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18 May 2004 : Column 834W—continued
Bus Services
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the sources are of the statistics published by his Department on (a) bus reliability, (b) bus punctuality and (c) bus patronage; whether independent audits are conducted to verify the source data and the methods used to produce these statistics; and if he will place source information and methodology statements in the Library. [173470]
Mr. McNulty:
The statistics published on bus reliability and patronage are based on returns completed by bus operators. There are currently no statistics on bus punctuality. The bus patronage data are collected via a statutory survey under the Statistics of Trade Act 1947. The bus reliability survey is voluntary. When received, the raw data are treated as Restricted-Commercial and are not released to other parties, except with the permission of the operators themselves.
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The methods used were examined in the National Statistics Quality Review which was carried out by WS Atkins Ltd. in 2002–03 and published on 6 August 2003. Short descriptions of the methods used for estimating bus reliability and patronage statistics are included in the review, a copy of which is held in the House of Commons Library.
Mr. Damian Green:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list bus usage in terms of (a) number
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of passengers and (b) passenger kilometres in each year since 1997, broken down by region. [174172]
Mr. McNulty: The estimates of local bus usage in terms of passenger journeys for the years 1997–98 to 2002–03 are given in the following table. Estimates of passenger kilometres are only available for London and are given in the final row of the table.
| 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North East | 262 | 253 | 252 | 243 | 241 | 237 |
| North West | 507 | 509 | 493 | 489 | 480 | 485 |
| Yorks and Humberside | 411 | 386 | 381 | 374 | 369 | 37 7 |
| West Midlands | 464 | 447 | 450 | 454 | 447 | 439 |
| East Midlands | 209 | 212 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 212 |
| Eastern | 163 | 165 | 167 | 170 | 172 | 167 |
| London | 1,294 | 1,279 | 1,307 | 1,359 | 1,434 | 1,542 |
| South East | 272 | 287 | 289 | 282 | 276 | 268 |
| South West | 191 | 183 | 182 | 179 | 175 | 175 |
| England | 3,773 | 3,719 | 3,732 | 3,760 | 3,804 | 3,901 |
| London (million passenger kilometres) | 4,350 | 4,315 | 4,429 | 4,709 | 5,128 | 5,721 |
The estimates for passenger journeys are taken from Table 13 of the "Bulletin of Public Transport Statistics Great Britain: 2003 Edition", copies of which are held in the Libraries of the House.
Car Sharing
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding has been made available to local authorities specifically to promote car-sharing, car clubs, education programmes to promote walking and cycling or other soft measures to address transport issues in each year since 1997. [173312]
Mr. McNulty: In general, revenue funding provided to local authorities is not dedicated to specific purposes in this way. We have, however, provided some ring- fenced funding to local authorities through our bursary scheme for the employment of school and workplace travel plan co-ordinators at a cost of £3 million per annum for the three years from April 2001 to March 2004. From April 2004, the bursary scheme has been focussed on school travel plan co-ordinators, and its value has increased to £7.5 million per year (joint with DfES).
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment the Government have made of car-sharing within schools as a means of reducing congestion associated with the school run. [173315]
Mr. McNulty: The Department has commissioned research to identify the most successful school travel plans in the country and what has made these plans successful. We shall be publishing good practice guidance drawn from this research under the title "Making School Travel Plans Work" later this year. The guidance will include information on car-sharing initiatives where these have contributed to the wider success of school travel plans. We already know of a number of individual car-sharing initiatives that have been effective in reducing the number of cars taking children to school, and that many families make their own informal arrangements for sharing.
Crossrail
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Crossrail project; and what the level of Government involvement in the project is. [173512]
Mr. McNulty: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport is currently considering Adrian Montague's detailed advice on Crossrail and will publish his findings in due course.
Departmental Annual Report
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the production of his Department's latest annual report cost; how many copies were printed; how many copies of it were sold at its cover price; to whom copies of the report have been provided free of charge; and how many copies were provided free of charge. [171079]
Mr. McNulty: The Department's Annual Report was published on 30 April 2004 and is freely available on the DfT website.
1,100 copies of the report were printed. To date, a total of approximately 250 copies have been provided free of charge to the House Libraries, the Transport Select Committee, Department for Transport Ministers and officials, and to other Government Departments. The Stationery Office (TSO) has taken 700 copies for sale. Data on the level of sales is not yet available.
The total cost of the Annual Report was £34,820 excluding VAT.
Driving Standards Agency
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport under what statutory basis the Chief Executive, Chief Driving Examiner and the directors of the Driving Standards Agency have withheld their salary and performance pay from being disclosed in the Driving Standards Agency's Annual Report. [172084]
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Mr. Jamieson: The Driving Standards Agency is a Trading Fund. HM Treasury accounting guidance for Trading Funds allows for non-disclosure of the remuneration of the Chief Executive, the Chief Driving Examiner and the full-time directors in the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts, provided that consent to non-disclosure is noted.
Harassment Contact Officers
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many harassment contact officers were employed by his Department on the last date for which figures are available. [174174]
Mr. McNulty: The Department for Transport has a total of 86 harrassment contact officers.
MOTs
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether MOT garages were charged additional supplements for the MOT certificates they purchased from (a) the former Vehicle Inspectorate and (b) the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency. [173890]
Mr. Jamieson: No supplements have been added to MOT test certificate charges, levied on MOT testing stations, either by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency or, before April 2003, by the Vehicle Inspectorate.
Railways
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many train services have been cut, and on which lines, as a result of the Strategic Rail Authority's policy of selective thinning of train services; [170266]
(2) what criteria are used by the Strategic Rail Authority to implement the objective of selective thinning of train services. [170267]
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Mr. Darling: The Strategic Rail Authority has no policy of selective thinning of train services. The changes to the May and September 2003 timetables for Virgin Cross Country, Central Trains, South West Trains, Wessex, Arriva Trains Northern and Wales and Borders represent less than 1 per cent. of the daily services. They were made to improve performance and reliability through better capacity utilisation. The main changes were to Virgin Cross Country where they contributed to a 25 per cent. improvement in performance.
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will announce his findings on the review of the railways while Parliament is in session. [172989]
Mr. McNulty: As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport said in his statement to the House on 19 January, the rail review will publish its proposals in the summer.
Mr. Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which of the new train operators serving London and the south east showed the greatest improvement in punctuality between the third quarter of 2003–04 and the third quarter of 2002–03; and if he will make a statement. [173918]
Mr. McNulty: The biggest improvement was at West Anglia Great Northern. Its average performance for the year to the end of quarter three 2003–04 was 82.3 per cent. compared with 77.9 per cent. for the year to the end of quarter three 2002–03.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 12 May 2004, Official Report, column 410W, on railways, how many of the sites identified have (a) been put up for sale, (b) been sold and (c) are under offer. [174240]
Mr. Darling: Of the 36 sites identified by the Strategic Rail Authority as suitable for disposal, 20 have been put up for sale; of these, four have been sold, 12 are under offer and four are still for sale. This is shown in the following table.
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