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6 May 2004 : Column 1676W—continued

Sporting Contacts (Ban)

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 24 March 2004, Official Report, column 876W, on sporting contacts (ban), whether, on 28 October 1997, Ministers had the power to invoke a ban on sporting contact with other countries taking place outside the UK. [168598]

Mr. Caborn: In October 1997, as now, Ministers did not have specific powers to prevent sports teams travelling abroad.

Tourism

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the work of regional development agencies in developing tourism in Oldham, West and Royton. [170945]

Mr. Caborn: The North West Development Agency (NWDA) is working closely with 'Marketing Manchester', the nominated Destination Management Organisation (DMO) for Manchester. The new DMOs are, in effect, smaller versions of tourist boards. They aim to ensure a strong visitor and market focus to all that is done within the region and strengthen the connection between businesses and other organisations in the tourism sector.
 
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TRANSPORT

A13

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to (a) improve and (b) fund improvements to the A13 Sadlers Farm Junction in Benfleet, Essex. [171086]

Mr. Jamieson: The junction at Sadlers Farm between the A13 and the A130 (neither of which is a trunk road at that point) is in the form of a ring roundabout.

Following a review of the transport problems in the South Essex area, Essex county council consider that the junction now requires upgrading to allow for the greater volume of traffic that is using the junction since it was built in 1988.

It is up to Essex county council to submit, through the Local Transport Plan process, details of a new design which has been appraised in accordance with Government guidelines and which will deal with forecast levels of traffic. This assessment will then be used by the Department for Transport to consider whether there is a case for funding the scheme.

Explosives (Detection)

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent by his Department and its predecessors on research into new methods of detecting explosives on board ships before they dock in the UK. [170060]

Mr. Jamieson: The Department funds a £1.4 million research and development programme into technologies and methods used in Transport Security. It would not be appropriate to provide details, but much of this budget goes towards explosives detection technologies.

Foreign Registered Vehicles

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of foreign registered (a) cars and (b) other vehicles in the UK on (i) permanent and (ii) temporary import; and how many he estimates have exceeded the maximum stay period. [170865]

Mr. Jamieson: Since January 2003, 116,000 new vehicles and 167,000 used vehicles have been permanently imported into the UK and registered at DVLA. A breakdown by type of vehicle is not available.

Vehicles brought into the UK on a temporary basis are exempt from UK licensing and registration requirements if they are here for less than six months in any 12. No record is maintained of these vehicles and consequently no figures are available on the numbers of temporary imports.

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures are taken to ensure that vehicles on temporary import are unable to exceed their maximum stay period; and what measures are taken against those vehicles that have exceeded this period. [170866]

Mr. Jamieson: Vehicles on temporary import are exempt from UK licensing and registration requirements, providing they are in this country for less
 
6 May 2004 : Column 1678W
 
than six months in any 12 and are registered and licensed in their country of origin. If at any time a vehicle used here on foreign plates is stopped by the police, the driver is responsible for demonstrating that he/she is entitled to use it in the UK.

Keepers of foreign registered vehicles who fail to observe these requirements are subject to the same enforcement and prosecution procedures as UK motorists.

DVLA is currently working with the police and local authorities to gather information on temporary imports to clarify the extent of the evasion problem and to introduce effective counter measures.

Potters Bar Accident

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on recent developments in the inquiries into the Potters Bar railway accident. [168091]

Mr. Darling: Both the British Transport Police (BTP) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) continue to be involved in the investigation. On 18 March 2004 the lead role in the joint investigation transferred from the BTP to the HSE because of HSE's expertise in the areas in which the investigation is now concentrating. However because the investigation has not yet concluded, the prosecuting authorities have not yet come to a decision on prosecutions.

Rail Projects

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many rail projects have been cancelled as being without a sound business case; and how many have been re-scoped since publication of the Strategic Rail Authority's Strategic Plan 2003. [170265]

Mr. Darling: No major rail projects have been cancelled or re-scoped since the publication of the Strategic Rail Authority's Strategic Plan 2003 because they are without a sound business case. Some changes have been made to the West Coast Route Modernisation Scheme and to the scheme to upgrade the power supplies in the south-east. These are intended to provide substantially the same level of outputs at less cost.

Road Noise

Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent on research into quieter road surfaces in each of the last 10 years. [170166]

Mr. Jamieson: The Highways Agency has undertaken research into various aspects of quieter surfaces in the past 10 years, including the measurement of noise characteristics and durability of proprietary surfacing materials within their overall programme of research into improved road construction techniques. Annual expenditure on the development of quieter road surfaces is not available because most of the projects last for more than one year. However, total expenditure on research projects related to road surface noise characteristics completed since 1993 is around £3 million.
 
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Road Safety

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) pedestrians, (b) cyclists, (c) drivers and (d) car occupants have been (i) injured and (ii) killed in each of the last six years for which figures are available in each Greater London borough. [168880]

Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 27 April 2004]: A table showing the information requested for the years 1997 to 2002, which is the latest year for which data are available, has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what (a) percentage and (b) number of reported motorway traffic incidents involved a heavy goods vehicle with left hand drive in each of the last three years; and what percentage of those incidents were attributed to poor visibility or blind spots on such vehicles. [170207]

Mr. Jamieson: The information is not available. From January 2005 data relating to heavy goods vehicles with left-hand drive will be collected separately using the STATS19 accident report format. This means the information will be available from June 2006 onwards.

Sea Stores

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department's responsibility is for the Sea Stores building at Yate, South Gloucestershire; for what purpose the building is used; and if he will make a statement on its future use and ownership. [169240]

Mr. Jamieson: The Highways Agency owns the land and the on site storage facilities on Kennedy Way at Yate (the "Sea Stores" site). The site is the central facility for the co-ordination of the bulk purchase and storage of the agency's motorway communications equipment, which serves the national motorway and trunk road network.

As part of the agency's sound business practice, the future use and ownership of the site and its operation remains under continual review.

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