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9 Mar 2004 : Column 1409W—continued
Professor Sir Roy Meadow
Ms Oona King: To ask the Solicitor-General if the Attorney-General will review the cases of children separated from their parents following evidence from Professor Sir Roy Meadow used in family court judgments. [144467]
Mr. Lammy [holding answer 16 December 2003]: I have been asked to reply.
I refer my hon. Friend to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Children on 23 February 2004, Official Report, columns 38–39, which sets out our plans for the review of cases. Further, on 25 February, a Local Authority Circular (2004 (5)) was issued to councils with social services responsibilities, setting out the steps that they should take. A copy of this circular has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
TRANSPORT
Railways
9. Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has for a new high speed rail link to the north of England and Scotland from London. [159438]
14. Mr. Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Commission for Integrated Transport report on high-speed rail. [159443]
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Dr. Howells: Consideration of the case for a North South High Speed Line must be for the longer term. The current priority for the Strategic Rail Authority and the rail industry is to improve the performance of the existing railway network.
Buses
15. Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to facilitate the introduction of bus quality contracts outside London. [159444]
Mr. McNulty: As I announced on 4 February, we are taking steps to improve the potential effectiveness of the bus quality contract provisions in the Transport Act 2000. We are about to consult stakeholders on the proposal to reduce the 21-month implementation period to a shorter minimum period in the range 6–15 months.
Airports
16. Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on expansion of small airports in South East England. [159445]
Mr. McNulty: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the White Paper "The Future of Air Transport", which makes it clear that smaller airports have an important role to play in relieving pressure on the main South East airports, particularly in the period before a new runway is built in the South East. We support their further development in principle, subject to consideration of relevant environmental, surface access and airspace constraints. Any development proposals will need to be decided locally through the planning system.
Speed Cameras
17. Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will estimate how many (a) lives have been saved and (b) serious injuries have been prevented in the last 12 months as a result of the installation of speed safety cameras. [159446]
Mr. Jamieson: The evaluation of the 2-year pilot of the safety camera programme covering 2000–01 and 2001–02 concluded that in those participating areas there had been a 35 per cent. reduction in those killed or seriously injured at camera sites. This equated to 280 fewer killed and seriously injured casualties. Information for 2002–03 will be contained in the 3-year evaluation report which will be published shortly.
Transport (Nottingham, North)
18. Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will visit Nottingham, North to discuss local transport. [159447]
Mr. McNulty: My right hon. Friend visited Nottingham on 8 March 2004 to open the Nottingham Express Transit Line 1, where he had the opportunity to meet with local authority officials to discuss local transport issues.
HGV Drivers
19. Mr. Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the future need for heavy goods vehicle drivers. [159448]
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Mr. Jamieson: The key change in the need for HGV drivers will result from the introduction of EU working time legislation for road transport. We have estimated that this will require around 12,000 extra drivers.
Aviation
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will make a statement on the UK's commitment to a fully liberalised aviation treaty between the EU and the US; [R] [159204]
- (2) what progress has been made at the recent talks in Washington between the EU and the US on an open aviation area; [R] [159205]
(3) what steps he is taking to promote the interests of (a) the UK and (b) UK aviation during the open aviation talks between the EU and the US; [R] [159206]
(4) if he will make representations for restrictions on (a) ownership, (b) cabotage rights, (c) wet lease and (d) the Fly America policy to be removed as part of any agreement on an open aviation area between the EU and the US; [R] [159207]
(5) what further progress is expected at the next meeting between the EU and US on an open aviation area. [R] [159208]
Mr. McNulty: The Government have supported a mandate for the European Commission to negotiate an open aviation area with the US on the basis that this will be an area where air carriers of both sides will be able to establish themselves and freely provide services according to commercial principles, competing on a fair and equal basis. The offer made by the US at the recent talks falls far short of this objective. We will continue to take every opportunity, including meetings of the Transport Council and our participation in the Special Committee of Member State representatives, to make the case for a fully liberalised EU/US aviation agreement, including the removal of restrictions in areas such as airline ownership, market access and aircraft leasing.
Crossrail
John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the importance of Crossrail (a) to those who work in London and (b) to London businesses. [157321]
Mr. McNulty: These issues were covered in Cross London Rail Link Limited's Crossrail Business Case. They have been considered in the context of the review of the proposals undertaken under the chairmanship of Adrian Montague, whose work has also been informed by meetings with key London stakeholders. My right hon. Friend has now received advice from Adrian Montague which he is studying closely and whose findings will be published in due course.
Cycling
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress he has made towards introducing and extending (a) a cycle-friendly road network, (b) cycle training, (c) a network of bus lanes, (d) minimum quality standards for bus services,
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(e) minimum standards for rail services, (f) safe routes to schools, (g) lower speed limits, (h) a discount network rail card, (i) greater purchase incentives for smaller cleaner vehicles, (j) grants for rail freight projects, (k) increased funding for public transport and (l) pay-as-you-go road user charging; and what steps he has taken to improve streets, lanes and paths for walking. [160055]
Mr. McNulty: "Delivering Better Transport: Progress Report" published in December 2002 set out the progress made in Delivering the 10 Year Plan for Transport in the first 18 months of its life. As promised in that report we are now reviewing the Plan, taking account of events and achievements since its implementation. We expect to set out in the Summer how the strategy will be rolled forward to 2015 and beyond.
Departmental Communications
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many staff are employed in the Department to work in the communications field, broken down by (a) Government Information and Communication Service staff and (b) other staff, broken down by (i) press officers, (ii) special advisers and (iii) others; [158168]
- (2) what the total expenditure on communications for the Department has been in 2003–04, broken down by expenditure on (a) Government Information and Communications Service staff and (b) other staff, broken down by (i) press officers.(ii) special advisers and (iii) others. [158200]
Mr. McNulty: The average number of full-time equivalent staff employed in DfT (central)'s Communication Directorate and the related forecast expenditure for 2003–04 is:
| Press officers | Others | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GICS staff | 13.0 | 29.8 | 42.8 |
| Other staff | 0.8 | 28.3 | 29.1 |
| Total | 13.8 | 58.0 | 7.1.8 |
| Press officers | Others | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GICS staff | 0.62 | 1.33 | 1.95 |
| Other staff | 0.06 | 0.97 | 1.03 |
| Total | 0.68 | 2.30 | 2.98 |
The Special Advisers' Code of Conduct sets out the sort of work a special adviser may undertake on behalf of their Minister. This includes communications activity. Details of the costs of Special Advisers are given on an annual basis. Information for the financial year 2003–04 will be published in due course.
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