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TRANSPORT

Air Travel Trust Fund

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the scope of the financial cover under the insolvency protection provisions of the Air Travel Trust Fund. [R] [131515]

Mr. McNulty: Customers purchasing package travel including a flight are protected financially in the event of failure of the travel organiser concerned. Customers abroad at the time of failure will be repatriated at the end of their holiday, and those who have yet to travel will be fully reimbursed for what they have paid. Under the terms of the Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing) Regulations 1995, in the event of failure of a licensed travel organiser the bond established with the Civil Aviation Authority would be used to cover the repatriation and reimbursement costs. If the bond is insufficient to meet these costs the Air Travel Trust Fund would be used to make up the difference.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will bring forward legislation to change the scope of the financial protection of the Air Travel Trust Fund. [R] [131516]

Mr. McNulty: The Government have no plans to change the scope of the financial protection provided by the Air Travel Organisers' Licensing scheme, backed up by the Air Travel Trust Fund.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to extend financial protection to those booking accommodation through an on-line airline facility. [R] [131517]

Mr. McNulty: Accommodation booked on the same on-line facility as that used for the purchase of an airline ticket is already covered by the provisions of the Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing) Regulations 1995 and is therefore protected financially. If the accommodation is booked on a different website

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the two transactions are legally distinct, and the two transactions do not constitute a package for the purposes of Council Directive 90/314/EEC on package travel, package holidays and package tours. The Government have no plans to amend the ATOL Regulations to extend the financial protection to cover this type of purchase.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what level of protection is extended under the Air Travel Trust Fund to those booking airline tickets and separate accommodation on the same website. [R] [131518]

Mr. McNulty: A company offering both air travel and accommodation on the same website is obliged to have an ATOL licence, thereby financially protecting customers who buy a package. If flight and accommodation were booked separately there would be no financial protection for the accommodation; the flight, however, would be financially protected unless the vendor issued the ticket within 24 hours of payment being made. If the flight and accommodation were linked, albeit booked separately, the vendor might recognise the linkage and issue a single invoice, thereby conferring financial protection on the resulting package.

Automotive Fuels

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce demand targets for LPG as a road fuel. [131686]

Mr. Jamieson: The Chancellor announced in Budget 2003 that the Government would be consulting stakeholders on how best to ensure that future support for road fuel gases, including LPG, continued to reflect environmental and other policy objectives, with a view to announcing decisions on future duty rates and other forms of support in the 2003 pre-Budget report. A joint Department for Transport, Treasury and Customs and Excise consultation document "Road fuel gases and their contribution to clean low-carbon transport: Establishing a consistent and durable framework of Government support" discussed the issues and invited comments by 17 September. The Government are now considering the responses received.

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles in the United Kingdom were propelled by (a) LPG, (b) CNG, (c) LNG and (d) hydrogen in the last year for which figures are available. [131707]

Mr. Jamieson: DVLA statistics do not provide a breakdown by fuel type, only vehicles that are dedicated gas or petrol/gas combinations. DVLA statistics also do not distinguish between Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Natural Gas vehicles and hydrogen vehicles. Statistics from the DVLA for June 2003 show that there are 41,361 vehicles running on road fuel gases (Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG), Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) and Hydrogen).

But this understates the number of vehicles because not all conversions to alternative fuelling are notified to DVLA. Industry sources suggest there are around 100,000 vehicles currently running on LPG, around 850

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on natural gas (CNG and LNG) and there are presently only a few prototype/demonstration vehicles in UK running on hydrogen.

Mr. David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many automotive refuelling points there were in the United Kingdom for (a) LPG, (b) CNG, (c) LNG and (d) hydrogen in the last year for which figures are available. [131708]

Mr. Jamieson: Information supplied by the Energy Saving Trust show that there are currently around 1,300 LPG, 19 CNG and 7 LNG refuelling sites in the UK. There are currently no public access hydrogen refuelling points. However, a refuelling point will be available to support the Clean Urban Transport for Europe (CUTE) hydrogen fuel cell bus project.

Balloons

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what assessment he has made of the effects of introducing a domestic airworthiness standard for tethered balloons for passenger transport in advance of the introduction of a European standard, with particular reference to the effects on UK manufacturers of balloons; [131218]

(2) what options are open to manufacturers of tethered balloons for passenger transport to attain certification. [131219]

(3) when he first received reports that, under single market provision, a certification of airworthiness would be required for tethered balloons for passenger transport. [131220]

Mr. McNulty: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 29 September 2003, Official Report, 6 October 2003 columns 1057–1060W.

Biofuels

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the funding necessary to enable the UK to meet the EU targets of (a) 2 per cent. biofuels by 2005 and (b) 5.75 per cent. by 2010. [131717]

Mr. Jamieson: The EU's Biofuels Directive requires member states to set their own indicative targets for sales of biofuels to be met in the years 2005 and 2010. The Government will be consulting early next year on the level of targets that might be appropriate for the UK, and on the steps that we might take to meet them. In doing so, we will take full account of the likely costs and benefits to the UK, and of the level of Government support that might be necessary.

Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funds he has provided for the promotion and development of (a) sustainable liquid biofuels and (b) fossil gas fuels for road transport in the last three years. [131718]

Mr. Jamieson: The Government have supported biofuels since July 2002 by means of a 20 pence per litre duty incentive which has resulted in sales of biodiesel increasing to over 2 million litres a month from virtually nothing before that date. Biodiesel is used mainly in a 5 per cent. blend with conventional diesel, and bio-blend

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fuel already represents some 2 per cent. of diesel sales. Vehicles do not need to be converted to run on 5 per cent. bio-blend diesel.

In addition to this, the Government have funded a number of research projects into aspects of biofuels, including their emissions performance. The Government will be consulting early in 2004 on possible targets for biofuels sales in the UK and on how best to meet these targets.

In the last three financial years, 2002–01 to 2002–03, the Energy Saving Trusts' TransportEnergy Powershift programme has provided grants of around £12.6 million for the purchase or conversion of vehicles to run on road fuel gases (natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas). The duty rate for the gases has since Budget 2001 been 9 pence per kilogramme. The Government have been consulting key stakeholders on how best to ensure that future support continues to reflect environmental and other policy objectives, with a view to announcing decisions in the 2003 pre-Budget report.

Coach Safety

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what advice his Department has given to British coach drivers on adhering to French regulations on coach travel during coach accident memorial days. [131692]

Mr. McNulty: The Department is aware that the French authorities place a restriction on coach travel during a weekend in late July or early August, annually. The date of the ban changes year-to-year, but during the 24-hour period of application, coach groups of more than 15 children under the age of 16 years are prohibited from travelling. The restrictions were originally put in place due to a number of serious coach accidents occurring at this time of year, which is traditionally the busiest weekend for transporting French children and heavy holiday traffic.

The French authorities notify the British Embassy in Paris once the date of the ban is confirmed. They in turn pass this information to the UK trade association, the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT), for further dissemination amongst the UK coach industry. This information would also be available from the French Embassy and industry publications. Therefore, the Department does not pass this information to UK coach operators.

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