---

14 Jul 2004 : Column 1192W—continued

Queen Mary

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what date the Marine and Coastguard Agency inspected the Queen Mary; what certification the vessel was given; on what date the attention of the MCA was drawn to the fire hazards present in the ship; what the source of this information was; and what investigations the MCA is carrying out into the original survey and certification. [182799]

Mr. Jamieson: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency issued a Passenger Ship Safety Certificate for the Queen Mary 2 on 22 December 2003. Representatives of the
 
14 Jul 2004 : Column 1193W
 
BBC met with the Agency's Chief Executive on 8 June 2004 and alerted him to their on-going investigation into the fire safety standards of the ship's bathroom units. The Agency immediately started their own investigation, taking samples and having them tested. These tests were completed on 24 June.

The Agency has now started a further investigation into the products used in the manufacture of bathroom units and its original testing and certification. In the meantime, additional safety measures have been introduced onboard the Queen Mary 2.

Rail Regulator

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what restrictions will be placed on the previous rail regulator representing rail companies as a private lawyer; and for how long these restrictions will apply. [182801]

Mr. Darling: Under the rules on the acceptance of outside appointments, Mr. Tom Winsor applied for permission to accept an appointment with White and Case Solicitors. The Prime Minister, on the advice of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, approved the application subject to certain specified conditions that have been agreed with Mr. Winsor:

That any GB rail practice which Mr Winsor establishes does not, from the date of termination of his term as Rail Regulator, provide legal advice:

(i) for three months to any client in respect of any aspect of GB railways;

(ii) for six months to any train or freight operating company with GB railways interests;

(iii) for 12 months to any company in whose favour Mr. Winsor has, as Regulator or International Rail Regulator, determined a legal appeal; and

(iv) for two years to Network Rail or any of its subsidiaries.

Furthermore, for two years after Mr. Winsor ceases to be Regulator he would, consistent with his professional obligations, inform the Department of an intention to provide legal advice to any company, other than passenger or freight operating companies in respect of GB railway interests and Network Rail or its subsidiaries, where there are reasonable grounds to include there is a conflict of interest or propriety issue to be addressed. Mr. Winsor would be required to accept as final the Secretary of State's decision on propriety.

This information was published in a press statement issued by the Rail Regulator on 28 June 2004.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the budget of the rail regulator for 2003–04 was; what the budget for the new rail regulator board for its first year of operation is; and if he will make a statement. [183397]

Mr. Darling: The original budget set for the Office of the Rail Regulator for the financial year 2003–04 was £14.8 million.

The budget set for the financial year 2004–05 is £14.1 million. The first three months of the budget related to the operation of the Office of the Rail Regulator. The final nine months relate to the operation of the Office of Rail Regulation.
 
14 Jul 2004 : Column 1194W
 

Rescue Co-ordination Centres

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many rescue co-ordination centres were understaffed at 1 July; and how many staff were (a) fully qualified and (b) watch assistants on that date. [182800]

Mr. Jamieson: Of the 19 HM Coastguard rescue co-ordination centres in the UK, 11 carried vacancies at 1 July. The number of fully qualified staff on the watch rota on that date was 389, of which 215 were watch assistants.

Rural Bus Grants (Warrington)

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many rural bus services in Warrington, North are supported by rural bus grants. [183056]

Mr. McNulty: Rural Bus Subsidy Grant (RBSG) is paid to local transport authorities, in the case of Warrington, North this is the Warrington borough council. It is for the authority to decide which services should be supported with the grant. Warrington's RBSG allocation for 2004–05 is £107,875, and we understand from the local authority that this supports three bus services in Warrington, North.

Seafarer Training

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will approve 100 per cent. SMarT-type funding for training for seafarers. [182997]

Mr. Jamieson: Financial assistance under the Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme covers around 50 per cent. of the costs. There are currently no plans to increase this to 100 per cent.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to allow the training of UK domiciled seafarers to (a) Master and (b) Chief Engineer level to be state aided training. [182999]

Mr. Jamieson: Financial assistance to organisations providing seafarer training is provided under the Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme. Master and Chief Engineer levels are not covered by the scheme, and there are currently no plans to do so.

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to provide state subsidies for the shore based training of cadets. [183000]

Mr. Jamieson: Financial assistance is available to organisations providing merchant navy training under the Government's Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme. Shore based training of cadets is assisted under SMarT categories 2, 3 and 4.

Speed Cameras/Limits

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people have been (a) killed and (b) seriously injured since the installation of the camera at each speed camera site covered by the University College London/PA Consulting Group report. [181950]

Mr. Jamieson: Information on the numbers of people killed or seriously injured at safety camera sites operated by the 22 English and Welsh Partnerships was published
 
14 Jul 2004 : Column 1195W
 
by the department on 15 June and is available in the Library. I will write to the hon. Member with information on the numbers of people killed at each site.

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what plans he has to change the hierarchy of speed limits on roads, with particular reference to rural roads; and if he will make a statement; [183482]

(2) when he intends to publish an amended guidance circular on setting speed limits. [183484]

Mr. Jamieson: My Department will shortly be consulting on a draft circular, updating the Government's guidance to local authorities on the setting of local speed limits. We aim to complete the consultation and publish the new circular by the end of 2004.

We do not envisage introducing a hierarchy of speed limits on roads, in the light of the Government's Report on a Rural Road Hierarchy, published in November 2001, which concluded that a formal hierarchy of road types and speeds would be over-rigid, and inconsistent with local authorities' flexibility in setting speed limits which reflect local circumstances.

Tonnage Tax

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has conducted into the different levels of tonnage tax, which apply to other EU countries. [183001]

Mr. Jamieson: Tonnage tax rates in EU member states are shown in the following table.
Taxable profit per ship per day per 100 net tons, in Euros

	0 to 1,000 tons	1,001 to 10,000 tons	10,001 to 25,000 tons	25,001 tons and over
Denmark	0.94	0.67	0.40	0.27
Germany	0.92	0.69	0.46	0.23
Ireland	1.00	0.75	0.50	0.25
Netherlands	0.91	0.67	0.46	0.23
Spain	0.90	0.70	0.40	0.20
UK	0.90	0.68	0.45	0.23
Belgium	1.00	0.60	0.40	0.20
France	0.93	0.71	0.47	0.25
Italy	0.90	0.70	0.40	0.20

---