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12 May 2003 : Column 131W—continued
Shrewsbury Driving Test Centre
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the reasons for proposing the closure of the driving test centre in Shrewsbury. [111917]
Mr. Jamieson: In March, the Driving Standards Agency issued a letter of consultation to interested parties about options for the future provision of practical car driving and motorcycleriding tests in the Shropshire area in order to ensure that the existing test centres continued to meet the needs of the Agency and its customers. The four driving test centres involved were at Telford, Shrewsbury, Whitchurch and Oswestry. The preferred option would have involved co-locating the Shrewsbury and Telford test centres at Telford and closing the Shrewsbury centre. However, as a result of an upsurge in demand for practical tests, the review has now been shelved indefinitely and the consultation exercise suspended. On 28 April, the Agency wrote to all the interested parties explaining there were no longer plans to close test centres in the area for the foreseeable future.
Traffic
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from (a) the Association of Chief Police Officers and (b) the RAC Foundation regarding the proposed Active Traffic Management Pilot Scheme. [111183]
Mr. Jamieson: The Secretary of State has not received any formal representations from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) nor the RAC Foundation with regard to the proposed Active Traffic Management pilot.
The Highways Agency have ongoing consultations with ACPO, which has provided appropriate advice to the Highways Agency as part of the development of the pilot. Discussions have also taken place with the various motoring organisations, and these discussions are on-going.
12 May 2003 : Column 132W
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will restrict the number of lanes that heavy goods vehicles may use within the Active Traffic Management pilot scheme in the places where drivers are permitted to use the hard shoulder. [111402]
Mr. Jamieson: The detailed operation of hard shoulder running in the pilot scheme is currently being developed.
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what basis, and for what reasons, a re-assessment of the traffic statistics for 2000 began in 2002. [110812]
Mr. Jamieson: Starting in 2000–01, a number of steps have been taken to improve the quality of the published traffic estimates. These include an improvement in the database used to represent the road network, using a Geographic Information System and use of new data from the Highways Agency. Preliminary revisions to estimated traffic levels in 1999, 2000 and 2001, along with a note explaining the revisions, were published in the Transport Statistics Bulletin "Road Traffic Statistics: 2001", issued in August 2002, a copy of which is in the Library. A full revised series back to 1993 will be published in the forthcoming quarterly bulletin "Traffic in Great Britain: Q1 2003", on 8 May.
Train Maintenance Depot, Bedford
Mr. Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with (a) Network Rail and (b) the Strategic Rail Authority on the delays in commencing the installation of a new train maintenance depot at Bedford. [111400]
Mr. Jamieson: None. The Strategic Rail Authority and Network Rail are working with Bedford Borough Council to enable the construction of this crucial depot required to facilitate Thameslink services during the Channel Tunnel Rail Link blockade of St. Pancras in 2004.
Transport Scheme Funding
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to establish compatibility of method between funding of rail schemes and road schemes. [112445]
Mr. Jamieson: Rail and road schemes are funded in ways that reflect the nature of the investment and of the delivery agents involved. Compatible methods are used for assessing the costs and benefits of rail and road schemes.