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Hovercraft

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions have taken place with private companies regarding reintroducing a hovercraft link across the Channel. [116237]

Mr. Jamieson: None. Reintroducing cross-Channel services would be a matter for the judgment of the companies concerned, within the safety and related requirements of the Merchant Shipping Acts.

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the benefits of hovercraft travel; and if he will provide assistance to transport companies and allocate funds for the development of hovercraft transport routes. [116238]

Mr. Jamieson: No recent assessment has been made of the benefits of hovercraft travel, which would be a matter for the commercial judgement of shipping companies. Hovercraft are regulated for safety and related purposes by the Merchant Shipping Acts.

Integrated Transport Policy

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures his Department has taken to introduce Integrated Policy Appraisal into policy making. [115727]

Mr. Jamieson: My Department has, for some time, been involved in the development of integrated policy appraisal. A tool for carrying out such appraisal— the Integrated Policy Appraisal Tool (IPA)—was developed in the former DETR and forms part of the guidance to policy makers in my Department on better policy making. The tool was used to produce a sustainability assessment to accompany our Spending Round 2002 bid.

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what monitoring the Department has undertaken to examine the impact of the Single Capital Pot on the allocation of funding for integrated transport measures. [115720]

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Mr. Jamieson: Block allocations to local authorities for smaller (less than £5 million) integrated transport and highway maintenance schemes have been made through the Single Capital Pot since its introduction for 2002–03. Audited local authority expenditure data for that year will not be available until August this year, so there is as yet no firm evidence of its possible impact on authorities' allocation decisions.

Officials continue to monitor the delivery of local transport objectives through the system of annual progress reports on authorities' Local Transport Plans. The next such reports are to be submitted by the end of July.

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment has been made of the change in local authority transport priorities in relation to major capital projects since the introduction of the Single Capital Pot; and what conclusions have been reached. [115721]

Mr. Jamieson: Major transport schemes are not funded through the Single Capital Pot. They are funded through separate ear-marked resources.

KPMG

Mr. Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many contracts his Department has awarded to KPMG since 1997. [113690]

Mr. Jamieson: My Department came into being in May 2002. Since that time the following contracts have been awarded to KPMG:

Advice on Network Rail business plans and solvency during Railtrack administration. This was a joint award with the Strategic Rail Authority.


Framework agreement for major projects consultancy services. This was a joint award with several other companies.

Leeds Supertram

Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of extending the Leeds Supertram route from Leeds through Leeds, West to Bradford Interchange; and if he will make a statement. [115929]

Mr. Jamieson: There are no proposals for such an extension currently before the Department, so no assessment has been made.

Local Authority Funding

Mr. Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what grants have been made by his Department to local authorities for 2003–04 in England broken down by local authority; and whether the grant is (a) ring fenced, (b) a specific formula grant, (c) within aggregate external finance and (d) outside aggregate external finance. [114913]

Mr. Jamieson: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

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Mersey Tunnel Toll

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the financial information on tunnel operations provided in the consultation on Mersey Tunnel toll rises. [116212]

Mr. Jamieson: The financial information provided by the Merseyside Passenger Transport Authority in relation to its application to revise the toll charges at the Mersey Tunnels is still being considered; it is, therefore, too early to make an assessment on the adequacy of the information.

It is likely that the toll revision application will be considered at a public inquiry which will consider all information put before them.

Ministerial Correspondence Unit

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff have been employed in the Ministerial Correspondence Unit of the Department in each of the last two years. [115884]

Mr. Jamieson: The Department for Transport was formed on 29 May 2002. The Ministerial Correspondence Unit has been staffed by 8.5 permanent civil servants. This figure excludes any temporary agency staff that may have worked in the unit over this period.

Motor Vehicle Registration

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will review the new arrangements in place relating to the supply of vehicle number plates; and if he will make a statement. [115688]

Mr. Jamieson: The regulatory impact assessment that accompanied the regulations states that

"the effectiveness of the scheme and the extent of the burden on small businesses will be reviewed two years from the date of the commencement order."

A review of the operation of the new arrangements will accordingly be completed by January 2005. The results of the review and any recommendations for change will be made public.

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many representations he has received and from whom in respect of the new restrictions imposed this year on the sale and supply of vehicle number plates. [115689]

Mr. Spellar: Since the commencement of the register in January this year, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has received telephone inquiries on a daily basis. Most are from number plate suppliers about the detailed operation of the scheme.

In addition, written representations seeking exemptions from the scheme have been received from the Federation of British Vehicle Clubs and owners of historic vehicles, trailer retailers and distance sellers of number plates. To permit these exemptions would undermine the scheme by providing loopholes for criminals to exploit.

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Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will exempt pre-1973 motor vehicles from the new rules imposed on the sale and supply of number plates.[R] [115690]

Mr. Spellar: This issue was carefully considered prior to the making of the relevant regulations. The theft of historic vehicles is a specialised but lucrative activity. To grant the suggested exemption would deny the protection against vehicle theft that this scheme brings to other motorists.

Motoring Offences

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what record is kept of motoring offences overseas by holders of driving licences of the United Kingdom; and if he will place a copy of the most recent set of such statistics in the Library; [115713]

(2) what steps (a) have taken place and (b) are planned to reduce the incidences of motoring offences by holders of United Kingdom driving licences while overseas. [115714]

Mr. Jamieson: No records are currently kept in this country of motoring offences committed overseas by holders of UK driving licences.

Motoring laws can vary widely between countries and they are also subject to changes. It would therefore be impractical for the Government to provide definitive and comprehensive advice on compliance for UK licence holders visiting each country.

In the context of the European Union, the UK actively co-operates with other member states on road safety to promote higher standards and to reduce the risk of accidents due to bad driving. In addition, the Crime (International Co-operation) Bill, which received its second reading in this House on 1 April 2003, includes measures to enable the ratification of the EU Convention on Driving Disqualifications.

Under the Convention, drivers normally resident in one member state who are disqualified from driving in another member state will also be disqualified in their state of residence. This will tackle the most serious driving offence cases and should act as a significant deterrent to bad driving. DVLA will administer the process in the UK and will have records of UK licence holders disqualified in member states which have ratified the Convention and with whom a bi-lateral agreement has been reached, as well as of non-UK licence holders disqualified in this country.

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