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7 Jul 2004 : Column 705W—continued

School Exclusions

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children have been excluded from school for (a) six to 12, (b) 12 to 18, (c) 18 to 24 and (d) in excess of 24 months. [180341]

Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 24 June 2004]: This information is not collected centrally. Although we collect data on the number of exclusions, we do not collect any information on the length of time excluded pupils are out of school prior to reintegration. Local education authorities are committed to providing full-time education, not necessarily at school, to all permanently excluded pupils. Currently all but two LEAs are meeting this commitment.

TRANSPORT

EU Accession States (Driving Offences)

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether criminal prosecution can be brought against persons from the new EU member states who drive without (a) a licence, (b) insurance and (c) due care and attention if the person being prosecuted has no fixed address in the United Kingdom. [181247]

Caroline Flint: I have been asked to reply.
 
7 Jul 2004 : Column 706W
 

The legislation on these motoring offences applies to persons from new EU member states as to other drivers. They can therefore be prosecuted for contravention of the legislation. We are working to address the practical problems if they choose to leave the UK.

Air Travel (Financial Protection)

Mr. David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to provide better financial protection for travellers on all types of air travel originating in the UK; and if he will make a statement. [182366]

Mr. McNulty: The Civil Aviation Authority, the body responsible for the financial protection of people purchasing air travel packages, is shortly to provide advice to the Government on the extension of financial protection to all types of air travel originating in the UK.

Air Travel Trust Fund

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to publish primary legislation to raise a new levy to replenish the Air Travel Trust Fund. [182394]

Mr. McNulty: The Government will publish a Bill to raise a new levy as soon as parliamentary time permits.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to restructure the Air Travel Trust Fund. [182396]

Mr. McNulty: We have no plans to restructure the Air Travel Trust Fund.

Bus Lanes

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of whether all bus lanes in England and Wales meet the criteria laid down in his Department's guidelines; when he last undertook an audit of bus lanes to ensure that they comply with those guidelines; and if he will make a statement. [181769]

Dr. Howells: The Department's published guidance on the design and implementation of bus lanes is contained in the Local Transport Note 1/97, "Keeping Buses Moving", and in a resource pack developed by the Bus Partnership Forum in 2003, "Bus Priority—The Way Ahead". The guidance does not contain specific criteria that have to be met by individual bus lanes. It is for local authorities, in consultation with all interested parties, to decide where and in what form bus lanes will be appropriate as part of their local transport plans. The Department does not carry out audits of those decisions. Policy on bus lanes in Wales is a matter for the National Assembly for Wales.

Caravans (M5)

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Highways Agency's plans to restrict caravans to the inside lane of the M5 motorway south of Bristol on bank holidays. [182374]

Mr. Jamieson: The M5 is a vital link to the south-west for tourists but long queues on summer weekends and bank holidays are normal and have been for some years.
 
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These are caused by a short steep hill west of Bristol, known locally as Naish Hill. The permanent solution to this problem is a climbing lane, for which a contract has been awarded and is due to be completed by summer 2006.

In the meantime, I have asked the Highways Agency to consider interim measures that could help relieve the present problems for all road users on the M5. The most effective way of reducing the congestion is for people to plan their journeys to avoid the peak times of Friday evening and Saturday morning and early afternoon. To encourage this, the Highways Agency will be advising vehicles towing trailers to stay in the inside lane of the M5 for the short length of Naish Hill during peak times. This will be introduced as a trial this summer and if successful, implemented for bank holiday and other weekends when heavy traffic is anticipated.

The Highways Agency will be monitoring the trial closely to judge whether it has been a success.

Congestion Charge

Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will discuss with the Mayor of London the possibility of suspending the congestion charge on days when industrial action on the buses or railways affects people travelling into Greater London. [182398]

Dr. Howells: The London congestion charging scheme is the responsibility of the Mayor.

Transport for London's proposals to counter the effects of any industrial action are based on the measures adopted on previous occasions, namely:

to work with all public transport service providers to ensure best use is made of available resources;

to ensure that details of alternative walking options are readily available to those arriving at London termini by National Rail services, to avoid swamping bus and taxi services with short distance riders;

to introduce supplementary river services between Tower Pier and Westminster/Waterloo piers during peak periods, taking account of funding issues, and availability of suitable vessels;

providing and updating information via the media and existing websites on journey options for those intending to travel on days when industrial action is due to take place; and

to liaise with other public transport operators whose services have recently been affected by strike action, to identify any improvement to the range of options relating to alternative service provision.

Final decisions on proposed measures are taken once notification has been received of the dates and duration of any strike action.

Freight Facilities Grant

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much freight facilities grant was paid in each year since 2001–02; and how much is planned to be paid in each of the next three financial years (a) at current prices and (b) at outturn prices, broken down by organisations in receipt of such grants. [180877]

Mr. McNulty: Yearly payments of Freight Facility Grants (FFG) by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) since 2001–02 are presented in outturn and 2003–04 prices in the table. Payments by organisation are shown in the SRA's Annual Report, copies of which have been
 
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placed in the Library of the House. The SRA's FFG scheme is currently suspended and no estimates have been made of future payments.
£ million

	Constant prices (2003–04 as base year)	Outturn price)
2001–02	34.7	32.7
2002–03	28.3	27.6
2003–04	14.4	14.4

Past and projected FFG payments by the Department for Transport for water-borne freight in England and Wales, based on current commitments, are given below. The higher figures for 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05 reflect payments to two exceptional capital projects.
£ million

	Constant prices (2003–04 as base year)	Outturn prices
2001–02	6.4	6.0
2002–03	19.6	19.1
2003–04	8.1	8.1
2004–05	8.7	8.9
2005–06	2.0	2.1

Expenditure plans for 2005–06 and beyond will be established following the current spending review.

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