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21 May 2004 : Column 1225W—continued

Warm Zones

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding has been allocated in (a) 2004–05, (b) 2005–06 and (c) in total to Warm Zones. [163648]

 
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Mr. Morley: The Government provided £1 million funding for the pilot programme of five Warm Zones to run from 2001–04.

An independent evaluation of the pilots is being carried out by the Energy Saving Trust on behalf of the Department to assess the effectiveness of Warm Zones.

No additional funding has been allocated to Warm Zones by the Government.

World Oceans Day

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action her Department will be taking to mark World Oceans day on 8 June. [168469]

Mr. Morley: Around the time of World Oceans day Defra plans to publish an updated delivery plan setting out the steps that the Government are taking to achieve the conservation and sustainable management of marine and coastal biodiversity and to promote better oceans governance and partnership initiatives, in line with the commitments made at the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

To help progress this delivery plan the UK, together with EU partners, will be calling for the United Nations to take urgent action to protect vulnerable marine biodiversity in areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction at the forthcoming meeting of the United Nations Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea. World Oceans day coincides with this meeting.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Department Branding

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department spent on branding the Department between 1997–98 and 2003–04, broken down by (a) consultancy fees, (b) design and orders for new stationery, (c) website design and (d) other material featuring new logos. [154064]

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office logo has not been subject to redesign in 2003–04, but in the previous years you refer to, work was undertaken. The logo was redesigned to ensure the Home Office work was clear to the public and stakeholders.

Costs involved were as follows:

(a) and (b) research, project management and design and orders for new stationery—£147,505.06.

(c) website design—£18,024.50.

(d) The logo element of 'other material featuring new logos between 1997–98 and 2003–04' would be covered in individual project/publication/media initiatives and were not funded by or attributed to the corporate logo change initiative.

No costs were written off due to lack of use or destruction of materials featuring previous logos, as the low levels of old stock continued to be used.

Departmental Response Times

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average length of time was
 
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for a substantive response by his Department to (a) written questions, (b) hon. Members' written correspondence and (c) public correspondence in 2003–04. [170529]

Mr. Blunkett: The last published performance figures for the Home Office showed that 37 per cent. of all parliamentary questions and 56 per cent. of Members written correspondence were answered within parliamentary deadlines. I have been very clear this is not acceptable and needs to be substantially improved.

As a result, last year the Department introduced a new correspondence tracking system and in the last few months our performance in meeting the targets for answering Members written correspondence to Ministers increased substantially. In relation to parliamentary questions, we are currently in the process of introducing a new system, the electronic Parliamentary Questions System (ePQS) to    better monitor and manage the Department's performance.

In relation to public correspondence, we are currently looking at how to improve the tracking and monitoring of performance across the Department. Figures are not currently available except at disproportionate cost.

Immigration Appeals

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the   consequences of delays in dealing with cases of appeals against withdrawal of United Kingdom nationality before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. [169803]

Mr. Browne: To date only one appeal against withdrawal of United Kingdom nationality has been   lodged with the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. The administrative process for such appeals is subject to continuous review to ensure compatibility with both the public interest and the independent appeals process.

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 10 May to Question reference 169812, what the reasons are for the delay in making progress with appeals over the exercise of his powers concerning removal of nationality and indefinite leave to remain. [174144]

Mr. Lammy: I have been asked to reply.

The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) has one appeal before it in relation to Deprivation of Citizenship proceedings. Such cases involve significant and complex evidence and require due consideration of public funding applications. Importantly, as with any appeal, parties need to be available and prepared to proceed. The timetable for the resolution of cases is necessarily a function of all these factors The administrative processes for appeals against Deprivation of Citizenship proceedings are subject to ongoing review to ensure compatibility with both the public interest and the independence of the judicial process.
 
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TRANSPORT

Railways

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2004, Official Report, column 651W, how many of the Department of Transport's PFI projects listed on the Treasury website met the criteria for special purpose vehicles set out in the Strategic Rail Authority's strategic plan. [171521]

Mr. McNulty: None of the Department for Transport projects listed on the Treasury website falls within the remit of the Strategic Rail Authority. The Highways Agency is responsible for the strategic roads, Vehicle and Operator Services Agency for the MOT privatisation, Transport for London for London Underground and the Docklands Light Rail projects and the relevant local authority for the other light rail, local roads and street lighting PFI projects.

The selection criteria used to assess special purpose vehicles tendering for transport projects varies to take account of the nature of the work, the project size and duration.

The legal, economic, financial and technical information required is set out in the contract advert in the Official Journal of the European Union. The information requested complies with Office of Government Commerce advice, departmental procedures and Treasury guidance on Private Finance Initiative practice.

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Network Rail Volume Incentive; and if he will make a statement. [174075]

Mr. Darling: The 'Volume Incentive' was first introduced by the Rail Regulator in his Access Charges Review 2000. The SRA set out its views on the continuing effectiveness of a Volume Incentive for Network Rail as part of its response to the Initial Consultation Paper of the Access Charge Review 2003. The SRA's view was that for a number of reasons, the Volume Incentive would no longer be cost effective or appropriate given the changes to the industry since it was first introduced. The Rail Regulator considered this view and the supporting reasons, along with the views of other consultees, in the course of the Access Charge Review 2003. His view was that the Volume Incentive would continue to be an effective way of encouraging Network Rail to make efficient use of a constrained network so that additional traffic could be accommodated. He therefore retained the Volume Incentive, with a number of modifications (including only rewarding Network Rail for growth above a certain threshold level) in the Final Conclusions to the Access Charge Review published in December 2003. This decision is entirely for the Rail Regulator, taking into account his statutory duties as set out in the Railways Act .1993.

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of the (a) Strategic Rail Authority's submission to the rail regulator in December 2002 that the Network Rail Volume Incentive be removed and (b) the Rail Regulators' response. [174076]

 
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Mr. Darling: The documents referred to are available from the Office of the Rail Regulator's website at the following address:

(a) http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/ir2-sra.pdf

(b) http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/162.pdf

The Final Conclusions from the Access Charge Review 2003 and other related documents are also available from this website.

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 12 May 2004, Official Report, column 410W, on railways, what operational performance trajectory was set for the train operating companies between December 2003 and November 2004; and what the current performance is against that target. [174239]

Mr. Darling: The performance trajectory, developed by the National Task Force on behalf of the rail industry, consists of Network Rail's performance forecasts and Train Operating Companies (TOC) performance plans. The trajectory is the industry's own internal performance monitoring process and will be reviewed in October 2004.

TOC performance statistics are published quarterly by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) in "National Rail Trends", the most recent edition of which was published in March 2004. Copies of "National Rail Trends" are placed in the House of Commons Library and published on the SRA's web site.

Lawrie Quinn: To ask the Secretary of State for   Transport what international models of railway safety he has considered in the context of the Rail Review. [174815]

Mr. McNulty: The rail review is considering several international models of railway safety in the course of its work.

Mr. Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria his Department is using to evaluate options for reorganising the structure of the railways as part of the Rail Review. [173798]

Mr. McNulty: As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport said in his statement to the House on 19 January2004, the principles for the review are that railways must operate in the public interest, maintain commitment to public and private partnership and maintain commitment to independent economic regulation.

Mr. Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how he will ensure that rail safety continues to improve following changes arising from the Rail Review. [173799]

Mr. McNulty: The European Railway Safety Directive requires that member states ensure that railway safety is generally maintained and, where reasonably practicable, continuously improved.

Mr. Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will ensure that the recommendations from Lord Cullen's public inquiry following the Ladbroke Grove rail accident are fully delivered following changes arising from the Rail Review. [173800]

 
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Mr. McNulty: Lord Cullen recommended that the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) should review compliance with his public inquiry recommendations and publish the outcome of such reviews. The safety regulator will be expected to continue to review compliance following the rail review.

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