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Railways

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list the level of subsidy (a) per rail mile travelled and (b) per passenger for each train operator for each year since 1997; [174984]

(2) if he will list the subsidy paid to each train operator in each year since 1997 in descending order. [174985]

 
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Mr. McNulty: Details of subsidy paid to each train operator, in each year since 1997, are set out in Appendix 3 to the Strategic Rail Authority's annual report 2002–03.

Details of subsidy per passenger mile/passenger kilometre travelled, and of numbers of passenger journeys made, with each train operator in each year since 1997, are set out in SRA and OPRAF annual reports for the relevant years.

Copies of all SRA and OPRAF annual reports are available in the Libraries of the House.

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of rail journeys were made by freight trains in the last year for which figures are available. [175001]

Mr. McNulty: In 2002–03 approximately 6 per cent. of the total rail journeys were by made by freight trains.

Road Charging

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has for road charging; whether charges would apply to all roads; whether charges will vary by (a) time of day and (b) level of traffic; and what the money collected in road charging schemes would be spent on. [175558]

Mr. Jamieson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport made a statement to the House on 9 July 2003 announcing a feasibility study into the potential for road charging in the UK. The study is expected to report this summer.

Sea ports/Airports

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the contribution of the (a) seaports and (b) airports industry to the UK economy. [175088]

Mr. Darling: The economic contribution that the aviation industry makes to UK economy is set out in the Air Transport White Paper, though the economic analysis of additional airport capacity focussed on the direct economic benefits to passengers. The Department is managing a research project to collect information about employment in the UK ports.

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the social and economic consequences of constraints on port capacity. [175092]

Mr. Darling: The Government are aware of the potential consequences of the emerging constraints on ports capacity and so we ensure that the planning consent process assesses the social and economic aspects of the case for and against port development.

Speed Cameras

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has reviewed the suitability of locations of all speed cameras in Shrewsbury and Atcham. [175059]

 
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Mr. Jamieson: The West Mercia Partnership, which covers Shrewsbury and Atcham, has confirmed that they are adhering to the guidance and rules for the operation of safety camera activity. Partnerships are expected on a continuing basis to keep camera sites and enforcement at them under review. My Department will shortly publish an independent report on the operation of the Safety Camera Programme for its first three years, and will also publish details of all safety camera sites in the cost recovery programme.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on his review of the location of speed cameras. [174253R]

Mr. Jamieson: Partnerships are expected on a continuing basis to keep camera sites and enforcement at them under review. My Department will shortly publish an independent report on the operation of the Safety Camera Programme for its first three years, and will also publish details of all safety camera sites in the cost recovery programme.

Transport (Bootle)

Mr. Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of priority bus lanes have been created in Bootle since 1997. [175492]

Mr. McNulty: A total of 0.6 miles of priority bus lanes have been provided in Bootle since 1997.

Mr. Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of new cycle lanes have been provided in Bootle using public funds since 1997. [175489]

Mr. McNulty: A total of 9.85 miles of cycle lanes have been provided in Bootle since 1997.

Mr. Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effects upon residents of Bootle of investment in railway improvements over the next 10 years. [175491]

Mr. McNulty: Merseyrail, which operates local services in Bootle, is a consistently high performer. Residents of Bootle will benefit from the West Coast Main Line upgrade and the new TransPennine Express franchise to make fast inter-city journeys out of Liverpool. The TransPennine Express franchise, which commenced in February, secures investment of around £260 million, which will include the introduction of a new fleet of 100 mph diesel trains leading to increased capacity, improved service quality and performance across the region.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Emergency Planning

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans there are to provide national guidance for schools and care homes in the case of a serious civil emergency. [174687]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Home Office, alongside the emergency services will provide immediate information and advice in the event of a discernible threat or a specific incident. My Department, in its guidance on coping with emergencies (www.teachernet.gov.uk/
 
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emergencies), refers schools to Home Office guidance for civil contingencies; and will liaise with the Cabinet Office before writing to chief education officers about the Civil Contingencies Bill due to come into force later this year. We are not currently planning to provide separate national guidance for children's homes in the case of a serious civil emergency. However, we will keep this under review.

Child Care

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many child care places were created in each of the past 15 years, broken down by constituency within each region. [175128]

Margaret Hodge: The Department is unable to provide details of child care places in the past 15 years. We are also unable to provide details of places within each constituency. Statistics have only been collected by local authorities since 1999 following the introduction of the National Childcare Strategy for England.

A table, which has been placed in the Library, details the number of gross and net places created each year by local authority and region since 1999.

Early Years Education

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) free nursery and (b) pre-school places were available for (i) three and (ii) four-year-olds in Wirral South in each of the last seven years. [173624]

Margaret Hodge: The information is not available in the form requested.

Figures on the number of free nursery education places taken up by three and four-year-olds in Wirral local education authority area are shown in the table.

The latest figures on provision for three and four-year-olds in England were published in a Statistical Bulletin "Provision for children under five years of age in England—January 2003" which is available on the Department's website www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/.

From April 2004, six months ahead of our original target, all three-year-olds in England whose parents want one, are eligible for a free, part-time early education place.
Number of free nursery education places1,2 taken up by three and four-year-old children in maintained nursery and primary schools and private, voluntary and independent providers Wirral local education authority area 1997–2003: Position in January each year

	Three-year-olds	Four-year-olds
2003	3,200	3,500
2002	3,200	3,000
2001	3,100	4,400
2000	2,900	3,900
1999	1,700	3,900
1998	1,700	3,900
1997	1,600	3,800

⁽¹⁰⁾ Part-time equivalent number of free nursery education places taken up by three and four-year-old children.
⁽¹¹⁾ A free nursery education place comprises five two and a half hour sessions of early years education per week, for thirty-three weeks of the year, usually three terms of eleven weeks.



 
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