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3 Mar 2003 : Column 786W—continued

Airport Development

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which airport development options assessed at SERAS Stages 2 and 3 were considered by the SERAS consultants to meet private sector funding criteria in terms of an acceptable internal rate of return. [99522]

Mr. Jamieson: The financial appraisal undertaken in the SERAS study indicates that, using airport charges at the time the analysis was undertaken, achieving a high target rate of return (12.5 per cent.) might be difficult for

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any major airport development. Chapter 15 of the Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: South East, a second edition of which was published on 27 February (including some minor revisions to this chapter) discusses how major new airport capacity might be funded.

The principal results of the financial appraisal of different airport options are presented in the "SERAS Stage two Appraisal Findings report (section 14.4)."

ATOL Protection

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will extend the requirement to provide ATOL protection to all airlines and booking facilities offering bundled flight and accommodation services; and if he will make a statement. [R] [100261]

Mr. Jamieson: The Government have no plans to extend the requirement to provide ATOL protection in this way.

Some airlines selling air tickets through the Internet provide links to other services such as accommodation and car hire. Purchasing such services by this method involves separate contracts with, and separate payments to, different companies for the individual services. This does not constitute a package under European law. It is for individual consumers to decide whether to purchase disaggregated services in this way or to purchase a package deal offered by an ATOL holder.

Central Railway

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the Government's policy is on the provision of public money (a) to support the Central Railway project and (b) to meet claims for compensation arising out of the Central Railway project. [99490]

Mr. Jamieson: Central Railway's proposal is for an entirely privately funded project. We understand that it includes provisions for compensation of property owners in the event of compulsory purchase

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Child Pedestrian Training

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on progress of the pilot network of child pedestrian training schemes in primary schools in deprived areas. [99769]

Mr. Jamieson: Projects are being rolled out in three tranches. The first 38 English projects were awarded to 38 local authorities in September 2001. The next 39 projects were awarded to 36 local authorities in September 2002. Each project will run for three years. Invitations to bid for the final round of projects will be issued shortly.

By the end of the summer term 2002, 703 of the volunteers who themselves train children had undertaken their own training. Also, in total, 3,882 children have received some training with an average of 105 children per project and 24 per school.

Congestion Charging

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what (a) guidance has been issued and (b) requests have been made by the Department to the DVLA with regard to congestion charging over the last 12 months; [99875]

(2) what discussions he and his Department have had with the DVLA regarding congestion charging in London in the last year; and if he will make a statement. [99767]

Mr. Jamieson: DVLA has worked closely with Transport for London to develop the systems needed to meet the legal obligation to supply information from its records to support congestion charging. My Department has asked DVLA for regular reports on progress throughout last year to ensure that the Agency meets its obligations.

Departmental Agency Staff

Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff were employed by the (a) Vehicle Certification Agency, (b) Maritime and Coast Guard Agency and (c) Driving Standards Agency, in each year since 1997; and how many were inspection staff in each case. [100016]

Mr. Jamieson: The average number of employees and of dedicated inspection staff during each accounting year was:

	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02
Vehicle Certification Agency
Total staff	80	86	87	92	100
Inspectors	41	43	44	47	49
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Total staff	986	1,000	1,064	1,024.5	1,067
Surveyors/inspectors	160	160	149	157	162
Driving Standards Agency
Total staff	1,785	1,637	1,715	1,742	1,851
Examiners/inspectors	1,202	1,119	1,201	1,196	1,302

Where part of an employee's duties includes inspection they have not been counted in the second row. Only dedicated inspectors are shown.

Driver Fatigue

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his estimate is of the number of people

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killed in road crashes caused by driver fatigue on (a) motorways, (b) trunk roads and (c) other roads in the last five years. [99636]

Mr. Jamieson: Research studies indicate that driver sleepiness accounts for 15–20 per cent. of accidents on monotonous roads, especially motorways and for about 10 per cent. of all accidents on the road network in Great Britain.

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to promote the erection of tiredness kills signs on trunk roads as well as on motorways. [99637]

Mr. Jamieson: Signs have been provided on the approaches to service areas on motorways to remind drivers of the need for regular breaks, because opportunities for drivers to stop on motorways are limited. This is not generally the case on all-purpose trunk roads. We have no plans for the erection of additional signs on approaches to trunk road services, unless there is a specific traffic management need at a particular location.

Future Integrated Transport LINK Programme

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what research has been conducted into the Future Integrated Transport LINK Programme; and if he will place a copy of findings in the Library; [99770]

(2) if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Future Integrated Transport LINK Programme. [99771]

Mr. Jamieson: The Future Integrated Transport Programme provided part funding to academic/industrial collaborative research projects under the Government's LINK framework. From the launch of the programme in September 1999 until its closure to applications in 2002, the Department for Transport and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council offered support to 18 projects. The LINK projects supported are:

Pedestrian Activity Measurement in the Transport Environment;

The Demand for Public Transport—a Practical Guide;

UK Marine Motorways Study;

Integrating Transport and eCommerce in Logistics Supply Chains;

Rapid Construction of Passenger Interchanges;

Assessing the Potential for Rationalising Road Freight Operations;

Integration of Multi-Modal Reliability in the Assessment of Transport Schemes;

Monitoring of High Occupancy Vehicles;

Inclusive Transport Environment: Colour Design, Lighting and Visual Impairment;

Measuring Demand for an Integrated Inter-urban Public Transport Network;

Evaluating the Success of Urban Cycle Networks;

Enhanced Rail Contribution by Improved Reliability;

Improving the Efficiency of Travel by Improved Household Activity Scheduling;

Co-ordinating Individual Action Programmes in Rural Transport Management;

A Model to Assess Public Transport Reliability;

Multi-Objective Signal Control for Urban Environments;

Computer Based Tools for Streetscape Design and Reallocation;

Dynamic Assistive Information System.

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Fuller descriptions of the objectives of these projects are available on the Department's website. As individual projects are completed between 2003 and 2007, summary results will also become available on the website. The industrial and academic partners undertake publication of the results of the individual projects.

Highways Agency

Mr. Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) staff and (b) inspection staff were employed by the Highways Agency in each year since 1997. [99760]

Mr. Jamieson: The numbers of civil servants employed by the Highways Agency on the 1 January 2003 for the past seven years are set out in the following table:

Year	Number of civil servants
1997	1,628
1998	1,597
1999	1,591
2000	1,634
2001	1,647
2002	1,668
2003	1,720

The Highways Agency has not employed any inspection staff during this period. These duties are carried out on behalf of the Agency by their managing agent contractors.

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