7 Jun 2004 : Column 1W
Written Answers to Questions
7 June 2004
The following answers were received between Friday 28 May and Friday 4 June 2004
TRANSPORT
A1
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what programme of widening and improvements he plans to the A1 from the Tyne to the Scottish borders. [176224]
Mr. Jamieson: The programme of widening planned to the A1 from the Tyne to the Scottish borders is as follows:
This proposed scheme will upgrade 4 km of single carriageway to dual carriageway which will significantly improve the alignment of the A1 improving road safety.
This scheme will upgrade 13 km of single carriageway to dual carriageway including a new bridge over the Coquet gorge improving road safety and reducing journey times. On completion it will provide a continuous dual carriageway between Newcastle and Alnwick.
The Highways Agency expect later during this financial year to invite suppliers to bid for development of both of these schemes.
The programme of other improvements planned to the A1 from the Tyne to the Scottish Borders is listed as follows. All of the schemes are estimated to start during this financial year.
A1 Guyzance Junction—provision of signing, lining, deceleration lane and enhancement of road surfacing.
A1 at West Mains Junction—provision of signing, lining, high friction surfacing and modifications to pedestrian traffic island.
A1 Denwick Interchange—provision of signing and lining.
A1 Roadside Cottages at Haggerston—scheme being developed for non-motorised users.
Airports
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will remove the safeguarding of land for a possible wide-spaced runway at Gatwick in the event of a decision to proceed with a third runway at Heathrow. [175977]
Mr. McNulty:
The Future of Air Transport White Paper says that land should be safeguarded for a new wide-spaced runway at Gatwick after 2019 in case conditions attached to the construction of a new runway at Heathrow cannot be met. The situation at Gatwick will be reviewed at the stage when any planning application for a new runway at Heathrow has been decided.
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Mr. Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list the UK airports he estimates will have the necessary pier ready when the Airbus 380 starts commercial operations; [176638]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of piers being prepared for the Airbus 380 at United Kingdom airports. [176640]
Mr. McNulty: We understand that London Heathrow and Manchester Airports expect to provide full pier-served facilities at the start of A380 commercial operations.
In addition London Gatwick, London Stansted and Nottingham East Midlands Airports should have the ability to accept the aircraft on stand if required, but do not expect to provide full pier service at the outset.
The CAA has communicated guidance to all licensed aerodromes on safety requirements for accepting the A380 at the start of its commercial service.
Aviation White Paper
John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the legal challenges which have been made in relation to the Aviation White Paper since its publication. [176042]
Mr. McNulty: The Department is currently subject to legal proceedings against the White Paper by the following parties:
(i) Essex and Hertfordshire County Councils and Uttlesford, North and East Herts District Councils;
(ii) London Boroughs of Wandsworth and Hillingdon with individuals representing HACAN, LADACAN and Stop Stansted Expansion;
(iii) Crawley North East Sector Consortium—Persimmon Homes (South East) Ltd., and Laing Homes Ltd.
Departmental Annual Report
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the targets and achievement rates referred to on page 50 of the Department of Transport Annual Report 2004; and if he will list (a) the local authorities and (b) the targets they have met. [174168]
Mr. McNulty: Local authorities chose to set a large number of local transport targets in their 2001–06 Local Transport Plans (LTPs)—an average of 30 in each of the 85 plan areas. The 2003 LTP Annual Progress Reports gave an assessment of progress against those targets, where evidence of progress was available. These assessments indicated that around 70 per cent. of those targets were on course to be achieved.
A full list of targets that are on course to be achieved could be produced only at disproportionate cost. Detailed information from each LTP area is available in the 2003 Annual Progress Reports, which may be obtained from local authorities.
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Honours
Brian White: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much time his Department spent dealing with honours in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by civil service grade. [173044]
Mr. McNulty: The majority of the work on honours is undertaken by the departmental honours team. Honours work in the Department for Transport is dealt with in a dedicated honours secretariat dealing with honours nominations for both the Department for Transport and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. One EO deals with transport matters full time and a SEO and AO deal with matters arising for both Departments.
Time spent by senior civil servants is as follows:
| Grade | Total hours |
|---|---|
| Grade 1 | 6 |
| Grade 2 | 10 |
| Grade 3 | 2 |
Information is not available on time spent on honours related work by departmental staff who are not members of the Department's honours teams or attendees of formal sift meetings.
International Ship and Ports Security Code
John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on progress towards implementation of the International Shipping and Ports Security Code in the United Kingdom. [176038]
Mr. Jamieson: The UK is making good progress towards implementation of the International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) Code and there is every expectation that all UK flagged ship and port facilities that submit acceptable security plans by the deadlines set, will be ISPS compliant by the 1 July 2004 deadline.
Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will amend Marine Guidance Note MGN 214 (m) to take account of the enforcement of the International Ship and Port Security Code. [174609]
Mr. Jamieson: There are no plans to amend MGN 214, which relates to certificates of competency for radio operators, because it is not effected by the introduction of the ISPS Code.
However, MGN 241 regarding advice on piracy to UK seafarers will be amended to reflect the ISPS Code, although the scope of revision has not as yet been determined. It is hoped that the ISPS Code will have both a positive impact on improving the maritime industry's resilience to terrorist action and have a secondary benefit of helping to reduce piracy. This is because it will generate increased security awareness and tighten security procedures, both on ships and in ports.
Journey Distances
John Thurso:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many journeys were made in the United Kingdom by each person on average, broken down by journeys of (a) less than a mile, (b) between one and two
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miles, (c) between two and five miles, (d) between five and 10 miles, (e) between 10 and 25 miles, (f) between 25 and 50 miles, (g) between 50 and 100 miles and (h) more than 100 miles, in (i) 1975–76, (ii) 1985–86, (iii) 1995–96 and (iv) 2001–02; and how many are projected to be made in (A) 2005 and (B) 2010. [176040]
Mr. McNulty: The National Travel Survey provides the following information for personal travel in Great Britain.
Figures are not available for the UK and, because of differences in the coverage of the surveys, there may be a discontinuity between 1975–76 and later years. Forecasts of trips by distance travelled will be published in the summer as part of the Transport Strategy Document.
| 1975–76 | 1985–86 | 1995–96 | 2001–02 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under one mile | 275 | 335 | 293 | 241 |
| One to under two miles | 183 | 187 | 176 | 189 |
| Two to under five miles | 228 | 250 | 270 | 271 |
| Five to under 10 miles | 127 | 133 | 157 | 152 |
| 10 to under 25 miles | 76 | 84 | 107 | 108 |
| 25 to under 50 miles | 20 | 22 | 29 | 32 |
| 50 to under 100 miles | 7 | 9 | 13 | 13 |
| 100 miles and over | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 |
| Unknown length | 15 | — | — | — |
| All lengths | 935 | 1,024 | 1,051 | 1,013 |
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