---

8 Jul 2003 : Column 685W—continued

Hybrid Vehicles

Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to expand the scheme of assistance available to purchasers of electric-petrol hybrid vehicles to include those leasing such vehicles. [123584]

8 Jul 2003 : Column 686W

Mr. Jamieson: The Government recognise that hybrid vehicles can provide useful environmental benefits over conventionally powered vehicles and that hybrid technology may provide a bridge between internal combustion engines and fuel cells.

The Government support the take-up of hybrid vehicles with PowerShift purchase grants of £1,000. These grants are already available to support the purchase of hybrid vehicles for leasing, as well as to private motorists and business buying for their own use.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Mr. Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what emission savings he estimates have been achieved through supporting the take-up of liquefied petroleum gas vehicles; and what the cost per tonne of carbon saved from the Government's support of LPG has been. [123350]

Mr. Jamieson: Just under 12,000 LPG vehicles have received grant support totalling some £13 million under the Government's PowerShift programme since its inception in 1997.

These vehicles will deliver lifetime savings of around 111,000 tonnes of CO2, 760 tonnes of NOx and 10 tonnes of particulates ¹ . The support for the wider use of LPG vehicles is aimed at securing reductions in all these emissions, to help improve air quality as well as reduce climate change emissions and the cost cannot be properly attributed to the CO2 reductions alone.

The Government's support for LPG has also been aimed at widening fuel diversity in the transport sector, and has been successful in establishing LPG as an alternative fuel, now available nationwide, reducing consumption of conventional fuels by some 300 million litres, through the total of around 100,000 LPG vehicles—the 12,000 vehicles supported through the PowerShift scheme, and the larger number converted without grant.

¹ Estimates provided by the Energy Saving Trust, which administers the grant programme on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Lost Passports

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many passports sent to the DVLA as proof of identity in driving licence applications were reported lost (a) en route to the DVLA and (b) in the offices of the DVLA, in each year since 1997. [123509]

Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 8 July 2003]: Identity documents have been sent to DVLA since 1999. More recently, customers are now able to take applications and passports to DVLA's local offices and some 750 Post Offices, enabling them to be examined and returned immediately. 12 per cent. of all applications are made in this way. Drivers are advised that responsibility for the delivery of passports rests with the Royal Mail. No records are kept by DVLA of the non-receipt of passports.

Mobile Phones

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate the Government have made of

8 Jul 2003 : Column 687W

(a) how many people might be fined under the proposed offence of using a hand-held mobile phone while driving, (b) how many people would contest the fines and (c) the revenue to be raised through fines in the first year of operation. [123829]

Mr. Jamieson: Enforcement is a matter for the police. However, the Department published a partial Regulatory Impact Assessment last year when it consulted on the proposal for a new offence of using a hand-held mobile phone while driving. Based on prosecutions for failure to wear a seat belt, the assessment suggested that perhaps up to 100,000 fixed penalty notices at £30 each might be issued a year. Fines could therefore total £3 million a year, depending on the level of enforcement.

Motorway Accidents

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact which raising the motorway speed limit to 80 miles per hour would have on (a) the number of road accidents and (b) the number of deaths caused by road accidents. [124075]

Mr. Jamieson: An assessment of the effects of increasing the motorway speed limit to 80 miles per hour was conducted in 2001. Although no estimate of accident or casualty numbers was made, it was concluded that there would be a greater risk of both increasing in those circumstances.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the road safety implications of increasing motorway speed limits. [123834]

Mr. Jamieson: The last assessment of the possible effects of raising the motorway speed limit conducted in 2001 concluded that to do so would run too great a risk of increasing accidents and casualties.

Offshore Windfarms

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce legislation establish safety zones around UK offshore windfarms and make it a criminal offence for unauthorised vehicles to operate or anchor within them. [123823]

Mr. Jamieson: It is intended to introduce legislation which will provide for the designation of safety zones around windfarms located in United Kingdom waters.

Potters Bar Rail Crash

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to announce with the Health and Safety Commission a decision on whether to hold a public inquiry into the Potters Bar rail crash. [123472]

Mr. McNulty: The Health and Safety Commission and the Secretary of State for Transport will need to consider the implications of the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) Investigation Board report of 29 May 2003, the response of the rail industry to the recommendations and the continuing British Transport

8 Jul 2003 : Column 688W

Police investigation before deciding whether the issues raised by the Potters Bar derailment would benefit from investigation by a public inquiry.

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the procedures for determining (a) the cause of and (b) responsibility for the Potters Bar crash; and if he will make a statement. [123657]

Mr. McNulty: The Health and Safety Commission, under section 14(2)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, required the Health and Safety Executive to undertake an investigation into the Potters Bar derailment under the supervision of an investigation board that included members independent of the Health and Safety Executive. The British Transport Police are separately investigating the derailment.

Rail Freight

Mr. Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what steps the Government are taking to encourage enterprises to use rail freight; [124153]

(2) what financial support from the Government is available to assist enterprises shift their goods from road to rail transport. [124154]

Mr. McNulty: The Strategic Rail Authority's Strategic Plan sets out its plans for achieving the growth envisaged by the Government's 10 Year Transport Plan.

Grants are available from the Strategic Rail Authority to enable companies to move freight by rail instead of road where this is justified by environmental benefits.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the implications for his rail freight targets set out in the Ten Year Plan for Transport of the decision by the Royal Mail to transfer post deliveries from rail to road; and if he will make a statement. [124436]

Mr. McNulty: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I have given earlier today, ref: (123768).

Railways

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what responsibilities the Strategic Rail Authority has for the number of train movements in Scotland. [122752]

Mr. McNulty: The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) has a duty to promote rail use and drive the strategic agenda for developing the national railway infrastructure, of which the Scottish network is an integral part. Although responsibility for infrastructure and safety are reserved to Westminster, the Scottish Executive is responsible for funding and specifying services in Scotland provided under the ScotRail franchise. The Executive, together with the SRA is working towards the re-letting of the current franchise, which ends in 2004.

Mr. Terry Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total public subsidy has been to the railways in each financial year from 1987–88 to 2002–03. [123828]

8 Jul 2003 : Column 689W

Mr. McNulty: I refer to the answer given to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) on 28 April 2003, Official Report, columns 7–10W.

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with the Strategic Rail Authority about services between London and Chesham and Amersham; and if he will make a statement. [123923]

Mr. McNulty: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not had any recent discussions with the Strategic Rail Authority about rail services between London and Chesham and Amersham.

---