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17 Jun 2004 : Column 1046W—continued
Bus Subsidy Review
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the timetable is for the (a) completion and (b) publication of the Government's bus subsidy review. [179193]
Mr. McNulty: The bus subsidy review is nearing completion and the outcome will be announced later this summer.
Donaldson Inquiry
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many recommendations from the May 1994 Donaldson Inquiry have been implemented; and which recommendations have yet to be implemented. [178922]
Mr. Jamieson: Lord Donaldson made 103 recommendations (some of which are subdivided still further), and the vast majority have been implemented. Additionally, there are a small number of instances where legislative developments in the International Maritime Organization or the European Community have made the recommendation redundant.
The following recommendations remain outstanding: recommendations 59 (Marine Environmental High Risk Areas) and 64 (ship-to-ship transfer in Lyme Bay), on which a substantial amount of work has been done, but which have not yet been fully implemented; recommendations 58 and 60, which are consequential to recommendation 59; and recommendation 67d, awaiting the development of experience of transponders on merchant ships.
Irish-registered Vehicles
Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the number of Irish-registered vehicles on the roads of the United Kingdom; and how many of these vehicles have up-to-date road tax. [178952]
Mr. Jamieson: No figures are available for the number of Republic of Ireland vehicles in use on UK roads. Visiting Irish vehicles are exempt from UK licensing and registration requirements providing they are in this country for less than six months in any 12 and are registered and licensed in Ireland. If at any time a vehicle used here on Irish 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 Irish registered vehicles who fail to observe these requirements are subject to the same enforcement and prosecution procedures as UK motorists.
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DVLA is currently working with the police and local authorities to gather information on all visiting vehicles to clarify the extent of the evasion problem and to introduce effective counter measures.
London Underground (Crime)
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 8 June 2004, Official Report, column 284W, on crime (public transport), how many crimes were committed on each London Underground line in each year since 1998; and how many were (a) assaults, (b) of a sexual nature and (c) robberies, broken down by individual Underground line. [179176]
Mr. McNulty: The British Transport Police (BTP) have advised me that this information is not readily available and could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.
Mobile Phones (Accidents)
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) deaths and (b) injuries have been caused in each of the last five years by people using mobile phones while driving. [178447]
Mr. Jamieson [holding answer 14 June 2004]: The information requested is not currently available. However, research has shown that using a mobile phone while driving is distracting and drivers are four times more likely to have an accident if they do so.
ONS Reports (Emissions)
Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether Ministers or officials have made representations to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) regarding the omission of figures relating to greenhouse gas emissions from air and freight transport from ONS reports; and if he will make a statement. [177231]
Mr. McNulty: Ministers have made no representations to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) regarding the content of their reports. The content of ONS reports is a matter for ONS on which they alone take the final decision after consultation as appropriate. The Department for Transport (DfT) is involved in the quality assurance process for some ONS reports, which involves discussion at official level. The quality assurance process may identify data quality or methodological issues that lead to ONS changing their reports.
As part of the quality assurance process, DfT officials contacted ONS seeking clarifications on the methodology used to produce the figures on GHG emissions in the Environmental Accounts published on 20 May. Subsequently, the DfT Head of Freight
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Statistics informed ONS they were unable to reconcile the figures in the Environmental Accounts with DfT data on the road freight industry. In this case, DfT Statisticians were concerned about data quality and methodological issues. ONS agreed that further investigation was required. ONS has publicly made clear that: "The Office for National Statistics (ONS) alone took the decision on the final wording of the news release on the environmental accounts (report, 27 May 2004). There was no improper pressure from the Department for Transport or anywhere else. ONS could not satisfy itself fully on technical concerns over the reconciliation of figures on road freight emissions based on alternative definitions and hence decided that it would not be appropriate to focus upon transport emissions. There was nothing unusual about the process adopted on this occasion and it is completely wrong to suggest that the figures were "withdrawn" or "removed from the . . . report". The published datasets were not amended in any way and were published on the National Statistics website in their entirety."
Once the reconciliation work is completed it will be made publicly available.
Timetables
Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will require train operating companies and bus companies to consult each other in advance of making changes to timetables. [178753]
Mr. McNulty: Provision already exists to promote integration between different local transport modes. Local authorities take into account rail and bus modes when drawing up local transport plans. For rail timetables, the Strategic Rail Authority requires franchise operators to consult with stakeholders during their preparation. Train operators are also required to participate in Integrated Transport Schemes designated in the agreements.
The arrangements for the provision of bus services differ significantly from those of the franchised rail services. The majority of bus services are provided on a commercial basis by private operators. Decisions by bus operating companies on whether to consult with train operators in advance of making timetable changes are a commercial judgment for the company involved.
Strategic Rail Authority
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff were employed by the Strategic Rail Authority in each year since its creation, broken down by department. [178866]
Mr. McNulty: At its inception, in February 2001, the SRA employed 337 people. Records of staff numbers by Directorate have been kept in their present form since October 2002 and the figures are as follows:
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Oxford-East Anglia Rail Link
John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on progress of the proposed East West railway link between Oxford and East Anglia. [178917]
Mr. McNulty: An updated Business Case has now been put forward by the East-West Rail Consortium for the Western End of the East West Rail Link. This proposal involves upgrading and re-opening the line between Oxford and Bedford. Officials at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are considering the updated business case, particularly in light of the potential impact of the scheme on the delivery of the Sustainable Communities Plan. The Strategic Rail Authority is also considering the Western End business case. Any appraisal will need to be considered against other priorities, the outcome of the current rail review and the Government's spending review.
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