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Buses

Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list, at constant prices, the spending on public transport support for buses for each year since 1985 in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales, (d) English metropolitan areas outside London, (e) shire counties and (f) London. [147420]

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Mr. McNulty: The information, in constant 2002–03 prices, is shown in the following table.

£ million

	England	Scotland	Wales	English Met areas	English shire counties	London
1985–86	841	50	22	406	170	264
1986–87	677	58	17	329	143	205
1987–88	526	38	14	218	122	187
1988–89	498	34	12	182	127	189
1989–90	408	24	13	152	128	128
1990–91	423	17	13	139	128	155
1991–92	486	26	13	146	131	209
1992–93	472	26	13	140	119	213
1993–94	307	27	11	126	107	74
1994–95	297	27	10	123	107	67
1995–96	259	30	11	119	104	35
1996–97	233	31	10	123	97	14
1997–98	209	26	11	111	97	1
1998–99	255	25	12	121	121	13
1999–2000	263	27	14	116	136	11
2000–01	353	29	16	125	142	87
2001–02	458	33	17	123	145	190
2002–03(15)	618	32	17	121	142	355

⁽¹⁵⁾ Provisional.

Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has collated on the change in the number of passenger journeys by bus for each year since 1985 in each English metropolitan area outside London. [147421]

Mr. McNulty: The information is shown in the following table.

Million

	Tyne and Wear	West Yorkshire	South Yorkshire	Merseyside	Greater Manchester	West Midlands
1985–86	287	291	341	305	357	487
1986–87	257	304	268	258	267	456
1987–88	243	297	237	219	310	426
1988–89	247	296	225	207	297	422
1989–90	244	294	192	211	291	417
1990–91	230	263	191	191	270	403
1991–92	220	240	177	191	260	389
1992–93	189	231	176	178	252	356
1993–94	182	232	166	166	236	355
1994–95	170	222	163	168	226	381
1995–96	168	219	158	165	224	358
1996–97	165	207	150	163	212	349
1997–98	161	196	144	151	211	368
1998–99	154	186	135	150	217	353
1999–2000	151	180	130	149	199	353
2000–01	146	189	131	142	204	353
2001–02	141	181	128	142	205	352
2002–03(16)	138	181	128	144	209	350

⁽¹⁶⁾ Provisional

Motorways

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in respect of each motorway the number of occasions in each of the last five years when a carriageway has been closed for more than two hours as a result of (a) an accident and (b) an incident other than an accident. [145529]

Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 5 January 2004]: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Commercial Vehicle Parking

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the availability of overnight parking facilities for commercial vehicles in each region of the UK. [147330]

Mr. Jamieson: The Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 confers powers on local authorities to make provision for on and off street parking facilities, including facilities for commercial vehicles if these are considered necessary. We have not commissioned any research to

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evaluate the availability of overnight parking facilities for commercial vehicles. However, the Highways Agency is engaged in a pilot study in conjunction with the road haulage industry aimed at providing dedicated rest areas for lorry drivers away from the motorway network.

Departmental Relocation

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of relocation of staff to North Staffordshire; and if he will make a statement; [146862]

(2) what assessment he has made of the effect of proposals to relocate Government jobs on the Department's ability to meet (a) departmental policy objectives and (b) departmental public service agreements; [146878]

(3) what assessment his Department has made of the effect of possible relocation of staff in his Department to North Staffordshire on (a) job creation, (b) sustainable development, (c) the local economy and (d) tackling regional economic disparities; and if he will make a statement; [146891]

(4) what plans he has to establish procedures for assessing the impact of possible re-location of staff in his Department to the regions; and if he will make a statement. [146922]

Mr. McNulty: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary on 12 January 2004, Official Report, column 516W.

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff in his Department work in (a) the West Midlands and (b) North Staffordshire. [146907]

Mr. McNulty: The latest available figures for the number of staff in the Department for Transport that work in (a) the West Midlands and (b) North Staffordshire is shown in the following table:

Location	Number of staff
West Midlands	1,127
North Staffordshire	38
Total	1,165

Lane Rental Trials

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how the Government intends to consult interested parties on next steps when the lane rental trials in Camden and Middlesbrough end. [147095]

Mr. Jamieson: The lane rental trials in Camden and Middlesbrough are due to end on 31 March. Any decision on whether to roll out lane rental more widely will need to be taken in the context of changes to the existing legislative regime for utility street works resulting from the Traffic Management Bill, including the introduction of permit schemes. We intend consulting widely with utilities, local authorities, utility

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regulators and other interested parties when drawing up regulations which would allow for permit schemes, and we would consult similarly widely before extending lane rental.

M5

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the resurfacing schedule for the M5; and what account it takes of requests to deal with excessive noise nuisance. [146477]

Mr. Jamieson: Resurfacing schedules are established on an annual basis, based upon an assessment of surface condition and availability of funds. Next year's resurfacing will be determined as part of the Highways Agency's business plan development.

The 10 Year Plan for Transport includes a commitment to use quieter surfacing materials where possible during routine resurfacing. Other noise reduction measures, such as noise fencing, are considered on an individual basis.

Railways

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much public subsidy was given to each railway company in each year since 1997. [146536]

Mr. McNulty: Details of the subsidy paid to each train operating company, in each year, are set out in the Strategic Rail Authority's annual report, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the projected investment in rail infrastructure is in Scotland over the next five years. [147685]

Mr. McNulty: Network Rail's June 2003 Business Plan sets out £1.6 billion of investment in maintenance and renewals for Scottish routes (excluding the West Coast Main Line and East Coast Main Line in Scotland) over the period 2004–05 to 2008–09. The Business Plan is currently being reviewed to take into account the Rail Regulator's Final Conclusions on the Interim Review of Track Access Charges, which were published on 12 December 2003. The SRA's investment proposals are set out in the Strategic Plan. The latest edition was published last year and is available in the House Library. In addition, the Scottish Executive may facilitate the development and improvement of passenger rail services.

Scotrail

Mr. Peter Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much Government funding is provided to Scotrail in 2003–04 in respect of its sleeper services to London. [147686]

Mr. McNulty: This is a matter for the Scottish Executive, which is responsible for the franchise arrangements for cross-border sleeper services.

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