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Written Answers to Questions

Tuesday 1 April 2003

CABINET OFFICE

Government Annual Report

23. Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet office if he will reintroduce the Government Annual Report with the contents independently validated. [105845]

Mr. Alexander: The Government will continue to report to Parliament and the public on their performance through a variety of means, such as reports, statistical bulletins, ministerial statements and parliamentary questions. The information in the annual report was in any event a collation of existing, publicly available, material and it has therefore been decided not to continue with it.

Central Office of Information

24. Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many members of staff there were in the Central Office of Information on (a) 1 March 1997 and (b) the latest date for which figures are available. [105847]

Mr. Alexander: There were 384 (full time equivalent) staff at 31 March 1997 and 364 at 28 February 2003.

TRANSPORT

Railways

11. Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the outstanding funding issues that require resolution before the East London Line extension project can be taken forward. [105795]

Mr. Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority has made budgetary provision to develop the project further and to undertake preliminary works, if and when the outstanding planning issues are resolved. It is intended that the main works should be built and financed through a Special Purpose Vehicle and the Authority is discussing with the Department how best to structure this.

12. Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to develop local rail networks. [105797]

Mr. Jamieson: The Secretary of State's Directions and Guidance require the Strategic Rail Authority to have regard to "compatibility and consistency with local transport plans and regional transport strategies." The Authority's Strategic Plan sets out the developments being taken forward over the next 10 years in each area of the country.

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13. Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the announcement of the rail franchise for Wales will be made. [105799]

Mr. Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority expects to announce the preferred bidder in June. The new franchise is expected to commence this Autumn.

14. Mr. Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about investment in the national railway infrastructure. [105800]

Mr. Spellar: Total investment in the rail industry in 2001–02, excluding rolling stock, was £3.1 billion. The bulk of this is in respect of rail infrastructure. Details of this investment are set out in "National Rail Trends", which is published by the SRA.

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the Strategic Rail Authority on the development of a high speed train service throughout the UK. [105796]

Mr. Jamieson: We are in regular contact with the Authority over all aspects of railway services. The Authority is currently considering a draft report which it has recently received on the potential viability of a new north to south High Speed Line. The Authority intend to consult on the conclusions of the study later this year.

Train Operating Companies

Mr. Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what subsidy each of the train operating companies received in each year since 2000–01; and if he will make a statement. [105957]

Mr. Jamieson: Details of the subsidy paid to each train operating company, in each year, are set out in the Strategic Rail Authority's annual report, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

London Underground

15. Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on future plans for London Underground. [105801]

Mr. Spellar: Following completion of the first Public Private Partnership contract on 31 December 2002, the Government expect the remaining two contracts to be completed very soon. The PPP brings in the modernisation the Underground so badly needs.

The Government want London Underground to transfer to Transport for London as soon as possible, and is working closely with TfL, London Underground and other interested parties to achieve that.

Air Transport

16. Mr. David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many responses he has received to his consultative document on the future of air transport in the UK. [105802]

Mr. Jamieson: We have received over 100,000 responses (letters and questionnaires) to the consultation from all areas of the UK, and the majority originate from the south-east of England and the midlands.

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Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assumptions were made in the SERAS Air Passenger Forecasting Model in respect of (a) demand transferring to off-peak flights, (b) demand transferring to regional airports and (c) demand transferring to rail, in assessing the consequences for fare levels of a shortfall in airport capacity in the South East; and if he will make a statement. [106217]

Mr. Jamieson: The consequences of a shortfall in airport capacity in the South East are an output of the SERAS Air Passenger Forecasting Model, not input assumptions. The model assigns passengers according to their 'least cost' route between the start point of their journey and its end point, as described in the SERAS Stage 2 Methodology Supporting document no 29, "Rules and Modelling." A shortfall in capacity at a specific airport leads to a 'fare premium' to balance demand and supply at that airport. This fare premium is only applied in the model when 'off-peak' flights at the constrained airport have already taken the initial burden of adjustment, so that airport utilisation throughout the day is high. With airport capacity constraints applying in the South East, some traffic with a South East origin is displaced to regional airports, some traffic with a regional origin is clawed back by regional airports, some traffic transfers to other transport modes including rail, and some traffic is suppressed entirely.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance he gives about the impact on air passengers' and carriers' liability of (a) a war and (b) a terrorist attack. [105275]

Mr. Jamieson: The liability of air carriers' is established by international and European law and no further guidance is necessary.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much aviation fuel was consumed by UK civil aviation in the last year for which figures are available, broken down into fuel consumed by (a) domestic and (b) international air travel. [106219]

Mr. Jamieson: Based on data reported by airlines to the Civil Aviation Authority, it is estimated that UK airlines used 10.2 million tonnes of fuel in 2002. Although such fuel usage is reported as a total it is broadly estimated that about 90 per cent. was expended on international aviation and 10 per cent on domestic aviation.

Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what airport development options in the South-East other than those described in The Future of Air Transport in the UK: South East he is considering; if those options will be included in the forthcoming white paper on aviation; and what the consultation arrangements for these options are. [106220]

Mr. Jamieson: The Government will consider all responses to The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: South East submitted by 30 June 2003 including any reasonable alternatives to the options for new airport capacity set out in the consultation document. If the Government concluded that any such alternative schemes were superior to the

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options in the consultation document and wished to consider including them in the air transport white paper, there would be a full consultation process.

Road Congestion

17. James Purnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has for tackling congestion on the trunk road network. [105803]

Mr. Jamieson: I refer my hon. Friend to the written statement made by the Secretary of State earlier today, at columns 49-50 WS.

A12

18. Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the Highways Agency will approve a junction from the A12 to the Colchester Northern Approach Road. [105804]

Mr. Jamieson: The junction will be approved as soon as all design and safety issues have been addressed. The Highways Agency and the developer have made significant progress and will continue to work closely to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.

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