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Concessionary Travel Schemes

Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what estimate he has made of the potential costs to (a) each local authority, (b) London boroughs and (c) local government as a whole, of replacing the national minimum standards for concessionary travel schemes for people over the age of 60 with a 100 per cent. discount on fares for people over the age of 70; [134384]

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(2) what estimate he has made of the change in the local government finance settlement necessary fully to reimburse local government for the costs of replacing the national minimum standards for concessionary travel schemes for people aged over 60 with schemes providing travel tokens worth (a) £25 and (b) £50 to (i) to people aged over 60, (ii) all pensioners and (iii) to people aged over 70; [134385]

(3) what estimate he has made of the potential cost to (a) each local authority, (b) the London boroughs and (c) local government as a whole of replacing the national minimum standards for concessionary travel schemes for people aged over 60 with schemes providing travel tokens worth (i) £25 and (ii) £50 to (A) to people aged over 60, (B) all pensioners and (C) to people aged over 70; [134386]

(4) what estimate he has made of the change in the local government finance settlement necessary to reimburse fully local government for the costs of replacing the national minimum standards for concessionary travel schemes for people over the age of 60 with a 100 per cent. discount on fares for people over the age of 70. [134387]

Mr. McNulty: The extension this year of the minimum statutory requirement to men aged 60–65 cost £50 million per year. The Government does not plan further extensions of concessionary fares. We estimate that free concessionary travel for pensioners in England (women aged 60 and over, men aged 65 and over) would cost in excess of an extra £300 million a year. We have not costed all the variants listed in the question and could do so only at disproportionate cost.

Cycling

Jane Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultations were held during the preparation of the school based cycle helmet awareness programme booklet with the (a) Schools Travel Advisory Group, (b) Health Development Agency, (c) Sports and Physical Activity Board, (d) National Cycling Strategy Board, (e) cycle user groups and (f) other bodies. [135018]

Mr. Jamieson: The Department has not produced a school based cycle helmet awareness programme booklet. However the Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust has produced, "Guidelines for setting up a successful school based helmet awareness programme" booklet with Government grant financing some of the costs. The principal aims of the BHIT guidelines, to encourage school children to wear cycle helmets, are consistent with Government policy.

Dealing with Disadvantage Project

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the local authorities which have applied to his Department for special Dealing with Disadvantage grants; and if he will set out the criteria used in deciding upon the successful applications. [134745]

Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 27 October 2003]: Applications for Dealing with Disadvantage funds have been made by:

Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Tameside, Wigan.

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Further applications have been invited from:

Bradford, Liverpool, Nottingham, Sandwell.

The criteria by which applications are judged are: a clear understanding of the road safety problems associated with disadvantage in the council's area; the relevance of the proposals to those problems; the likelihood of those proposals addressing the issues; the extent to which other programmes, such as Neighbourhood Renewal, have been linked to the proposal.

Dover Harbour Board

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many members of the Dover Harbour Board are appointed by his Department; and if he will make a statement on future policy relating to such appointments. [135032]

Mr. Jamieson: Seven board members, including the Chairman, are appointed by the Secretary of State to the Dover Harbour Board (DHB).

Government appointments to the DHB are made in strict accord with its policy on the appointment of all non-executive directors and board members of public bodies and we abide by guidelines set out by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA). We have no current plans to alter this policy.

Driving Licence Applications

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his target is for the time taken to process a provisional driving licence application from the date of receipt to the applicant receiving the licence, in cases where the applicant indicates that they have a relevant medical condition; and what proportion of licences were issued within this target in each of the last three years. [134663]

Mr. Jamieson: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's published charter standards for dealing with applications, where a medical condition has to be considered, are as follows:

(a) if a decision can be made based on the information originally provided by the applicant, the Agency aims to make a decision on 97.5 per cent. of cases within 15 working days;


(b) if further information is needed about the medical condition from the applicant, his doctors or other sources, the Agency aims to make a decision on 80 per cent. of cases within 90 working days.

The Agency has reported against these standards since April 2002. In financial year 2002–03, the cumulative performance was for (a) 98 per cent. of cases were cleared within 15 working days and for (b) 80.2 per cent. of cases were cleared within 90 working days.

Since April this year, the cumulative performance is for (a) 95.4 per cent. of cases have been cleared within 15 working days and for (b) 78.7 per cent. of cases have been cleared within 90 working days.

No separate figures are available for provisional driving licence applications.

Road Deaths

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 15 October 2003,

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Official Report, column 240W, on road deaths, whether the information provided by the Dutch on new traffic arrangements at various sites in North Holland indicated decreases in casualties; and what reasons were given by the two UK authorities for considering more familiar techniques rather than the measures used in North Holland. [134106]

Dr. Howells: Information was supplied on 15 locations in North Holland that had been treated in innovative ways. Only two of the locations had an injury accident record showing more than one injury per year (one had two in a single year, one had three). Of the 15 treatments, 13 were neutral in their influence on injuries, one may have saved injuries and one may have put injuries up. In all cases, though, the casualty numbers are very small.

No specific reasons were given by UK authorities, in discussion with Department officials, for not including measures used in North Holland. The discussions took place while the authorities were considering various approaches in the design of traffic management for the areas under consideration. Removing traffic signals was just one technique in the approach used in North Holland for sharing space. We are not aware that either of the UK sites had traffic signals but the authorities were considering a range of techniques similar to those used in North Holland. Lower vehicle speeds plays a key part in this. Reducing the dominance of motor vehicles allow alternative urban treatments aimed at providing a more equal allocation of space for all road users.

Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a regulatory risk assessment of the proposal to amend the Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations in respect of tinted windows. [135029]

Mr. Jamieson: No assessment was produced because the regulation amendment did not change anything—it merely clarified an existing provision of law.

US Reserve Fleet

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what communications he has received, and on what date, from the right hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Mandelson) in respect of the proposal to bring ships from the US Reserve Fleet to Teesside for disposal; and if he will make a statement. [133292]

Mr. McNulty [holding answer 20 October 2003]: Correspondence between the Department and its correspondents is treated in confidence unless the originator chooses to make it public.

Vehicle Excise Duty Offences

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library the terms of the netting off arrangement agreed between his Department and Her Majesty's Treasury in relation to the costs and penalty income arising from vehicle excise duty offences. [134746]

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Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 27 October 2003]: The terms of the netting off arrangement are contained in the "Proposed governance arrangements for the cost recovery system for continuous registration" document which has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the components of the cost estimate over three years to the DVLA in implementing continuous registration; and what he estimates will be the gross proceeds from penalties levied on vehicle excise duty offenders. [134747]

Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 27 October 2003]: The components of the cost estimate over three years in implementing continuous registration are contained in the "Proposed governance arrangements for the cost recovery system for continuous registration" document which will be placed in the Library of the House. The cost information appears on page 1–9 paragraph 1.3.

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