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Written Answers to Questions

Wednesday 2 July 2003

TRANSPORT

Aggregate

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will estimate how many tonnes of aggregate would be required for the (a) motorway widening, (b) major trunk road schemes, (c) bypasses and (d) other major local road improvement schemes implied by the Ten Year Transport Plan; [122000]

Mr. Jamieson: The Government do not have any such estimates. Precise solutions for delivering many of the projects in the Ten Year Plan including the Targeted Programme of Improvements are not yet defined.

Aircraft Noise

Mr. Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what breaches of night flight noise limits under the quota count system there have been on the Heathrow flight paths since the current night flights restrictions began. [123030]

Mr. McNulty: None. I wrote to my hon. Friend about this on 20 June 2003 and I have now placed a copy of that letter in the Libraries of the House.

Mr. Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions his Department has had with international experts on International Civil Aviation Organisation noise certification; and what reasons these experts have given for the difference between locally monitored night flight noise levels and certificated noise levels in the Heathrow area. [123031]

Mr. McNulty: Certification testing is carried out under strictly controlled meteorological and acoustical conditions and using defined flight path procedures. It follows that when local conditions differ so too will the noise. The extent to which currently certificated noise levels correlate with operational noise levels is one of the items being examined by a Working Group of the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) of the International Civil Aviation Organisation. The Working Group will take account of data for a large range of aircraft types that operate at night at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted (recently published in "Quota Count Validation Study: Noise Measurements and Analysis", ERCD Report 0205), as well as data from some airports in the USA and France. The UK is represented on the CAEP Steering Group and the relevant Working Group by officials from the Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority respectively.

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Channel Tunnel Rail Link

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will announce his decisions on the introduction of domestic services on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link; and if he will make a statement. [122525]

Mr. McNulty: The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) consulted earlier this year on options for domestic services on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. We await the SRA's recommendations to Ministers in the light of the responses to that consultation.

European Council (Plutonium MOX Fuel)

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what additional measures are being taken to protect plutonium MOX fuel in transit from Sellafield in pursuit of the fulfilment of the commitment made by EU member states on page 39, paragraph 5 of the presidency conclusions of the Thessaloniki European Council. [122279]

Mr. Timms: The Presidency Conclusions of the Council of 19 and 20 June 2003 include a declaration on tackling the threat of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The Government are satisfied that the risks of nuclear weapons proliferation arising from the manufacture of MOX fuel in the UK and its export to Europe and Japan is negligible. The Government's independent civil nuclear security regulator, the DfT's Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS), is responsible for approving arrangements for ensuring the security of MOX fuel during transport. OCNS is satisfied that the arrangements in place for the transport of MOX fuel are amply robust to deal with any potential threats. It is not Government policy to disclose details of security measures taken in respect of civil nuclear materials beyond those already published in the Director of Civil Nuclear Security's annual reports made available in the Libraries of the House.

Performance Targets

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the performance targets that (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non-departmental public bodies are required to meet; and if he will specify for each target (i) who sets it and (ii) who monitors achievement against it. [120905]

Mr. McNulty: Key performance targets for the Department for Transport were agreed as part of the Spending Review and the latest set were published in "Spending Review 2002: Public Service Agreements 2003–06" (Cm 5571). The Department monitors progress towards the targets along with the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit and HM Treasury, and with Defra in the case of the target it shares with that Department, and progress is reported regularly.

Performance targets for the Department's Agencies (the Highways Agency, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Driving Standards Agency, Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency, the Vehicle Certification Agency, and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency) are set by the Secretary of State for Transport, with the assistance of the relevant Agency and its Advisory Board. The targets are monitored through liaison meetings between each Agency and the Department for

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Transport, and by reports to the Advisory Board of the Agency in question. In each case, progress towards targets is audited and end-year performance is reported in each Agency's published Annual Report and Accounts, which are laid before Parliament.

The Highways Agency's targets are published in its annual Business Plan, which is laid before Parliament and also published on the Agency's website. This year's targets are at: http://www.highways.gov.uk/aboutus/corpdocs/bus plan/2003 2004/05.htm

These were published in a written statement on 29 April 2003, Official Report, column 5WS.

The key targets for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency were set by the Secretary of State and published in a written statement on 10 April 2003, Official Report, column 32WS. They are also contained in the Agency's published business plan, which was published on 8 April 2003.

The targets for the Driving Standards Agency, the Driver, Vehicle and Licensing Agency, the Vehicle Certification Agency, and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency were published in a written statement on 29 April 2003, Official Report, columns 5–8WS.

The Secretary of State for Transport sets out the Government's goals for the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) in Directions and Guidance that he issues to the Authority from time to time. The SRA's goals are set out in its Strategic Plan 2002 and progress on the goals is reported on in its Strategic Plan 2003. Both documents are available in the Library of the House. DfT Ministers and officials monitor the SRA's progress in delivering these goals.

Railways

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the need for (a) new and (b) reconditioned rolling stock for the UK railway system; and whether he estimates train companies are making the level of investment required to meet these needs. [122347]

Mr. McNulty: Decisions on the purchase of new railway vehicles and the refurbishment of existing ones are primarily matters for train operators. There is nevertheless a requirement for the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) to produce a strategy for passenger rolling stock against which individual decisions can be taken. A consultation draft of its rolling stock strategy was published by the SRA on 30 June 2003.

Transport Links (Warrington)

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with the Strategic Rail Authority about services between London and Warrington; and if he will make a statement. [122828]

Mr. McNulty: The Authority's final West Coast Strategy, published on 16 June 2003 with the support of the Secretary of State, envisages an hourly train service between London and Warrington. Copies have been sent to all MPs.

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Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to improve public transport links to Warrington. [122829]

Mr. McNulty: Warrington received a total of £6.7 million for integrated transport measures as part of the 2003–04 transport settlement. Warrington's Local Transport Plan contains a public transport strategy. This sets out short, medium and long term action plans which cover developing accessibility and best value criteria for supporting bus services which cannot be provided commercially; introducing bus quality partnerships, including bus quality corridors, real time passenger information, bus priority and variable message sign strategy; implementing park and ride strategies, and working with the private sector to achieve the construction of a new bus interchange adjacent to the main shopping centre. This year's annual progress report is due with the Department in July 2003.

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