway carriage. [67702]
Mr. Jamieson: There are no statutory limits on the numbers of passengers that can be carried on trains. The Health and Safety Executive, has advised that all rolling stock is designed to operate safely even when fully loaded.
London Underground
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what success fees are to be paid to the sponsors and advisers of Tube Lines on the signing of the PPP contract; what services have been provided in return for these fees; and what effect these fees will have on the equity return of Tube Lines; [65488]
- (2) how much is to be paid to sponsors and advisors in development costs on the closing date of the London Underground PPP contract; how much is to be paid to lenders and loan insurers on that date and what arrangements have been made for payments to Bakerloo
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- Central Victoria (sub-surface lines) on the same date; and why these payments are being made before the commitment for improving underground performance is met. [65754]
Mr. Jamieson: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake) on 4 July 2002, Official Report, columns 459–60W. Any success fees contained in the bids will only be recovered by bidders, as part of the ongoing, performance-related Infrastructure Service Charge, after they have first been verified by London Underground.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the scheduled journey time for each month, and for the period from 1 April to the end of each month, for each of the last three years, for the London Underground. [66797]
Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 4 July 2002]: Detailed in-year operational information of this nature is a matter for London Underground (LU).
The scheduled journey times (using LU's weighted measure) for each of the last three full financial years were:
- 1999–2000—35.58 minutes
2000–01—35.38 minutes
2001–02—35.33 minutes.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of the London Underground network has a crowding ratio of actual passenger volumes to planned train capacity greater than 1 with regard to morning peak two way flows. [67720]
Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 8 July 2002]: I refer to the answer which my right hon. Friend the Minister for Transport (Mr. Spellar) gave to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 5 December 2001 Official Report, column 378W.
Network Rail
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the financial statement for Network Rail will be consolidated in those for the Strategic Rail Authority. [67791]
Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 8 July 2002]: The Comptroller and Auditor General, in his capacity as statutory auditor of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), has concluded that Network Rail should be accounted for as a subsidiary of the SRA. This means that the financial accounts of Network Rail will be consolidated on a transparent and open basis within the balance sheet of the SRA.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total liabilities on the balance sheet of the SRA will be if it underwrites the proposed finance for Network Rail; if he will list the liabilities on the SRA balance sheet; what the total value of assets held by the SRA is; and which SRA assets banks whose loans to Network Rail are underwritten by the SRA will hold charges against. [66054]
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Mr. Jamieson: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 27 June 2002, Official Report, columns 971–973. The assets of the SRA were outlined in its 2000–01 annual report and will be updated in its 2001–02 annual report to be published shortly.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the legal status will be of the operating subsidiary of Network Rail, as described in the Minute to Parliament. [67166]
Mr. Jamieson: This is a matter for Network Rail.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Arms Sales
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many (a) overseas visits by Ministers in his Department and (b) visits to Ministers in the UK by overseas Government Ministers and officials have taken place in each of the last three years in which UK arms sales have been discussed. [65262]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: Information about Cabinet Ministers' overseas travel including the destination and purpose of each trip is published annually by the Cabinet Office. Copies of the lists covering the period 2 May 1997 to March 2001 are in the Libraries of the House. The list for the period 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002 is currently being assembled, and will be published in due course. Information about visits to Ministers in the UK by overseas Government Ministers and officials is not held centrally, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Russia
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what injuries were sustained by his Department's staff during the construction of the new Moscow embassy. [66109]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: As far as our records show, UK-based members of staff sustained a total of 17 injuries on the construction site of the new embassy in Moscow during the period August 1997 to December 1999. Injuries included cuts, sprains, bruises and one case of fracture. We do not have access to records of injuries caused to local construction workers, but there was one fatality.
Thailand
Albert Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 26 March, Official Report, column 814W, on Thailand, when a report on the action taken by the Thai police into the case was received; whether it explains why Mr. Sinnott's body was moved to Bangkok; and for what reason the British Consular Agent in Bangkok was not informed. [65850]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: The final report by the Thai police, detailing their investigation into the death of Peter Sinnott, has not yet been received. Our embassy in Bangkok is continuing to press the authorities for the report which we hope will deal with some of these issues.
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Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Simon Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many oral questions he has transferred to other Departments in each of the last 18 months. [65511]
Mr. Straw: According to our records, this Department has transferred out six oral questions to be answered by other Departments since June 2001.
Oral questions are only transferred out when it is more appropriate for another Government Department to answer the question, and when the other Government Department has accepted that they should answer. Also, we normally only transfer out questions that are unlikely to be reached on the day of oral questions and that would therefore be given a written answer. Of the six questions transferred out, only one would have been answered orally. This was a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, West (Kevin Brennan) asking about the Ilisu Dam, which was transferred to the DTI for answer.
Macedonia
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with representatives of the Government of the FYR of Macedonia regarding membership of NATO. [67181]
Mr. Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed NATO issues with the Macedonian Foreign Minister on 22 May.
We strongly support the enlargement of NATO to countries ready for the responsibilities of membership.
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