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Terrorism (Railways)

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many incidents of (a) terrorist activity and (b) suspected terrorist activity were recorded by (i) the British Transport Police and (ii) other organisations relating to the railways in (A) 2002 and (B) 2003 to date. [139802]

Mr. McNulty: The British Transport Police have advised me that 205 threats were made against railway locations in 2002. In the period up to 31 October 2003 194 threats were made against railway locations. None of these resulted in an incident.

Trams (Edinburgh)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions his Department has had with Transport Initiatives Edinburgh regarding the proposed tram lines connecting Edinburgh city centre with Edinburgh airport; and if he will make a statement. [139924]

Mr. McNulty: My officials have met Transport Initiatives Edinburgh on at least three occasions to discuss the proposed tram and heavy rail links to Edinburgh.

Transport for London

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what powers Transport for London has (a) to undertake prudential borrowing, (b) to raise finance on the financial markets and (c) to issue bonds. [139995]

Mr. McNulty: The new prudential borrowing system starts on 1 April 2004. Transport for London is among the local authorities that will then have power to borrow without Government consent, provided that the debt is affordable. Authorities will, as now, be free to raise finance by a variety of means, including borrowing on the financial markets and issuing instruments such as bonds, as well as borrowing from the Government through the Public Works Loan Board.

Transport Staff

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff (a) were employed in 2002 and (b) are employed in each key area of the railway industry; what the total requirement for staff in each key area is; what assessment he has made of staff shortage numbers in each key area; and how many individuals are (i) in training and (ii) trained for each key area. [139724]

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Mr. McNulty: Figures are not kept in the form requested. The latest information on rail industry staff numbers comes from a survey carried out by the Rail Industry Training Council between November 2002 and April 2003. It showed that, in 2002, approximately 177,000 people were employed in rail related work covering 110 different occupations. There were also 702 vacancies classified as "hard to fill". The number of trainees working toward a national qualification was estimated at 11,685.

The Centre for Rail Skills was launched on 27 October 2003 to help the rail industry equip itself, in a cost effective way, with the right number of people with the right skills in place at the right time.

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff were employed in his and predecessor departments on functions relating to transport (a) full-time and (b) part-time, broken down by (i) units and (ii) divisions in each year since 1997. [139725]

Mr. McNulty: The information is not readily available. I will write to the hon. Member, placing a copy my letter in the Libraries of the House.

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff were employed by agencies with functions relating to transport (a) full-time and (b) part-time, broken down by (i) units and (ii) divisions in each year since 1997. [139726]

Mr. McNulty: Details of staff employed are published in each agency's annual report, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

US Warships (Disposal)

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he will take to control the route of US ships bound for dismantling in Hartlepool. [139999]

Mr. Jamieson: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has approved passage plans for the ships in question and will do so in future transits of this kind, as well as monitor ship movements against the approved plans.

Only if the ships are in UK waters can the Secretary of State intervene. He may give a direction but only if it is necessary to secure the safety of the ship, other ships, persons or property or to prevent or reduce significant pollution.

Vehicles (Tinted Windows)

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 17 November 2003, ref.138737, if he will place a copy of the guidelines in the Library. [139993]

Mr. Jamieson: I have placed a copy of the guidelines in the Libraries of both Houses.

Wind Speeds (Severn Bridge)

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the wind speeds at the M48 Severn Bridge were at (a) 05:00, (b) 07:00, (c) 09:00, (d) 11:00, (e) 13:00 and (f) 15:00 hours on 3 November. [139938]

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Mr. Jamieson: I have asked the acting Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Mr. Stephen Hickey, to write to my hon. Friend.

Letter from Stephen Hickey to Mr. Huw Edwards, dated 20 November 2003:

I have been asked by David Jamieson to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about wind speeds at the M48 Severn Bridge on Monday 3 November 2003.

The maximum recorded wind speed gusts at the times requested were:

05.00–38.44 knots

07.00–29.26 knots

09.00–22.01 knots

11.00–26.52 knots

13.00–31.06 knots

15.00–21.54 knots

As you know the Severn Bridge was closed from 05.10 on Sunday 2 November until 16.00 on Monday 3 November. Throughout this period forecasts were consistently in excess of 30 knots. The protocol then in place required that closures should remain in place until the gust wind speed had fallen and remained below 30 knots for 30 minutes and the forecast did not predict wind speeds increasing to over 30 knots within the next 4 hours.

As part of the process for continual improvement of our service, our protocol was subsequently reviewed at a meeting on Friday 14 November. The protocol was amended with immediate effect so that in future the closure shall remain in place until the gust wind speed has fallen and remains below 30 knots for 30 minutes and the forecast does not predict wind speeds increasing to over 40 knots within the next 4 hours.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Child Protection

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the timetable is for the introduction of computer systems to (a) monitor the activities of child protection agencies and (b) cross-reference knowledge held by other agencies through social services departments. [138485]

Margaret Hodge: In the Government's Green Paper "Every Child Matters" we set out our aim to share information across services and ensure professionals know of each others concerns at an early stage. To achieve this, we are proposing a local information hub in every local authority to enable professionals in all the local services which impact on children's lives to cross-reference knowledge, where appropriate, with other local children's services.

In light of responses to the Green Paper "Every Child Matters" the Government will examine the potential benefits and risks of introducing ICT-based information sharing systems and whether it is feasible to overcome the considerable technical barriers. We will be evaluating the work of the Trailblazers in due course and will use their experiences to inform future developments.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the social services departments that have introduced a computer system (a) to monitor the activities of child-protection agencies

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and (b) to cross-reference knowledge held by other agencies as recommended by the Laming Report. [138487]

Margaret Hodge: Social Services Departments currently use a variety of methods for collecting and sharing information on children. The answer to ensuring child protection is not in the use of computer systems alone. We need practitioners to share information at an early stage about children who may be at risk of falling through the net. We propose in the Green Paper "Every Child Matters" to introduce local information sharing hubs in every local authority to help identify early indications that a child is in need of specialised support through the bringing together of the knowledge and expertise held by all local children's services.

We are examining whether and how it is feasible to overcome the technical challenges in this area.

Sir Teddy Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the implications of the transfer of responsibility for the Child Benefit Office to the Inland Revenue, with particular reference to whether the office's ability to assist local councils with information in connection with child protection inquiries. [137769]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 10 November 2003]: I understand that some difficulties have arisen in this context in a particular case, and that the organisations concerned are prevented from following established practices with regard to information-sharing. My officials are looking into the case urgently, with the aim of finding a rapid solution that will enable the organisations to continue to share information in the same way that they have previously done.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make it his policy to insert into the Green Paper on Children at Risk a requirement for risk assessment in contact cases involving domestic violence or child abuse; and if he will make a statement. [136396]

Margaret Hodge: The Green Paper, "Every Child Matters", was published on 8 September and the consultation period extends until 1 December. I am happy to consider this proposal as part my broader consideration of the consultation responses. It would be premature to make a statement at the present time.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment was made of the risk to children and young people in domestic violence situations in drawing up the Green Paper on Children at Risk; and if he will make a statement. [136397]

Margaret Hodge: The Green Paper "Every Child Matters" sets out the Government's response to Lord Laming's Inquiry into the tragic death of Victoria Climbie and is intended to help all children including those at risk from domestic violence. It was published on 8 September and the consultation period will last until 1 December. It would be premature for me to make a statement at this time while the consultation process is still on-going.

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Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what further consultation will take place with young people about the services and facilities they need following the publication of the Green Paper, "Every Child Matters". [138377]

Margaret Hodge: Consultation events on the Green Paper, Every Child Matters specifically aimed at children and young people, have been running since October.

The aim of the consultation events is to gather ideas from children and young people about what the Government can do to improve services which directly affect them such as health, education, social services, youth offending teams and youth and leisure services.

So far around 40 consultation events have taken place across the country and these have proved to be highly informative.

There are a further 12 events scheduled between now and the end of November.

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