---

17 Nov 2003 : Column 638W—continued

Rural Payments Agency

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what target time has been set for the Rural Payments Agency to reimburse food manufacturers for the additional costs of using EU origin sugar; and if she will make a statement. [139134]

Alun Michael: For year 2003–04 the Rural Payments Agency has a target to pay 80 per cent. of all valid non-IACS claims within 28 days of the claims becoming processable and all claims within EU deadlines or in their absence 60 days.

For the period 1 April 2003 to 12 November 2003 the target has been met. It is anticipated that this level of performance will be maintained throughout the 2003–04 year.

Women in Agriculture

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding is available from the European Union for schemes to help women into agriculture. [137276]

Mr. Bradshaw: The England Rural Development Programme (ERDP), which is funded by Government and the European Union, provides support for rural areas, by encouraging sustainable rural businesses and thriving communities. It helps farmers and foresters respond better to consumer requirements and become more competitive, diverse, flexible and environmentally responsible. It also provides help to rural businesses and communities which need to adapt and develop. The Programme covers 10 separate schemes which provide new opportunities for farmers and others to protect and improve the countryside, to develop sustainable rural enterprises and to help rural communities to thrive. It is estimated that the Programme will provide £1.6 billion in support between 2000 and 2006. Defra believes the best way to encourage enterprise in rural areas is to provide the right economic framework and, where necessary, to target support measures e.g. rural enterprise and training, towards appropriate people. Awards of ERDP funds are made in line with principles of equal opportunities.

17 Nov 2003 : Column 639W

TRANSPORT

Bus Services

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many passengers used bus services in (a) Shrewsbury and Atcham and (b) Shropshire in each year since 1997. [138349]

Mr. McNulty: The number of bus passengers is not available for Shrewsbury and Atcham. Information included by Shropshire County Council in its latest Annual Progress Report for its Local Transport Plan showed that there were an estimated 6.3 million local bus passenger journeys in Shropshire in 2001–02, followed by 6.6 million in 2002–03. There is no reliable estimate of bus passenger journeys in Shropshire for earlier years.

Childhood Obesity

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what research his Department has commissioned into the impact of pedestrian strategies on childhood obesity; [138739]

(2) what discussions he has had with other Departments about implementing a strategy to tackle childhood obesity. [138740]

Mr. McNulty: My Department has not commissioned specific research on this topic. We are, however, closely involved with the work of the cross-departmental Activity Coordination Team, which is developing a strategy to raise levels of physical activity among both children and adults.

In addition, on 17 September 2003 we launched, in conjunction with the Department for Education and Skills, an action plan that includes measures to promote healthy and safe travel to school on foot and by bike.

Coastguard (Essex)

Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many part-time coastguards were employed by the Essex Coastguard Service on 1 September 2003. [139510]

Mr. McNulty: On 1 September 2003, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency employed 56 part-time auxiliary coastguards in Essex.

Cycling

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people have died while cycling in London in each of the past 10 years. [138667]

Mr. McNulty: The following table shows the number of pedal cyclists killed in road accidents in Greater London in each of the last 10 years.

Pedal cyclists killed in road accidents in Greater London

	Number
2002	20
2001	21
2000	14
1999	10
1998	12
1997	12
1996	20
1995	15
1994	15
1993	18
Total	157

17 Nov 2003 : Column 640W

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to promote safety guidance aimed at young cyclists; and if he will make a statement. [139438]

Mr. McNulty: We have produced a large body of material on cycle safety aimed at younger children promoting the use of cycle helmets as well as other cycle safety messages such as conspicuousness and training. We have also developed a Cycle Sense campaign aimed at teenagers that was launched on 21 May this year. The campaign encourages teenagers to wear cycle helmets and consists of posters and a new Cycle Sense website.

Dangerous Goods Safety Advisers

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost of the Dangerous Goods Safety Adviser Scheme has been in each year since the scheme was established; and how many advisers have been trained in each year. [138370]

Mr. McNulty: The regulations implementing EU Directive 96/35/EC were made in February 1999 and dangerous goods safety advisers (DGSA) had to be appointed by a qualifying undertaking from 1 January 2000. The Directive does not include a requirement for approved training. Competence is proved by the successful completion of a written examination, which leads to the award of a DGSA certificate. The first certificate was awarded in October 1998.

The number of certificates issued in each year are as follows:

	Number
1998–99	75
1999–2000	2,237
2000–01	1,061
2001–02	389
2002–03	321

The costs of undertaking the approved examinations and the issue of the vocational certificate issuing arrangements are currently £230. This is to undertake a typical examination consisting of the core module, the transport module and the class module. An additional fee of £85 is payable to undertake an additional module or class examination. As there is no formal training required, there are no records of any associated training costs. The level of training necessary will depend on the competence of the candidate.

The Health and Safety Executive consulted with stakeholders prior to the making of the regulations. In its consultative document, the HSE estimated the quantified costs to society over a 10-year period at between £580 million and £990 million. These costs are incurred by consignors and operators of transport

17 Nov 2003 : Column 641W

involved with the carriage of dangerous goods by road and rail. These estimated costs have not been updated or verified.

Driving Standards Agency

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the budget of the Driving Standards Agency is in 2003- 04. [138417]

Mr. McNulty: The DSA is a trading fund and is not given a budget by the Department. The Agency's business plan for 2003–04 plans for an expenditure of some £110 million.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many daily (a) telephone calls and (b) website hits were received on average by the Driving Standards Agency from people trying to book a driving test, in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [138419]

Mr. McNulty: During the period November 2002 to October 2003, the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) received 6,627,063 calls to the national test booking line. This is approximately 26,000 calls per working day.

Figures are not available for the number of hits on the Agency's website but, during the same period, some 327,000 theory test bookings were made online. The

17 Nov 2003 : Column 642W

facility to book practical tests online was introduced last month, and some 7,000 customers have already booked their practical test using this method.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average waiting time for booking a driving test, broken down by area, was in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [138418]

Mr. McNulty: For the period November 2002 to October 2003, the waiting times for a driving test in each of the Driving Standards Agency's five areas were:

Weeks

Categoryof test	London	Midlands and Eastern	Wales and Western	Northern	Scotland
Car	9.9	9.6	7.6	9.8	6.9
Motorcycle	3.1	3.8	2.5	3.8	2.1
Lorry/bus	3.6	4.6	2.8	4.8	3.6

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people have (a) taken and (b) passed a driving test in each of the last six years. [138420]

Mr. McNulty: In the last six years the number of people taking and passing practical driving tests, and pass rates, were:

	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03
Tests taken	1,202,147	1,334,829	1,274,381	1,241,364	1,346,656	1,510,018
Tests passed	579,689	634,308	583,960	570,415	605,205	675,617
Pass rate (percentage)	48.22	47.52	45.82	45.95	44.94	44.74

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many driving test examiners have been employed in each of the last six years, expressed as (a) head count and (b) full-time equivalents. [138421]

Mr. McNulty: For the last five years for which data are readily available, the average number of driving examiners employed by the Driving Standards Agency each month was:

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003 (to October)
Headcount	1,261.05	1,271.08	1,313.06	1,391.25	1,493.05
Full-time equivalent	1,257.23	1,268.07	1,311.34	1,388.84	1,488.14

Note:

Figures before 1999 are not held.

---