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10 Dec 2002 : Column 213W—continued
Single Hull Tankers
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many single hull oil tankers were registered in each flag state in each year since 1990. [86080]
Mr. Jamieson: This information is not held by my Department.
Stingray Mobile Camera System
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cases of vehicle excise duty evasion have been recorded by the Stingray mobile camera system, broken down by region, since its introduction. [85952]
Mr. Jamieson: Between 11 October 2001 (the national launch of the Stingray automatic number plate reader mobile camera system) and 31 October 2002, 17,756
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confirmed cases of vehicle excise duty evasion have been recorded by the Stingray systems. It is not possible to give details by region.
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what revenue has been generated from enforcement action against vehicle excise duty evasion through detection by the Stingray mobile camera system since October 2001. [85953]
Mr. Jamieson: Between 11 October 2001 (the national launch of the Stingray automatic number plate reader mobile camera system) and 31 October 2002, #2.08 million has been generated from enforcement action against VED evaders caught by the Stingray systems. This includes penalties, fines, court costs and relicensing revenue.
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the total running cost for the 11 units of the Stingray mobile camera system since October 2001. [85954]
Mr. Jamieson: Between 11 October 2001 (the national launch of the Stingray ANPR system) and 31 October 2002, the total cost of operating the units was some #1.43 million including publicity.
Supplementary Credit Approvals
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which local authorities received supplementary credit approvals related to roads maintenance and repair in each financial year since 2000–01; and what the total amount received was in each case for (a) flood damage and (b) other causes. [86110]
Mr. Jamieson: All local authorities in England (outside London) received capital support in the form of supplementary credit approvals for road maintenance in 2000–01 and 2001–02. Capital support to authorities for road maintenance in 2002–03 is in the form of basic credit approvals except for major maintenance schemes with a gross cost exceeding #5 million. The following four authorities have received supplementary credit approvals in 2002–03 for major maintenance schemes:
- Bedfordshire
Halton
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Oldham
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Traveline Website
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the contract to run the traveline website was awarded; to whom it was originally awarded; who holds this contract; what the length and cost of the contracts (a) were at the time of award and (b) are now; what the terms of reference and expected outputs of the contract were; what assessment has been made of the delivery of the contract; what changes have been made to the original contract; and what further changes are planned. [86091]
Mr. Jamieson: The traveline website is owned by the traveline partners not by the Department for Transport. We are not therefore in a position to comment on the contracts entered into by those bodies.
In 2001 the traveline parties, under the leadership of Buckinghamshire County Council submitted a bid to the then Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions for 58K Supplementary Credit Approval (SCA) to develop the original
This was supplemented by a grant of 25K during 2002 to extend the traveline portal functionality. This work will be completed in the first quarter of 2003.
The traveline parties have agreed with the owners of a site offering a comprehensive index of public transport information (pti.org.uk) to merge websites and functionality, given the complementary nature of these sites. As part of the merger, the controlling company, pt/ Website Ltd., will include representatives from transport operators and local authorities.
It will be a matter for pt/ Website Ltd. and the various traveline partners nationally to consider how and when to assess the effectiveness of their web services.
Trunk Roads
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many trunk road excavations there have been in each Shropshire constituency in each year since 1997, and what the cost was in each case. [85633]
Mr. Jamieson: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Tim Matthews, to write to my hon. Friend.
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Letter from Tim Matthews to Mr. Paul Marsden, dated 12 December 2002:
- I have been asked by the Transport Minister, David Jamieson, to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the number and cost of trunk road excavations in each Shropshire constituency since 1997.
- From your question, we assume that you are seeking information on utility companies' works (water, gas, electricity, telecommunications, etc.) which involve trunk road excavations. I am afraid historical information of this type is not held centrally in a form that would be readily available.. It would be time consuming and expensive to collect, involving detailed searching through manual records from a number of different sources. That said, since September we have had a new streetworks system in place that will allow us to collect the number of streetworks excavations per utility within a specific area.
- I am sorry that I cannot send a more helpful reply. If you consider that the information that we have for the last two months for the trunk roads in Shropshire would be useful, it can be provided. The contact within the Agency is Andrew Slater, he can be contacted at our offices at Broadway, Broad Street, Birmingham B15 1BL, or by telephone on 0121 678 8504.
Waterloo-Exeter Railway Line
Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact of the decision to award a franchise to South West Trains on the Waterloo to Exeter line on (a) track doubling west of Salisbury, (b) car parking at Salisbury station and (c) the re-opening of Wilton station. [86228]
Mr. Jamieson: Stagecoach's initial proposals for a 20-year franchise—submitted in July 2000—included double tracking of the line and car park expansion at Salisbury, but not the re-opening of Wilton station. The Strategic Rail Authority subsequently proposed to place the Exeter line in the Wessex franchise. Consequently, double tracking of the line and the expansion of car parks were excluded from Stagecoach's Best and Final Offer when submitted to the SRA in November 2000. The new approach to the South West Trains franchise, announced on 6 November 2002, includes the route but excludes infrastructure enhancements. Alternative means of pursuing infrastructure projects are being considered by the Strategic Rail Authority.
West Coast Main Line
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the operation of the franchise for the west coast main line. [85335]
Mr. Jamieson: The main operator of long distance rail services on the west coast main line is Virgin trains. The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) manages this rail franchise, and all of the other rail franchises. The SRA is working with Virgin trains to ensure that an appropriate level of service is provided while the major up-grade of the west coast main line is in progress.
DEFENCE
Airbus 400
Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence by how much, and by what percentage, the unit
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costs of each Airbus 400 ordered for the RAF will change as a result of Germany's decision to reduce its Airbus 400 order. [86381]
Dr. Moonie [holding answer 9 December 2002]: We welcome the official announcement from the German Government concerning its participation in the A400M programme with an off take of 60 aircraft.
The cost impact, if any, of the reduction in German off take will be determined through negotiation with the prime contractor, Airbus Military. We will clearly hope to minimise any price increase to the United Kingdom.
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