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Hospitality

Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how often Ministers in his Department have received hospitality in restaurants from outside groups; [99581]

(2) what criteria Ministers in his Department use when determining whether to offer hospitality in restaurants to interest groups at public expense; and if he will make a statement; [99504]

(3) what hospitality has been offered at public expense in the last 12 months, by each Minister in his Department to outside interest groups, broken down by (a) restaurant, (b) recipient and (c) cost in each case. [99505]

Mr. Jamieson: All offers of hospitality are made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on the principles set out in "Government Accounting". The giving and receiving of hospitality is conducted fully in accordance with the guidance set out in the "Ministerial Code", and "Guidance on Contacts with Outside Interest Groups Including Lobbyists". The detailed information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made on allowing motor vehicles powered by LPG to travel through the Channel Tunnel; and if he will make a statement. [99403]

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Mr. Jamieson: Eurotunnel's original applications for operating certificates excluded the carriage of LPG and dual-fuelled vehicles. It is for the company to come forward with proposals to extend the range of its services to include these vehicles; Eurotunnel has been keeping its policy under review. If the company does seek to extend the scope of its services to include these vehicles, it will first need the agreement of the Channel Tunnel Intergovernmental Commission, acting on the advice of the independent binational Channel Tunnel Safety Authority, to its proposals.

M6

Mr. David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what environmental impact assessments he (a) has studied, (b) has commissioned and (c) intends to commission regarding the proposed widening of the M6 motorway between junctions 11 and 20; [99368]

(2) what assessment he has made of the effect of the opening of the M6 toll road in 2004 on the volumes of traffic using the M6 motorway between junctions 11 and 20; [99370]

(3) what proposals he has for widening the M6 motorway between junctions 6 and 11. [99369]

Mr. Jamieson: The environmental assessments carried out in the mid 1990s, at the time of the previous widening proposals, are currently being reviewed and updated by the Highways Agency with a view to a widening scheme between Junctions 11 and 20 being included in the Government's Targeted Programme of Improvements. Should such a scheme be accepted into the Programme as a result, a full environmental impact assessment would be prepared to reflect the new proposals.

The effects of the opened M6 Toll Road on M6 traffic levels were assessed when the toll road was being planned. More recently, the West Midlands to North West Conurbation Multi Modal Study, which gave rise to the present widening proposals between Junctions 11 and 20, also took account of the implications of the toll road opening. The effects will be evaluated in more detail as the widening proposals aredeveloped.

There are no proposals to widen the M6 between Junctions 6 and 11.

Marinair

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 27 January 2003, Official Report, column 525W, what estimate was made of total costs of the former Marinair scheme, during the 'Preliminary Site Search of Options for New Airport Capacity to Serve the South East and East of England'. [94781]

Mr. Jamieson: The "Preliminary Site Search of Options for New Airport Capacity to Serve the South East and East of England" (published June 2001 and available in the Libraries of the House) estimated the total costs of the former Marinair scheme at nearly £20 billion pounds.

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The estimate was based on a desk-top study that reviewed proposals submitted by supporters of Marinair in the early 1990s.

Mobile Phones (Accidents)

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent research he has conducted about the number of (a) fatalities and (b) serious injuries arising from accidents in which a driver involved was using a mobile phone; and if he will make a statement. [100389]

Mr. Jamieson: A wide body of research provides clear evidence of an increased risk of an accident when using a mobile phone while driving. A recent report, "The risk of using a mobile phone while driving", commissioned by the Department from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, contains a review of such research. It also summarises 19 cases reported in the UK press between 1988 and 2001 where a death could be attributed to a driver using a mobile phone. The report may be viewed at www.rospa.com/pdfs/road/mobiles/report.pdf.

Two research projects currently under way will help to establish the likely numbers of road traffic accidents involving mobile phones. One involves in-depth analysis of police fatal road accident reports that identify distraction as a possible contributory factor. A report is expected in the summer. The other involves on-the-spot studies of accidents in order to improve the understanding of the influences of human involvement, vehicle and highway design on accident causation and injury mechanisms. A database is expected to be available from the autumn.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many named day written questions were tabled to the Department between 15 October 2002 and 24 February 2003; how many that received a holding answer were given a substantive answer (a) within three days, (b) within seven days, (c) within 14 days, (d) within 28 days and (e) over 28 days later; and what procedures the Department has in place to monitor performance on answering (i) parliamentary questions and (ii) ministerial letters. [99427]

Mr. Jamieson: In the period 15 October 2002 to 24 February 2003, 318 named day written questions were tabled to my Department, of which 77 (24 per cent.) received a holding answer.

Of the 77 that received a holding answer, 65 (84 per cent.) received a substantive answer within three days; 10 (13 per cent.) received a substantive answer between four and seven days; and two (3 per cent.) received a substantive answer between eight and 14 days.

The effective handling of parliamentary questions and ministerial correspondence is an issue to which I, and ministerial colleagues, attach great importance. The Department has a Service Delivery Agreement Target of responding to 76 per cent. of ministerial correspondence within 15 days and 90 per cent. within 20 days. My Department operates an electronic tracking system to monitor ministerial correspondence and parliamentary

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question performance. The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on performance of Departments in replying to ministerial correspondence.

Private Sector Businesses (Forms)

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the forms that his Department requires private sector businesses to complete and return. [98091]

Mr. Jamieson: The list of all such forms, as recorded by the Department's Forms Gatekeeper and Survey Control Unit, has been placed in the Libraries of the House. The list makes no distinction between those that are compulsory or voluntary.

Public Service Agreement

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library the technical note underlying his Public Service Agreement; and if he will make a statement. [99393]

Mr. Jamieson: The technical note will be published shortly, and a copy will be placed in the Library of the House.

Railway Property (Birds)

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department's estimate is of the cost to (a) local authorities, (b) train operating companies and (c) Network Rail of cleaning costs relating to the presence of birds on railway property in the last 12 months. [99774]

Mr. Jamieson: My Department has made no such estimate.

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who is responsible for (a) erecting netting, (b) erecting deterrents and (c) cleaning costs, relating to the presence of birds on railway property, with specific reference to bridges over public highways. [99775]

Mr. Jamieson: Network Rail advises that it is under no statutory duty to prevent the fouling of its structures by pigeons or other birds; and that it falls to the local highway authority to maintain the public footways and highways under the company's bridges. In specific cases of the establishment of a statutory nuisance under one of its bridges, the costs of pigeon proofing the structure and cleaning the public footway may be shared equally by agreement between Network Rail and the local authority. The company seeks to work with local authorities to tackle pigeon nuisance and to assess alternative pigeon deterrents to netting.

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